Keynote Presentation
The Joy of Teaching: Cultivating Student and Faculty Well-being
A college class can be a peak human experience – a group of motivated, curious human beings working together on shared goals that enliven the mind and enrich the soul. It is also a rare example of human striving that has a clear beginning, a satisfying end, and the development of community in between. Indeed, a well-run college class represents all of the building blocks of subjective well-being: positive emotions, autonomy, competence, belongingness, and satisfaction with life. Unfortunately, this ideal is often not realized due to internal and external forces – distracting stressors weighing on instructors and students alike, poor institutional support, and a lack of inclusion. In this interactive keynote, Sarah Rose Cavanagh presents research from both the science of well-being and the study of learning to argue that teaching can (and should) be a joy, then shares practical ways that instructors and institutions can support faculty and student well-being.
About Sarah Rose Cavanagh
Sarah Rose Cavanagh is the Senior Associate Director for Teaching and Learning in the Center for Faculty Excellence at Simmons University, where she also teaches in the Psychology Department as an Associate Professor of Practice. Before joining Simmons, she was a tenured Associate Professor of psychology and neuroscience at Assumption University, where she also served in the D'Amour Center for Teaching Excellence as Associate Director for Grants and Research.
Sarah's research considers the interplay of emotions, motivation, learning, and quality of life. Her most recent research project, funded by the National Science Foundation, convenes a network of scholars to develop teaching practices aimed at greater effectiveness and equity in undergraduate biology education. She is author of four books, including The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion (2016) and Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge (2023). She gives keynote addresses and workshops at a variety of colleges and regional conferences, blogs for Psychology Today, and writes essays for venues like Literary Hub and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She’s also on BlueSky too much, at @SaRoseCav.
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