WNTNT Episode 08: I have to teach. Now what?

00:50:06
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2-dlLzApG4

الملخص

TLDRIn this episode of "We Need to Name This," Dominic Bednar, a PhD candidate specializing in energy justice, discusses his journey through academia and his focus on community-engaged pedagogy. Dominic shares his background, highlighting his transition from engineer to academic. He emphasizes the integration of environmental research with community engagement to address energy justice issues. Throughout the discussion, Dominic stresses the importance of listening to communities and co-developing solutions with them. He provides insights into teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses, noting differences in student engagement. Dominic also offers practical advice for graduate student instructors, emphasizing flexibility, co-creation, and self-care. His experience in course development, particularly around energy justice, leads him to advocate for a teaching approach that is responsive to student needs and community challenges. Overall, the video provides a rich narrative on the intersection of academic scholarship and community activism, highlighting the necessity of inclusive teaching practices.

الوجبات الجاهزة

  • 🎓 Dominic emphasizes the importance of integrating community needs in academic research.
  • 🌍 His research aims to help energy-vulnerable households through better policy interventions.
  • 🧑‍🏫 He shares insights on teaching undergraduates and graduates with a focus on community-engaged learning.
  • 📚 Course development is a collaborative process involving community input and student feedback.
  • 🤝 Building trust and listening are crucial in engaging with communities.
  • 📝 Reflective journaling is used to evaluate students' community engagement skills.
  • 🔄 Flexibility and responsiveness in teaching methods are key to addressing unforeseen challenges.
  • 🧘‍♂️ Self-care and energy management are important for effective teaching and research.
  • 💡 Understanding and applying theories of energy justice help in tackling inequality.
  • 🏠 Dominic discusses the challenges of balancing research and teaching duties.

الجدول الزمني

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Hosts introduce the podcast "We Need to Name This" focusing on the experiences of scholars of color. Guest Dominic Bednar, a PhD candidate in energy justice, is introduced along with his research goals and community engagements.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Dominic discusses his multifaceted identity and his journey from carpentry to engineering and eventually to academia, influenced by a mentor leading him into energy justice.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Dominic shares current academic pursuits including completing his dissertation and dealing with the postponement of a Fulbright fellowship due to the pandemic, causing personal and professional transition challenges.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Discussion on Dominic's teaching experiences at Michigan, focusing on energy justice courses and the differences between undergrad and graduate level teaching experiences.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Emphasis on community-based scholarship and learning, highlighting the importance of flexibility and understanding multiple social identities in teaching environments.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Dominic talks about course development challenges, including structuring content and collaborating with undergraduate students to make syllabi more approachable.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    He reflects on his prior teaching experiences outside academia, including tutoring and instructing lifeguarding courses, contributing to his pedagogical approach of integrating community care into teaching.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    Discussion on self-care and managing workload balance between research and teaching, emphasizing the importance of structuring one's schedule and utilizing university resources.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    Dominic provides advice on course preparation emphasizing co-creation with students and colleagues, along with reassessment of teaching strategies for improved student engagement and learning experience.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:50:06

    Final reflections include Dominic’s personal growth and transition challenges, appreciation for community engagement, and advice for maintaining a sustainable work-life balance as an instructor.

اعرض المزيد

الخريطة الذهنية

Mind Map

الأسئلة الشائعة

  • What is the main topic of this video?

    The video focuses on the hidden curriculum of academia, particularly for scholars of color, and features an interview with Dominic Bednar on his experiences in teaching and community engagement.

  • Who is interviewed in this episode?

    Dominic Bednar, a doctoral candidate in environmental and sustainability with a focus on energy justice, is interviewed.

  • What does Dominic Bednar's research focus on?

    His research focuses on energy poverty, institutional barriers to energy justice, and the socioeconomic patterns affecting energy affordability and consumption in the U.S.

  • What unique course did Dominic help develop?

    He helped develop an undergraduate course on energy justice, incorporating community-engaged learning and activism.

  • What advice does Dominic offer to new graduate student instructors?

    He advises them to co-create with students, be resourceful, and ensure they maintain their energy and well-being.

  • How does Dominic incorporate community engagement in teaching?

    He connects with communities to align coursework with their needs and ensures mutual benefit, encouraging students to learn from and listen to community members.

  • What challenges does Dominic mention about teaching and research balance?

    He mentions that balancing teaching and research is challenging and advises structuring research to align with teaching commitments.

  • What methods does Dominic use to assess students in community-engaged learning?

    He uses reflective journaling to help students articulate their growth and understanding, focusing on their ability to engage with diverse communities.

  • What analogy does Dominic use to describe energy in teaching and personal management?

    He uses energy as a metaphor for personal and professional energy management, emphasizing the importance of maintaining balance and reserving energy.

  • What is one takeaway from Dominic's educational journey?

    Emphasizing community care, flexibility, and honoring multiple ways of knowing are key takeaways from Dominic's approach to education.

