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Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Summer 2026) – July 2026 Meeting

July 20 @ 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm EDT

Fictional Classrooms: National Community of Practice (Summer 2026) – July 2026 Meeting

Date: Monday, July 20th, 2026

Time: 3:30-4:30pm (AT) / 2:30-3:30pm (ET) / 11:30am-12:30pm (PT)

Sign up to join! (you may be prompted to log in to your Google account)

Fictional Classrooms National Community of Practice Description:  

Over the past four years, our very own Matthew Dunleavy (CTEI Senior Educational Developer, Faculty Excellence and Development) and his colleague, Robin Sutherland-Harris (York University), have facilitated the Fictional Classrooms community. The current iteration brings together educational/curriculum/faculty/instructional developers and instructors from across Canada and the US to explore and reflect on narratives of education in films, television, short stories, and novels. These works may speak to us as learners, educators, developers, researchers, artists, and/or simply as humans. 

For Summer 2026, the Fictional Classrooms community will be discussing Moo (1995) by Jane Smiley (novel): 

  • Part One – June 22 
  • Parts Two and Three – July 20
  • Parts Four and Five – August 17

The synopsis:

In this darkly satirical send-up of academia and the Midwest, we are introduced to Moo University, a distinguished institution devoted to the study of agriculture. Amid cow pastures and waving fields of grain, Moo’s campus churns with devious plots, mischievous intrigue, lusty liaisons, and academic one-upmanship: Chairman X of the Horticulture Department harbors a secret fantasy to kill the dean; Mrs. Walker, the provost’s right hand and campus information queen, knows where all the bodies are buried; Timothy Monahan, associate professor of English, advocates eavesdropping for his creative writing assignments; and Bob Carlson, a sophomore, feeds and maintains his only friend: a hog named Earl Butz.

You can read about all these selections (and previous selections) in our what to read/watch list. 

To join the Fictional Classrooms Community for Summer 2026: 

Please sign up as follows:  

  1. Visit https://groups.google.com/search?q=FictionalClassroomsED (you may be prompted to log in to your Google account)
  2. On the right-hand side, click the small “Join” icon (next to the star) and ask to join group.
  3. Matthew and Robin will approve your request within 2 working days, and you will then have access to the group, including their shared Google Folder and Calendar. 

Note from Matthew and Robin: We approach the Fictional Classrooms program with a “read-what-you-can” mentality. We understand that we can get busy and may not finish readings each month, but we encourage you to attend each session regardless of how much you have been able to engage with the text or film so we can still have fruitful conversations and build community. 

Details