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3rd Annual AAEA Teaching Academy
Brief Description:The 3rd Annual Teaching Academy will be hosted as a pre-conference workshop on Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Kansas City, MO at the 2026 AAEA Annual Meeting along with year-round engagement with participants in additional online sessions and mentoring activities during the 2026-2027 academic school year. The goal is to provide consistent efforts across our discipline to offer dedicated teacher training and mentoring of teacher development for all members of our profession, including graduate students, early career professionals, faculty, and others. This year, we focus on experiential learning pedagogy, applied learning curriculum development, and building industry and partner relationships.
The academy is designed to meet three goals: (1) Support graduate student and early career professional development of teaching effectiveness and Scholarship of Teaching Learning (SoTL) through creation of teaching and mentorship resources, activities, and programming; (2) Engage in diverse and inclusive outreach and service to academics at minority serving and primary teaching institutions; and (3) extend forums for AAEA members to participate in teaching and learning communities throughout the year.
Intended Audience: Graduate students, early career professionals and faculty, including faculty at various career stages who are looking for advancing teaching skills and practices. We will actively recruit graduate students and early career professionals from multicultural institutions, primary teaching institutions, and institutions that do not traditionally attend the AAEA meetings.
Expectations and time commitment:
- All participants are expected to attend the one-day workshop on Saturday July 25 in Kansas City, MO in person, engage with hands-on training and activities guided by speakers, facilitators and mentors on experiential learning pedagogy and practices.
- In addition, the Academy cohort will be invited to activities outside of the academy during the next academic year, including webinars, teaching discussions, training, and mentoring activities. We will also pair interested participants with a teaching mentor in the profession for continuing mentor opportunities during the 2026/2027 academic year.
- All participants are expected to be responsive to requests from the Steering Committee, (e.g. evaluations, mentor matching, etc.). We appreciate all your input to improve the Academy.
Costs: The cost of attending the Academy is $40 for graduate students and $80 for all other faculty and professionals. Meals (continental breakfast and lunch) are provided.
Registration will open in March.
Travel Grants: Thanks to the AAEA Trust, we will be offering 15 Travel Grants. The grant will help cover travel to the AAEA meetings, AAEA registration, and hotel costs for up to $500 per participant. All grant recipients will receive a waiver for the costs of attending the workshop. In addition, all scholarship recipients are expected to attend the full day workshop, the AAEA meetings, and participate in other academy activities during the 2026/2027 academic year. Priority for scholarships will be provided to graduate students and early career professionals who commit to advancing their teaching development, show need, and did not receive the travel grant for the 2024 or 2025 Teaching Academy. The application deadline is April 1, 2026. Notifications for those receiving the scholarship will be made by April 20, 2026.
The AAEA Teaching Academy offer dedicated teacher training and mentoring in agricultural and applied economics disciplines. During its year-round program, the Teaching Academy provides graduate students, early-career professionals, and educators with dedicated training and mentoring in innovative, inclusive, and evidence-based teaching practices. Participants gain not only practical skills in pedagogy and instructional tools, but also build lasting mentoring and networking relationships with award-winning educators in agricultural and applied economics and agribusiness management.
View the Teaching Academy Archives to see what we've done in past years:
| Organizing Committee Members | |
| Na Zuo | (Co-Chair), Associate Professor of Practice & AETR co-Editor, University of Arizona |
| Jason Bergtold | (Co-Chair), Professor & AETR Editor, Kansas State University |
| Hannah E. Shear | (Co-Chair), Assistant Professor, Oklahoma State University |
| Jennifer Clark | Instructional Associate Professor, University of Florida |
| Rui Chen | Assistant Professor, Tuskegee University |
| Jerrod Penn | Associate Professor, Louisiana State University |
| Kathleen Liang | W.K. Kellogg Distinguished Professor, North Carolina A&T State University |
| George Davis | Professor, Virginia Tech |