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التمرير التلقائي:
  • 00:00:00
    foreign
  • 00:00:06
    [Music]
  • 00:00:11
    welcome to we need to name this where we
  • 00:00:13
    unpack the hidden curriculum of Academia
  • 00:00:15
    Scholars of color I'm Laura Ann Jacobs
  • 00:00:18
    and this is my co-host ebony Bruce
  • 00:00:20
    Harvey
  • 00:00:21
    and today's episode is entitled I have
  • 00:00:24
    to teach now what
  • 00:00:26
    so we would like to reduce an amazing
  • 00:00:28
    black community engaged and energy
  • 00:00:30
    Justice scholar Dominic Bednar who will
  • 00:00:32
    share it with uh share his experiences
  • 00:00:34
    with us but first we would like to share
  • 00:00:36
    a little bit about him
  • 00:00:38
    Dominic J Bednar is a candidate for the
  • 00:00:40
    PHD in environmental and sustainability
  • 00:00:43
    with a concentration in energy Justice
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    at the University of Michigan his
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    research explores the institutional
  • 00:00:49
    barriers of energy poverty recognition
  • 00:00:51
    and response in the United States whilst
  • 00:00:53
    considering the spatial racial ethnic
  • 00:00:55
    gender and socioeconomic patterns of
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    residential energy affordability
  • 00:00:59
    consumption and efficiency
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    his doctoral research aims to provide
  • 00:01:03
    Clarity for structuring more effective
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    policy interventions and to improve
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    decision making for assisting energy
  • 00:01:09
    vulnerable households which are those
  • 00:01:11
    likely to fall into energy poverty and
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    struggle or be unable to pay their
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    energy bills resulting in energy utility
  • 00:01:17
    shutoffs and foregoing basic necessities
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    Dominic is developing a
  • 00:01:22
    multi-dimensional energy vulnerability
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    index to better understand factors that
  • 00:01:26
    contribute to household energy poverty
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    in the U.S his published Master's thesis
  • 00:01:31
    identified spatial racial ethnic and
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    economic disparities of residential
  • 00:01:35
    energy affordability and efficiency in
  • 00:01:37
    Detroit Michigan Dominic has been
  • 00:01:39
    recognized as a Fulbright scholar Ford
  • 00:01:41
    Foundation pre-doctoral fellow rack of
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    Merit fellow gym fellow and Forbes under
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    30 scholar he is a co-founder of the
  • 00:01:50
    people of the global majority for the
  • 00:01:52
    environment pigment and an inaugural
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    member of um's graduate professional
  • 00:01:57
    diversity equity and inclusion student
  • 00:01:59
    Advisory board he is also the co-founder
  • 00:02:02
    of black in environment week
  • 00:02:04
    Dominic is committed to fighting climate
  • 00:02:06
    change through the integration of
  • 00:02:07
    academic research on residential energy
  • 00:02:09
    and justices in a way that engenders
  • 00:02:11
    Community engagement and co-development
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    of impactful solutions he helps Elevate
  • 00:02:16
    Community knowledge and experiences
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    through his teaching and research his
  • 00:02:20
    passion for environmental justice and
  • 00:02:22
    Community engaged pedagogy guide his
  • 00:02:23
    writing teaching and community-based
  • 00:02:26
    learning consultancy thank you for
  • 00:02:28
    joining us today Dominic
  • 00:02:30
    it's a pleasure to be here thank you all
  • 00:02:32
    so much for having me and and thank you
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    so much for your work to help name this
  • 00:02:37
    and
  • 00:02:39
    you know how do we navigate these spaces
  • 00:02:42
    so
  • 00:02:43
    We Begin every episode just asking our
  • 00:02:47
    interviewees a little bit about
  • 00:02:49
    themselves so we have your bio but we
  • 00:02:51
    want to hear from you so tell us a bit
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    about your area of study your current
  • 00:02:56
    position and what brought you to
  • 00:02:57
    Academia
  • 00:02:59
    oh those are loaded questions so
  • 00:03:03
    I am a lot of things I think coming to
  • 00:03:08
    Academia and currently now being on my
  • 00:03:10
    way out I am
  • 00:03:12
    in many ways struggling with an identity
  • 00:03:14
    crisis so like yes I'm an engineer like
  • 00:03:17
    yes I'm a scholar but yes I'm also a
  • 00:03:20
    yogi I'm also a brother a son a cousin
  • 00:03:23
    and so I'm I'm you know just working to
  • 00:03:26
    to embrace all of the multiple
  • 00:03:29
    identities that I do have
  • 00:03:31
    um I think relevant to the work that I
  • 00:03:33
    do
  • 00:03:34
    um I come to Academia as an engineer and
  • 00:03:39
    so obviously a lot of Engineers come to
  • 00:03:41
    this work
  • 00:03:42
    um but I come to engineering as actually
  • 00:03:44
    a trained Carpenter and so in high
  • 00:03:48
    school I went to shout out George
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    Washington Carver Center for Arts and
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    Technology which to me was like mini
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    College
  • 00:03:55
    um and so like I was in the carpentry
  • 00:03:57
    careers program
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    I had long hair then but wasn't locked
  • 00:04:02
    and so I was in the cosmetology studio
  • 00:04:04
    and so some friends would break my hair
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    like we had folks that were in The
  • 00:04:08
    Culinary studio and so like my
  • 00:04:10
    experience as a carpenter motive invaded
  • 00:04:12
    me to undergrad to really become an
  • 00:04:16
    engineer and learn about the equations
  • 00:04:18
    and the science that govern how
  • 00:04:20
    buildings are able to to stand so tall
  • 00:04:22
    and really
  • 00:04:25
    embrace the the number of different
  • 00:04:27
    environmental conditions that can happen
  • 00:04:30
    and from there I got into the
  • 00:04:32
    sustainability space and which led me to
  • 00:04:34
    graduate school
  • 00:04:36
    and in graduate school I wasn't quite
  • 00:04:39
    sure what my research was I knew I was
  • 00:04:41
    interested in buildings and
  • 00:04:42
    sustainability and I met my advisor
  • 00:04:44
    there Dr Tony Reems who introduced me to
  • 00:04:46
    this this realm of energy Justice which
  • 00:04:49
    Michigan has been a leader in
  • 00:04:51
    environmental justice and energy Justice
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    really is a springboard off of that
  • 00:04:55
    looking at energy related injustices and
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    so
  • 00:04:59
    yeah so that that's my journey to
  • 00:05:01
    Academia
  • 00:05:03
    and so tell us a bit about your current
  • 00:05:05
    position so we were trying to set up
  • 00:05:07
    this interview and you had a lot going
  • 00:05:09
    on
  • 00:05:12
    so uh right now what I am currently
  • 00:05:15
    doing is wrapping up this dissertation
  • 00:05:18
    and submitting my third chapter tonight
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    and
  • 00:05:22
    um I'm hoping to defend within the next
  • 00:05:24
    month or so and um
  • 00:05:27
    I have been interviewing and so I
  • 00:05:30
    haven't really pinned down like where I
  • 00:05:32
    will be next
  • 00:05:34
    um but I think that the prospects are
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    exciting
  • 00:05:37
    um wherever I end up
  • 00:05:40
    um I was supposed to be leaving today uh
  • 00:05:43
    for my Fulbright to go to Santiago Chile
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    but
  • 00:05:46
    um maybe a couple weeks ago they
  • 00:05:47
    actually just told us that they're
  • 00:05:49
    canceling or not canceling deferring our
  • 00:05:51
    Fulbright until next march because of
  • 00:05:54
    the pandemic which you know like
  • 00:05:56
    unfortunately like my life was uprooted
  • 00:05:59
    in Detroit I moved back home to
  • 00:06:01
    Baltimore and
  • 00:06:03
    um with the expectation that I was going
  • 00:06:05
    to be flying out to Chile and and so now
  • 00:06:07
    I'm I'm kind of homeless I mean like I'm
  • 00:06:10
    I'm not homeless right now but um you
  • 00:06:12
    know like some friends are supporting me
  • 00:06:14
    um while I just continue to navigate
  • 00:06:17
    this this transitory period I'm in right
  • 00:06:20
    now
