Yale Center for Teaching and Learning

Faculty Bulldog Days

Mission

Jennifer Frederick, Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives, invites faculty at Yale to take part in Faculty Bulldog Days. Faculty open their classes to their peers in the spirit of making teaching more public. This presents an opportunity to observe the wealth of deep knowledge addressed in our courses every day and to become more engaged in our community of scholars.

How to participate

When: Week of October 7-11, 2024

Next steps:

  • Sign up to open up your class by September 9, 2024, letting us know your course information, the day you would like to open up your class, and the number of people who you would like to allow to visit.
  • We will allow Yale community members to sign up to sit in on your class starting September 23, 2024.

Hear first-hand from faculty about their experiences with Faculty Bulldog Days

YaleNews: Seeing Yale from the other side of the lectern, February 29, 2024, by Kevin Dennehy

“Faculty Bulldog Days is a celebration of what a university should be. Visiting my colleagues’ classes makes me feel like a student again. And I have opened up my classroom for the same reason: I love to share what I do with others.” — Professor Eduardo Fernandez-Duque

WATCH: Faculty Bulldog Days video

 

A Yale professor sits in a traditional classroom, listening attentively. She is surrounded by students taking notes.

Pictured above: Professor Juliana Ramos-Ruano sits in on a class during Faculty Bulldog Days in 2015. Photo by Michael Marsland.

Get ready! 

Explore a new discipline or watch a class across campus to interact with colleagues that you might not see on a regular basis. You’ll learn a lot from experts in their field and you might consider adapting an exercise or seminar format for your discipline. Participants and hosts are encouraged to discuss teaching at Yale. If you have not taught in front of your peers, consider opening your class for the first time!

Impact

Yale’s Poorvu Center has sponsored this initiative since spring 2015.  Each semester, faculty have opened more than 90 courses to their peers and more than 100 community members register to attend at least one of the open courses. More than 700 unique people have taken part in this initiative. Past FBD dates:

  • April 8 - April 12, 2024
  • February 27 – March 3, 2023
  • Online: April – July, 2020
  • October 28 –November 1, 2019
  • February 27 – March 3, 2017
  • April 11 – 15, 2016
  • April 9 – 13, 2018
  • October 8 – 12, 2018
  • April 8 – 12, 2019
  • April 6 – 10, 2015
  • October 3 – 7, 2016
  • October 2 – 6, 2017
  • October 26 – 30, 2015

Data

  • 82% of people were extremely satisfied with their overall Faculty Bulldog Days experience.
  • “I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed my experience with Faculty Bulldog Days.  The two classes I attended were very interesting, it was a treat to learn and think about things outside of my usual work.” - Leslie Sude M.D. | Assistant Clinical Professor | Yale University School of Medicine
  • One respondent stated a new found respect for “having close interactions with students to increase their engagement”

 

Pictured above: Professor David Evans teaches his course, “Dynamic Earth,” during Faculty Bulldog Days in October 2016 with attendee Joseph Wolenski, Research Scientist and Lecturer in the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Department.

 

Faculty Bulldog Days debuts in April 2015
At Faculty Bulldog Days, the emphasis will be on sparking a cross-pollination of teaching excellence.
Teaching takes the spotlight during Faculty Bulldog Days
“I hope that this program will be offered again next year,” said Ruth Koizim, Professor of French. “It was great fun and really can break down barriers between disciplines and departments.”
Teachers — and Yale's president — become the students during Faculty Bulldog Days
For its second edition, the event expanded beyond the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to include faculty from the School of Management and the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
facbulldogdays-print-nobleed.pdf
FBD 2024 Schedule