OFE Faculty Leads

Elenice De Souza Oliveira, Associate Professor, Justice Studies, College of Humanities and Social Sciences: Human Flourishing

Dr. Oliveira developed and led a five-part interactive workshop series on the field of Human Flourishing during fall 2024. Montclair faculty and staff participants gathered to explore the four pillars of Human Flourishing, connect with guest speakers, and collaborate on the development of related student initiatives on our campus. Out of the series, Dr. Oliveira created a Human Flourishing toolkit, which she shared with participants and campus leaders. Further, Dr. Oliveira created a Canvas community to share resources and support further collaboration, which continues to date. In the spring of 2025, Dr. Oliveira facilitated the visit of Dr. Tony Chambers, Director for Community Well-Being at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, to lead an interactive in-person workshop open to Montclair faculty, staff, and students on “The Pillar of Connection: Human Flourishing in a Culture of Belonging.” Dr. Chambers’s visit included a roundtable discussion with invited campus leaders on interdisciplinary and inter-office Human Flourishing initiatives. Dr. Oliveira also worked with faculty and staff over the spring to develop an interdisciplinary undergraduate Human Flourishing course.

Patricia Virella, Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership, College for Education and Engaged Learning: Fostering Intellectual Engagement through Active Learning (FIEAL) Community of Practice

Over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year, Dr. Virella developed and led a series of workshops and associated community of practice for Montclair faculty and staff dedicated to “fostering intellectual engagement through active learning.” Workshop topics included using peer feedback as an instructional tool, creating space for critical literacy and reflective learning, and using public narrative and generative AI to foster speaking and listening skills. In twice-monthly FIEAL community of practice meetings, instructors discussed and strategized with Dr. Virella implementation of the monthly workshop topics. Participants, including faculty and staff, worked together to deepen their use of active learning in their courses, documenting and reporting outcomes of their experimentations. Instructors incorporated an active learning technique along with the accompanying intellectual skill in their teaching. Participants in the community of practice discussed the outcomes, reviewed student work, and worked to describe how active learning has influenced — or can influence — their teaching while increasing the intellectual rigor for students.