Original Lilly Conference provides environment to learn, network
Conference is Nov. 20-22; scholarships available for Miami participants
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Published
The Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching will be held on Miami University's Oxford campus on Nov. 20-22.
Original Lilly Conference provides environment to learn, network
•
Published
From in-depth workshops to networking opportunities, the 44th edition of the Original Lilly Conference on College Teaching has a little bit of everything for educators, no matter the experience level.
That’s one of the reasons conference director Gregg Wentzell is so excited Miami University is again, as always, the host location of the conference, held this year Nov. 20-22 at Armstrong Student Center. The conference is among the most renowned events in the nation focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Another reason? “The learning never gets old,” said Wentzell, assistant director of Miami’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE). “There’s always something new here for people to learn.”
More than 350 participants have registered for this year’s conference, which Wentzell calls Miami’s “pre-Thanksgiving tradition.”
Around 130 of those registered are part of Miami’s faculty, staff, and graduate students. This year, registration scholarships are available until Nov. 14 for Miami instructors, graduate students, and staff.
“Certainly, for Miami to have it in its backyard and to have Miami people attend for free is an enormous benefit,” Wentzell said. “They can come to the conference on their own schedule.”
Preconference workshops will be held the morning of Nov. 20, followed by concurrent sessions that afternoon and the opening plenary session Thursday evening. Concurrent sessions continue all day on Friday and on Saturday morning. Friday evening features an all-conference poster session and a Lilly Game Night social opportunity.
Plenary speakers for 2025 include Mary-Ann Winkelmes, founder and director of TILT Higher Ed; Claire Howell Major, UA Distinguished Teaching Professor of Higher Education at the University of Alabama; and Megan Kohler, a learning designer at the Dutton Institute of Pennsylvania State University.
Earlier this year, Major served as the CTE’s visiting teacher-scholar.
Lilly is the result of the hard work of the outstanding Lilly team at the CTE: Wentzell; Ellen Yezierski, CTE director; Raed Gazi, center support specialist; Alicia Miller, administrative associate; and Rebecca Cotterman, program associate. Lisa Sheard, Student Activities, supervises Miami students who serve as session chairs and shuttle van drivers.
“We are extremely proud to continue to host the Original Lilly Conference and the longevity behind it,” Wentzell said. “What people learn at Lilly can impact thousands of students over the course of time. That’s a pretty powerful responsibility.”
An app containing the conference’s guidebook is available and allows users to better design their own schedules for the three-day forum.
Wentzell said camaraderie is another of the conference’s many benefits.
“People who have come to the Original Lilly Conference have struck up friendships and relationships that extend well beyond the conference,” Wentzell said. “And participants learn things that they can put to use right away, things that are going to change the way they teach. You’re able to go back to your home campus re-energized for the stretch run of the semester.
“This is an environment where everyone is eager to learn and share with one another.”
That’s one of the reasons conference director Gregg Wentzell is so excited Miami University is again, as always, the host location of the conference, held this year Nov. 20-22 at Armstrong Student Center. The conference is among the most renowned events in the nation focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Another reason? “The learning never gets old,” said Wentzell, assistant director of Miami’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE). “There’s always something new here for people to learn.”
More than 350 participants have registered for this year’s conference, which Wentzell calls Miami’s “pre-Thanksgiving tradition.”
Around 130 of those registered are part of Miami’s faculty, staff, and graduate students. This year, registration scholarships are available until Nov. 14 for Miami instructors, graduate students, and staff.
“Certainly, for Miami to have it in its backyard and to have Miami people attend for free is an enormous benefit,” Wentzell said. “They can come to the conference on their own schedule.”
Preconference workshops will be held the morning of Nov. 20, followed by concurrent sessions that afternoon and the opening plenary session Thursday evening. Concurrent sessions continue all day on Friday and on Saturday morning. Friday evening features an all-conference poster session and a Lilly Game Night social opportunity.
Plenary speakers for 2025 include Mary-Ann Winkelmes, founder and director of TILT Higher Ed; Claire Howell Major, UA Distinguished Teaching Professor of Higher Education at the University of Alabama; and Megan Kohler, a learning designer at the Dutton Institute of Pennsylvania State University.
Earlier this year, Major served as the CTE’s visiting teacher-scholar.
Lilly is the result of the hard work of the outstanding Lilly team at the CTE: Wentzell; Ellen Yezierski, CTE director; Raed Gazi, center support specialist; Alicia Miller, administrative associate; and Rebecca Cotterman, program associate. Lisa Sheard, Student Activities, supervises Miami students who serve as session chairs and shuttle van drivers.
“We are extremely proud to continue to host the Original Lilly Conference and the longevity behind it,” Wentzell said. “What people learn at Lilly can impact thousands of students over the course of time. That’s a pretty powerful responsibility.”
An app containing the conference’s guidebook is available and allows users to better design their own schedules for the three-day forum.
Wentzell said camaraderie is another of the conference’s many benefits.
“People who have come to the Original Lilly Conference have struck up friendships and relationships that extend well beyond the conference,” Wentzell said. “And participants learn things that they can put to use right away, things that are going to change the way they teach. You’re able to go back to your home campus re-energized for the stretch run of the semester.
“This is an environment where everyone is eager to learn and share with one another.”
Established in 1809, Miami University is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg.
