How I teach…

I am a black queer feminist scholar. I train students in becoming curious researchers, prepared to apply new knowledges and theories. Often they realize they are being taught to unlearn some of the things that their early education has taught them. Students in my courses become active and critical readers and thinkers by getting out of their comfort zones. They examine the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, disability and much more. I use video, film and literature to teach critical race theory, narrative, intersectionality and about the many ways that identity is both personal and political.

I encourage students to attend on-campus events and engage in off-campus activities, to connect with and learn from their community networks within and beyond the classroom.I enthusiastically direct them to tools, resources, and opportunities by constantly circulating information about university and community events, programming and scholarships available across various digital networks.

My identity influences how students learn from me. For some, my race and gender have made learning from me easier because they feel we share values in common—for others it challenges their notions of who gets to produce knowledge and what it means to be an authority in the classroom. Nevertheless, my commitments to excellence in teaching and mentorship have been recognized by my students and university. In 2018, received the Ross M. Lence Award for Teaching Excellence in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at The University of Houston. 

I also collaborate with numerous colleagues (at UH and well beyond) to develop teaching practices that best serve our diverse student body and try out new teaching methods – in joint teaching, and through digital humanities and pedagogies workshops. I aim to develop innovative teaching methods across the courses I teach in women, gender & sexuality studies, black studies, cultural studies, and anthropology.