Facilitation & Teaching

I seek to be an engaging, flexible, and empathetic teacher and facilitator, challenging participants through thoughtful inquiry and responding to emerging needs whether working in-person or virtually. Critical, feminist, trauma-informed, and anti-racist pedagogies underpin my approach, centering the voices of marginalized and minoritized learners and creating spaces for generative dialogue. See Instructional Design and my full teaching philosophy for additional information and work samples.

Harmful speech in the learning environment: Tacoma community college

In response to concerns from faculty and staff regarding an increase in offensive and/or harmful speech in online spaces, I partnered with TCC’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Specialist to develop and facilitate a discussion designed to surface common issues and collectively brainstorm strategies. This session directly led to two further trainings, designed and delivered in collaboration with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, focused on relevant legal topics and remedies.

Critical Pedagogy for Librarians and MLIS Students: University of Washington

UWB/CC librarian colleague Dave Ellenwood and I designed and facilitated workshops on critical librarianship and pedagogy for librarians and MLIS graduate students at the University of Washington Seattle and Tacoma campuses, mirroring similar conversations we initiated on our own campus. After establishing a common vocabulary of definitions and concepts, we led discussions centered around the participants’ existing lesson plans and teaching approaches.

Yes, You Are Racist, Too: Workshop for the 2019 ACRL Washington/Oregon Joint Conference

In alignment with the conference theme, Whiteness and Racism in Academic Libraries: Dismantling Structures of Oppression, I facilitated a workshop designed to develop white-identifying attendees’ capacity to experience racial discomfort without defensiveness. Participants engaged in several role-playing and reflective exercises in pairs before joining a large group discussion around accountability. Takeaways included strategies for sitting with difficult emotions and responding to conflict with humility and openness.

Digital Literacies and Critical Search Strategies: University of Washington Bothell School of Educational Studies

I partnered with Professor Jane Van Galen to teach workshops for two courses in the UW Bothell School of Educational Studies focusing on critical digital literacy, the challenges of effectively consuming and creating online content, and strategies for teaching digital literacy in a K-12 context. Students explored effective online search strategies, discussed privacy concerns, and considered copyright and its alternatives.

DANC 241 Dancing Latin/x America: Reed College

Students in Professor Victoria Fortuna’s course write a critical analysis of a local dance event, applying the themes and methods explored throughout the semester and including additional historical and theoretical material drawn from secondary sources. The curriculum-integrated research workshop I developed created a facilitated, student-centered space to identify themes and methods relevant to their selected event, discuss effective research practices, find and evaluate available resources, and review secondary sources with fellow students as collaborators and co-researchers.

Confronting Plagiarism: University of Washington Bothell & Cascadia College

As part of the UW Bothell’s Teaching in Progress Seminar Series, I partnered with a faculty member from UWB’s School of Educational Studies to facilitate a session for both UWB and Cascadia College faculty and staff approaching plagiarism as a teaching and learning opportunity rather than a disciplinary issue. We discussed the origins of different textual borrowing practices and explored pedagogical strategies that both effectively combat plagiarism and incorporate textual borrowing as a learning exercise.