2021 KEEN National Conference Talks
Day 2
In February 2021, hundreds of leaders, faculty, and staff from top universities came together in a virtual conference for engineering educators: The KEEN National Conference.
Attendees were inspired and invigorated by keynotes, plenary talks, and over 30 interactive sessions geared toward reinventing engineering education with the entrepreneurial mindset. We're happy to share these exclusive talks from Day 2 of the conference, ranging from why character is a very important purpose and aim of education, to reimagining the promotion and tenure process, to how we can humanize engineering.
Kindness, Generosity, Grit, and Character
Author Angela Duckworth talks with Michael Lamb about how she started using 'character' in an intentional way, the most important influences on her character as a child and young adult, and why character is a very important purpose and aim of education.
Angela Duckworth, Founder and CEO, Character Lab
Reimagining Promotion & Tenure
Why do we use an outdated, one-size-fits-all policy to determine the fate of our professional careers?
"We all know that getting promoted and getting tenure is critical to our professional success," says Margaret Pinnell. "Yet generally, the process does not reward innovation in research, teaching, or service. It does not allow a faculty member to lean into their gifts, talents, and passions. Instead, P&T polices tend to have a cookie-cutter idea of what a faculty member is."
Join Margaret in reimagining the P&T process and learn about the University of Dayton's new policy!
Margaret Pinnell, Associate Dean for Faculty and Staff Development, University of Dayton
Humanizing Engineering
The polls are in: Engineers are near the top of the list for professions most trusted by the public. . .but aren't even mentioned in the list for professions that help people or have a positive effect on the world.
What does it mean for engineers to be trusted, yet not be seen as helpful or impactful?
Olga Pierrakos talks about humanizing engineering, reimagining the flourishing of our profession and humanity, and the role we all play to ethically change the status of our profession with the goal of bettering our society. She's identified two high-level strategies to achieve a higher purpose of flourishing: Accessibility and Adaptability.
Olga Pierrakos, Founding Chair and Professor, Wake Forest University
Resources
Conference Talks, Day 1
