Queer pedagogy: How to stop teaching straight 27 October (f2f)

Session 1: Thursday 27 October 11am-1pm

Session 2: Thursday 26 January 11am-1pm

Optional drop in: Thursday 9 March 11am-1pm

Session 3: Thursday 1 June 11am-1pm

All teaching privileges certain ideas, assumptions and ways of organising and understanding the world, but these are often all but invisible to both teachers and students as they have become ‘how we teach and learn x’. But what happens if we begin thinking about and challenging these norms and habits?

In this series of workshops, we explore how queer theory can provide a lens through which we can see our teaching in a different light. We discuss why this matters with a specific focus on gender and sexuality, but we also emphasise how this approach can benefit all students.

After having attended these sessions, our hope is that you will have reflected critically on what ‘normal’ means in your discipline, the hierarchies and binaries that your teaching may implicitly reproduce, and what blind spots there might be; furthermore, you will be equipped with ideas how to address these. This should therefore not be seen as a queer theory master class; rather, the ambition is that our discussions about theory are linked directly to the participants’ own teaching, leading to change where and if you so desire.

As the workshops build on one another, and participants are asked to consider the implications of each to their own teaching as part of their ongoing practice, we ask that you commit to coming to all three sessions (the drop-in being optional). We also suggest that these workshops are most effective if you’re teaching concurrently, though this is not a requirement.

All sessions are held on campus in UCL Arena (10th Floor. 1-19 Torrington Place), facilitated by Cathy Eliott, Kate Boldry and Jesper Hansen. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available at all sessions.

If you have any questions then please contact Jesper (j.hansen@ucl.ac.uk)