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Fall 2025 UConn ECE Marine Sciences Instructor Workshop

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ECE was also present on the Avery Point campus last Friday, where we welcomed our Marine Sciences instructors through a collaboration with Faculty Coordinator Claudia Koerting, Ph.D.. Instructors were given the opportunity to hear from Professor Craig Tobias, new director at the CT National Estuarine Research Reserve, regarding what is new at the CTNERR! Additionally, they were able to engage in a lively resource exchange and conversation with one another regarding obtaining enrichment funding to supplement their instruction! Finally, the day ended with a boat tour of one of the vessels housed at the Avery Point campus!

Thank you to all who attended and contributed their time to supporting our community of instructors! We look forward to next year’s event.

Marine Sciences (MARN) courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Fall 2025 UConn ECE History 1300 Instructor Workshop

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On Tuesday, October 14th, our ECE History 1300 Instructors joined us on the UConn Storrs campus for their annual professional development experience! We extend our thanks to Dr. Sherri Olson, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for History 1300: Western Traditions Before 1500, for her creativity and dedication to creating a meaningful experience for our instructors. The morning began with an address from Dr. Kevin Feeney, an Assistant Professor in Roman History in the UConn History Department. Dr. Feeney delivered a lecture titled “Late Antiquity: An Age Between Ages”, followed by a Q & A session. In the afternoon, instructors participated in a Document Workshop entitled  “Education, Autocracy, and Censorship in Late Antiquity”, where participants discussed The Emperor Julian’s Edict on Teaching. It was certainly a jam-packed day!

Many thanks as always to our contributors and attendees, and we look forward to connecting with you all again next year!

History (HIST) courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Fall 2025 UConn ECE Business Instructor Workshop

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Friday, October 10, 2025 also marked the date of the first ECE Business instructor workshop! We were excited to host a group of 11 business instructors, and we are grateful to our brand-new faculty coordinator for Business, Dr. Vishal Baloria, for his efforts and support for our ECE instructors!

Friday’s workshop was packed with content, beginning with a discussion on Wealth Management & Technology facilitated by Daniel Gilham, Managing Director of Advisor Strategy at Farther financial services firm. Following a lunch break, instructors then got to experience a presentation on Financial and Media Literacy led by Francine McKenna, a member of faculty at the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania and a financial journalist. Next, Ilona Bastiaansen, Assistant Professor of Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame joined us for a discussion on High School Financial Education Mandates. Finally, and perhaps the biggest highlight of the day was a lively student panel with four undergraduates who had previously been enrolled in Dr. Baloria’s Personal Financial Literacy course. Thank you to Conner, Jack, Kaeleigh, and Maya for their time and insights!

It was a great day, and we are so grateful to our contributors and our attendees! We can’t wait for next year’s workshop.

Chinese (BUSN) courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Fall 2025 UConn ECE Chinese Instructor Workshop

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Here at ECE, we finished our week off with two Friday professional development experiences! First, we wanted to highlight our ECE Chinese workshop, which came together thanks to the tireless efforts of Professor Chunsheng Yang, our ECE faculty coordinator for Chinese.

Instructors convened on the UConn Storrs campus for some networking, as well as two interactive presentations facilitated by some of our very own ECE Chinese instructors! First, Amy Watt from Simsbury High School and Shiffon Theodore from Conard High School led the group in a discussion on strategies to improve L2 Chinese reading. Then, Feng Xia from Amity High School executed a presentation on engaging communicative projects in class. Finally, Yang Wang, an Associate Teaching Professor of East Asian Studies from Brown University, presented a digital story-telling project to the group.

Thank you very much to our contributors, and our instructors for joining us for a successful day! We hope to see many of you next year.

Chinese (CHIN) courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Fall 2025 UConn ECE Chemistry Instructor Workshop

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Happy October, ECE family!

To kick off a busy month of Professional Development events, our Chemistry instructors met on the Storrs Campus on Thursday, October 9th for an exciting workshop. The keynote address of the day was titled “Introduction to Molecular Quantum Science and Quantum Dots”, and during this session attendees got to hear from Dr. Jing Zhao and Dr. Tomoyasu Mani (you can read more about their research and contributions to the field below)! Instructors were then treated to a tour of some of UConn’s Chemistry lab facilities, for some hands-on experience with our state-of-the-art equipment.

Many thanks to our Faculty Coordinator, Fatma Selampinar, Ph.D., as well as Dr. Zhao and Dr. Mani for their time and efforts in supporting our instructors! We are grateful to all Chemistry instructors who attended as well. See you next year!

 

Dr. Jing Zhao: Dr. Zhao’s research focuses on the optical spectroscopy of semiconductor and metallic nanoparticles, aiming to i) to characterize the optical and structural properties of nanoparticles at the single particle level; ii) to understand the interaction between various materials, e.g. exciton-plasmon interaction between colloidal quantum dots and noble metal nanoparticles; iii) to functionalize the nanoparticles and to control and optimize their properties for biological sensing and imaging, and energy related applications.

