By Caroline Lynch, UConn ECE Graduate Assistant, Master’s Student, UConn, Higher Education and Student Affairs
It’s been a busy semester for our certified ECE instructors; as of today (November 8, 2024) we have already had the pleasure of hosting 15 professional development events, both on- and off-campus, 
in-person and virtual. Instructors from Philosophy, American Studies, Maritime Studies, U. S. History, Medieval Studies, Civil Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Biology, Chinese, Marine Sciences, Music, Economics, Physics, Sustainable Plant and Soil Systems, Sociology, and English, along with our ECE Library Media Specialists, have had the opportunity to connect with their colleagues, faculty coordinators, and the ECE program staff so far this school year! We would like to take the time to highlight some of these incredible events and thank all attendees and organizers for their efforts this semester.
September 27, 2024: AMST/MAST/U.S. History at Mystic Seaport
Late September marked the beginning of a new initiative for Early College Experience: interdisciplinary professional development experiences. Approximately 75 instructors from Maritime Studies, American Studies, and U.S. History convened at Mystic Seaport Museum, where they had the opportunity to explore the Seaport’s current featured exhibit, Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea, following a discussion by the exhibit’s curator, Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes. Additionally, instructors engaged in several hands-on sessions around the museum property. These included a rope-making activity, a tour of the oldest commercial ship still afloat in the U.S., as well as a visit to the museum’s library, where instructors engaged with primary sources which highlighted Connecticut’s rich whaling and maritime history.
October 4, 2024: Medieval Studies (HIST 1300) Workshop
To kick off our October events, instructors from Medieval Studies convened on the UConn Storrs campus, to engage in conversation surrounding the Mali Empire in Western Africa with guest speaker Professor Christine Cooper-Rompato, of Utah State University. Attendees were asked to grapple with their personal connections to the continent, and interacted with a variety of resources (maps, articles, historical documents, videos, etc.) to enhance understanding.
October 15, 2024: Environmental Sciences at CAES
Our Environmental Sciences instructors traveled to New Haven, CT for their professional development experience this year. Under the guidance of Associate Professor Morty Ortega, the group explored the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and received several informative lectures from resident scientists, including Dr. Scott Williams and Dr. Megan Linske, who both received their Ph.D.’s from the University of Connecticut! Lecture topics included integrated tick management research from Dr. Williams, “Diversity and Disease: Assessing Backyards for Tick Bite Prevention and Awareness” from Dr. Linske, and Monarch butterfly biology and conservation courtesy of Dr. Kelsey Fisher.
October 18, 2024: Chinese via Webex
Our first virtual PD of the year. Chinese instructors met on Friday, 10/18, and thanks to the virtual modality, they were given the opportunity to hear from Professor Zhiying Qian out of Florida State University. Professor Qian delivered a fascinating lecture on the emerging relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Chinese language instruction.
October 23, 2024: Economics Workshop
The UConn Storrs campus hosted our Economics instructors on Wednesday, 10/23, in collaboration with faculty coordinator Natalia Smirnova, Associate Professor in Residence. The event began 
with some exciting stories of ECE student successes (congratulations to Cheshire High School for placing 3rd in their Future Business Leaders of America competition!), and brainstorming classroom activities. Several guest speakers joined us in the afternoon, including Ariel Slonim, curriculum designer for Marginal RevolutionUniversity, a nonprofit dedicated to providing everyone with a “world-class economic education”, and Mary Claire Peate, a Senior Economic Education Specialist from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
October 29, 2024: SPSS Workshop with CIPWG
SPSS instructors were given the opportunity to attend the 12th biennial Symposium for the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG), thanks to faculty coordinator Professor Julia Kuzovkina. CIPWG is an organization committed to mitigating the negative environmental impact of invasive plant species, through educating themselves and others on identification and management of invasive plants, as well as replacement of invasive with native species. The theme of the Symposium was “Real Talk: Making an Impact in Invasive Plant Management”, and attendees were treated to a variety of discussions emphasizing the critical role of education in conservation and rooting the discussion of eradicating invasive plant species in local case studies. The day even finished up with a raffle for a collection of potted plants native to the area!
October 30, 2024: Physics Workshop and Planetarium Visit
Our annual physics workshop offered a variety of enrichment opportunities for our attendees. First, instructors engaged in valuable discussion on exam format and grading techniques, followed by our main event: a demonstration in the newly renovated Cynthia Wyeth Peterson planetarium. Our workshop marked one of the first uses of the new facility, and we extend thanks to Dr. Matt Guthrie and PhD student Kelcey Davis for allowing us into the facility, and for providing a fantastic show! Beginning in 2025, regular public shows are set to begin, and several of our attendees left the event excited by the opportunity to bring their students back to campus for a show sometime soon.
November 1, 2024: Annual English Conference
Marking our largest event so far this year, we welcomed just over 100 ECE English instructors to the UConn Storrs campus on Friday, November 1, for a conference entitled “Collaborative Circulation: A Recursive Roadmap”. Attendees attended four breakout sessions in small groups, followed by a panel discussion hosted by UConn English Department faculty and guests. Session 
descriptions were as follows:
- Circulation for Brainstorming and Ideation
- Circulation of Feedback
- Circulation as a Rhetorical Device/Context
- Interconnected Circulation: an Activity
What an exciting few months we’ve had! Not to mention, we still have events for Communication, Chemistry, Human Rights, Anthropology, and Math to look forward to before the Fall Semester comes to a close. To find more information and photographs from these and the rest of our professional development events, please feel free to visit the “ECE PD Blog” on our website. Planning for Spring 2025 workshops is well underway, and we plan to post details and dates on the ECE website’s “Dates to Remember” page as soon as possible. Thank you again to all who have attended an ECE event so far this year; it is always a pleasure to connect with our instructors across Connecticut. And to those we haven’t seen yet this year, keep an eye on your email inbox! We look forward to connecting with you and your colleagues very soon. n