Teaching Sociology of Gender through Writing Our Herstories: Practicing Intentional Inclusivity as Meaningful Classroom Praxis

• In Event: 3423 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 5: Active Learning II

Abstract

classical sociological theory. Additionally, Hancock (2016) and Patricia Hill Collins have long noted the erasure of women of color’s contributions in the academy and specifically in the classroom. While the tenants of a sociological classroom is to be inclusive, academic work of women of color have shown that even in these spaces the syllabus is often deemed “already too full.” And even though there has been greater recognition and calls to diversify our syllabi (e.g. #citeblackwomensunday and #decolonizeyoursyllabus), there is even less work that interrogates how to critically reflect on inclusion in our course design beyond the syllabus. This workshop would encourage extending the critical reflexivity we apply to our syllabi to extend to our course assignments.

This paper proposes that the “herstory” assignment is one example of a way to practice intentional inclusivity which utilizes the diversity of our students and their knowledges to practice diversity and inclusion in the classroom. Utilizing a student-centered learning model, this assignment requires that students define social problems and design questions in an interactive interview with an older woman in their lives. Through the diversity of students’ herstories and lives they bring in new standpoints and foster understanding across racial/ethnic, gender, sexuality, nationality, religious, and social class boundaries while implementing one research method, interactive interviewing. This assignment meets the objectives of many aims for a course on social problems but it also has unintended outcomes. One of the unintended outcomes are the ways in which it changes the dialogue around social problems. The other unintended consequence is the way students often use it as an opportunity to explore how inequalities impact their future career field and establish a relationship with a mentor in that field.

Author

• Jamie Lynn Palmer, University of Nevada Reno