Chair
Wind Goodfriend, Buena Vista University, USA
Mission
1. Draft official teaching committee description and send to IARR executive committee for adoption in the organization’s bylaws
2. Contribute to RRN
3. Organize a teaching session, panel, or interest group at a conference
4. Continue to maintain and update teaching resources on the IARR Teaching Resources website; specific focus on increasing diversity in the suggested readings, activities related to media (e.g., podcasts), and resources for graduate students
News/Events
Midpoint Report (May, 2025)
During the first year of our two-year term, we focused on Goals 1 and 4. We accomplished Goal #1 relatively early. The committee held two meetings in which we introduced ourselves to each other, set our goals for the new term, and approved the following description for our committee:
TEACHING COMMITTEE
The Board of Directors shall establish a standing Teaching Committee. This committee shall, subject to the provisions of these Bylaws, support the teaching of Relationship Science across all disciplines by cultivating and disseminating resources that support teaching and andragogy related to the teaching of relationship-related courses.
In so doing, the Teaching Committee shall develop, maintain, update, expand, and periodically evaluate the Association’s online teaching resources and disseminate teaching ideas to the Association in various ways (e.g., emails, the newsletter, conference presentations and panels) and assist IARR members who reach out for teaching advice or resources.
For the rest of the 2024-2025 academic year, we each volunteered to work as individuals or in pairs on Goal #4. We started by examining the resources that were already available on the IARR Teaching Resources website and identifying where those resources could be enhanced. We have now gathered the following list of additional resources which have either already been added to the website or will be added in the coming months:
● New suggested readings on:
● Interracial relationships
● Relationships in the African American community
● Family violence & intimate partner violence
● Relationships & technology (e.g., online dating, social media)
● Teaching about sexuality/relationship violence in sensitive ways
● Adopted people and attachment
● Neurodiversity in relationships
● Relationships in different cultures
● Resources for first-generation college students & graduate students
● Example syllabi for relationships courses
● Resources on how to write learning objectives in your relationships course
● List of podcasts, YouTube channels, TED talks, etc. relevant to relationships courses
● List of potential guest speakers that can be used in relationships courses (including topics, contact information, etc.)
Next year (2025-2026), we plan to (1) continue enhancing the Teaching Resources website, (2) contribute to the RRN newsletter, and (3) put together at least one teaching panel or interest group for the IARR main conference in Scotland.