Events & Outreach
The Z. Smith Reynolds Library features a variety of events, workshops, and more. The library often partners with other units on campus to offer these programs. For more information, contact the library.
Upcoming Events
–ZSR Library, ZSR Library 665: Faculty Commons ClassroomJoin us for casual monthly meetups to share and discover artificial intelligence together in this new conversation series. Join colleagues to share ideas, seek advice, and explore the potential of AI together. Attendees may add or review topics in an AI Café collaborative agenda (restricted to WFU faculty and staff).
AI Café is held monthly on the fourth Friday, on an alternating schedule of Zoom and in-person. Online: July, September, November, January, March, May. In person, August, October, December, February, April.
See all AI Café events and add to your calendar.
–ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
–ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wind your week down right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday this fall beginning September 3rd for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and Bagel Station. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
–ZSR Library, Faculty Commons Conference Room 664Meets 3 times this semester (9/8, 9/22 & 10/6) on Tuesday from 12:30-1:30pm in ZSR 664 (Faculty Commons Conference Room inside the Faculty Commons space in ZSR Wilson Wing). We will provide the book for the first 12 registrants. These discussions are very popular so we ask that you register only if you are available to attend all sessions.
Do Your students (and colleagues) know they matter? We talk a lot about engagement, motivation, and burnout, but Wallace argues something more fundamental is often missing underneath all three: mattering, the felt sense that we’re valued and have value to offer. In this research-grounded, story-rich book, Wallace names the “erosion of mattering” driving today’s mental and social health struggles and offers a practical path back: a “mattering core” built on recognizing impact, being appropriately relied on, feeling prioritized, and being genuinely known. For those of us in teaching roles, we can easily see how mattering is an important part of the work we do, both with our students and each other.
Bring your own connections to discussion. Where do you see mattering (or its absence) showing up in your classroom, your team, or your own week? And what are things we can do to rebuild it?.
Meeting Schedule:.
9/8: Introduction & Chapters 1-2 (Naming the Problem)9/22: Chapters 3-5 (Completing the Mattering Core)10/6: Chapters 6-8 & Epilogue (Putting It Into Practice).
–ZSR Library, 425Calling all graduate students! Take a break and grab some FREE coffee and treats in the Graduate Student Lounge, courtesy of GSAS and ZSR Library. Hang out and chat with other graduate students, or grab and go on the way to class.- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wind your week down right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday this fall beginning September 3rd for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and Bagel Station. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
–ZSR Library, AtriumInformation Systems is happy to announce the launch of its newest space in collaboration with WFU English – The Studio, a space for digital innovation. Join us for a launch party on September 10, 2026 from 11am-2pm for snacks, giveaways, and an exclusive look at everything the space has to offer.
The Studio for Digital Innovation will give students and scholars who are increasingly interested in digital work a tangible presence on campus in an accessible location: a hub where anyone on campus can access resources, host workshops, hold conversations, connect with like-minded colleagues, discover new technologies, learn how to implement those technologies, consider new approaches to AI, develop assessment plans for multimodal assignments, and become more innovative teachers. Ultimately the Studio will enable faculty and staff to help students create not just assignments for assessment but projects that do work in and for our twenty-first century world, improving student engagement with course objectives and creating possibilities for new forms of engaged or experiential learning and community engagement.
- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
–ZSR Library, Special Collections & Archives Research Room (Room 625)Theatre faculty members, directed by Dr. Cindy Gendrich, will present a staged reading of Walt Whitman’s American Dream, a new play by Sarah Vander Schaaff, in Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections & Archives (ZSR 625) on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 4:30 p.m. The reading of this lively biopic is part of Special Collections & Archives’ programming for the 2026 Semiquincentennial year. The event will also feature a special exhibit of 19th-century Whitman editions, including an autographed 1855 first edition of Leaves of Grass, from the Rare Books Collection.
Running time is 90 minutes, and light refreshments will be available. Doors open at 4:00 pm. The reading is FREE and open to the public.
–ZSR Library, Faculty Commons Classroom 665This book group will meet six times this semester on Mondays (9/14, 9/28, 10/5, 10/19, 10/26, & 11/2) from 1-2 pm in ZSR 665 (Faculty Commons Classroom inside the Faculty Commons space in the ZSR Wilson Wing). We will provide the book for the first 15 registrants. These discussions are very popular so we ask that you register only if you are available to attend all sessions.
This research-grounded guide helps college educators use generative AI to strengthen, not sideline, what they already know about effective teaching.
Drawing on decades of experience in faculty development and learning science, Ludwig and Zakrajsek propose a three-stage progression model, Adapt, Create, Embed, to help faculty from any discipline thoughtfully incorporate AI into their teaching. Rather than chasing the latest tech tools, this book focuses on how AI can deepen student learning by enhancing time-tested frameworks such as TILT, Universal Design for Learning, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and Backward Design. Each chapter includes classroom-tested examples, reflection prompts, and activities ready for individual exploration or group discussion.
Whether you’re skeptical, curious, or cautiously optimistic, this book offers a clear, practical path to using AI as a partner, not a replacement, in ways that support students and reinvigorate teaching.
Meeting Schedule.
