Registration is now open through April 2 for the UNM Spring 2025 Teaching Conference, which will be held on April 9-10. This year’s theme is “Teaching, Learning, and Well-being at UNM.”
April 9 (Wednesday) will be an in-person day in the Student Union Building (SUB) and will also feature the Teaching Excellence Awards, while April 10 (Thursday) will be held virtually via Zoom.
Organized by the UNM Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and the Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee, the conference welcomes the UNM community for two days of celebrating teaching excellence, well-being, informed practice and community connections. The event is free and open to all instructors, staff, graduate and undergraduate students.
For the first time this year, the Spring Teaching Conference is being combined with the Teaching Excellence Awards Ceremony, which CTL hosts annually in collaboration with the Teaching Enhancement Committee, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Honors College. The ceremony honors excellent faculty, lecturers, adjunct instructors and graduate teaching assistants. Organizers say that awardees are creative and driven educators who have made exceptional strides in their teaching practices that focus on increasing student success and belonging in line with UNM’s educational mission.
At this year’s conference the UNM community will gather to join the conversation on topics that include:
- Diverse Meanings of Well-being
- Authentic Classroom Experiences as Well-being Practice
- Storytelling as Well-being Practice
- Pedagogies of Well-being in Large Classes
- Centering Culture and Communal Well-being in Teaching Practices.
The event, which usually attracts about 200 educators, is a highlight of the academic year, organizers say. Over its 19 years of existence, the goals of the conference have been to showcase the great pedagogical work taking place at UNM; inspire and promote evidence-based, creative and innovative teaching; and foster an environment that motivates the formation of teaching communities of practice within and across departments.
The keynote speaker this year is Leola Tsinnajinnie Paquin, associate professor of Native American Studies and the 2024-2026 UNM Presidential Teaching Fellow. She will speak on “Faculty Wellbeing as Pedagogy: Building a Sustainable Community of Practice.”
The ultimate hope of the organizers is that this year’s conference will provide a space where UNM’s educators can see themselves as contributors to the well-being and vitality of teaching and learning at UNM.
Registration information and detailed program information can be found here. Questions can be sent to teachingsupportctl@unm.edu
Learn more
A video with more information can be found here.
Recipients of the Teaching Excellence Awards, who will be honored on April 9, are:
Presidential Teaching Fellow
Marissa Greenberg, associate professor, English Language and Literature, College of Arts and Sciences
Outstanding Teacher of the Year
Sarah Llanque-White, clinician educator-associate professor, graduate family nurse practitioner program, College of Nursing
Lecturer of the Year
Laura de Lorenzo Barrios, lecturer III and director of the biochemistry program, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UNM School of Medicine
Affiliated Teacher of the Year
Megan Abrahamson, adjunct Humanities faculty, UNM Honors College
Online Teacher of the Year
Nicole Capehart, lecturer II, Department of Management, Anderson School of Management
Branch Campus Tenure-Track Teacher of the Year
Andisheh Dadashi, assistant professor, Department of Mathematics, Engineering, and Computer Science, UNM Valencia
Early Career Teacher of the Year
Natasha Howard, assistant professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Department of Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
Susan Deese-Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistants of the Year
- Kenton Bueche, graduate teaching assistant, Department of Art and Art History, College of Fine Arts
- Gwyneth Henke, graduate teaching assistant, Department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts and Sciences
- Sandra Marroquin-Evans, graduate teaching assistant, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, College of Arts and Sciences
- Alexander Pearl, graduate teaching assistant, American Studies, College of Arts and Sciences
- billy von raven, graduate teaching assistant, Department of Art and Art History, College of Fine Arts