  • 00:06:21
    and I think that's important like
  • 00:06:23
    you know we weren't expecting a pandemic
  • 00:06:25
    we weren't you know what I'm saying so
  • 00:06:27
    we have plans and sometimes our plans
  • 00:06:29
    are just uprooted by what's happening in
  • 00:06:32
    society
  • 00:06:34
    yeah so the best late plan so um you
  • 00:06:37
    know I I wish you guys blessings and
  • 00:06:41
    finding your space you know what I mean
  • 00:06:43
    and like yeah you know being on the job
  • 00:06:46
    market and doing that because even now
  • 00:06:48
    like when the pandemic hit I was
  • 00:06:51
    applying to jobs and then they were just
  • 00:06:52
    like oh we're Frozen so it was like yeah
  • 00:06:56
    well I'm unemployed so I definitely
  • 00:06:59
    understand
  • 00:07:01
    um the struggle with that because I'm
  • 00:07:02
    not starting a position until August so
  • 00:07:04
    it's been a year since I graduated so
  • 00:07:07
    definitely definitely understand
  • 00:07:10
    all right so this episode's title is
  • 00:07:14
    around teaching right so I have to teach
  • 00:07:16
    now what right so our question for you
  • 00:07:19
    um because you've taught in Academia be
  • 00:07:21
    you know through your Graduate Studies
  • 00:07:23
    tell us a bit about the courses that you
  • 00:07:25
    taught
  • 00:07:26
    um and did you teach on undergraduate
  • 00:07:28
    and graduate level
  • 00:07:30
    um only undergrads only graduates so
  • 00:07:31
    tell us a little bit about your teaching
  • 00:07:33
    experience
  • 00:07:34
    yeah of course so
  • 00:07:36
    um I love teaching I think that was you
  • 00:07:39
    know maybe to build back from the
  • 00:07:41
    previous question that was really a
  • 00:07:42
    large part of my motivation why I wanted
  • 00:07:44
    to to come to Academia was I was like
  • 00:07:46
    you know I want to get the best degree
  • 00:07:48
    that's possible and truly I want to
  • 00:07:50
    teach college students just because of
  • 00:07:52
    the Brilliance and the the Curiosity
  • 00:07:55
    that's always in these spaces and
  • 00:07:58
    um so I've taught both undergrad and
  • 00:08:01
    graduate level courses at the University
  • 00:08:02
    of Michigan
  • 00:08:04
    um and I taught energy Justice and so I
  • 00:08:08
    taught as a graduate student instructor
  • 00:08:11
    The Graduate level energy Justice course
  • 00:08:13
    at my advisor and the semester after
  • 00:08:16
    that I taught the undergraduate level
  • 00:08:19
    energy Justice course that first ever
  • 00:08:22
    undergraduate energy Justice course
  • 00:08:23
    might add that I was able to design in
  • 00:08:28
    class with Lauren which was super dope
  • 00:08:31
    we took the engaged pedagogy initiative
  • 00:08:33
    through rackham's program of public
  • 00:08:35
    scholarship which teaches you all about
  • 00:08:37
    the theory and practice of community
  • 00:08:38
    engaged learning
  • 00:08:40
    that was awesome so now that you've told
  • 00:08:43
    us a bit about teaching both undergrad
  • 00:08:45
    and graduate courses can you tell us a
  • 00:08:47
    bit about some of the affordances and
  • 00:08:49
    constraints of teaching each group so
  • 00:08:52
    um I've taught both undergrad and
  • 00:08:54
    graduate students and they're just
  • 00:08:56
    different groups and there are different
  • 00:08:57
    trajectories in their learning so if you
  • 00:08:59
    can just tell us a bit about you know
  • 00:09:01
    what you know about the trajectories and
  • 00:09:03
    what might be the affordances of
  • 00:09:04
    constraints or some of the challenges
  • 00:09:05
    that comes with teaching each group
  • 00:09:09
    yeah of course so I
  • 00:09:13
    I love each group for for different
  • 00:09:15
    reasons I think at The Graduate level
  • 00:09:20
    definitely
  • 00:09:22
    students are a bit more thoughtful and
  • 00:09:25
    just their writing and and how they
  • 00:09:27
    approach
  • 00:09:29
    um some of their assignments and that's
  • 00:09:31
    not to say that the undergrads aren't
  • 00:09:33
    but they um
  • 00:09:35
    I know there's definitely a at least a
  • 00:09:38
    difference there in my experience uh
  • 00:09:41
    it's interesting because both of the
  • 00:09:43
    courses that I taught were Community
  • 00:09:45
    engaged learning courses and
  • 00:09:48
    it
  • 00:09:50
    was really interesting to see how
  • 00:09:52
    graduate students who might have had
  • 00:09:54
    experience
  • 00:09:56
    after undergrad for some time working in
  • 00:09:58
    industry and then coming back to
  • 00:09:59
    graduate school for a professional
  • 00:10:00
    degree and or working all the way
  • 00:10:02
    through and I think something that's
  • 00:10:05
    common between both of them is this
  • 00:10:07
    learning and unlearning about their
  • 00:10:10
    multiple social identities that they
  • 00:10:12
    bring into the classroom environment and
  • 00:10:15
    recognizing that the classroom
  • 00:10:16
    environment is both
  • 00:10:18
    here at the University like in this
  • 00:10:21
    classroom and also it's at a community
  • 00:10:23
    center or at a community park or you
  • 00:10:27
    know like the classroom environment
  • 00:10:29
    really spans between
  • 00:10:32
    um you know the community and the
  • 00:10:33
    classroom and so
  • 00:10:36
    something that was interesting was
  • 00:10:38
    working with some of the graduate
  • 00:10:39
    students who you know know a whole lot
  • 00:10:42
    and have a whole lot of experiences I
  • 00:10:44
    vividly remember uh just chatting with
  • 00:10:47
    one of these MBA students and we were
  • 00:10:50
    working with the communities he was like
  • 00:10:51
    oh I'm so frustrated I can't you know
  • 00:10:54
    like get a word out edgewise you know
  • 00:10:56
    working with the community members and
  • 00:10:58
    it was a teaching moment for me to be
  • 00:11:01
    like you know like that's okay like
  • 00:11:03
    sometimes you don't need to say anything
  • 00:11:06
    at all sometimes you know just being
  • 00:11:08
    there and holding space to listen is so
  • 00:11:12
    important and instrumental to to
  • 00:11:15
    building Rapport building trust and
  • 00:11:17
    being able to
  • 00:11:19
    then share at a later time the
  • 00:11:21
    information that we know and how we
  • 00:11:23
    might be able to help students out
  • 00:11:26
    I think for
  • 00:11:28
    maybe even both undergrads and and
  • 00:11:31
    graduate students is is this notion of
  • 00:11:34
    this teaching students how to
  • 00:11:38
    engage and embrace
  • 00:11:40
    flexibility and also how they might be
  • 00:11:43
    able to embrace complexity so a lot of
  • 00:11:46
    times we'll do a lot of planning to to
  • 00:11:48
    get out in the community
  • 00:11:50
    um and oftentimes you know things happen
  • 00:11:52
    and
  • 00:11:53
    um you know we just have to be able to
  • 00:11:55
    be on our feet
  • 00:11:56
    um sometimes we plan to visit with the
  • 00:11:58
    community and they'll cancel maybe five
  • 00:12:00
    minutes after class started we were on
  • 00:12:02
    the way so I was like all right uh
  • 00:12:05
    audible we need we need to change our
  • 00:12:06
    game plan so those are a few things
  • 00:12:09
    and so you were saying that you engage
  • 00:12:12
    in community-based scholarships
  • 00:12:13
    scholarship and in teaching how do you
  • 00:12:16
    connect with the community and how do
  • 00:12:18
    you get your students to build those
  • 00:12:20
    kinds of relationships if you talk about
  • 00:12:21
    those relationships with trust and
  • 00:12:23
    listening and patience and all the
  • 00:12:25
    things that are needed to really because
  • 00:12:27
    often as you know academics we feel like
  • 00:12:30
    we have all the knowledge and so we are
  • 00:12:32
    imparting our knowledge on other people
  • 00:12:34
    and we forget that other people have
  • 00:12:36
    knowledge that may look different but is
  • 00:12:39
    valid and valuable and can actually
  • 00:12:42
    teach us so how do you um one connect
  • 00:12:44
    with the community and then help your
  • 00:12:46
    students really Embrace that
  • 00:12:49
    indeed indeed what a wonderful question
  • 00:12:51
    so I think for me I think scaffolding
  • 00:12:55
    goes a really long way and so for me as
  • 00:12:58
    an instructor working with the community
  • 00:13:00
    director and you know really just
  • 00:13:02
    chatting about like what their Community
  • 00:13:05
    needs and interests are and how this
  • 00:13:08
    particular type of Engagement aligns
  • 00:13:10
    with their mission vision and values and
  • 00:13:14
    how
  • 00:13:15
    our engagement is of equal benefit
  • 00:13:19
    um and and rather like that this
  • 00:13:21
    engagement is a partnership and so
  • 00:13:24
    um figuring out that information before
  • 00:13:26
    introducing students to community
  • 00:13:29
    members I think is really helpful and
  • 00:13:31
    also I think priming my students before
  • 00:13:34
    we actually enter a community to think
  • 00:13:37
    about this notion of e3 so how do we