9/14: Chapters 1 & 2 (Orientation).
9/28: Chapter 3 (The Framework).
10/5: Chapters 4 & 5 (Foundation).
10/19: Chapter 6 (Backward Design).
10/26: Chapters 7 & 8 (Deeper Learning).
11/2: Chapters 9, 10 & Epilogue (Sustaining).
–ZSR LibraryStop by ZSR for fun afternoon crafts throughout the semester! A perfect time to do a craft, grab a snack, and de-stress. You can also discover more ways to learn about ZSR.
ZSR Library, Library Auditorium (Room 404)The Program in African American Studies will host a book talk and public conversation with Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall. Dr.Guy-Sheftall is a trailblazing Black feminist scholar, whose passion for the many communities she encompasses is evident in her work and friendships she has built over the last 55 years . She is the visionary architect of The Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman College, the first for an HBCU. Since its founding in 1981, she has served as the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies, exposing her students and the broader public to the intellectual contributions of Black feminists throughout history.
At the age of sixteen, Dr. Guy-Sheftall began her matriculation at Spelman College where she majored in English and minored in secondary education. Upon graduating with honors, she attended Wellesley College for a fifth year of study. In 1968, she began pursuing her Master’s Degree in English at Atlanta University. A year later Dr. Guy-Sheftall began teaching at Alabama State University in the Department of English. But it was her return to Spelman in 1971 that ignited her true mission— to disrupt the silences surrounding Black women’s interconnected experiences. Within the traditional confines of Spelman that had once educated her, she has pushed boundaries, demanded space for Black feminist thought, and laid the foundation for future generations of radical scholarship.
Dr. Shanna Greene Benjamin, Reynolds Professor of African American Studies at Wake Forest University, will lead the conversation with Dr. Sheftall. A reception and book signing will follow. Books will be available for purchase at the event.
–ZSR Library, Special Collections & Archives Research Room (Room 625)Join us for a book talk with local historian and author Marcia Phillips as she discusses her latest work, “The Regulator Movement in North Carolina, Prelude to the Revolution”. Discover the rich, pre-Revolutionary history of our region and hear the stories behind North Carolina’s early fight for colonial reform. Light refreshments will be served.- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wind your week down right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday this fall beginning September 3rd for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and Bagel Station. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
–ZSR Library, Library Auditorium (Room 404)The Program in Jewish Studies will host David Schraub, associate professor at Lewis & Clark Law School for a talk entitled “Smothering (the Fight Against) Antisemitism.”. Abstract:.
During his second term office, the Trump administration has—under the guise of fighting antisemitism—shattered preexisting norms that historically acted to limit governmental power. These actions have been widely criticized on a multitude of grounds, an obvious one being the chilling effect such suppression has had on pro-Palestinian expression. Without discounting the importance of this consequence, I wish to draw draw attention to another, less obvious impact of these endeavors: the chilling effect they have on Jewish students experiencing antisemitism. This may seem counterintuitive. The critique of the Trump administration’s actions seems to be that it is overzealous and overwrought in its efforts against antisemitism. It may capture too much; it is hard to fathom it will capture too little. But drawing on the literature on epistemic injustice, and in particular Kristie Dotson’s seminal work on “testimonial smothering,” I will argue that in many cases, Jews experiencing antisemitism will be systematically deterred from speaking out about their experiences and seeking redress, for fear that they will be involuntarily conscripted into a project of political repression they do not support. Instead of “going too far”, the effect of the Trump administration’s interventions on Jewish students has been to squelch expression around antisemitism and further isolate and marginalize Jews experiencing instances of antisemitism they would, in an ideal world, very much like to see addressed and redressed.
David teaches classes on constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, and Supreme Court decisionmaking. His scholarship concerns contemporary issues of discrimination and inequality, with a particular focus on modern antisemitism, and has appeared in venues including the New York University Law Review, the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) Review, and the American Political Science Review. His first book, Deliberation, Dismissal, and Democracy, was published in 2025 by the Oxford University Press. David holds a B.A. from Carleton College, a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.
A reception will follow after the discussion.
–ZSR Library, Library Auditorium (Room 404)All are invited to attend the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Fall Colloquium, featuring Dr. Robin Boylorn. Robin M. Boylorn, Ph.D. is the inaugural Holle Endowed Chair of Communication Arts, the founding Executive Director of the Holle Center for Communication Arts, and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at The University of Alabama. A cultural critic and interdisciplinary theorist, her work is primarily focused on the lived experiences of Black women in the U.S. American South.
A lecture will be held in the ZSR Library auditorium, followed by a book signing and reception. Filthy Feminism: On Race, Media Representation, and Resisting Being Clean considers how the ubiquitous digital landscape influences racial representation by locking black women into predictable and stereotypical roles. Dr. Boylorn argues that black feminism and a lens of black lived experience can offer a more critical and nuanced perspective of representation that complicates notions of respectability, identity and perception.
Thank you to our event co-sponsors:.
African American and African Studies at Wake Forest University | Department of Communications at Wake Forest University | ZSR Library at Wake Forest University.
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wind your week down right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday this fall beginning September 3rd for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and Bagel Station. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!