TEACHING IN RELATION

My commitment to excellence in teaching and mentoring stems from my own experiences as a scholar on the margins throughout my undergraduate and graduate education. I leverage these experiences in my teaching by focusing on clear writing skills, collaborative learning, real world methodological applications, and strong mainstream and alternative theoretical foundations. I do so by drawing on ancestral knowledge and pedagogical training to teach in relation with my students.

My teaching philosophy centers on the “Seventh Generation” principle, which originates in the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee Nation and resonates with many Indigenous Peoples. It is the foundation of the oldest living democracy on Earth: the Iroquois Confederacy. The Seventh Generation principle is future focused and question based. It asks us to consider the impact of every decision on the next seven generations. It requires us to question who we are in relation to each other, to those yet to come, and to the more than human world. I draw on the Seventh Generation principle to teach in relation with my students. My approach to teaching in relation acknowledges four principles: (1) students are knowledge keepers; (2) learning is more than an individual practice; (3) we must bring our whole selves to the classroom; and (4) teaching is a tool of liberation, equity, and justice.

I have experience teaching “Exploring Data for Nation Building” (an original course) and “Introduction to Demography.” I am slated to teach “Health of Indigenous Populations” in Spring 2020. My dual PhD training in sociology and demography has prepared me to teach across both disciplines, including in the following substantive areas: sociology of race and ethnicity, social stratification, critical statistics, survey methods, social demography, technology and society, social determinants of health, and Indigenous sociology. I am also excited to cultivate a strong sociological imagination in my students by teaching foundational courses, such as introduction to sociology, sociological theory, and research methods.