In 2015, the members of the advisory board of the Sherrerd Center decided to be more intentional than usual regarding our programming for 2016–18. 我们调查了参加教学艺术午宴的人, talked with other members of the Smith 社区 and conducted an online survey to collect suggestions for future topics. 最终, we decided to focus on creating inclusive learning environments after receiving a large number of requests for programming on that topic. 因此, we have selected Teaching Arts Luncheon topics and invited guest speakers like Kelly Mack and Beverly Daniel Tatum to promote this aim. 从一开始, 然而, 我们明白，“包容”一词有变得毫无意义的危险, so we have been drafting and revising the following statement in the attempt to clarify our intent. 我们欢迎提出修改建议.
2016 - 18, the Sherrerd Center will focus on enhancing our abilities to create and sustain effective and inclusive learning environments, 无论课程内容是否直接涉及有争议的话题. An inclusive learning 社区—as opposed to simply a diverse one—is one in which everyone's voice is equally encouraged and welcomed. 但这种社区就是包容的全部. 没有实现这一点的公式. 因此, 我们将特别注意促进对话, 关于如何创建包容性学习社区的研讨会和其他项目.
教授可以通过他们的课程规划传达什么信息, 材料的选择, 课堂实践和评估，使所有学生都能接触到深度学习? What must professors themselves need to learn so that they can best teach an ever more diverse student body? How can innovative pedagogies promote communities of reflective and creative learners capable of working, 一起玩和解决世界上的问题?
We do this work in the context of global and local challenges—some tragic and some mundane—that both threaten inclusiveness and make the creation of inclusive learning environments increasingly important. Some of these challenges seize the attention of the world, while others are felt privately. 而不是简单地应对每一个挑战, 我们的项目和合作旨在提高我们的社区准备, 我们个人的同理心和我们对包容性教学的机构承诺.
