Curriculum development rarely unfolds as a straightforward, step-by-step process. The Curriculum Development Insights Series brings faculty together to learn from colleagues who have navigated the questions, decisions, challenges, and opportunities that arise along the way. Each session explores a particular theme or aspect of curriculum development through faculty experience and conversation, supported by staff expertise in curriculum development. The emphasis is on learning from how the work actually happens in different academic contexts, not on presenting a single ‘right’ way to do it.
Current Insights Series Session
Getting Started with Curriculum Development
Thursday, October 22, 2026 from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m., Location TBC – in-person on the St. George campus
Description
Curriculum development efforts often hinge on how they begin: how a department frames the work, sequences early decisions, and brings faculty on board in a way that sets the initiative up for success. This session takes on that early, often challenging stage of curriculum development, featuring panelists with firsthand experience launching curriculum initiatives in their own departments. The 90-minute session is designed around two complementary parts. It opens with a moderated panel discussion in which panelists share their own experience getting started with curriculum development and building early buy-in. This is followed by small-group roundtable discussions which offer a more informal, conversational space to work through participants’ own contexts and questions directly, with the benefit of the panelists’ experience in the room.
Panelists
- Heidi Bohaker, Professor and Associate Chair, Undergraduate, Department of History, Faculty of Arts & Science
- Maggie Hutcheson, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream and Program Director, Master of Museum Studies, Faculty of Information
- Steven Short, Professor and Chair, Department of Biology, University of Toronto, Mississauga
Facilitator
- Jessie Richards, Curriculum Development Specialist, Office of the Vice-Provost, Teaching & Learning