Peter Felten has been named director of Elon University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, a new program that will allow faculty members to develop and evaluate new methods of teaching and promote a greater understanding of the learning process. Details...
“The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning will provide a platform for Elon to lead a national conversation on best practices in higher education,” said Elon President Leo M. Lambert. “Elon already has a national reputation for excellence in engaged teaching and learning. This center will allow us to move the discussion to a higher level, and Peter Felten’s experience in the development of new pedagogies and innovative programs will be a tremendous asset in his work as the center’s founding director.”
Felten comes to Elon from Vanderbilt University where he was associate director of the Center for Teaching, leading new initiatives focused on grants and innovation. Previously, he served as the center’s assistant director, developing programs for faculty members and conducting individual teaching consultations. He also served as liaison to several colleges and departments at Vanderbilt, including the school of medicine and the Peabody College of Education. Felten also served as a senior lecturer in Vanderbilt’s department of history, teaching courses on university desegregation, 1960s U.S. history and the Caribbean slave trade.
Active in the Vanderbilt community, Felten served as co-chair of the university’s service-learning task force and on the Phi Beta Kappa membership committee.
Felten was chair of the liberal arts department at Tulsa Community College Southeast Campus from 1996-1999, coordinating curriculum and faculty development for more than 90 faculty members. He also taught courses in history and leadership development.
Felten’s career as a teacher began in 1988 at the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught history courses as a teaching assistant, extension instructor and assistant instructor. He received his undergraduate degree in history from Marquette University in 1988, and earned a doctorate in history from the University of Texas in 1995.
An active scholar, Felten has published essays and reviews on the scholarship of teaching and learning. He is a frequent panelist at academic conferences on topics including course development and assessment. He has collaborated on national initiatives with groups such as the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship at Georgetown University, the American Social History Project and the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. Felten was recently elected as one of five new Core Committee Members for a three-year term in the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, the leading organization for faculty development professionals.
The Elon Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning will inspire learning through innovative teaching and programs. The center will promote excellence in the scholarship of teaching and learning and assist faculty with reflection and self-evaluation of the teaching process.
The center will be located in the next pavilion in Elon’s Academic Village complex. The new pavilion, which will be named in honor of William Henry Belk through a $500,000 gift from The Belk Foundation of Charlotte, N.C., will have flexible space to allow faculty to experiment with different classroom setup options. The pavilion will be equipped with the latest in technology and video equipment so faculty members can observe and evaluate student learning in the classroom.