The Gateway Towards Understanding Connection and Tolerance

my ted talk today

empathy the gateway towards

understanding and connection

and tolerance will present

how my pedagogy of love my guidelines

for course behaviors

and my assigned texts contribute

to developing these three qualities in

students taking my women’s and gender

studies courses

a field i will now refer to as wgs

one crucial tenet of wgs courses

in general is to develop student empathy

towards

others especially those individuals

who find themselves marginalized perhaps

because they are of a racial

or ethnic minority a transgendered

person

or someone who is gender non-conforming

since i became the director of wgs fall

2016

i have taught our intro to wgs every

spring term

in which i articulate clear classroom

values

of how students will address each other

and approach

our course material honesty

and integrity are among the core values

i stress having clear classroom policies

also allows students to understand who i

am as a professor

and how they need to comport themselves

in class

our first day together i talk about my

pedagogy of love

an approach to teaching that grew out of

the love and care that

reigned between student and professor

grieving the loss

of fellow students and professors

on account of the virginia tech massacre

it may sound corny but i let my students

know that i love them

that once they are my students they will

always be my students

this pedagogy is also explained as my

genuine investment in their success

and in the quality of their work

two other policies contribute to

establishing a culture of

understanding as well when students miss

a class

i do not ask for a doctor’s note to

verify their absences are legitimate

because i trust them their word suffices

so i underscore that their personal

integrity

is crucial to uphold

i also give them two grace absences

where there is no penalty for students

not being in class

i understand that life happens

that they might need to miss my class to

finish writing a paper that counts

50 percent of their final grade

that breaking up with a loved one

interferes with their studies

my policy exists so students

never feel they have to lie to me

if they miss class it is a

way for them to remain honest

over three decades of higher education

teaching

i create shared values by explaining the

reasoning

behind my policies

understanding that life happens is a way

of showing empathy

an ability to grasp what my students are

going through

in their lives

the readings in my intro course equally

cultivate

empathy as well as tolerance

students develop their ability to listen

to divergent views and sensitive topics

respectfully

and to hear others stories with a

non-judgmental mind

the first texts of the course establish

guidelines

for how to express their views in class

i thank my colleague christine labusky

for having

shared these documents the first

concept of universal precautions

represents a healthcare practice applied

to a classroom setting it refers to how

a

healthcare provider wears gloves with

every patient they treat

and not just the ones that look like

they might be contagious it is a safety

measure

for all in the classroom

it means we want to be considerate and

phrase our ideas

kindly so as not to insult

or cause harm to others

that hold that view this

is a safety measure to foster courtesy

and inclusivity

students take this to heart

along the same vein i provide students

classroom guidelines to encourage a safe

classroom

among the two dozen they read i will

highlight

six one

respect others rights to hold opinions

and beliefs that differ from your own

this sets the stage for differing views

to be expressed

and for the right of any student to hold

such views

when voiced kindly

two challenge and or criticize

ideas rather than people

this practice allows us to examine where

views or prejudices

might originate without anyone in class

feeling singled out or put on the spot

when applicable support statements with

evidence facts

while opinions and beliefs do form our

worldview

facts and academic statistics carry more

weight

when arguing a point

four be open to changing your mind

and make room for others to do the same

consider the possibility of

unlearning things that you once believed

to be true i let them know

that this can be a frightening process

their commentaries and end-of-the-year

evaluations

often mention how their thinking

has evolved over the semester and how

they

appreciated the range of topics that we

discussed

five remember that

everyone in class is still learning

trust that everyone is doing

the best they can and be generous

with your assumptions about them

along the same lines six

do not blame each other for the

misinformation we have

all learned or for the gaps in our

knowledge

i am a firm believer that the best

conversationalist are the best listeners

and hence i encourage my students to

listen

carefully to their classmates calling

them by name

and referring back to the idea they

express before adding

their point to the discussion

i want them to be aware that different

communication

styles also exist we can express our

ideas

differently based on our backgrounds

cultural origin and our current context

the end goal for putting into place

these guidelines

is to make everyone in class feel

included

and that they matter as a human being

they set the tone for productive

conversations on

highly controversial or

highly politically thorny issues with a

framework of respect

connection and tolerance

my last point is how certain assigned

texts encourage empathy

one way to foster understanding for

marginalized groups

is to assign readings they have authored

for example when discussing trans

studies

transgendered rights in individuals

students

read texts authored by transgender

people

here i thank dr maggie nanny who exposed

me to these articles students prepare

one text telling trans story beyond

born in the wrong body introduces new

narratives of how

transgendered people view themselves

and accept their bodies my students

enjoy the casual but

poignant conversations among four

transgendered friends

tick milan a trans man with gender

affirming surgery stated quote

the idea that being born in the wrong

body

seems to be the most commonly used and

the most simplistic

way of explaining the transgender

experience

but it never really fit my narrative

i never felt i was born in the wrong

body

i just evolved away from it

end of quote nico francesca a gender

variant queer

fat fat femme related that he felt

a lot of pressure to abandon

the parts of himself that were feminine

in order to be

masculine in an acceptable way

lastly jacob tobiah a genderqueer femme

non-binary but a man bodily

expressed an endearing way to explain

his trans experience

quote when i was a kid i didn’t know the

word

trans or anything and i didn’t really

feel like a boy

or a girl per se i just

like had way too much gender

i just wanted to play with bugs and make

cakes in my easy bake ovens

and roll around in the mud in a tutu all

at the same time

you know many americans and

non-americans

might not know any of these ways he

and the others expressed growing up

my students respond to those frank

testimonies with compassion

their takeaway is that gender identity

is much more complex and fluid

than they first believed i feel

pride when repeatedly reading in student

evaluations

that they will continue to apply the

lessons learned in class

to life beyond the classroom

when they meet new people and navigate

relationships

to conclude i wish to draw from two

texts

students read for our last day of class

as they reinforce many of the values

that i model

and highlight all semester long

the authors of our textbook gendered

voices feminist visions

mention as well how personal integrity

matters they advise students

to figure out their own truths and

priorities

based on their own values and politics

in so doing they will know

where to put their energy and figure out

which battles are worth fighting

they posed the question is your right

still a right if it violates

our rights or hurts

a community they underscore how a

peaceful and sustainable future is one

that respects human dignity

celebrates difference and diversity

yet that diversity does not

necessarily involve equality

finally yvette alex eisensoh

talks about sacrificial love which

reflects

very much my pedagogy and polit policies

she states that this kind of love quote

calls on us to be more patient

kind respectful and truthful as well as

look for the best in other people and

situations

end of quote over the semester

with my students we achieve

a classroom of love for me

and alex eisensoh love

embraces the highest forms of

truth-telling

in the ways that involve empathy and

inclusivity