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Eligibility

Open to all Tenure/Tenure-Track, TCPL, and instructors. Librarians or staff members who lead or support
campus centers are also invited to apply.

Amount

Each participant will receive $750 in professional development funds.

Submission

Deadline

Purpose and Description

The “Beautiful Friction: The Art of Desirable Difficulty” FLC invites faculty to dive into the productive
tension where cognitive science meets the creative spirit. While conventional wisdom often chases the
illusion of fluency (the deceptive ease of immediate understanding), research reveals that the most
durable learning occurs when we introduce intentional, effortful hurdles known as desirable difficulties.
This community serves as a high-energy collaborative for scholars ready to move beyond surface-level
performance and explore how calibrated friction can catalyze resilience and deep intellectual mastery.
By synthesizing rigorous productive struggle with the transformative power of radical hope, participants
will investigate how to strip the mystery from academic rigor and make it a transparent, shared journey
between instructor and student. This FLC is designed to spark a pedagogical rebellion, from STEM and
Business to the Arts. Together, we will transform our classrooms into living labs, moving our work from
private cohorts into a public showcase of social proof that daring, difficult, and deeply hopeful teaching
is the key to our future.

Activities

• Interrogate the intersection of cognitive psychology and creative philosophy to decode the mechanics of durable retention.
• Curate the “Transparent Rigor Toolkit” by documenting the metamorphosis of a standard assignment into a high-impact experience of desirable difficulty.
• Co-author the “Creative Act Teaching Manifesto,” a beautifully designed digital white paper that offers a framework for sparking creativity in any discipline.
• Produce the “Beautiful Friction Video Series” to capture candid, short-form reflections on the grit of classroom struggle and the growth it produces in students.
• Orchestrate the “Art of Desirable Difficulty Mini-symposium,” an interactive showcase featuring a gallery of friction and a premiere screening of the cohort’s video work.
• Cultivate a vibrant interdisciplinary network supported by professional development funds to ensure the spirit of community remains as strong as the pedagogy.

2026-27 Members

Aaron Pergram, Music, Facilitator