Introduction: if the self were a bath...

 ...it would be overflowing. I started saying this to my peers and collaborators years ago when I felt lost in the throes of interdisciplinary study; this statement, I felt, reflected my commitment to developing a practice and pedagogy built on hybridity, multiplicity, polyphony, and the impossibility of sequestering one’s talents, potential, thoughts, abilities, and ambitions to a fixed container. Oftentimes we find unexpected value in the overflow; why not learn to leap between and across receptacles? As an interdisciplinary artist, scholar, and researcher, I bring this mantra to my students as a way of grounding them within the realities of industries which aspire to concretely define, to fix, and to erode difference. In carving their own pathways through the education system, as through their respective professional industries, I teach my students to value their own unique creative visions, impulses, and ambitions, even as they may go against the institutional grain or tug at internal contradictions. This truly forms the heart of my care-centered, real-world-oriented pedagogy.

 

Experience

My diverse background in the fine and performing arts, humanities, social sciences, and information science has grounded my work as an Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream) at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, as well as previous appointments as a Sessional Lecturer in the University of Toronto’s Department of Arts, Culture, and Media (Scarborough), and at The Creative School (Performance) at Toronto Metropolitan University. I have designed and taught five courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, bridging theory and practice in their respective disciplines; these include INF1512H Culture & Technology Studio II, INF2226 Queer G.L.A.M., INF1324H Critical Infrastructures, THF402 Text Examination: Direction and Dramaturgy, and MDSD10H3 Senior Seminar: Special Topics on Media and Arts. I have also assisted in seven additional courses and guest lectured in over a dozen, thus making substantial contributions to teaching in my fields and cementing my ongoing commitment to teaching. Through these experiences, I have determined that the following principles determine my teaching philosophy:

1. Embracing Diverse Perspectives. I am a champion of diversity both in terms of content taught, perspectives embraced, and teaching methods utilized in the classroom. My courses have integrated materials from artists, journalists, culture workers, filmmakers, and other professional practitioners in addition to scholars and researchers, broadening the scope of the topics at hand. My syllabi are also carefully crafted to emphasize diverse critical contexts both within, and extending beyond, Canadian and North American perspectives. As a white queer woman in academia, I am always expanding my department curriculum with theories, research, and practice-based examples from underrepresented trans-feminist and queer creators; I also integrate Indigenous, Black, and Global Southern approaches to pedagogy and practice which challenge settler-colonial logics within fine arts education. My syllabi also integrate a variety of teaching formats such as lecture, small and large group discussions, creative assignments, screenings, student-led seminars and oral presentations, and visits to relevant organizations. This pedagogy posits students as co-creators of knowledge within the classroom; its objective is to transform students from passive receivers of knowledge into active and autonomous cultural critics. This includes sharing ideas, expressing opinions, and engaging meaningfully with the material while foregrounding respect for one’s peers.

 

2. Weaving Research-into-Practice. As a reflection of my background in academic institutions and fine arts conservatories, I engage deeply with embodied instantiations of theory and, in particular, what practice-based interventions into various academic disciplines can achieve on material, institutional, and community-engaged levels. I always posit practice as a logical next step to theory, embracing both scholarly and vocational ways of thinking. In the three courses I have designed and taught, I have consistently given my students opportunities to develop professional practices outside of the academy, notably in arts (performance, scriptwriting, direction, dramaturgy) and culture (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) sectors. I have achieved this by integrating practical assignments, experiential learning opportunities, and community connections with working professionals into my curricula.

 

3. Tailoring Curricula to Students’ Professional Outcomes and Personal Interests. This involves curating spaces in which students can discuss their professional objectives and provide opportunities in which they can learn and improve important skills related to their own creative entrepreneurship. For instance, as a lecturer within TMU’s School of Performance, I mentored my students in the creation of pitch decks to present original film and television concepts, thus allowing them to expand on their storytelling practice and begin thinking of themselves as cultural producers subjected to industry standards. Several of these projects are now undergoing further development following their presentation in my class. I have also mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students in practice-based research projects at the University of Toronto, as well as providing mentorship to any students interested in script development, indie producing, and grant writing. My mentees have gone on to win funding from municipal, provincial, and federal granting bodies for their work in development.
 

4. Fostering Collaboration. This principle involves creating opportunities to work effectively with peers to achieve common goals. I believe that participation and collaboration are often overlooked within an education system which privileges independent study; as such, my courses are created to foster a deep sense of community within the classroom. This is achieved through small and large group discussions, check-ins, collaborative assignments and labs, co-design workshops, feedback sessions for work in process, student-led presentations, and a passionate care-centered approach to learning. I often position myself as a facilitator of in-class discussion; as such, I see my role as helping students develop functional ideas and projects in a well supported and resourced academic environment in which they can learn how to learn—not only from myself, nor solely from the course materials, but from one another.

​​

Evaluations

Students and department evaluators have rated my teaching extremely positively. Most recently, my performance in teaching Queer GLAM in Winter 2024 averaged 4.7 / 5.0 and above on every core institutional metric. Students have praised my “dedication to the highest quality of learning,” “engaging and thought provoking lectures,” ability to “create a welcoming and open classroom environment,” and “empathy and understanding.” Department heads have commended my “carefully prepared and beautifully presented” syllabi, deep “passion and enthusiasm,” careful constructive feedback, and “excellent” rapport with the students. Examples of my syllabi and teaching evaluations are available upon request.