  • 00:13:39
    like delicately into communities how do
  • 00:13:42
    we once we're there how do we engage
  • 00:13:43
    with them and then finally thinking
  • 00:13:45
    about like how do we exit communities
  • 00:13:47
    and in that process
  • 00:13:49
    uh just demonstrating like yes we're
  • 00:13:52
    learning about like energy justice
  • 00:13:54
    theory and and practice but what's
  • 00:13:58
    really important is that just as you
  • 00:14:00
    mentioned
  • 00:14:01
    communities have a lot of information as
  • 00:14:04
    well and if it's that we want to help
  • 00:14:06
    support and help problem solve for them
  • 00:14:09
    I think we have to honor that the
  • 00:14:12
    communities of you know really any
  • 00:14:14
    problem will more often than not know
  • 00:14:18
    exactly how to characterize their own
  • 00:14:20
    problems and already have thought about
  • 00:14:22
    how they might innovate their own
  • 00:14:24
    Solutions and so holding space for
  • 00:14:28
    dishonoring multiple ways of knowing and
  • 00:14:31
    honoring that
  • 00:14:32
    um you know this this work takes time
  • 00:14:35
    and you know just being as transparent
  • 00:14:37
    as possible yeah so you mentioned this
  • 00:14:40
    is my last question every time you say
  • 00:14:41
    something
  • 00:14:42
    [Laughter]
  • 00:14:45
    um so you talked about your work with
  • 00:14:46
    Laura Ann in developing this first ever
  • 00:14:48
    undergrad course so can you tell us a
  • 00:14:50
    little bit about developing a course so
  • 00:14:52
    like sometimes in graduate schools you
  • 00:14:54
    have the opportunity to either modify a
  • 00:14:56
    course that already exists or develop
  • 00:14:58
    your own course so tell us a bit about
  • 00:15:01
    how that process and like what were some
  • 00:15:03
    of the challenges what were some of the
  • 00:15:05
    affordances of doing that project
  • 00:15:09
    yeah so it was a really really
  • 00:15:12
    interesting and
  • 00:15:14
    honestly it was it was tough like I had
  • 00:15:17
    an idea I was like oh like I want to
  • 00:15:19
    teach this class like energy Justice all
  • 00:15:21
    the way and so after having you know
  • 00:15:24
    taken my advisors course I knew at least
  • 00:15:27
    like a framework of how I wanted to to
  • 00:15:29
    deploy this course but I you know like
  • 00:15:32
    had a Different Twist on it and the name
  • 00:15:34
    of my course was
  • 00:15:36
    um
  • 00:15:37
    Community engaged energy Justice and
  • 00:15:40
    activism
  • 00:15:42
    um and thinking about that in in the
  • 00:15:44
    realm of climate change and so
  • 00:15:47
    some of the challenges in developing the
  • 00:15:49
    course were one like we had to pick a
  • 00:15:52
    community partner first and so
  • 00:15:55
    structuring like the information that
  • 00:15:56
    you want to teach the students that
  • 00:15:58
    traditionally would be in a semester
  • 00:15:59
    long a lot of that is truncated and so
  • 00:16:02
    like you can't teach them everything and
  • 00:16:05
    so in what ways do we think about
  • 00:16:06
    teaching them how to continue their
  • 00:16:09
    teaching on their own at some other
  • 00:16:11
    point like how can we give them
  • 00:16:12
    resources
  • 00:16:14
    uh something else that was maybe helpful
  • 00:16:16
    in in the development of the course was
  • 00:16:18
    actually meeting with undergraduate
  • 00:16:20
    students and for them to look over our
  • 00:16:22
    syllabi and straight up be like
  • 00:16:25
    we're not doing all this reading or this
  • 00:16:28
    is too much and that's the beauty of
  • 00:16:31
    working with undergrads it's like
  • 00:16:32
    they're gonna tell you like it is which
  • 00:16:35
    um you know like we do all the time when
  • 00:16:37
    we're grading the papers and we're
  • 00:16:38
    grading their assignments and so just
  • 00:16:41
    honoring that like I too have a lot to
  • 00:16:43
    learn and so even like in the
  • 00:16:45
    development of that course just makes me
  • 00:16:46
    think about you know like one day I'll
  • 00:16:48
    I'll have an academic position like how
  • 00:16:51
    can I like have students look at my
  • 00:16:53
    syllabus before and maybe make some
  • 00:16:54
    suggestions
  • 00:16:56
    um before during after and you know just
  • 00:16:59
    help
  • 00:17:01
    help lean in and invite students to be
  • 00:17:05
    co-creators of what it is that they'll
  • 00:17:08
    be learning
  • 00:17:10
    that's awesome I think that's something
  • 00:17:13
    to think about
  • 00:17:14
    um we're you know professors and
  • 00:17:17
    teachers or instructors and we say we
  • 00:17:20
    have this vision for what students need
  • 00:17:21
    to learn and we we come with all this
  • 00:17:24
    knowledge and we're like okay we want to
  • 00:17:26
    we want to teach you these things we
  • 00:17:27
    want to engage you but also thinking
  • 00:17:29
    about the fact that students are on the
  • 00:17:31
    other side of this and what what would
  • 00:17:33
    their experiences be what have their
  • 00:17:34
    experiences been in in schools and
  • 00:17:36
    classes and what could make their
  • 00:17:38
    experience just just better you know in
  • 00:17:41
    our courses and I think that's important
  • 00:17:42
    to to consider all right so I'm going to
  • 00:17:45
    pass it over to Laura Ann
  • 00:17:47
    thanks I've been waiting
  • 00:17:49
    [Laughter]
  • 00:17:51
    so uh thank you so much for sharing
  • 00:17:54
    about
  • 00:17:55
    um you know especially with Community
  • 00:17:57
    engaged pedagogy and Community engaged
  • 00:18:01
    um coursework that's something that um I
  • 00:18:03
    think
  • 00:18:04
    honestly we may need another episode on
  • 00:18:08
    um but you know what I heard you say
  • 00:18:10
    like several things that are seem to be
  • 00:18:12
    very integral to your pedagogy like
  • 00:18:13
    Community Care
  • 00:18:16
    um engagement responsiveness the
  • 00:18:18
    importance of listening enter engage
  • 00:18:20
    exit you know honoring multiple ways of
  • 00:18:23
    knowing that just seems so
  • 00:18:26
    um
  • 00:18:27
    they seem so intentional and
  • 00:18:29
    sophisticated in what your pedagogy is
  • 00:18:31
    and so I'm wondering did you have
  • 00:18:34
    teaching areas prior to graduate school
  • 00:18:37
    and it could be you know in a classroom
  • 00:18:39
    like a traditional school classroom or
  • 00:18:41
    not I'm wondering you know like what
  • 00:18:43
    things maybe shaped that for you
  • 00:18:45
    yeah for sure I mean I think one I think
  • 00:18:48
    we all have some kind of teaching
  • 00:18:50
    experience before we arrive in the
  • 00:18:52
    academy
  • 00:18:53
    um and it doesn't have to be formal like
  • 00:18:55
    it could be like you know in
  • 00:18:57
    kindergarten oh this is how you tie your
  • 00:18:58
    shoe or
  • 00:18:59
    um we we teach and learn a lot of times
  • 00:19:02
    by doing and so
  • 00:19:04
    um monkey see monkey do and so I think
  • 00:19:06
    yes I think just like growing up and
  • 00:19:09
    inherently I've had those experiences I
  • 00:19:12
    think maybe a little more formally
  • 00:19:14
    definitely an undergrad I was heavily
  • 00:19:17
    involved with nsbee the National Society
  • 00:19:19
    of black engineers and there I remember
  • 00:19:23
    vividly being a just in the nesby lounge
  • 00:19:27
    um because I'm a night owl but I would
  • 00:19:30
    hang out in the nezi lounge during the
  • 00:19:32
    day you know working on like some mild
  • 00:19:34
    assignments or like administrative work
  • 00:19:36
    and when folks would have like problems
  • 00:19:38
    with
  • 00:19:39
    um some some homework assignments that
  • 00:19:41
    they've been working on or some
  • 00:19:43
    challenges and courses that like I have
  • 00:19:45
    already taken like I would just go to
  • 00:19:47
    the chalkboard all right I'm gonna I'm
  • 00:19:49
    gonna work out this problem and then
  • 00:19:50
    like go work out the problem side by
  • 00:19:52
    side we'll take a step back and see
  • 00:19:54
    where folks might have you know taken a
  • 00:19:57
    misstep and you know just thinking about
  • 00:19:59
    like all right these are the equations
  • 00:20:00
    we need to use and
  • 00:20:02
    um
  • 00:20:03
    so on and so forth and so definitely
  • 00:20:05
    that experience led me to being a tutor
  • 00:20:09
    for the undergraduate like chemistry for
  • 00:20:11
    engineers course
  • 00:20:13
    and so you know just being able to
  • 00:20:14
    actively support
  • 00:20:17
    um students Engineers of color through
  • 00:20:19
    the University of Maryland's Center for
  • 00:20:21
    minorities and Sciences in engineering
  • 00:20:23
    Shout Out Mr Rosemary Parker who's been
  • 00:20:26
    running that Center for such a long time
  • 00:20:29
    and and also for encouraging me to to go
  • 00:20:32
    to graduate school and to make sure that
  • 00:20:34
    I'm going and that I would go to a fully
  • 00:20:37
    funded program and so I'm just grateful
  • 00:20:39
    for that experience during undergrad
