Woke Pedagogies: An Arts & Sciences Approach to Excellence in Teaching

Ohio State University has a long history of student activism on social justice issues and our students in ASC are at the forefront as leaders of a range of current movements for greater justice and equality. Join us in conversation with Alejandro Andonaegui exploring how he brings his personal experiences as an activist into his classes. How does he learn and interact alongside fellow students or even with instructors who may not have as much knowledge about race, inequalities and disparities? Alejandro shares his own insights on learning while woke to our conversations on bringing social justice concerns squarely into all our learning spaces.

Ohio State University has a long history of student activism on social justice issues and our students in ASC are at the forefront as leaders of a range of current movements for greater justice and equality. Join us in conversation with Kayah Woodford as she explores how she brings her personal experiences as an activist into her classes. How does she learn and interact alongside fellow students or even with instructors who may not have as much knowledge about race, inequalities and disparities? Kayah shares her own insights on learning while woke to our conversations on bringing social justice concerns squarely into all our learning spaces.

In this episode of Woke Pedagogies we continue the conversation on teaching race while white with Shannon Winnubst, Professor and Chair in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies. Shannon joins us and further explores approaches to acknowledging how the ongoing social tensions present in society are already part of our classrooms and ways we can ‘lower the temperature' on these issues to create spaces for productive conversations. She offers what she has learned around creating spaces for students to engage the complexities of racial hierarchies and inequalities while understanding how whiteness, including her own whiteness informs these discussions.

What level of responsibility do white professors have to discuss race in their classrooms? How can new faculty manage expectations about students of color serving as spokespersons for their entire race? Mathew Coleman, Associate Professor of Geography, unpacks the racialized history of The Ohio State University as a land grant institution and the critical need to discuss race among his students.

How do we as practitioners address some of the disparities inherent within our fields of study? Associate Professor of Ecology, Maria Miriti, asks educators to consider the ways in which the very foundations of our disciplines depend on people's marginalization.

"Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech", but how do we measure acceptable speech to ensure everyone's protection within learning spaces? Hosts Elena Foulis and David Staley sit down with Gretchen Ritter, Executive Dean and Vice Provost of the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University, as she speaks directly to the issue of academic freedom and appropriate speech in the classroom.