“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” -Marian Wright Edelman

Teaching

My teaching philosophy is driven largely by the feminist rallying cry, “the personal is political.” I believe that the study of sociology allows students the ability to engage critically with the world in which they live through the intersection of history and biography; while simultaneously helping them to develop the skills necessary to engage the world as citizens, consumers, and compassionate human beings. As an Assistant Professor of in a Department of Sociology that is interdisciplinary, it is my goal to provide my students the opportunity to view the field as a set of practices and tools that they can use in order to view the word as it exists: varied, dynamic, and beautiful. My courses often draw on literature as a means of allowing students to engage critically through the use of the sociological examination to makes sense of the world. Specifically, I have taught novels such as Kindred by Octavia Butler in my Introduction to African American Studies course, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler in my first course on Social Inequality, Ibi Zoboi’s American Street in my first semester of Race and Ethnicity; and The Hate U Give in my Race, Gender, Class and Sexualities course. Since then, I have utilized Nic Stone’s Dear Martin in order to discuss issues of race and racism, anti-blackness and police brutality in my Race and Racism; Social Inequality and Race and Ethnicity courses. 

My newest courses include, Plantation Politics: The Black Sport Experience (Fall 2020), which explores the relationship between race, sports and politics; and a course on Abolition and the Carceral State (Spring 2021).