Human curiosity is focus of first year of the Eileen Lappin Weiser Center for Learning Sciences
Human beings have an innate capacity for learning. In schools, homes, workplaces, and every other location we occupy and context we enter, we learn. We spend our entire lives learning. Human learning is the focus of the new Eileen Lappin Weiser Center for Learning Sciences, which formally launches on October 16.
Established with a gift from U-M alumna and philanthropist Eileen Lappin Weiser, the center strengthens the connections between education research and practice by engaging numerous partners to study the many places and ways that learning happens. The center will serve as a hub for researchers, educators, and practitioners, facilitating innovative projects that advance equitable and just learning systems.
"We are thrilled to officially launch the Eileen Lappin Weiser Center for Learning Sciences," said Leslie Rupert Herrenkohl, Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar Endowed Professor of Learning Sciences and inaugural director of the center. “Our first public event on October 16 will kick-off a year of programming and planning around the theme of ‘curiosity.’ We have thoughtful and collaborative faculty leaders working together on a steering committee, and we are eager to develop more relationships with students, colleagues, and community partners.”
The launch event will feature keynote remarks from a leading expert in learning sciences: Carol D. Lee, Tarry Professor Emerita in the School of Education and Social Policy and African-American Studies at Northwestern University and President of the National Academy of Education. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the latest research and developments in the field and explore the center's vision and objectives. All are welcome to attend the event on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, from 4:00-5:30 p.m., held in the School of Education's Prechter Lab (Room 2202).
"We are profoundly grateful for Eileen's generosity and vision," said Elizabeth Birr Moje, Dean of the Marsal Family School of Education. "The center will lead the charge in exploring new dimensions of learning sciences, ultimately improving educational policies and practices locally, nationally, and globally."
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