Opportunities
Faculty and Staff Development Opportunities
The Institute offers opportunities for faculty and staff from across the disciplines to connect under a shared mission of transforming and integrating the paradigms and pedagogies of liberal arts and the professions. Faculty and staff can make these connections through:
- participating in reading groups,
- participating in lectures, seminars and events,
- applying for upcoming teaching and research fellowships,
- attending professional development opportunities, and more.
Curriculum Development Grants
Call for Proposals: 2022-2023
Antiracism, humane health, and sustainable development are the three initiatives of the Kingfisher Institute. The Institute invites faculty members to apply for curriculum development grants to integrate related content into their courses.
Up to ten grants of $1000 each are available this fiscal year. Any credit-bearing course that will be taught by a Creighton faculty member is eligible. Integration in existing courses is encouraged, though new courses are acceptable (follow the course proposal process for your school/college). Faculty teams are also welcome to apply.
Application Process
- Submit a proposal explaining how you will integrate one or more of the initiatives into your course.
- Deadlines are Dec. 1, 2022, or May 15, 2023.
- We will respond to proposals within 2-3 weeks following each deadline.
- Each successful submission will earn a grant of $1000 from the Kingfisher Institute.
- About five proposals will be accepted after each deadline, though the number may vary depending on the quantity and quality of submissions.
- Individuals applying together may be asked to split the amount.
- Grant recipients will need to submit a brief final report to kingfisher@creighton.edu (due 30 days after the term in which the new/revised course has been taught.
- Your report should include: the approximate number of students who completed the course, representative sample(s) of student work (anonymized) if applicable, and other outcomes or observations (such as student feedback).
- Grants will be paid after the final report is received.
Recent Curriculum Innovation
In 2021–2022, curriculum development focused on amplifying the Presidential Lecture Series speakers. Ten faculty members received funds to enhance their courses for medical, pharmacy and undergraduate students. More than 400 students explored the works of Edwidge Danticat, Colson Whitehead, Isabel Wilkerson or Damon Tweedy in spring 2022 thanks to these faculty members:
- Matthew Averett, PhD, Fine and Performing Arts Department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Kimberley Begley, PharmD, and Kevin Fuji, PharmD, Pharmacy Practice Department, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions
- Andrew Hogan, PhD, History and Medical Humanities Departments, College of Arts and Sciences and School of Medicine
- Brian Kokensparger, PhD, Computing, Design and Journalism Department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Mary Longo, PhD, English Department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Trey Moody, PhD, English Department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Kathleen Rettig, PhD, English Department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Theodore Wheeler, MFA, English Department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Carol Zuegner, PhD, Computing, Design and Journalism Department, College of Arts and Sciences
Elsewhere, the Kingfisher Institute was instrumental in developing a new social justice course. Working with Creighton’s EdD in Interdisciplinary Leadership Program Director Leah Georges, PhD, the Institute recruited a team to develop the program’s first course focused on social justice and diversity. The Institute provided faculty development funds to help compensate for course development time.
Led by course director Erika Kirby, PhD, faculty members from the Communication Studies, Education, English and History Departments developed Social Justice and Leadership (ILD 816), now a required online course for students in the Interdisciplinary EdD Program in Leadership. Kirby and Carin Appleget, PhD, assistant professor of education, taught the course for the first time in summer 2022.
