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