Free, public events on Sept. 23 and 24 celebrate DCAL's new home in Baker Library

Dartmouth College Office of Public Affairs • Press Release
Posted 09/09/05 • Contact Sue Knapp (603) 646-3661

On Sept. 23, the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL) will officially open its doors in the newly renovated southeast wing in Baker Library in Room 102. The Center will celebrate the occasion with two events: a dedication and reception on Fri., Sept. 23, from 5:30 - 7 p.m. in Baker Library, and a symposium on teaching and learning on Sat., Sept. 24 at 9 a.m. in Filene Auditorium, Moore Hall. Both events are free, and the Dartmouth community and the general public are invited.

Established in July 2004, DCAL advances undergraduate and graduate learning by providing and coordinating services in support of effective teaching, and encourages research about teaching and learning. It also sponsors two fellowships each year for faculty members to pursue purposeful applications of information technology to teaching. The new DCAL suite includes a reception area, offices, and a teaching center equipped with all the electronic tools of a "smart classroom," including wireless Internet, data projection, and fully integrated audio-visual systems and control. The teaching center can also host video conferences.

"Our new home in the Baker-Berry Library complex locates the center close to its chief partners: the library, computing services, and the Dartmouth Writing Program," says DCAL Director Thomas H. Luxon, the first Cheheyl Professor. "In this new space, we hope to host many programs, showcase teaching ideas, and use the telecommunications and information technology to foster at Dartmouth a community of conversation and scholarship about teaching and learning."

Two free, public events are planned to celebrate DCAL's new home:

• The Gala Opening, Fri., Sept. 23 from 5:30-7 p.m. in Baker Library, includes refreshments and a dedication. Provost Barry Scherr and DCAL director Thomas Luxon will recognize the generous donors who make DCAL possible.
• The symposium "Teaching Scholars: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Dartmouth," Saturday, September 24 from 9-11 a.m. in Filene Auditorium, Moore Hall, will feature:
  • Lee S. Shulman, President, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Stanford, Calif.
  • G. Christian Jernstedt, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Adjunct Professor of Community and Family Medicine, and Director of the Center for Educational Outcomes, Dartmouth College
  • Martha McDaniel, Professor and Chair of Anatomy and of Surgery and of Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School 
  • Steve Swayne, Associate Professor of Music, Dartmouth College