Inclusive teaching is a pedagogical approach that aims to create a learning environment where all students feel valued, respected, and engaged.

Each semester, the Inclusive Teaching Book Club reads through a book together, engaging in monthly discussions to consider practical, evidence-based strategies to make instruction, course design, and the classroom experience more welcoming for students of all backgrounds, experiences, and abilities.

Faculty, graduate students, post-docs, and instructional staff from across campus are all welcome to participate in the book club. Members meet once a month to:

• Find new ways to support their students' diverse learning needs
• Deepen their understanding of inclusive teaching
• Exchange experiences, questions, stories, and creative teaching ideas
• Connect with colleagues from across disciplines
• Build community with others at the UI

What books do we read?

Our Spring 2025 book is The Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching by Elizabeth A. Norell. 

In her book, Norell explores how stress and insecurities may hold instructors back and suggests strategies for bringing authenticity and presence to our work. 

Past selections include: 

• A Pedagogy of Kindness by Cate Denial.
• The Theory of Being: Practices for Transforming Self and Communities Across Difference by Watt et al.
• Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge by Sara Rose Cavanagh.  

How to join

Information for the spring 2025 book club will be released in January. Members of the UI community who would like to participate will be able to fill out an interest form at that time. 

If you have questions about the Inclusive Teaching Book Club, please email us at teaching@uiowa.edu.