"I especially appreciate Nan—our wonderful and passionate leader—who always brought energy and thoughtful preparation to each meeting. She inspired me to see that language teaching can be both “serious” and “fun” at the same time."-Playful Pedagogy Fellow 24-25 read more about Ya-Chuan Chou, Playful Pedagogy Fellow »
"Working with an established cohort to explore the possibilities that improv techniques could bring to our pedagogy was a very enriching experience, and Nan’s guidance and leadership through this process was invaluable—her knowledge and experience, but also her warmth and support and creativity throughout." - Playful Pedagogy Fellow '24 read more about Laura Florand, Playful Pedagogy Fellow »
“Under Nan’s skilled guidance, and because I trust her and her vision, I began to believe that I could ask my students to try things out, to approach collaboration, creation, and communication as a series of experiments, which when all is said and done, is how we learn, and especially how we learn languages.”Playful Pedagogy Fellow ‘25 read more about Melissa Simmermeyer, Playful Pedagogy Fellow »
LAMP gave us the push we needed to take on our project and supported us every step of the way. Without their encouragement to dream big and see the value in our vision, Hear at Duke would not have blossomed into an organization that reaches out to students and the community through audio, live events, video stories, and in-person workshops. read more about Maria Luisa Frasson-Nori, Hear at Duke »
One of the best aspects of being a Bacca Fellow was to step outside my normal day in the office and classroom and share with faculty from other departments ideas for teaching strategies. In our small group and one-on-one conversations I was able to drill down and focus on very specific aspects of my syllabi, classroom exercises, and assignments with the cohort, yielding very practical improvements. I was also impressed with how the program encouraged me to re-examine and further improve teaching strategies that I thought… read more about Christopher Sims, Bacca Fellow »
The Bacca Fellowship afforded me the opportunity to meet on a regular basis with experienced mentors and an engaged cohort, to dedicate time and energy to one of the topics I am most passionate about: what can we learn from traditional scholarly writing? What elements can be readily discarded, and what rhetorical strategies still serve us well? Which media best support communication when we take into account the theme, the presentational mode, and our interlocutors? What works, and what doesn’t, when we try to communicate… read more about Melissa Simmermeyer, Bacca Fellow »
As a Bacca Fellow, I learned to think more deeply about my teaching relationship with students. We often overlook how much we can learn even in our specialized fields, especially given the increasingly diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. read more about Robin Kirk, Bacca Fellow »
The LAMP program was essential for the civic engagement project I developed for a Spanish course with undergraduates. It provided the necessary funds to purchase the cameras and other equipment, as well as it paid for events associated with the overall project, such as photography printing. However, the LAMP program most importantly offered the academic support of group discussions and suggestions, and the mentoring from experienced leaders, which proved invaluable for me professionally and for this project. read more about Graciela Vidal, Bacca Fellow »
The discussions I've had with LAMP leaders and LAMP co-participants have enabled me to think more deeply about the goals and missions I wish to pursue in my class, and about what it means to be an educator in current times. I strongly recommend that Duke faculty, especially at an early stage in their teaching career, take part in LAMP programs. read more about Joseph Grieco, Bacca Fellow »