Transformative Scholarship and Pedagogy Unit

Weaponizing Freedom in Education: Department of Education and Freedom

While the pursuit of freedom has long been central to liberative pedagogy, in recent years “freedom of education” has been used quite differently to justify attacks on public schools, universities, and even the Department of Education. Though political disputes over the meaning of freedom are not new, these current developments leave scholars of religion in a challenging position when they invoke “freedom” as an aim in their teaching. How might educators in religion respond to and perhaps even seize new transformative opportunities that may emerge in a new future with fewer institutional protections and restrictions? Given transformative pedagogy’s long-standing critiques of the neoliberalization of higher education, are there any benefits or alliances to be made with movements that have weaponized discourse on freedom to “revolutionize” education?

Combahee River Collective: Continuing Influences

It has been just over fifty years since the Combahee River Collective formed in Boston and began work that would become foundational to the development of Black Feminism in the United States. We invite proposals for papers or panels that honor and critically engage the legacy of the Collective in terms of its influence on pedagogy. Successful proposals may reflect on the Collective’s own methods for developing its Combahee River Collective Statement, on the forms of liberative pedagogy enabled by the frameworks put forward in the Statement, or on critical pedagogical issues prompted by the Statement or its contemporary reception. Successful proposals may also offer functional examples of pedagogies inspired by the work of the Collective or argue for new pedagogical developments in the tradition of the Collective that are needed to meet today’s political and educational climate.

Beyond Trigger Warnings: New Frontiers in Pedagogy around Sexual Violence

Often, discussions of teaching with respect to sexual violence center around processes of developing empathy with and care for survivors; and/or methods for teaching direct narratives of rape (e.g., in the Bible or in history). While these are important, we are interested in highlighting pedagogical developments that broaden and deepen what it means to teach around sexual violence. For example, what does it look like to treat sexual violence as a positional point of departure for teaching on broader forms of exploitation and harm? How can sexual violence be used as a critical lens for investigating phenomena not immediately associated with itself? What pedagogical tools rise from the study of sexual violence that are applicable to subfields in the study of religion often excluded from discourse on sexual violence?

CO-SPONSORED WITH SIKH STUDIES UNIT AND TEACHING RELIGION UNIT:

Creative Approaches to Teaching Sikhi through a Decolonial Frame

The Sikh Studies Unit, Teaching Religion Unit, and Transformative Scholarship and Pedagogy Unit invite scholars, educators, activists, and community leaders to submit papers for a possible co-sponsored panel on "Creative Approaches to Teaching Sikhi through a Decolonial Frame." This panel aims to explore innovative and transformative methods for teaching Sikh history, philosophy, and practices by challenging colonial narratives and embracing decolonial perspectives. We seek contributions that highlight creative pedagogical strategies, curriculum development, and community engagement that centre Sikh voices and experiences, fostering a more inclusive and accurate understanding of Sikhi. We welcome papers that address, but are not limited to, the following themes and topics: a) Decolonising Sikh History and Narratives, b) Innovative Pedagogical Strategies, c) Curriculum Development, d) Community Engagement and Empowerment.