Dr. Tomoyasu Mani: Dr. Mani leads a research group focused on exploring photo- and radiation-induced chemical reactions in condensed phases. His work aims to understand how to control electronic excited states, charge and exciton transfer, and spin dynamics in molecules and molecular assemblies. Insights from his research contribute to the development of emerging technologies in quantum information science, biomedical imaging, and green chemistry. His laboratory specializes in the synthesis of molecules with quantum functionalities, as well as time-resolved optical spectroscopy and pulse radiolysis, to investigate ultrafast processes and transient species.

Chemistry (CHEM) courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Fall 2025 UConn ECE United States History Instructor Workshop

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Welcome back ECE Community! It was our pleasure last Thursday, September 25th to host the first professional development workshop of the 2025-26 school year. Thanks to the efforts of Faculty Coordinator Dr. Matthew McKenzie, our ECE United States History instructors met virtually for a timely discussion entitled “Teaching US History in Our Current Climate: Challenges, Opportunities, and Student Support Strategies”. Thank you to all 52 teachers who joined us, and to Matt for his continued efforts and support for ECE.

We’re glad to be back, and cannot wait to connect with many more of you in the coming months!

UConn History (HIST) courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Fall 2025 UConn ECE Philosophy Instructor Workshop

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This past Friday, September 26th, ECE Philosophy instructors met virtually with Faculty Coordinator Dr. Mitchell Green and UConn Philosophy Ph.D. candidate Ahmed AboHamad for two discussion sessions. Dr. Green led the group in a conversation surrounding smartphone usage and AI in the classroom, and Mr. AboHamad facilitated a presentation entitled ‘Teaching Literary Stoicism’, which is described in more detail below:

This presentation focused on the contemporary revival of Stoicism and its liberatory potential. At the heart of Stoic ethics is the distinction between what lies within our control and what does not, a distinction that has profound implications for political life. On one hand, Stoicism’s emphasis on virtue as both necessary and sufficient for the good life can be an antidote to consumerist cultures that place excessive value on external goods. On the other, its liberatory promise depends on orienting individuals to see the contingent nature of unjust social and political structures. I take this as a starting point for thinking about the role of education, especially the humanities, in expanding our capacity to imagine more just worlds and making Stoic wisdom truly liberatory.

Finally, UConn Philosophy’s Alina Ahmed and Maria Genova discussed their roles as Philosophers-in-Residence supported by the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO).

We are grateful to all who attended this year’s session, and we extend special thanks to the guest contributors and Mitch for their support of the ECE program.

Philosophy (PHIL) courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Spring 2025 UConn ECE EDLR 2001 Instructor Workshop

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It was a beautiful day on Friday, April 25, when we were joined by a group of 15 EDLR 2001: Contemporary Social Issues in Sport instructors on the UConn Storrs Campus. Thanks to the continued efforts of Dr. Danielle DeRosa, Faculty Coordinator for Educational Leadership, this group has grown to include teachers from a variety of unique disciplines, including History, English, Health/Physical Education, and Social Studies. Each provides a unique lens through which to teach their students about the industry of sport. Instructors were given the opportunity to meet with Eric Schneider, Associate Director of Athletics and Compliance at UConn, to discuss the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics, including NIL (name, image, and likeness) policies.

The afternoon was topped off by a walking tour of several of UConn’s athletic facilities, including Gampel Pavilion, the flagship site of the “Basketball Capitol of the World”, along with the baseball, softball, volleyball, and ice hockey facilities. Many thanks to Dan Petrik, a Master’s candidate in Sports Management, for the exciting tour.

Thank you to all who joined us for the day’s events, and especially to Danielle for her continued collaboration with the ECE program.

UConn Education (EDLR/EDCI) courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Spring 2025 UConn ECE Spanish Instructor Workshop

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ECE extends our thanks to the 85 certified Spanish Instructors who joined us at Friday, April 11th’s annual Professional Development conference. The group convened on the UConn Storrs Campus, joined by Professor Oscar Martin, chair for the Department of Languages and Literatures at Lehman College. Professor Martin delivered a lecture entitled “Estudiantes, hay camino y se hace camino al andar” (Translation: “Students, there is a path, and the path is made by walking”). Following the keynote address, instructors had the opportunity to work on a collaborative group project with their peers.

Thank you to all who joined us this past week, especially our wonderful faculty coordinators for ECE Spanish, Gustavo Nanclares, Ph.D. and Celines Villalba Rosado, Ph.D.

We look forward to connecting with you all again soon!

UConn Spanish courses available through UConn Early College Experience.

Spring 2025 UConn ECE Art Instructor Workshop

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ECE welcomed our Art instructors for a virtual professional development experience this past Thursday, thanks to the tireless efforts of Cora Lynn Deibler, our ECE Faculty Coordinator for Art. Attendees got the chance to be in community with two guest speakers, whose information can be found below!

Douglas Degges, Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing, University of Connecticut

Professor Robyn Phillips-Pendleton, University of Delaware

Thank you to all who joined us this past week, and for their continued support of the ECE Art program!

UConn Art courses available through UConn Early College Experience.