Community Experiences and Politics in the Classroom

The Nashman Center's Community Engaged Scholarship program hosted a successful Breakfast Conversation at The National Churchill Library and Center at Gelman on Thursday, April 19th, 2018. The conversation series supports faculty across a wide variety of disciplines at the university who engage in research and teaching that centers the community.

A big thank you to Dr. Jordan Potash from GW's Art Therapy Program and Laurie McPherson, an Organizational, Team and Individual Transformation and Effectiveness Consultant for leading this interactive and important conversation. Resources can be found by clicking  power point slides for the conversation and two featured articles  here and here. 

Faculty learned how to facilitate discussion of political/controversial topics in the classroom and about difficulties that can arise in educational settings when students feel unheard or time is a concern in discussion of content and surfacing political issues.

Participants worked in small groups to brainstorm issues they face in medicine, nursing, education, and the humanities and then and then talked through possible solutions. Research was presented on best practices and the resources from the event are attached.

The group came up with several ideas based on the literature and their experiences in class. Suggestions included budgeting more time and making an effort to discuss issues in class, meeting with students one-on-one to better understand their perspectives, recognizing bias in ourselves, and keeping in mind that everyone comes from a different perspective and identity.