The 28th annual University of Michigan Enriching Scholarship conference will take place from May 4-8 with the theme, “Life-Changing Education.” 

The theme aims to explore how instructors are designing and delivering life-changing education in ways large and small. The conference will feature both in-person and virtual sessions to engage participants across the U-M community.

The conference is free for all members of the U-M community and is hosted by U-M’s Teaching and Technology Collaborative. Over the last 28 years Enriching Scholarship has hosted thousands of sessions and presenters.

The conference will kick off May 4 with in-person sessions at North Quad, starting with keynote speaker Mika LaVaque-Manty at 9 a.m. Attendees can look forward to morning sessions, a catered lunch, and sessions in the afternoon. From May 5-8, the sessions will transition to a remote format via Zoom, providing convenient access for all.

The theme will be explored through various topics, including teaching strategies that engage students in new ways, tools that spark creativity with learners, emerging technologies, creating accessible learning environments, bringing new life to content, and the magic moments in the classroom that demonstrate the relevance of higher education.

Highlights of the conference will include keynote addresses by LaVaque-Manty, titled “Life-Changing Education: Whose Lives, and How?” and by Peter Felten, titled “Connections are everything: How trusting relationships drive student success.”

LaVaque-Manty is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and associate professor of political science in LSA. He is the co-chair of Campus of the Future project, which is part of Look to Michigan’s Year of Life-Changing Education, and also chairs U-M’s AI in Education Working Group. He is a political theorist with a focus on human agency in institutional structures.  

His keynote will address the purpose and value of college as well as the nature of specific technologies, pedagogies and policies: They should not be evaluated in isolation, but by investigating whether they foster student autonomy or impede it. 

Felton is a professor of history, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, and assistant provost for teaching and learning at Elon University. He has published nine books about higher education, including “Connections are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education” (2023) and “The SoTL Guide: (Re)Orienting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” (2025). He is on the advisory board of the National Survey of Student Engagement and is a fellow of the Gardner Institute.

His keynote will examine how fostering relationships — especially educationally purposeful peer relationships — offers a practical, scalable and humane path to ensuring that all students experience welcome and care, become inspired to learn, and explore the big questions that matter for their lives and our communities.