Workshop 6 - Anti-oppressive strategies and solidarity in and out the classroom (Presented by the Race, Ethnicity, Indigenous Peoples And Politics Section)

W602(b) - Workshop 6 - Using Pedagogy to Imagine Radical Futures

Date: Jun 3 | Time: 10:15am to 11:45am | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Danika Jorgensen-Skakum (University of Alberta)

Building a Brave Classroom Space: Allison Petrozziello (Toronto Metropolitan University)
Abstract: Over a decade ago, Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens (2013) proposed moving from “safe spaces” toward the creation of “brave spaces” to frame dialogue around diversity and social justice. The concept of brave space recognizes that instructors cannot guarantee that everyone will feel safe and that discomfort, managed skillfully, can be a productive stance for learning and growth (Boler 1999; Taylor and Baker 2019). In an age of political polarization, resurgent hate, and online isolation, cultivating the courage and skill to engage with one another on contentious topics is not only a feature of inclusive pedagogy, but part of a broader commitment toward modeling social justice and upholding human rights. Drawing on pedagogical research and practice, the author offers a primer on building a brave classroom space as key to transforming political studies and building the alternative futures we wish to see. Examples are offered on how to engage students as co-creators of brave spaces to cultivate courageous conversations around racism, migration, complicity with settler colonialism, and decolonizing feminism. Suggested practices include generating community norms collectively, revisiting them regularly, and conducting anonymous check-ins. In the words of one brave learner, “I feel more comfortable with my ‘uncomfortability’ when I know that we’ve created this space.”

For a Diasporic Pedagogy: Leila Benhadjoudja (University of Ottawa), Celia Romulus (University of Ottawa)
Abstract: This two-part talk will examine the emancipatory potential of a diasporic pedagogy rooted in feminist anti-racist and anti-colonial approaches and practices that promote relationality and accountability between researchers, co-authors and the diasporic communities to which they belong in the production of counter-narratives. By taking a reflexive look at their research experiences within black communities and North African Muslim communities, Benhadjoudja and Romulus propose to explore the links between identity politics, the Western neoliberal university and the production of knowledge within racialised communities and in certain countries of the political South. The speakers will take an interdisciplinary approach, creating conversations between different geographies, methodologies and communities in order to explore the following questions: how can we think about diasporic pedagogy within neoliberal university institutes? What are the tensions between diasopric pedagogy and feminist anti-racist accountability policies that accompany counter-hegemonic knowledge? What positions and practices facilitate the production, preservation and dissemination of diasporic counter-narratives by, for and within communities? And finally, what limits can we identify and what obstacles (political, institutional, etc.) do we face?