Teaching
Me (center) with students on a class trip.
Dora Jean-Charles, a student in my urban sociology class, gives a poster session about her research project on homelessness in Springfield Gardens
"Looking Out From My Eyes," a makeover of NYC's skyline, created by Worrarutt Tientada, an ESL student in one of my classes
In my teaching, I encourage my students to make connections between their own life experiences and sociological concepts, fostering a critical appreciation of the social causes underlying issues such as homelessness, crime, and ethnic tension. Through freewrites, visual sociology exercises, group work, and ethnographic research projects, we look beyond the level of the individual and examine the institutions and cultural frameworks that shape and limit our behavior.
My syllabi are aimed at integrating students’ impressions of life -- in New York City and beyond -- with challenging theoretical material, using video and Internet resources as well as exploration of the urban laboratory to bring concepts to life. My students share their insights and expertise in the classroom, drawing on their own interests in crafting research questions that speak to their own concerns and challenges.
The pedagogical strategies I adopt are informed by over ten years of professional experience in the field of instructional technology/web design and two years as a CUNY Writing Fellow. This background gives me an appreciation of appropriate strategies for the use of technology and writing in a learning context. In my work at LaGuardia Community College's Center for Teaching and Learning and, previously, at Hampshire College, I have been fortunate to work with innovative and highly experienced interdisciplinary faculty in developing inquiry-based, writing-intensive, and multimedia-enhanced courses.
I hope that my students leave my class excited about sociology, critically aware of the institutions and norms that shape their daily lives, and aware of their ability as social actors to create change and build a more equitable and sustainable world.