معرفی
Dorothe Bach serves as Associate Director and Professor within the University of Virginia's Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), a university-wide unit reporting directly to the Provost. She holds a PhD in German Literature from UVA and an MA from Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, having joined CTE full-time in 2002 after being born and raised in Germany.
Her research spans contemplative pedagogy, equitable teaching practices, and faculty development. Key programmatic interests include course design, student-faculty partnerships, faculty learning communities, and program assessment. Current pedagogical focuses emphasize embodied cognition and nature-connected learning, particularly through her undergraduate course Restoring our Relationships with Nature in UVA's Environmental Thought and Practice Program.
Her publications in journals like To Improve the Academy and Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning reveal consistent themes: expanding learning taxonomies to include ecological dimensions, developing relational imagination through radical listening, and creating anti-racist educational frameworks. This work demonstrates an evolution from foundational faculty development toward transformative, justice-oriented pedagogy with environmental consciousness.
- 2014 POD Network Innovation Award (with colleagues for syllabus rubric)
- Multiple international workshop invitations across four continents
- Recognition for educational development innovations
Bach actively consults with faculty and departments while directing programs including the Ignite Program, Student-Faculty Partnership Initiative, and Course Design Institute. Her Teaching Hub collections—such as Reflective Teaching and Introduction to Contemplative Pedagogy—showcase her leadership in developing resources for embodied teaching and trauma-informed practices. She also teaches undergraduate courses including Spiritual Journeys in Young Adult Fiction and Mindfulness and Prosociality, alongside the graduate seminar Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
