​​

“What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.”

                                                                                    ― Paulo Freire, 1990 “We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change”

 

My teaching employs a critical pedagogy that engages the emotions, ideas, and experiences of students to critically reflect on inclusive communication practices and encourages an active sociological imagination. As an interdisciplinary scholar interested in the intersections of social life and communication, I emphasize the significance of the transactional and dynamic relationship between social structures, socio-relational narratives, and political conditions. I invite students to use their experiences as vehicles of knowledge to expand their understanding of how social behaviors reify inequalities inside and outside our social lives. To do this, I use community-building strategies such as class discussions, group activities, and self-reflexive exercises throughout my courses.

​

As we move towards increasingly uncertain futures in higher education and teaching finds itself as radical praxis, I find comfort in bell hooks’ (1994) reminder, “The classroom with all its limitations remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility, we have the opportunity to labor for freedom...to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom” (p. 207). This brief excerpt has become a critical component of my teaching philosophy, reminding me that the educator's mission is steadfast and always worth its pursuit. As a growing scholar and learner-educator, my goal is to challenge students to think critically about what and how they come to know about their social world and to use the classroom as a welcoming space to present solutions and alternatives to real-world problems. I invite inclusive conversations that engage the political, historical, cultural, and social struggles that many of my students may face. These conversations serve to highlight students’ intersectional experiences while inviting them to confront mechanisms and processes of unequal stratification, injustice, and marginalization. In doing so, rather than regurgitate trivial data points, my students become critically reflexive scholars who offer unique and diverse perspectives, particularly in the fields of communication and sociology.

​

While my academic interests are centrally situated at the nexus of communication and sociology, my goal as an educator is to foster an environment of creative collaboration, inclusion, and diverse representation. I am continuously excited to see the connections and discoveries students make throughout my courses and personal lives. Even more, I encourage students to share their unique and distinct perspectives to empower them to imagine their role as activists in their communities. Students are challenged to address difficult and complex questions in the classroom and consider their implications in the “real world”. Ultimately, my goal is to offer students a sincere and purposeful academic experience where we use theory and research as agents for social empowerment and change.

As we move towards increasingly uncertain futures in higher education and teaching finds itself as radical praxis, I find comfort in bell hooks’ (1994) reminder, “The classroom with all its limitations remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility, we have the opportunity to labor for freedom...to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom” (p. 207). This brief excerpt has become a critical component of my teaching philosophy, reminding me that the educator's mission is steadfast and always worth its pursuit. As a growing scholar and learner-educator, my goal is to challenge students to think critically about what and how they come to know about their social world and to use the classroom as a welcoming space to present solutions and alternatives to real-world problems. I invite inclusive conversations that engage the political, historical, cultural, and social struggles that many of my students may face. These conversations serve to highlight students’ intersectional experiences while inviting them to confront mechanisms and processes of unequal stratification, injustice, and marginalization. In doing so, rather than regurgitate trivial data points, my students become critically reflexive scholars who offer unique and diverse perspectives, particularly in the fields of communication and sociology.

​

While my academic interests are centrally situated at the nexus of communication and sociology, my goal as an educator is to foster an environment of creative collaboration, inclusion, and diverse representation. I am continuously excited to see the connections and discoveries students make throughout my courses and personal lives. Even more, I encourage students to share their unique and distinct perspectives to empower them to imagine their role as activists in their communities. Students are challenged to address difficult and complex questions in the classroom and consider their implications in the “real world”. Ultimately, my goal is to offer students a sincere and purposeful academic experience where we use theory and research as agents for social empowerment and change.