  • 00:20:42
    though I think some like my actual
  • 00:20:44
    formal instructor training came from me
  • 00:20:48
    my part-time job I worked at the gym and
  • 00:20:50
    in the gym I worked in Aquatics and I
  • 00:20:53
    did any and everything that you could do
  • 00:20:54
    in Aquatics I was a lifeguard I was a
  • 00:20:57
    head lifeguard which essentially means
  • 00:20:59
    you have to run across the building or
  • 00:21:01
    outside with an AED bag for any medical
  • 00:21:04
    emergencies
  • 00:21:06
    I was trained as a lifeguarding
  • 00:21:09
    instructor through the American Red
  • 00:21:10
    Cross I was trained as a water safety
  • 00:21:13
    instructor so essentially teaching swim
  • 00:21:15
    lessons and so there I got to actually
  • 00:21:17
    teach each like American Red Cross CPR
  • 00:21:20
    for estate courses I got to teach guard
  • 00:21:24
    start which is like a junior
  • 00:21:25
    lifeguarding program
  • 00:21:27
    um so I had my own course there and I
  • 00:21:29
    also taught a semester-long lifeguarding
  • 00:21:31
    course
  • 00:21:32
    um
  • 00:21:32
    and it was funny you know before we
  • 00:21:35
    started this call everybody was like oh
  • 00:21:37
    your voice is so soothing I think back
  • 00:21:39
    then I was very soft-spoken and I
  • 00:21:42
    remember my my supervisors and my
  • 00:21:45
    instructors saying use your pool voice
  • 00:21:47
    and so like really learning to project
  • 00:21:49
    my voice for a 50 meter olympic size
  • 00:21:53
    pool to you know teach and water skills
  • 00:21:56
    of how you might save a victim to get
  • 00:22:00
    them out of the water how you might you
  • 00:22:01
    know work with different teams to say
  • 00:22:03
    hey like grab this grab that and so I
  • 00:22:06
    interviewed a lot of my early instructor
  • 00:22:09
    training there and then obviously once I
  • 00:22:12
    got to Michigan they engaged pedagogy
  • 00:22:14
    initiative was really good to think
  • 00:22:15
    about
  • 00:22:17
    doing all that like but within a
  • 00:22:19
    community engaged learning
  • 00:22:22
    concept or Style
  • 00:22:25
    yeah
  • 00:22:26
    thank you for sharing all that I think
  • 00:22:29
    you know um Ebony and I are in the field
  • 00:22:31
    of education so a lot of our guests are
  • 00:22:33
    in the field of Education they're always
  • 00:22:35
    a classroom teacher I was coming over
  • 00:22:36
    and like education is only one
  • 00:22:38
    discipline that someone could go into
  • 00:22:40
    for graduate school and
  • 00:22:43
    um grad students in each program in each
  • 00:22:45
    department have a responsibility for
  • 00:22:46
    teaching and so we're very aware that
  • 00:22:49
    for many people and even even for me I
  • 00:22:51
    was a classroom teacher for six years
  • 00:22:52
    the first time I had to teach a course
  • 00:22:54
    on my own I was like
  • 00:22:55
    um intimidated
  • 00:22:57
    um how is this how is this going to be
  • 00:22:59
    different and so
  • 00:23:01
    um something I really create uh in in
  • 00:23:03
    hearing you speak is to think about all
  • 00:23:06
    the many ways that we have been teachers
  • 00:23:08
    in our lives whether it's you know and
  • 00:23:10
    not just in our adulthood or our college
  • 00:23:11
    Years as Tutors or whatever but from
  • 00:23:14
    kindergarten or for like teaching you
  • 00:23:16
    know your friend how to play a game or
  • 00:23:18
    you know
  • 00:23:20
    um showing someone you know how to tie a
  • 00:23:22
    tie for the first time or all those
  • 00:23:23
    kinds of things are all are all the ways
  • 00:23:25
    that we can be teachers years and um
  • 00:23:28
    yeah and I certainly hear the um what
  • 00:23:31
    you're talking about the community care
  • 00:23:32
    and listening to others and just always
  • 00:23:36
    just having that priority of care being
  • 00:23:37
    on
  • 00:23:38
    um on the people that you're serving is
  • 00:23:41
    um is is a Common Thread that seems to
  • 00:23:43
    stick out in your pedagogy to me so I um
  • 00:23:45
    thank you so much for sharing that
  • 00:23:48
    um
  • 00:23:49
    yeah so I I do Wonder
  • 00:23:52
    um about
  • 00:23:54
    that is intimidation piece of it for
  • 00:23:57
    people who may come from backgrounds
  • 00:23:58
    that aren't Educators or may not
  • 00:24:01
    um may not view their own experience as
  • 00:24:05
    like I can transfer this into Academia
  • 00:24:08
    for teaching right maybe I was
  • 00:24:11
    um you know what whatever their their
  • 00:24:13
    job was before maybe they were a
  • 00:24:15
    assistant manager at a restaurant and
  • 00:24:17
    trained new employees and they you know
  • 00:24:20
    are feeling intimidated by teaching in a
  • 00:24:23
    classroom
  • 00:24:25
    um how do you navigate that to hold an
  • 00:24:27
    honor like your experience like what
  • 00:24:30
    what advice do you have to offer for
  • 00:24:31
    people to be able to
  • 00:24:33
    um interview themselves in asset-based
  • 00:24:36
    ways as they take up the responsibility
  • 00:24:38
    teaching at the University
  • 00:24:40
    yeah I love excuse me I love that
  • 00:24:43
    question I would say I mean
  • 00:24:46
    one like our experiences are lessons in
  • 00:24:49
    them in and of themselves and we bring
  • 00:24:53
    those with us everywhere that we go and
  • 00:24:55
    so just honoring and and respecting that
  • 00:24:59
    you've arrived exactly where you need to
  • 00:25:01
    be and if it's that you are interfacing
  • 00:25:04
    some students
  • 00:25:06
    at in an academic space like you deserve
  • 00:25:10
    to be there and and that there is
  • 00:25:12
    something that is on your journey that
  • 00:25:16
    is there for you to learn but also
  • 00:25:18
    there's something on your journey for
  • 00:25:20
    you to teach other people
  • 00:25:22
    and so
  • 00:25:24
    I think
  • 00:25:25
    Beyond like the content and oh this is
  • 00:25:29
    getting real loud these radiators are
  • 00:25:31
    building up in here can you all hear
  • 00:25:33
    this when I cut this off that really
  • 00:25:39
    all right I'll keep talking so I I would
  • 00:25:42
    say that you know the experiences that
  • 00:25:43
    we do have in many ways enrich the the
  • 00:25:47
    content that that we're teaching and I
  • 00:25:49
    know like my students and even like when
  • 00:25:51
    I'm in class I love when uh a faculty
  • 00:25:56
    member or an instructor is able to draw
  • 00:25:58
    on their real world experience or even
  • 00:26:00
    the experiences of their colleagues of
  • 00:26:02
    their friends their family because it
  • 00:26:04
    one just like humanizes the information
  • 00:26:06
    it makes it more accessible and truly it
  • 00:26:11
    just makes it a more joyous learning
  • 00:26:13
    environment and so like I'm always
  • 00:26:15
    thinking about in what ways can we
  • 00:26:17
    engage and play in what ways can we have
  • 00:26:21
    fun because when when learning is hard
  • 00:26:23
    like yeah study engineering as an
  • 00:26:25
    undergrad some of that stuff I did not
  • 00:26:27
    like why was I sitting through class and
  • 00:26:29
    like I then learned that there were so
  • 00:26:31
    many people who just weren't coming to
  • 00:26:32
    class and we're just like oh you know
  • 00:26:34
    I'll just study myself and I was going
  • 00:26:36
    to class and had to study myself or
  • 00:26:39
    teach myself and so
  • 00:26:41
    being able to just like be in a space
  • 00:26:43
    where you know you can contribute
  • 00:26:46
    your life experiences in a way that
  • 00:26:49
    enrich the overall course content I
  • 00:26:51
    think is is so important
  • 00:26:53
    thank you
  • 00:26:55
    um
  • 00:26:56
    okay so we trying to stick to these
  • 00:26:59
    questions
  • 00:27:02
    um so our question is as
  • 00:27:05
    um as a graduate student instructor also
  • 00:27:08
    as a course designer
  • 00:27:10
    um you know we've talked a little bit
  • 00:27:11
    about the engaged pedagogy initiative
  • 00:27:13
    but you know just how did you like that
  • 00:27:15
    first class you taught or the first
  • 00:27:17
    class you designed like how do you go
  • 00:27:19
    about even planning for that
  • 00:27:23
    um like how do you like think about a
  • 00:27:26
    syllabus or how do you plan for a
  • 00:27:28
    three-hour class if you haven't done it
  • 00:27:31
    in that format for and then you know are
  • 00:27:35
    there resources or supports
  • 00:27:39
    um that helped you in in doing that
  • 00:27:43
    yeah that's a tough question so I think
  • 00:27:46
    thinking about
  • 00:27:47
    a syllabus and thinking about class
  • 00:27:49
    preparation is is really important
  • 00:27:52
    for me
  • 00:27:54
    I think it was
  • 00:27:56
    it was easy because I'm I was like oh
  • 00:27:58
    okay I can like work off of this course
  • 00:28:00
    my advisor taught and think about that
  • 00:28:03
    particular type of scaffolding and my
  • 00:28:06
    experience taking the course I was like
  • 00:28:07
    okay these are some activities that I
  • 00:28:10
    really enjoyed
  • 00:28:11
