Book Circles - Winter 2026

The CTLT hosts book circles every academic quarter and during summers. They are open to all Cal Poly educators. Selected books draw from a broad array of thoughtful and inspiring educational literature. These are opportunities to enrich your knowledge about timely and significant topics related to higher education while engaging with colleagues from across campus. Participants receive a complimentary copy of the selected book with the expectation that they will engage in three or more discussion sessions. Themes for book circle selections include: Mindful Educators, Mastery Teaching, Inclusive Educators, Navigating Academia, and Writing Educators. 

NOTE: Our cumulative Book Circles list of titles is available on the CTLT's Book Circle archival web page.

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ALERT: Deadline for Course Content Accessibility is April 24, 2026 All digital course materials must be fully accessible to all students by April 24, 2026, to comply with Title II of the ADA. The mandate includes all course materials in Canvas to ensure that all students have equitable access to learning as well as to avoid potential legal consequences. Visit Fixing Course Accessibility for details and available support resources.

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College Students' Sense of Belonging: A Key To Educational Success for All Students

By Terrell L. Strayhorn 

Scholars have generated substantial evidence that students' sense of belonging―with peers, in the classroom, or on campus―can be critical contributor to persistence and achievement in college. That knowledge can spur educators to learn about principles and apply practices that support their students' sense of belonging in college classrooms and beyond. Dr. Strayhorn's second edition of his book helps us to understand that a sense of belonging can differ based on students’ social identities (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation) and on experiences within the campus culture. This book explores student sub-populations and campus environments, offering readers updated information about sense of belonging, how it develops for students, and a conceptual model for helping students belong and thrive. Grounded in theory and research, it offers practical guidelines for fostering sense of belonging in classrooms, clubs, residence halls, and other contexts for any educator dedicated to student success. 

NOTE: Dr. Strayhorn is scheduled to be on campus in late February for a keynote (and other sessions to be announced) by invitation from Student Affairs.

NOTE: Book is available free through Kennedy Library to read online or to download.

A "Mindful Educator" selection

Dates: Tuesdays, Jan 27, Feb 3, 10, 17
Time: 12:10-1 pm
Location: Onsite (Chase Hall 104) and online (zoom)
Facilitator: Patrick O'Sullivan, PhD (CTLT)

Register for Winter 2026 Book Circles

Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate

By Ernest Boyer, Drew Moser, Todd C. Ream, and John M. Braxton

At the core of Cal Poly's commitment to the Teacher-Scholar Model is a seminal book that Ernest Boyer published in 36 years ago. Boyer, at that time the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, wrote "Scholarship Reconsidered" in response to a request for a special report to the American Association for Higher Education's annual conference that would offer guidance for the challenges facing higher education at that time (1990). In the preface, he said that in light of confusion over the goals of higher education, "...(T)he most important obligation now confronting the nation's colleges and universities is to break out of the tired old teaching versus research debate and define, in more creative ways, what it means to be a scholar." In this book he presents his framing of the four "scholarships": discovery, integration, application, and teaching. He outlines how this perspective can help knit together research, teaching and service so that the full range of faculty talent and achievement is valued and recognized. We will be reading the 2nd edition, which in addition to the original text is updated with a collection of essays that explore the impact of Boyer's views and how applying his message has changed the nature of faculty work. We may find some nuggets of insight into the Teacher-Scholar Model at Cal Poly and inspire ideas that can enrich our vision of academic work as Boyer had intended. 

NOTE: Book is available free through Kennedy Library to read online or to download.

A "Mastery Teaching" selection

Dates: Wednesdays, Feb 4, 11, 18, 25
Time: 9:10-10 am
Location: Onsite (Chase Hall 104) and online (zoom)
Facilitator: Patrick O'Sullivan, PhD (CTLT)

Register for Winter 2026 Book Circles