LEXINGTON, Ky.— Transylvania University is working to build a national reputation for applying digital technology to a liberal arts curriculum.
The Bingham Fund for Excellence in Teaching at Transylvania University has awarded two grants totaling $800,000 as part of the Transylvania Initiative for Digital Technology, Research, and Creativity (DTRC). The Bingham Fund was established to promote excellence and dedication among the school’s faculty who demonstrate exceptional teaching qualities.
The grants will fund the expansion of digital tools in classrooms and laboratories and will help train faculty and students to incorporate digital pedagogies into their courses and scholarly activities. In addition to financing travel to conferences and on-campus speakers, the funds will allow the university to hire a full-time digital content specialist with expertise in instructional technology.
This initiative comes at an opportune time, as Transylvania prepares to open its Carpenter Academic Center. The classroom building will integrate cutting-edge technologies, such as Mondopad collaborative touchscreens.
Professors Kerri Hauman and Tim Polashek (pictured) serve as co-directors of the Digital Liberal Arts Initiative, which received the DTRC grants. They are experts in digital education and extensively apply digital technology in their research and creative work.
“Like any medium that has such a pervasive role in human affairs, modern technology needs to be understood from many different perspectives,” said Transylvania President Seamus Carey. “Providing such perspective is one of the great benefits of liberal education.”