    these are some some articles that I
  • 00:28:14
    thought were really important to teach
  • 00:28:15
    these course Concepts
  • 00:28:17
    and so I think you know starting out I
  • 00:28:20
    think it's important to think about your
  • 00:28:22
    your vision for the course what is it
  • 00:28:24
    that you want your students to know uh
  • 00:28:26
    what is it that you want
  • 00:28:29
    to convey what type of students do you
  • 00:28:32
    want to
  • 00:28:33
    you know return to the to the world
  • 00:28:36
    um there's
  • 00:28:38
    I think it's helpful to think about them
  • 00:28:40
    you know your students and and really
  • 00:28:43
    anyone that you engage with as a
  • 00:28:45
    stopping point on their own Journeys and
  • 00:28:48
    um how might we arm them with
  • 00:28:50
    information that may help them out in
  • 00:28:53
    the future within this particular
  • 00:28:55
    category and for me that that was energy
  • 00:28:58
    Justice and so
  • 00:29:00
    um you know just being able to to dream
  • 00:29:02
    and to Vision what your ideal course
  • 00:29:05
    looks like and again for me it was like
  • 00:29:08
    how
  • 00:29:10
    can I provide them with an experience
  • 00:29:13
    and tools to carry with them to think
  • 00:29:16
    about all the issues they encounter with
  • 00:29:19
    the lens of equity with the lens of
  • 00:29:20
    Justice
  • 00:29:22
    towards a a brighter future I mean
  • 00:29:26
    because
  • 00:29:27
    I would say for me one of the most
  • 00:29:29
    challenging Parts was you know after
  • 00:29:31
    getting through you know developing a
  • 00:29:33
    syllabus and
  • 00:29:36
    preparing the course is like in the
  • 00:29:38
    course uh preparation is really tough
  • 00:29:41
    because it takes a lot of time you don't
  • 00:29:45
    a lot of times you don't get through
  • 00:29:47
    everything you want to get through
  • 00:29:49
    there's often a lot of questions like
  • 00:29:51
    things happen and so I was just speaking
  • 00:29:54
    to more senior level faculty members and
  • 00:29:55
    they're like yeah you really don't get
  • 00:29:57
    it until like after you've taught the
  • 00:29:59
    same course like three times like you
  • 00:30:00
    get the timing down like the assignments
  • 00:30:03
    make sense like you've been able to to
  • 00:30:05
    massage Out The Kinks and so again
  • 00:30:08
    honoring multiple ways of knowing and
  • 00:30:10
    also honoring the journey and so
  • 00:30:13
    it's not easy and so what you can do
  • 00:30:16
    just just do your best with it and um I
  • 00:30:19
    think some you know
  • 00:30:21
    mid mid course or you know like midterm
  • 00:30:24
    feedback from your students is really
  • 00:30:25
    helpful but even sooner than that the
  • 00:30:27
    sooner you can get feedback about like
  • 00:30:29
    what's working what's not working
  • 00:30:31
    pivot and I was pivoting all semester I
  • 00:30:33
    was like oh this isn't working like oh
  • 00:30:35
    y'all like this let's do more of this
  • 00:30:37
    and um you know just going with the flow
  • 00:30:40
    like it it is a journey and you're in it
  • 00:30:42
    together with the students
  • 00:30:44
    thank you thank you yeah I heard
  • 00:30:47
    um just so much in your response about
  • 00:30:52
    um just really
  • 00:30:54
    um centering is centering your students
  • 00:30:56
    and seeing the responsibility of being a
  • 00:30:58
    part you should like a stop in their own
  • 00:30:59
    Journeys right I think sometimes
  • 00:31:01
    especially as intimidating as it can be
  • 00:31:03
    to teach a to teach a College University
  • 00:31:05
    course for the first time it's like how
  • 00:31:07
    what am I doing right what am I doing
  • 00:31:08
    wrong how can I do this that makes it
  • 00:31:10
    intimidating but to remember that it is
  • 00:31:12
    like kind of this
  • 00:31:15
    um
  • 00:31:15
    you know in a lot of ways a sacred
  • 00:31:18
    responsibility to be a part of another
  • 00:31:20
    person's learning and to like really
  • 00:31:22
    honor that and to adapt to it
  • 00:31:26
    um with compassion and with empathy or
  • 00:31:28
    things that I'm I'm hearing in your um
  • 00:31:30
    in your response question that I do have
  • 00:31:33
    this uh script is
  • 00:31:36
    um you know you're talking about these
  • 00:31:37
    multiple ways of knowing and you're
  • 00:31:39
    talking about you know adaptability and
  • 00:31:41
    changing and
  • 00:31:43
    um I know you also have this other
  • 00:31:45
    component of community engagement in
  • 00:31:47
    your work
  • 00:31:48
    um and so you don't necessarily have to
  • 00:31:50
    tell us like how you assess like
  • 00:31:53
    assess and I mean in the University
  • 00:31:55
    setting that means grade but like what
  • 00:31:58
    is your mentality like when you said you
  • 00:32:00
    prepare by thinking about your purpose
  • 00:32:01
    your goals who you know what is your
  • 00:32:04
    commitment to Justice and equities kind
  • 00:32:06
    of like ideas like how do you also
  • 00:32:10
    um approach your thinking about
  • 00:32:12
    assessment
  • 00:32:14
    um because even if we care that our
  • 00:32:18
    students are more whole or you know more
  • 00:32:22
    fully able to feel more fully themselves
  • 00:32:24
    when they leave our classroom the
  • 00:32:26
    university is still imposing that they
  • 00:32:28
    we have to give them a grade on their
  • 00:32:30
    transcript and so I I'm wondering if you
  • 00:32:33
    can speak to that a little bit it's off
  • 00:32:35
    script so we don't have to keep it yeah
  • 00:32:37
    of course so I think assessments really
  • 00:32:42
    really important and I think like you
  • 00:32:43
    we're alluding to like it's it's Nuance
  • 00:32:45
    especially with with Community engage
  • 00:32:47
    work and so beyond like you know like
  • 00:32:50
    writing assignments
  • 00:32:52
    um that type of assessment like I would
  • 00:32:54
    formally give students a rubric that you
  • 00:32:57
    know outlines like what they need to hit
  • 00:32:58
    in terms of like structure argumentation
  • 00:33:01
    um
  • 00:33:02
    that type of assessment but I think
  • 00:33:04
    Community engaged learning is really
  • 00:33:06
    tough to think about assessment because
  • 00:33:08
    it's like how do you truly assess
  • 00:33:10
    someone's ability to engage with someone
  • 00:33:14
    that is distinctly different from them
  • 00:33:16
    and so common practice is to use this
  • 00:33:19
    notion of of journaling for them to you
  • 00:33:22
    know be more reflexive about their
  • 00:33:25
    experiences and that type of assessment
  • 00:33:28
    is really just like a check box like hey
  • 00:33:31
    like you were able to you know complete
  • 00:33:33
    these two-page Reflections on
  • 00:33:36
    prior to engaging with the community but
  • 00:33:39
    then also after and I think one of the
  • 00:33:42
    more rewarding Parts is despite how long
  • 00:33:45
    it might take to get through those
  • 00:33:47
    Reflections like it's so beautiful to
  • 00:33:50
    see their own growth and I like to
  • 00:33:53
    remind them of of their growth as well
  • 00:33:55
    because a lot of times like they might
  • 00:33:57
    have
  • 00:33:58
    their their own perceptions and their
  • 00:34:00
    own biases about what energy issues look
  • 00:34:03
    like and maybe how they might approach
  • 00:34:05
    them and to see their language change in
  • 00:34:09
    in the ways that they describe
  • 00:34:11
    communities and they describe
  • 00:34:14
    and
  • 00:34:16
    yes describe and also thinking about
  • 00:34:19
    like how they become more compassionate
  • 00:34:21
    people and how they um become more more
  • 00:34:25
    empathetic to just situations that are
  • 00:34:28
    different from theirs and
  • 00:34:30
    um how they can Embrace other people's
  • 00:34:33
    knowledge experiences and stories and
  • 00:34:35
    and they carry those forward
  • 00:34:37
    um to then be able to talk about these
  • 00:34:39
    issues with a bit more granularity a bit
  • 00:34:42
    more
  • 00:34:43
    um
  • 00:34:45
    stories that that ultimately
  • 00:34:48
    um I think stories are so powerful like
  • 00:34:50
    our own stories and also I think like
  • 00:34:52
    when we were able to to uplift Community
  • 00:34:56
    knowledge and community experiences and
  • 00:34:58
    you start to see that happening I think
  • 00:35:00
    uh it doesn't really change like my like
  • 00:35:03
    assessment or like the grading that I do
  • 00:35:05
    for them but it does prompt a different
  • 00:35:08
    type of of learning that I think
  • 00:35:11
    um these students definitely will hold
  • 00:35:13
    for the rest of their lives
  • 00:35:16
    thank you and I'm hearing you say too
  • 00:35:19
    you know
  • 00:35:21
    um a different type of learning that
  • 00:35:23
    stands out to me and even you thinking
  • 00:35:25
    about looking over at journals over the
  • 00:35:27
    course of a semester to see like how is
  • 00:35:29
    the way that you're doing this different
  • 00:35:31
    like how is the way that you you know
  • 00:35:33
