An Educational Collision Course: Do Politics and Identity Collide In Higher Education?
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Presenter Bio
Dr. Eric D. Hess (he/him) is a gender and sexuality researcher, specializing in gender expression, sexual identity, and religion. Prior to coming to Berklee, Eric served as a professor and chaired a small team at a rural college in Maryland, largely teaching courses in gender and sexuality. Having great interest and scholarship in queer issues and educational politics, Eric has served on various committees to assess for bias with regard to curriculum and policy. His dissertation is a qualitative, interview-based analysis of queer men navigating masculinity and policy in fundamentalist Christian colleges.
Presentation Description
Education has been at the forefront of many political arguments in the recent years. This is not new to American politics; the term indoctrination has been used rather liberally by those with a myriad of political beliefs. Of greater concern, politics has been used to police identity within educational systems, and politicians rarely have expertise in educational policies, politics, or student/educator identity. I will challenge attendees to consider past, present, and global perspectives and determine our own role as educators and the role of our institution in this important discussion.
Pre-Session Materials
Pre-Reads
- Florida is first state to approve PragerU Kids 'history and blessings' videos for schools
- Sexually Conservative Religious Universities and Tax Exemption (Pages 566-572)
- A ‘Masculinity Crisis’? China Says the Boys Are Not All Right
- DeVos: Black Colleges Are 'Pioneers' of 'School Choice'
- And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida's Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers by Karen L. Graves
- Oklahoma underfunded a historically Black college by $418M, Biden administration says
- Why We Still Need Public Schools
Post-Session Exercise
We recognize there are many times in which a student's only "safe place" may be their education institution. At an address at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Martin Luther King expressed the following sentiment: "We must remember that intelligence (Eric speaking here... or I might suggest 'competency') is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate."
Shapiro (2009) suggests, education should "serve society as both a responsive servant and a thoughtful critic.” Educators and institutions must be responsive to the needs of society. Reflect on the following prompt: How are we as educators ensuring we are responsive to society in our curriculum, policies, and instruction? Can/should education be mutually exclusive with politics? Is Berklee responsive? I believe education that ignores the needs of society is irrelevant. Reflect inwardly... what can you do on an individual level to be responsive of society? My door (or virtual door) is always open to help: ehess3@berklee.edu.
Keywords
student identity; educator identity; educational systems
Publication Date
11-13-2023
Campus
Berklee Online
Recommended Citation
Hess, Eric D. and Pedagogy Arts Collective, "An Educational Collision Course: Do Politics and Identity Collide In Higher Education?" (2023). Pedagogy Arts Collective. 6.
https://remix.berklee.edu/pac/6