Sunday, January 23, 2011

Dharavi Slum Tour in Mumbai

One of the best experiences of my trip to India was a tour of the Dharavi Slum in Mumbai (by Reality Tours). The guy giving our tour was a college student who grew up and still lives in one of the other Mumbai slums. asked that we not take photos on the tour, but you can view some photos here, here, here, and here. A few scenes from Slumdog Millionaire were filmed in Dharavi.







Saturday, January 22, 2011

Tenure Portfolio Submitted... It's time to party!

I submitted my Tenure portfolio to the Dean's office yesterday at 4:45 PM (due by 5PM), and it was a weight lifted off my shoulders. I think if I would have had the weekend to complete work on it I would have continued to work up to the last minute. I think it may be my education courses that emphasized portfolios, organization, etc., so I like to have them well organized. I am confident in the work I included in my portfolio. My Statement of Accomplishments is likely way too lengthy, and I am sure I could have added more supporting documents for teaching, research or service, but I tried to be as concise as possible.

The past two weeks have been even crazier than normal. As soon as I returned from India our college faculty had an Assurance of Learning Retreat and an Online Teaching workshop. I had to prepare for my online course to make sure it was ready for Tuesday's first day of class, and then are those other two classes I teach. At the same time my tenure portfolio was due on Friday. Needless to say I breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday afternoon at 5 PM. During this process I have been very thankful for a supportive division chair and dean. A small amount of encouragement and positive feedback goes a long way. I need to remember to do the same as an instructor.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

India 2010-2011

India iphone pics

India Trip...

My India trip was an amazing experience. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit India with a group of other faculty from different parts of the US, Canada, and Australia. It helped that three of those faculty are originally from India and provided even greater insight into our experience.

For more information visit the PDIB India site, hosted by Florida International University.