Dr. Kenneth Johnson’s Perspective on Teaching an Intersectional Course
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As a Black man, I believe it’s especially important to consider how I show up in and navigate the spaces I inhabit. Particularly in creating and teaching a course on Toni Morrison, who writes so prominently about the experiences and complexities of communities of Black women, I must understand my subject position and operate from a place of humility and care as I discuss topics sensitive to not only the author and her work but also my students. So much of my approach stems from my intention of creating safe and brave spaces for students to express themselves, collaborate, and build community with myself and other students.
In creating a feminist course, I first rely on Black women whose scholar-activism centers on creating a more equitable and inclusive world. Utilizing the works of Bettina Love and bell hooks have been central to my approach to education, as the intersection of student mattering (Love) and operating from a space of love (hooks) allows me to see the various needs and issues students enter the classroom carrying and creating a space where learning can take place. These writers inform how I interact with, care for, and advocate for student wellness and learning. As Black women, they understand the issues of power that are present in classrooms, higher education, and American society more broadly and use their research and writing to inform how we can build new futures and enhance student outcomes by taking a student-centered approach beyond simply culturally relative pedagogy.
As such, my course structure begins with the syllabus, constructing a course experience based on practices of universal learning design and inclusive pedagogy. This, coupled with an intersectional approach to student interactions and content, allows me as a cis man to de-privilege myself in the classroom. As Morrison writes about the experiences of one of the most disempowered groups of people—Black women—it is of utmost importance for me to discuss and disempower issues of race, class, gender, sex and sexuality, religion, etc. to discuss the ways these structures impact Black women, Black communities, and, by extension those who interact with her work. I embrace Love’s idea of abolitionist teaching as a method to redistribute power dynamics in the class; it is always my hope to reconstruct how students see themselves in the classroom space, advocate for themselves and other students, and understand their voice and its usefulness for their individual learning experiences. Like hooks states, love requires significant risk-taking, and I embrace that regarding content, classroom structure, assignments, course schedules, etc. I believe the work of feminism, especially Black feminism/Womanism, is to advocate, create, reimagine, and love.