    you as a student are writing about this
  • 00:35:36
    how is your thinking changing it's also
  • 00:35:39
    um quite different from like multiple
  • 00:35:41
    choice which of these is not asset-based
  • 00:35:43
    language about a community
  • 00:35:45
    um right it's
  • 00:35:47
    um like you are really committing to a
  • 00:35:49
    lot of Labor and a lot of commitment to
  • 00:35:53
    really in a single semester like maybe
  • 00:35:56
    one day a week as a graduate student
  • 00:35:57
    depending on what kind of course you're
  • 00:35:59
    teaching you are committing a lot
  • 00:36:02
    um to transforming and supporting like
  • 00:36:04
    students thinking so um thank you so
  • 00:36:06
    much for that
  • 00:36:08
    um I'm gonna hand it back to you
  • 00:36:10
    my friend Ebony
  • 00:36:12
    I went I went off a little bit
  • 00:36:21
    so Dominic um so now we're coming down
  • 00:36:25
    to the end of our interview and we're
  • 00:36:26
    just going to ask you some questions
  • 00:36:27
    that
  • 00:36:29
    um well I just help folks who are
  • 00:36:31
    watching this think about their future
  • 00:36:33
    in graduate school and teaching and that
  • 00:36:36
    type of thing so the first question is
  • 00:36:40
    what are some things you wish you knew
  • 00:36:41
    about University teaching that you
  • 00:36:43
    didn't know initially so for folks who
  • 00:36:46
    are going to be entering the space and
  • 00:36:48
    are going to be teaching what are some
  • 00:36:49
    things that they might need to know that
  • 00:36:52
    they may not know coming in
  • 00:36:54
    hmm that is a good question what I
  • 00:36:57
    really wish I knew is
  • 00:36:59
    there is it is really challenging to
  • 00:37:02
    balance if you are doing research both
  • 00:37:05
    research and teaching and so something
  • 00:37:07
    that I didn't learn until after was just
  • 00:37:10
    making sure that you structure your
  • 00:37:12
    research like if you have that
  • 00:37:14
    flexibility like I'm not sure if folks
  • 00:37:16
    are like working on different research
  • 00:37:17
    projects as research assistants but
  • 00:37:19
    structure your research in a way that
  • 00:37:21
    doesn't require
  • 00:37:22
    maybe like hard analysis or hard like
  • 00:37:26
    data acquisition because doing that
  • 00:37:29
    while also preparing lesson plans and
  • 00:37:33
    and Grading you will find out that you
  • 00:37:36
    are going to do more a lot more teaching
  • 00:37:37
    and a lot more preparation for teaching
  • 00:37:39
    then you will do research and so I think
  • 00:37:43
    being able to
  • 00:37:45
    again like structure that so like yes
  • 00:37:47
    you can still do research but maybe it
  • 00:37:50
    might be in the research development or
  • 00:37:53
    like proposal writing stage where you
  • 00:37:54
    can think about what questions you might
  • 00:37:57
    have or maybe you can hold some space
  • 00:37:59
    for maybe reading an article or two a
  • 00:38:02
    week
  • 00:38:03
    um maybe you might integrate some of
  • 00:38:04
    those articles that you're reading for
  • 00:38:07
    your own research and read them with
  • 00:38:09
    your students and so you aren't doing
  • 00:38:11
    that work by yourself and you know you
  • 00:38:13
    can streamline that a bit more because I
  • 00:38:16
    would say definitely think about that
  • 00:38:20
    um some things that I knew
  • 00:38:22
    but I think is important to just share
  • 00:38:25
    or just think about all the university
  • 00:38:27
    resources that are available and so at
  • 00:38:30
    the University of Michigan the center
  • 00:38:31
    for research learning and teaching is
  • 00:38:32
    probably one of the best ones in the
  • 00:38:34
    country and so being able to tap on to
  • 00:38:37
    them for
  • 00:38:39
    um support with your midterm feedback I
  • 00:38:42
    remember getting my midterm feedback and
  • 00:38:44
    you know inviting one of The
  • 00:38:46
    Graduate students their like instructor
  • 00:38:50
    consultants and they came in and I was
  • 00:38:54
    like oh they're just chilling in the
  • 00:38:55
    background and then I left and then they
  • 00:38:58
    you know were chatting you up with my
  • 00:39:00
    students were chatting up with with the
  • 00:39:01
    consultant and the form I got back was
  • 00:39:04
    so detailed like every single minute was
  • 00:39:07
    outlined with all right you asked this
  • 00:39:09
    question this is how the students seem
  • 00:39:11
    to respond this is also like you know
  • 00:39:14
    like how the community engaged and I was
  • 00:39:16
    like wow this was
  • 00:39:18
    just such a rewarding experience and
  • 00:39:21
    just it was data and you know everything
  • 00:39:23
    is data you know if you walk life and in
  • 00:39:27
    that way but when someone can present a
  • 00:39:29
    report on you know like your own course
  • 00:39:31
    it allows it gives you that
  • 00:39:35
    that perspective to again be able to
  • 00:39:38
    Pivot in a way that is purposeful
  • 00:39:42
    so yeah so a couple of points that you
  • 00:39:44
    made one
  • 00:39:46
    research teaching and then you you might
  • 00:39:49
    be taking courses as well right so
  • 00:39:51
    really thinking about how to balance
  • 00:39:53
    time
  • 00:39:54
    um the thing is is that for me for
  • 00:39:58
    Lauren Ashley Laura and myself we did a
  • 00:40:00
    lot of teaching
  • 00:40:01
    during our time
  • 00:40:03
    um and I remember my first year coming
  • 00:40:05
    in and teaching a course co-teaching a
  • 00:40:08
    course and taking courses and having to
  • 00:40:11
    grade and having to write my papers and
  • 00:40:13
    I wasn't even on a research project and
  • 00:40:15
    I was like this is too much you know
  • 00:40:16
    what I'm saying so I think you're just
  • 00:40:18
    thinking about it but yeah like thinking
  • 00:40:20
    about time for your time is so so
  • 00:40:23
    important
  • 00:40:24
    especially if you're in a research
  • 00:40:26
    project for someone else you know what
  • 00:40:28
    I'm saying and yeah some
  • 00:40:29
    responsibilities that you have on that
  • 00:40:31
    research project as well I decided to
  • 00:40:33
    kind of delay being on a research
  • 00:40:36
    project until my second year it's just
  • 00:40:39
    because it's like I came out of the
  • 00:40:41
    classroom I know grading is a beast I
  • 00:40:44
    was just like I am not doing any
  • 00:40:46
    research I told my advice I'm not doing
  • 00:40:48
    any research until year two when I can
  • 00:40:51
    just handle coursework figure out how to
  • 00:40:52
    handle coursework and teaching and
  • 00:40:54
    grieving and that kind of thing and get
  • 00:40:55
    my my my legs my swim legs you know what
  • 00:40:59
    I'm saying so I think that's definitely
  • 00:41:01
    great advice
  • 00:41:03
    um because I think a lot of graduate
  • 00:41:04
    school is kind of figuring out you know
  • 00:41:07
    where your strengths are you know where
  • 00:41:09
    you need support and then figuring out
  • 00:41:10
    how to really organize your time in ways
  • 00:41:13
    where you're not spent
  • 00:41:15
    um because it's easy to get spent
  • 00:41:18
    um in graduate school because
  • 00:41:20
    graduate students are just doing so much
  • 00:41:22
    all the time because yeah not only
  • 00:41:25
    taking classes and teaching and writing
  • 00:41:27
    and all this kind of stuff but then you
  • 00:41:29
    might be involved in community
  • 00:41:30
    organizations you might be doing your
  • 00:41:32
    own thing maybe you want to go roller
  • 00:41:33
    skating you know what I'm saying like
  • 00:41:34
    you have to be able to make them to do
  • 00:41:36
    the things you love as well as balance
  • 00:41:38
    school so yeah definitely definitely
  • 00:41:42
    agree with you yeah
  • 00:41:43
    I love that I love even just that that
  • 00:41:46
    you brought up just these things like
  • 00:41:48
    you'll be spent by the end of it and
  • 00:41:50
    just being like a an energy Justice
  • 00:41:53
    scholar and I'm also you know like I
  • 00:41:56
    actively do yoga to like decompress to
  • 00:41:58
    reset and you know just mindful movement
  • 00:42:01
    meditation
  • 00:42:02
    it's important for us to also think
  • 00:42:05
    about like in what ways can we refill
  • 00:42:08
    our cup
  • 00:42:09
    um you can't pour from an empty cup and
  • 00:42:11
    really one of my friends taught me it
  • 00:42:13
    was like honestly you're not even
  • 00:42:15
    supposed to be pulling from pouring from
  • 00:42:16
    a full cup like you should be pouring
  • 00:42:18
    from your overflow and so in what ways
  • 00:42:20
    can you again like how do we just keep
  • 00:42:23
    you know just pouring into ourselves and
  • 00:42:25
    and again so like as like an energy
  • 00:42:27
    scholar I'm thinking about energy all
  • 00:42:28
    the time energy is
  • 00:42:31
    in theory what like from physics is the
  • 00:42:34
    capacity to do work and what the hell
  • 00:42:36
    does that mean and work is uh doing I
  • 00:42:39
    mean like we do work all the time but
