by Stefanie Malinoski
UConn Early College Experience Faculty Coordinators offer annual professional development workshops for their Instructors. This spring, we hosted UConn BCE Instructors from eighteen different departments on campus. Highlights from some of the most exciting events are below:
Animal Science: Our certified Animal Science Instructors along with Faculty Coordinators
Dr. Jenifer Nadeu and Dr. Amy Safran met with
Dr. Julia Wilkinson from Tufts Veterinary Field Service to learn about equine aging and dentistry in a hands on science lab. The group of 12 certified Animal Science Instructors were able to tour the horse barns and observe Dr. Wilkinson floating a horse's teeth. This routine procedure involves filing a horse's teeth to make the chewing surfaces relatively flat or smooth as a part of overall equine health.
Biology: Dr. Thomas Abbott, Faculty Coordinator for UConn ECE Biology, and a group of fifty certified instructors discussed all things insects. Special guest speaker, from UConn's EEB department, Professor David L. Wagner shared his research on caterpillars with the group in an interactive presentation during the morning. In the afternoon, Instructors were able to tour UConn's Research Greenhouses under guidance by Living Plant Collections Manager, Clinton Morse. Instructors walked through each zone getting to take a close look at the thousands of plants thriving in the greenhouses. Later groups of Instructors were able to visit the Biodiversity Research Collections with Dr. Sarah Taylor and Dr. Jane O'Donnell who shared a variety of samples from the Collections with the Instructors.
Art: Along with UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator, Cora Lynn Deibler, certified UConn ECE ART 1030: Drawing I Instructors were able to visit the Thomas J. Dodd Center on the Storrs campus to take a firsthand look at the Maurice Sendak archives. Recently, the Maurice Sendak Foundation chose to share Sendak's archives with the University of Connecticut who are now housing and stewarding the Collection. Project Archivist, Carla Nguyen shared her knowledge with the group who were able to learn more about Sendak's life, and view his original artwork, sketches, books and other materials.
Spanish: Faculty Coordinators for Spanish Dr. Ana Maria Marcos-Diaz and Dr. Eduardo Urios-Aparisi invited special guest Dr. Angel Rivera, Associate Professor of Spanish and International Studies at Worcester Polytechnic University to campus for the event. Dr. Rivera presented his research titled: "Un acercamiento teorico a la naturaleza del horror, la ciencia ficcion y los monstruos en la literatura del Caribe" (A theoretical nature of horror, science fiction and monsters in Caribbean literature). Later in the day, UConn ECE Instructors competed in groups writing their own short stories to share. Winners were awarded UConn ECE prize packs.