Category: News

By Rick Vacek | August 11, 2025 Until this year, recognition of the Short-term Working Group program’s success was limited to The University of Texas at Dallas. Now the SWGs are known internationally. Steamboat, a short produced in a Spring 2024 SWG led by Dr. Christine Veras, was selected for a special screening at the […]

By Rick Vacek | May 5, 2025 Dr. Salena Brody’s wildest dreams continue to be exceeded only by the reality of the Short-term Working Groups. As the pandemic waned several years ago, the Associate Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning dreamed of starting a program that would unite faculty and small groups of […]

By Rick Vacek | April 16, 2025 As The University of Texas at Dallas continues to deepen its international education footprint, Dr. Carol Cirulli Lanham is one of the many administrators and faculty members who are walking that walk. But the experienced traveler’s first trip to Australia last fall was an especially important step. Cirulli Lanham visited Deakin University’s Melbourne […]

By Rick Vacek | March 17, 2025 They grew up in vastly different places and cultures, across the world from each other, but their relationships are built on what they have in common as colleagues at The University of Texas at Dallas. That simple and yet powerful fact of life in two mentor-mentee pairings perfectly encapsulates […]

Interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty can create dynamic, active learning experiences that transcend academic boundaries. A recent project at UT Dallas exemplifies this approach. Led by Dr. Siham Raboune, Dr. Katrina Rushing and Dr. Christine Veras, the collaboration united students from neuropharmacology, music theory and experimental animation to raise mental health awareness through short animations aimed […]

Engineering was an unlikely career path for Dr. Nandika D’Souza, who recently joined The University of Texas at Dallas as associate dean of strategic initiatives in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. Engineering was considered an unconventional field for girls when she was growing up. Her father’s death when she was 5 left her […]

Incorporating technology in the classroom is a priority for Dr. Oziel Rios, professor of instruction in mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas. His first-year mechanical engineering students in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science use laser cutters to make trusses and blades for model wind turbines. They measure how the trusses respond to stress […]

CTL will host Professor Keiko Ikeda, a global expert in Virtual Exchange/Collaborative Online International Learning, for a 1 p.m. workshop on March 6, 2025.  Ikeda, Executive Project Lead for the Japan Hub for Innovative Global Education (JIGE), has played a key role in expanding COIL across Asia and beyond, leading initiatives that connect faculty and […]

When social anxiety prevents students from forming connections with one another, it can have detrimental effects on their academic success and mental health. At the recent CTL Mini-Conference, Dr. Ben Porter, assistant dean of effective teaching in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, presented an approach that he is using to counter […]

To understand what the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) does at The University of Texas at Dallas, the first step is to understand what it does not do. It does not simply place highly regarded teachers in front of a group and anoint their proclamations as gospel, even if students sing their praises. “Understanding teaching and learning is not […]