  • 00:42:41
    like in a physics standpoint work is
  • 00:42:43
    um
  • 00:42:44
    applying some force over some distance
  • 00:42:47
    and like it matters
  • 00:42:50
    how like where that distance is and so
  • 00:42:52
    like let's say we we push something
  • 00:42:55
    five feet or up a flight of stairs and
  • 00:42:58
    then we take that same Force down a
  • 00:43:00
    flight of stairs like it cancels out
  • 00:43:02
    like we've done no work and so thinking
  • 00:43:04
    about how do we align our work in the
  • 00:43:06
    direction that we want to go and people
  • 00:43:09
    often confuse energy and power and what
  • 00:43:12
    I like to share is that like power truly
  • 00:43:14
    is the rate at which we consume energy
  • 00:43:17
    and so like it's energy over time and so
  • 00:43:21
    like what are we doing that allows us to
  • 00:43:24
    to stand in our power to to use it in a
  • 00:43:27
    way that is productive and so just just
  • 00:43:30
    being very cautious about
  • 00:43:34
    our timing and like you're saying like
  • 00:43:36
    the these things can deplete our energy
  • 00:43:39
    and so how do we how do we charge
  • 00:43:41
    ourselves up
  • 00:43:42
    um that way you know like when we're
  • 00:43:44
    teaching we can you know continue to
  • 00:43:46
    charge our students up as well so we
  • 00:43:48
    need to have that Surplus to then be
  • 00:43:51
    able to step into that space because if
  • 00:43:53
    I hadn't slept or if I haven't you know
  • 00:43:55
    like mentally prepared I know I won't be
  • 00:43:58
    any good for my students let alone
  • 00:44:00
    anyone else that comes into contact with
  • 00:44:02
    me and so I just I think something
  • 00:44:04
    that's really just important is that
  • 00:44:05
    that self-care component
  • 00:44:07
    yeah oh my gosh so that analogy makes me
  • 00:44:11
    really think of like the importance of
  • 00:44:12
    boundaries like in order for you to be
  • 00:44:14
    able to use your energy well over time
  • 00:44:18
    gain that power you have to have
  • 00:44:20
    boundaries because then you'll be spent
  • 00:44:21
    and then you wouldn't you know you you
  • 00:44:24
    can't give your thoughts I guess the
  • 00:44:27
    maximum extent of your energy to the
  • 00:44:29
    different things that you are doing or
  • 00:44:30
    you're involved in because you're so
  • 00:44:32
    you're so tired
  • 00:44:34
    um and so like thinking about where our
  • 00:44:36
    energy is going is really important
  • 00:44:39
    yeah yeah really like think about just
  • 00:44:43
    the energy that we we like daily things
  • 00:44:45
    like what we invest our time in our
  • 00:44:47
    industry yeah exactly and the boundaries
  • 00:44:51
    are so important and one of my toughest
  • 00:44:53
    lessons learning is that like you don't
  • 00:44:56
    know how hot things are until you touch
  • 00:44:57
    it and sometimes you're like oh okay new
  • 00:45:01
    boundary and you know just also like
  • 00:45:05
    a lot of like we pay for things like
  • 00:45:07
    with like you said with our time with
  • 00:45:09
    our energy and some things have like a
  • 00:45:12
    certain energy requirement if you
  • 00:45:14
    haven't charged up to enter into that
  • 00:45:16
    space or to cross into a new boundary
  • 00:45:18
    like you might you might blow a fuse and
  • 00:45:22
    so it's important to just make sure you
  • 00:45:25
    you've got the energy that is compatible
  • 00:45:27
    with where it is that you're going
  • 00:45:29
    he's such a Wordsmith I just love
  • 00:45:36
    well I know we're running short on time
  • 00:45:38
    so the very last question and we can
  • 00:45:40
    just do this really quickly is what
  • 00:45:41
    advice do you have for other graduate
  • 00:45:43
    students in your position so graduate
  • 00:45:46
    students who are instructors is there
  • 00:45:48
    any advice you'd like to leave them with
  • 00:45:49
    as we wrap up our our interview
  • 00:45:54
    yeah I would say
  • 00:45:56
    ah co-create as much as you can you do
  • 00:46:00
    not have to do all this by yourself the
  • 00:46:03
    world I mean we were talking about asset
  • 00:46:05
    based Frameworks but you know leaning
  • 00:46:07
    into the space of abundance that there
  • 00:46:11
    are plenty ideas you will figure it out
  • 00:46:14
    along the way there is help available to
  • 00:46:17
    you anything that you want and desire is
  • 00:46:19
    is available to you and
  • 00:46:22
    co-creating can mean with their students
  • 00:46:24
    it could also mean with your colleagues
  • 00:46:27
    your mentors there are people there that
  • 00:46:29
    will
  • 00:46:31
    hold space for you to to listen to how
  • 00:46:34
    you might go about designing a course
  • 00:46:36
    how you might go about
  • 00:46:38
    engaging and maybe you have some issues
  • 00:46:41
    with with some students that you might
  • 00:46:43
    not know how to handle especially like
  • 00:46:45
    if this is your first time teaching and
  • 00:46:47
    so thinking about all the Myriad of
  • 00:46:50
    resources that the university offers
  • 00:46:51
    that might support you in those times of
  • 00:46:54
    need and so I'd say one like co-create
  • 00:46:57
    to be as resourceful as possible and
  • 00:47:01
    three finally just you got to charge up
  • 00:47:04
    you got to charge yourself up so you can
  • 00:47:06
    charge others up
  • 00:47:08
    well thank you so much Dominic
  • 00:47:11
    um we really appreciate you um sharing
  • 00:47:14
    time with us and I and it's just awesome
  • 00:47:16
    to talk to folks who are in just
  • 00:47:18
    different people then we're in and just
  • 00:47:20
    to see the similarities and differences
  • 00:47:22
    and just like as being an instructor
  • 00:47:25
    myself also just
  • 00:47:26
    getting gaining New Perspective just
  • 00:47:28
    like your whole like metaphor of like
  • 00:47:30
    energy and power
  • 00:47:32
    yes
  • 00:47:35
    and you don't say so I really really
  • 00:47:38
    appreciate you just spending your time
  • 00:47:40
    and sharing your wisdom with us today
  • 00:47:43
    indeed indeed thank you all so much for
  • 00:47:45
    having me and also thank you for your
  • 00:47:47
    your labor in this
  • 00:47:49
    in this I don't know what you call this
  • 00:47:51
    Creation in in this Artful process
  • 00:47:53
    because I know that there's a lot that
  • 00:47:55
    happens behind scenes that doesn't
  • 00:47:57
    necessarily meet the um what other
  • 00:48:00
    people may see and so to just from
  • 00:48:03
    teacher to teacher instructor instructor
  • 00:48:04
    I know you all are doing a lot of work
  • 00:48:06
    to just impart so much beautiful and
  • 00:48:09
    positive change in the world so thank
  • 00:48:11
    you
  • 00:48:12
    thank you this was like awesome this was
  • 00:48:15
    so so awesome so I'm so happy to hear
  • 00:48:18
    you
  • 00:48:19
    um share about your work and your
  • 00:48:21
    interests and you know I did also hear
  • 00:48:24
    you say today was the day you were gonna
  • 00:48:25
    go
  • 00:48:26
    um to Chile so I'm thinking about you
  • 00:48:28
    today as you
  • 00:48:31
    it's yeah I had to cancel an important
  • 00:48:34
    trip for me
  • 00:48:36
    um to Korea because of the pandemic and
  • 00:48:38
    uh that was really kind of grieving
  • 00:48:41
    about it for a while so my heart is
  • 00:48:43
    definitely with you also
  • 00:48:44
    thank you thank you that is a good way
  • 00:48:46
    to put it I'm definitely grieving right
  • 00:48:48
    now because I was like damn I was really
  • 00:48:51
    supposed to be living a different life
  • 00:48:52
    right now
  • 00:48:54
    um and I'm just like you like the
  • 00:48:56
    pandemic has affected everyone no matter
  • 00:48:58
    if you've you know contracted covet or
  • 00:49:02
    not it has completely changed how we
  • 00:49:07
    um just are living in the world and how
  • 00:49:09
    we got to navigate it but I am just a
  • 00:49:12
    fan of like rejection is just a form of
  • 00:49:14
    redirection and so I'm leaning into it
  • 00:49:17
    I'm I'm not supposed to be there right
  • 00:49:18
    now and that's okay
  • 00:49:22
    um I might even cut that out that was
  • 00:49:24
    just a personal thing that I wanted to
  • 00:49:26
    say to you
  • 00:49:29
    do whatever makes sense to you all I
  • 00:49:31
    trust you all as uh vision for for this
  • 00:49:34
    project and I'm just grateful to be a
  • 00:49:36
    part of it so thank you
  • 00:49:38
    thank you so much
  • 00:49:41
    oh yeah all right see you all bye-bye
  • 00:49:46
    thank you for joining us for we need to
  • 00:49:49
    name this a series where we unpack the
  • 00:49:51
    hidden curriculum of academe join us for
  • 00:49:54
    our next episode learning to teach in
  • 00:49:56
    higher ed with Ruben Riggs Bookman for
  • 00:49:59
    more information visit www dot we need
  • 00:50:03
    to nameless.com
الوسوم
  • academia
  • energy justice
  • community engagement
  • teaching
  • graduate studies
  • environmental justice
  • curriculum development
  • scholars of color
  • university teaching
  • student engagement