Last spring, Temple University Libraries launched Faculty Grand Challenges Conversation Series. Joe Lucia, Dean of Libraries, explains that this interdisciplinary collaboration was on his mind during the planning stages for the Charles Library. “The idea for this building was to create a space where faculty and others across campus could interact across the disciplines and colleges,” he said.
Dean Lucia admitted that this series of conversations was not an individual undertaking but a joint effort. Josh Gladden, Vice President for Research and Professor of Physics and Jennifer Wood, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, were a large part of getting the first conversation off the ground.
“We found a great partner in Dean Lucia as well as Vice Provost Jennifer Wood,” Gladden said. “There are no institutions in our society that are positioned to do this better than universities because under one roof we have an incredible array of expertise,” he went on to say, “and we have the ability and the responsibility to do what we can to pull these teams together to address multidimensional problems.”
These conversations address topics that can be approached by faculty from various specialties to engage in discussion. A faculty member, often with direct involvement in the topic, acts as the moderator to guide the conversation.
“We realize that there are many different aspects to this idea of bringing faculty together,” Wood said. “We wanted to create a space in which faculty with shared interests could connect across the disciplines and really strengthen those faculty networks.”
Dean Lucia and Vice Provost Wood emphasize that these events can foster relationships for faculty in a more nuanced way than typical university functions. As Lucia sees it, “These informal gatherings are also a way for faculty to meet other people who are doing research in areas they are interested in. Which in turn creates an opportunity for an informal social network that could generate interdisciplinary research, partnerships, and projects, or even just build relationships that might go in that direction.”
As a faculty member, Wood believes informality is crucial to the success of these conversations. “Some of the most stimulating conversations that I’ve had have been in informal settings,” she said, “and sometimes those can lead to big things. For us, in our offices, if we could create more spaces for that organic chemistry that can happen between faculty with shared interests, then that’s really helping advance the mission of Temple as a community of leaders, dedicated scholars and teachers.”
During his time as a professor and journey through academia, Gladden thinks that it’s quite typical and tempting to maintain an intense focus on one’s specific area within a department. This can lead to a limited perspective of the scholarly community. The Faculty Grand Challenges Conversation Series is trying to break away from that narrative and establish a program that challenges this tendency.
With the rapid advancement of computer-generated content, universities find themselves grappling with the momentous task of integrating these tools into their environments. The early Faculty Conversations helped to initiate the much-needed discussion with faculty of the urgent paradigm shift that AI, along with other hot button issues, have caused in academia.
The Libraries hosted the first Faculty Conversation on March 20, 2024. This forum brought together seven esteemed faculty members, who shared their insights on the use of AI within their respective industries and classrooms. The panel was moderated by Brian Hutler, Associate Professor of Philosophy from the College and Liberal Arts, and included:
Stephanie Fiore, Associate Vice Provost & Senior Director for the Center of Advancement of Teaching (CAT)
Abby Guido, Tyler School of Art and Architecture
Phillip Dames, College of Engineering
Slobodan Vucetic, College of Engineering
Christine Cleaver, School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management
Bruce Hardy, Klein College of Media and Communication
Steve Ryan, Klein College of Media and Communication
To read more about their insights, please visit our Temple Libraries blog.
We have had two events since then. Whitney Cabey moderated a panel on health equity that included Grace X. Ma, Amid Ismail, Van Hellerslia, Tricia Richards-Service, Sarah Bass, and Allison Hayes-Conroy during the fall of 2024. Earlier this semester, Aunshul Rege moderated a discussion on digital security with Jan Fernback, Brian Hutler, and Subodha Kumar.
Lucia, Dean of Libraries, hopes that the library will continue to be a hub for collaborative engagement. In his view, it serves as a communal space for dynamic collective thought and interaction. Post-pandemic, he believes “there is still a certain level of hunger for these kinds of unusual opportunities where people are outside of their local spaces and coming together. My goal is to continue to reinforce the experience and reality that Charles Library is a place where these kinds of programs can happen and where our facilities are really designed to make it work.”
Wood’s vision is to foster ongoing collaboration among faculty members, bringing them together in various constellations centered around major challenges and inherently interdisciplinary themes. She hopes this series will have a long-lasting impact, highlighting the wide range of expertise present at Temple University.
Gladden sees these events as a bigger funnel for research endeavors at the university that could create new opportunities like I-SPARK.
I-SPARK provides a tiered support system for faculty research. Tier 1: Collide fosters team collaboration and vision refinement. Tier 2: Catalyze refines the vision, offers funding support, and potential seed funding. Tier 3: Spark supports complex proposal development and submissions. This structured approach ensures tailored assistance at every stage.
“At the top and widest part of the funnel are events like the Grand Challenges series, as well as the research symposium that we launched this January. Grand Challenges is an important piece of the larger vision to grow the research impact at Temple,” Gladden said.
We hope you will join us at the next Faculty Grand Challenges Conversation. Charles Library continues to be a venue for shared experiences, conversations, and exchanges.
