Thank you for visiting the Faculty Resource Center (FRC) page! Please feel free to explore the services and programs the Center has to offer.
Be sure to check back to this page on a regular basis as it will be updated on a weekly basis.
**New Section of Resources Page on ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE including AI Tools for the RCNJ Community**
If you have any questions or would like to make a suggestion for a future FRC session, please contact the Director, Rikki Abzug.
WELCOME TO FALL 2026!
Potential Teaching Circles
From Amazon/AI: A short, provocative guide to what’s good, bad, and stupid about AI and the discourse around AI, by the author of Enshittification. In The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, Cory Doctorow—who actively uses AI himself—moves past reflexive anti-tech rhetoric to examine who the technology truly serves. He argues that the overwhelming hype surrounding AI is driven by a desperate tech industry attempting to justify a wildly inflated $16 trillion valuation, which inherently relies on replacing vast swathes of the human workforce. Rather than succumbing to narratives of inevitable disruption or robot apocalypses, Doctorow exposes how this massive investment bubble threatens the global economy and turns workers into overworked “reverse centaurs.” Ultimately, he provides a roadmap for navigating this crisis so society can reach a future where digital tools serve humanity rather than exploit it.
FIRST MONDAY OF THE MONTH COMMON HOUR TEACHING CIRCLE (9/14, 10/5, 11/2, 12/7 1:00-2:00pm, location: Adler Center 202): Email FRC Director, Rikki Abzug to reserve your free copy of the book and come to AC202 on Monday, September 14th, 1:00pm to partake in the conversation!
Over the past decade, American colleges and universities have seen enrollment decline, campuses close, programs cut, faculty and staff laid off, and public confidence erode. In Peak Higher Ed, futurist Bryan Alexander forecasts what the next decade might hold if we continue down this path.
Alexander outlines a powerful framework for understanding what led to this moment: declining birthrates, surging student debt, rising tuition, shifting political winds, and growing skepticism about the value of a college degree. He maps out how these forces, if left unchecked, could continue to reshape academia by shrinking its footprint, narrowing its mission, and jeopardizing its role in addressing the planet’s most pressing challenges. Alexander explores how institutions might adapt or recover, presenting two possible futures: a path of managed descent and a more hopeful course of reinvention.
SECOND WEDNESDAY MORNING OF THE MONTH TEACHING CIRCLE (9/9, 10/14, and 11/11, 9:00-9:55AM, location: Adler Center 202): Email FRC Director, Rikki Abzug to reserve your free copy of the book and come to AC202 on Wednesday, September 9th, 1:00pm to partake in the conversation! There may be bagels!!!
Back by Popular Demand: AN INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY CIRCLE hosted by Satarupa Dasgupta (Communication Arts). Meets Virtually (Zoom), Thursdays, September 17, October 15, and November 19th, 1:00-2:00pm
Increasingly in our classrooms we have students who have learning differences and who are neurodiverse. This teaching circle will be a space where we can discuss ideas, brainstorm resources and exchange knowledge on strategies, resources and best practices to enhance the education outcomes of our students with learning differences, and also improve the teaching experiences of the faculty. The goal will be to create a diverse and equitable learning environment for our students, including those who differ from the neuro-normative, and allow them to flourish within and beyond higher education.
To Join:
FRC Inclusive Pedagogy Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85757529124?pwd=OXLmX0Voz7AKlXIVnMqTee2vkVaVuK.1
Meeting ID: 857 5752 9124
Passcode: 405935
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: PROFESSOR SWAP!!!
PROFESSOR SWAP INTEREST GAUGING VIRTUAL RECEPTION!
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 8:00PM https://meet.google.com/sig-ovbw-xpn
Would you like to help us bring back The Professor Swap program which pairs faculty up with each other (preferably with someone outside of his or her school) and has them teach in each other’s courses? They can switch their classes for a session and teach a different subject but relate it to their own field, they can coordinate a joint session, or they can experiment with cameos in each other’s classes. For example, a philosophy teacher might design a class about the philosophy of math; a psychology professor could teach biology but relate it to cognitive functioning in the human brain.
