• Opening Workshop: Transformative Pedagogies-doing democracy in academia 

06/May/2022 at UiT

https://uit.no/tavla/artikkel/769739/transformative_pedagogies_opening_workshop

Workshop Report

The workshop took place on 06.05.2022 at Center for Women`s and Gender Research UiT. Held under the Implisitt project, in collaboration with the Democracy in Academia project (DIA), the workshop was one of the five measures of the implisitt project and was hosted by ConGender research group of the Center for Women`s and Gender Research (SKK). Implisitt is concerned with uncovering unconscious gender biases in the Philosophy environment, while DIA is concerned with how gender and diversity play out in teaching and learning processes in UiT. The two projects collaborated because they both share the ambition to understand whether biases are (re)produced in the academy, be it consciously or unconsciously.  For example, do we, maybe (un)consciously, foster biased beliefs and worldviews through the course curriculum, the literature used, the practices upheld in the classroom, and the interpersonal relations between teachers and students?

 The workshop was made up of two sessions: in the first session, we had a keynote by Jennifer Branlat an associate professor at the department of interdisciplinary studies of culture at NTNU. Jennifer explained the gains of feminist and transformative pedagogies based on her long-term teaching experience and research on feminist pedagogies. Drawing from her experience, Jennifer dived into the connection between students, teachers, and teaching materials, not leaving out the pitfalls, challenges, and joys of practical attempts to transform teaching curriculum and classroom practices.

 In the second part, we had Kaja Jenssen Rathe a PhD scholar at the Institute of Philosophy UiT with a background in feminist philosophy, leading the discussion. Kaja presented and analyzed chapter 2 (Kunnskap) from the textbook (Menneske, Natur og Samfunn) of the ex. Phil. course that is given by the Institute of Philosophy and First Semester Studies. The chapter concerns what knowledge is and how we get knowledge. Participants based their discussions on this chapter to identify the knowledge contributors, the diversity of knowledge, what is missing and what needs to change.

Pending questions drawn from the workshop

1. How can we integrate alternative perspectives from women scholars (such as feminist epistemologies) into the philosophical discussion of knowledge?
2. How much weight should be given to feminist critiques of traditional theories of knowledge in the ex. phil syllabus?
3. Are philosophical inputs about knowledge from philosophers/authors outside Europe not relevant in the ex. phil syllabus?
4. How can student voices be involved in the transformation? (Give students a chance to evaluate the chapter from their own perspective? start with what students think about knowledge before giving them what the course has to offer?)
5. What are the alternatives to the philosophical canon and how can we set the canon into conversations with other knowledge from non-canonical figures?

•  Fielwork is on-going at UiT: observations and interviews (with students and educators)