TA Day: Graduate Student Conference on Teaching

Program Description

Through TA Day, the TA Team at the Centre for Teaching and Learning has welcomed new graduate students to Western University for over 30 years. Through facilitated workshops and a faculty keynote session, we are excited to introduce graduate attendees to the teaching landscape at Western and help them prepare them for their roles as teaching assistants. This program is open to graduate students across campus, whether they have a formal Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) role on campus or anticipate having one in the future. 

The goals of this virtual TA event are to

1. Equip new and returning TAs with practical information and strategies for their teaching roles across disciplines and contexts
2. Introduce TAs across disciplinary to relevant CTL programming and resources for their ongoing teaching reflection and development 
3. Build communities of graduate educators who connect, support, and grow with each other during their time at Western University

TA Day runs once a year in early September. This conference is virtual, and is generally hosted online via Zoom. For interested registrants, the CTL is also hosting an optional watch party in Weldon Library's new Scholars Lab. Details are included in the registration confirmation email. 

Please note: This event does not count towards the Western Certificate in University Teaching and Learning.  

TA Day 2026 Schedule

Wednesday, September 9, 2026 from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm (online via Zoom + optional Watch Party in the Scholar's Lab)

Session 1: 9:30 - 10:00 am

Welcome, Land Acknowledgment, Access Check, & Overview of CTL Programs

Session 2: 10:00 - 11:00 am

Concurrent Sessions. Choose from

A.The Hidden Curriculum of Being a TA OR

B. Introduction to Rubrics

Session 3: 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Concurrent Sessions. Choose from

A. Building Classroom Community OR

B. Effective Writing Feedback

Session 4: 1:00 - 2:00 pm

Keynote: Dr. Cornel Grey

Teaching from the Middle: What I'd Wish I'd Known as a TA - Reflections on Relational Teaching, Practical Judgment, and the TA's Role in the Teaching Ecosystem

Biography: Cornel Grey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Western University. His work brings together Black Studies, queer studies, critical public health, and feminist pedagogy to examine how communities create practices of care amid overlapping health inequities. 
 
His teaching is guided by a Black feminist ethics of care that understands education as a civic practice rooted in reciprocity, curiosity, and social responsibility. Across his courses, Grey invites students to think critically across disciplines, connect scholarship to lived experience, and see learning as something that extends beyond the classroom. His pedagogy often takes shape through experiential and community-engaged learning, including community dinners exploring Black foodways, collaborations with local organizations, and public-facing exhibitions. 
 
Grey’s research focuses especially on Black queer life across Canada, the Caribbean, and transnational diasporic contexts, including the afterlives of public health crises such as HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and mpox. His work asks how Black queer life exceeds dominant narratives of crisis and pathology while taking seriously the material conditions that shape vulnerability. He was a Scholar Research Fellow with the BBQ+ Pedagogy Lab, and his work on teaching and pedagogy is forthcoming in Feminist Pedagogy. 

Session 5: 2:15 - 3:15 pm

Concurrent Sessions. Choose from

A. Quick Tips for Accessible Teaching OR

B. Talking to Your Course Instructor about GenAI

Session 6: 3:15 - 3:30 pm

Closing remarks from the CTL TA Team