This is a great opportunity for us to learn from our colleagues and facilitate interdisciplinarity! All faculty members interested in participating are welcome to get involved by joining us for a virtual reception (BYOcanape), Thursday evening, September 17, 8:00pm: https://meet.google.com/sig-ovbw-xpn
If you can’t join us virtually but would still like to be paired up with someone to swap classes, please email the FRC Director, Rikki Abzug. Please indicate the following information:
- Your Name
- Swap Class: Name/Subject/Course
- Day & Time of Swap Class
- Other Days/Times Available
- Preferred Swap Discipline
We will work with you to find someone who would be a good fit for you.
PRESSING PEDAGOGICAL PREDICAMENTS IS BACK,
IF YOU WANT IT!
Propose an idea and a date/time for an FRC one-off (a film, a talk, a panel, etc.) and we’ll make it happen!
**MARK YOUR CALENDAR**
Faculty Development WEEK, October 12-16, will include exciting events addressing our INTERDISCIPLINARY pillar
PAST EVENTS: SPRING 2026!
Faculty Book Club Meeting
HOW TO DO NOTHING
** A New York Times Bestseller **
In a world where addictive technology is designed to buy and sell our attention, and our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity, it can seem impossible to escape. But in this inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, artist and critic Jenny Odell shows us how we can still win back our lives.
Join us THURSDAY, JANUARY 29th at 1:00pm in AC202
Back by Popular Demand: An Inclusive Pedagogy Circle hosted by Satarupa Dasgupta (Communication Arts). Meets Virtually (), Thursdays, January 29, February 26, March 26, and April 30, 1:00-2:00pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 836 2892 1686
Passcode: 673564
Increasingly in our classrooms we have students who have learning differences and who are neurodiverse. This teaching circle will be a space where we can discuss ideas, brainstorm resources and exchange knowledge on strategies, resources and best practices to enhance the education outcomes of our students with learning differences, and also improve the teaching experiences of the faculty. The goal will be to create a diverse and equitable learning environment for our students, including those who differ from the neuro-normative, and allow them to flourish within and beyond higher education.
***NEW FOR SPRING 2026***
A Serendipitous Offering of Faculty-Led Talk/Discussions on
Pressing Pedagogical Predicaments
KICK-OFF: Wednesday, February 11, 1:00pm at the FRC (LC202)
Timely Warnings, Tenacious Teaching: Tech Free Pedagogy for Student Mental Health in the age of AI – offered by Dr. Maya Poran, Psychology
In a time of swift radical socio-cultural transformation, the AI wave cresting upon us feels unstoppable. Educators at all levels have been swept into a net of entangling questions regarding the integration of AI into the college environment in general, the classroom in particular, and life in toto. Educators are being encouraged to incorporate AI into their teaching, and so we are asking ourselves critical questions, among them: To teach, or not to teach, with AI? Is there any way one can keep AI out of student work? What are the ethical ramifications for the utilization of AI, ranging from environmental, academic, and interpersonal impact? In this talk, Dr. Maya Poran re-centers the ethical conversation through a psychological and a mental health lens, proposing that the integration of AI into our classrooms may unwittingly contribute to the mental health decline we are seeing in young people. She further proposes that student well-being and mental health needs to be at the forefront; the primary ethical lens we must consider before moving toward AI integration. Dr. Poran (a tech-free classroom advocate and practitioner) will further share her informed pedagogical choices and the classroom strategies she utilizes to guide students into mastery and ownership of their learning, not only for their academic success, but for their overall health as human beings. Please, join us for this important conversation!
TEACHING CIRCLE
THE COMPOSER’S BLACK BOX
First Meeting: Wednesday, February 18th 12:00pm, LC202
MINI-TECHFEST
Transforming Student Work with Digital Tools
Librarian Victoria Sciancalepore leads a dynamic session
on March 4th at 1:00pm in the IDC (LC201)
We know our students live online, but are they critically engaging with the digital world or just consuming it?
Join us for a fast-paced, practical showcase of five web-based tools that empower students to build arguments, not just write them. In this one-hour session, we will look ‘under the hood’ of tools like Voyant (text analysis), TimelineJS (chronology), StoryMapJS (spatial narrative), and WordPress.
This isn’t about technology for technology’s sake. We will focus on the pedagogical payoff: how these tools teach students to curate evidence, structure non-linear logic, and publish public-facing scholarship. You will see live, rehearsed demonstrations of each tool and leave with a digital resource guide to help you integrate them into your syllabus next semester.
**SAVE THE DATES**
SPRING Faculty Development WEEK,
March 10-12, including exciting events over a series of days in March.
INTERNATIONAL INFUSION!
