The College of Letters & Science values inclusive, productive, and respectful classroom communities. This page offers insights from our L&S colleagues on managing challenging discussions, addressing sensitive topics, and creating spaces where all students feel valued and heard. From acknowledging major events that impact students’ lives to setting ground rules for civil discourse, these excerpts provide practical strategies for navigating the challenging dynamics that can emerge in a classroom.
Pick one Mini Discussion below and include a 10-15 minute conversation in your next group meeting.
1. Acknowledging Major Events
Eric Wilcots
Dean of the College of Letters & Science & Mary C. Jacoby Professor of Astronomy
Excerpt from L&S Exchange Episode 1: Challenge Your Students and Meet Them Halfway
I think the most obvious example of this, in my teaching, was after the 2016 election.
Recognizing that there were events that happened in the world, that are going on outside. And I teach astronomy, right?
[What does politics have to do with anything?]
But recognize the students are coming in to that classroom with different things on their mind, right? And my ability to carry on talking about “… and this is how the galaxy is going to evolve.”
There are external influences on students when they’re walking into that classroom on a given day, and be cognizant of that.
Discussion Questions
- Have you ever noticed a moment when a major event outside the classroom preoccupied students?
- Have you ever chosen to acknowledge significant external events in your classroom? What was the result?
2. Taking a Pause
John Dunne
Distinguished Professor of Contemplative Humanities, Department of Asian Languages & Cultures
Excerpt from L&S Exchange Episode 3: Extended Interview with John Dunne.
Also see Episode 2: Just Be Where Your Feet Are: Student Belonging and Flourishing on Campus
We have traumatic incidents or just a baseline trauma of our world going on. I don’t know whether it makes sense always to talk about it. But when there are major events, cases like mass shootings, we sometimes will take a moment to just acknowledge that this has happened, especially if they are targeting some kind of a minoritized community.
So I do think rather than making a statement, just creating a space to acknowledge when these events happen can be very helpful.
There’s so many reasons that one could take a pause. I’m not sure that it makes sense to do that every class. You could. There’s so many things that you really could. Each individual needs to decide, what’s the threshold at which we really need to take a pause and acknowledge what’s happened here.
But not necessarily to say something. Rather, just to give a space to acknowledge that this has happened and to give a space maybe for conversation if the students are feeling comfortable about it.
Discussion Questions
- What factors might you consider when deciding whether a significant external event warrants space and acknowledgment in your classroom?
- How might making space to acknowledge a significant event connect with your teaching philosophy?
3. Managing “Gasp Moments”
Christy Clark-Pujara
Professor & Department Chair, Department of African American Studies
Excerpt from L&S Exchange Episode 6: Education as a Practice of Freedom: Inclusive Classroom Conversations
As soon as I feel that tension, and you can feel it, as soon as I hear a gasp or something like that, I stop the conversation and I say, “Can you repeat what you said and listen to what you said and is that what you really meant to say?”
That often works. And then I say, “If that’s what you really meant to say, think about how that feels from XYZ perspective. Is that adhering to our agreed upon rules for discussion in this class?”
One thing I do is have the students create the rules for discussion in class. Like, I give them those broad parameters, but they’re already invested in how we’re going to discuss, how we’re going to talk to each other, how we’re going to disagree. And if it doesn’t adhere to what we agreed upon as a group, then you need to retract and you need to apologize. I haven’t run into a situation where that has not worked.
Discussion Questions
- How might your approach to a “gasp” moment be similar to or different from Professor Clark-Pujara’s?
- What is one rule for discussion you might encourage students to adopt in your class?
4. Modeling Inclusion
Lori Kido Lopez
Academic Associate Dean for Social Sciences & Professor of Communication Arts
Excerpt from L&S Exchange Episode 4: Generosity, Challenge, and Inclusive Teaching
There’s an everyday cultural component where I try to be intentional about my choices at a micro level. So that’s like the language I use, the examples I give, the way I treat my students, just the kind of kindness and generosity I try to bring to the classroom.
Doing all of that with a wide range of student identities and backgrounds in mind. For instance, in my classes about contemporary pop culture, I try to make sure that I’m not assuming. I just am always trying to take time to explain and contextualize as much as possible so that no matter where students are coming from, the class feels like it’s geared toward them. But I would also say that there’s a structural component to inclusive teaching.
So I do a ton of work before the semester even begins, so that the DNA of the class is also designed with an eye toward equity and accessibility.
Discussion Questions
- Where are there opportunities in your course to use and contextualize a variety of examples for your students?
- How have you adopted clearer or more accessible language to explain concepts or examples that students struggle with?
5. Building Shared Purpose
John Zumbrunnen
Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning & Professor of Political Science
Excerpt from L&S Exchange Episode 7: The Purpose of the College Classroom
I tend to say this in almost any teaching context. I start off by saying, our goal here is not to win political arguments.
We’re not trying to defeat one another in the classroom. We’re not necessarily really even trying to persuade one another in the classroom. We’re trying to engage, in the kind of courses I teach, we’re trying to engage with political issues and political argument in something like the shared pursuit of truth.
We’re trying to learn and grow and gain knowledge together about political issues and political argumentation. We’re gonna disagree about those. Our disagreement’s important and relevant and interesting. The point is not to resolve that disagreement either by persuasion or some kind of moment of rhetorical victory.
Discussion Questions
- How do you frame discussion and disagreement for students in your course?
- What is one strategy you might use to respond to disagreements that arise during class?
6. Sharing Course Principles With Students
Greg Downey
Evjue-Bascom Professor, School of Journalism & Mass Communication and The Information School
Excerpt from L&S Exchange Episode 22: Building a Reservoir of Trust
One principle would be if we can’t talk about controversial issues in a place like this, what are we doing here? Creating knowledge and testing knowledge has never been easy. If it’s a traumatic or painful or controversial high stakes issue that you feel like you need to bring into your classroom, to acknowledge that emotion.
The other principle would be, whatever discipline or orientation you’re coming from, you have a method to make sense of events that are emotional and unwieldy and controversial and uncertain.
The processes we have aren’t perfect, from the scientific method on out, but we have processes that we try to bring. So bringing a controversy into the classroom is really an occasion to teach that process.
I’d want to be able to say these out loud to the students.
Discussion Questions
- Have you acknowledged emotional reactions inherent in learning with students in the past? How did students respond?
- How can ways of thinking in your discipline help students make sense of controversial issues?