Teaching Philosophy: Women's, Gender And Sexuality Studies
Statement of Teaching Philosophy
“The classroom”, bell hooks writes, “remains a location of possibility…the opportunity …to demand of ourselves and our comrades an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries.” I believe it is the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies’ classroom that uniquely offers such an opportunity on in the university setting for teachers and students to engage with, co-produce, disseminate and be empowered by, feminist knowledge. Such academic spaces work toward not only analyzing sociopolitical discourses through interdisciplinary lenses but also enables us with necessary moments of reflexivity and positionality that can shift perspectives so …show more content…
I strongly believe theory must be applied outside the classroom walls and teach from that intersection of theory and experience, seeking generalizability by asking students (and myself) how and where and why theory matters in our lives. By adding our individual and collective narratives to academic discussions, we help to better ground the concepts, make their dynamics visible, map out their impacts in the world, and consider the consequences of our studies.
As an academic researcher of micro, institutional and macro-level gender identity development and deployment who has worked with various not-for-profit institutions that organize around gender identity and sexuality, I bring additional experiential knowledge to classroom considerations of these …show more content…
From within these productive spaces, I work to create an academic environment that not only engages the student during class with critical analytic skills and articulation but additionally empower them – and myself - to better produce and share the knowledge we are creating. Not only to create that space within the limiting four walls of the classroom but to expand the conversations in such a way as to push our knowledge production beyond the campus itself and into the lives of the students and myself. I believe it is only through this type of engaged, intersection and interactive pedagogy that we as instructors and students can reveal and challenge the discourses that profoundly affect us and utilize education as a liberating means to the freedom bell hooks predicts is possible within the
“The classroom”, bell hooks writes, “remains a location of possibility…the opportunity …to demand of ourselves and our comrades an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries.” I believe it is the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies’ classroom that uniquely offers such an opportunity on in the university setting for teachers and students to engage with, co-produce, disseminate and be empowered by, feminist knowledge. Such academic spaces work toward not only analyzing sociopolitical discourses through interdisciplinary lenses but also enables us with necessary moments of reflexivity and positionality that can shift perspectives so …show more content…
I strongly believe theory must be applied outside the classroom walls and teach from that intersection of theory and experience, seeking generalizability by asking students (and myself) how and where and why theory matters in our lives. By adding our individual and collective narratives to academic discussions, we help to better ground the concepts, make their dynamics visible, map out their impacts in the world, and consider the consequences of our studies.
As an academic researcher of micro, institutional and macro-level gender identity development and deployment who has worked with various not-for-profit institutions that organize around gender identity and sexuality, I bring additional experiential knowledge to classroom considerations of these …show more content…
From within these productive spaces, I work to create an academic environment that not only engages the student during class with critical analytic skills and articulation but additionally empower them – and myself - to better produce and share the knowledge we are creating. Not only to create that space within the limiting four walls of the classroom but to expand the conversations in such a way as to push our knowledge production beyond the campus itself and into the lives of the students and myself. I believe it is only through this type of engaged, intersection and interactive pedagogy that we as instructors and students can reveal and challenge the discourses that profoundly affect us and utilize education as a liberating means to the freedom bell hooks predicts is possible within the