Mind the Gaps

To center other perspectives in all aspects of my academic career requires a commitment to both listening and speaking; as Audre Lorde says, “there are many silences to be broken.” I am committed to doing this in a way that honors all of the voices around me.

In addition to building a robust curriculum that centers those voices, I believe that creating a welcoming environment requires a challenging of traditional academic investments, which are often rooted in outdated ways of thinking and knowing. The way we think and know the world now is different than it was in the past, when many of the most persistent structures of academia were being developed. Moreover, the way we think and know the world is different for each of us on a personal level, depending on our past experiences.

One of the projects I am most proud of is working as an associate editor on Undisciplining the Victorian Classroom, where I helped to promote an open-access, peer-reviewed pedagogical tool that reimagines the teaching of Victorian Studies “through a positive, race-conscious lens.” As part of this organization, I have not only improved my own practice in teaching and research, but I am also proud to have amplified the voices of so many researchers who promote new and ground-breaking curriculums, accessible classrooms, and an undisciplined view of Victorian Studies.

Transmedia adaptation studies often focuses on, as Thomas Leitch says, “minding the gaps” and this is especially important for literary studies and media studies, as the means of media production, from conception of literary source material to lineages of adaptation are often marked by the absence or presence of certain voices. It is our job as scholars and educators to draw attention to absences and to amplify the oft-unheard voices of scholars, creatives, colleagues, and (always, especially) students in our curriculum design, our citations, our departmental meetings, and our classrooms. 

To create a welcoming classroom, I am particularly interested in shedding traditional academic investments that do not serve all of our students. Making a class fun and accessible for all often starts with rethinking things as basic as how we assess, what our classroom policies are, and how much choice we give students to shape their own learning. For example, in my classes, I have a “grace period” policy that allows students to self-schedule up to 72 hours after a deadline without any penalty. Many of my students work to support themselves financially while attending school full-time, others have children, and still others have health struggles that affect their ability to adhere to strict deadlines. This is just one example of a policy that positively affects all of my students, but especially those who most need it.

It is also important to allow for student choice when possible, especially in assessments. I try to give my students maximum flexibility in the types of assessments they can choose (e.g. presentation, essay, creative project) as well as the texts and topics they can write about. This allows for more accessible learning projects that put student abilities and strengths at the center of assessment. 

These are just a couple of examples of how small changes can really benefit all students, especially those who are already struggling with forces beyond their control.