Teaching in Troubled Times: Guiding Student Conversation Around the Inauguration

This third installment of the Drake Institute's Pop-Up Conversation series focuses on teaching as the 2021 presidential inauguration approaches and the many emotional responses students will bring to their classes. Specifically, this session will address some of questions we hear instructors asking: How do I talk to my students about this? How do I help students continue to learn when they may be distracted by the national political discourse?
   
Each Pop-Up Conversation will highlight a specific political topic, provide background on the issue, offer strategies to address the topic in class, and share resources to support students and instructors. Participants will learn how and when to broach political conversations with students, manage these conversations, and mediate concern and conflict among students. These sessions will acknowledge how instructors and students personally negotiate the ramifications of violence and inequality in ways that cannot be cordoned off from their classroom experiences. The series also aims to highlight how Ohio State instructors are doing more than teaching students disciplinary material — they are training students to be responsible and accountable community members.

After this workshop participants will be able to: 

1. Articulate how contemporary political events are anchored in centuries-old patterns across U.S. history
2. Describe an intersectional framework for supporting students across identity groups during political discussions
3. Identify a variety of strategies for discussing contemporary political events in their classes

Register here.

If you have registered for this event or are on the waitlist and require an accommodation such as live captioning or interpretation to participate, please contact drakeinstitute@osu.edu. Requests should be made at least two weeks prior to the event, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.