Inclusive Teaching – Page 3

Digital Literacy: A Critical Approach

September 18, 2018

Woods Quad at University of Alabama in 1831

by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies On April 18, 1831, the faculty of four men at The University of Alabama opened its doors to fifty-two male students. The campus eventually looked something like this: The photo exhibits what some call the built environment of the original UA campus. Scholarly research on the built environment focuses on how the human-made surroundings that provide settings for human activity. The point of such research is this: if architectures actively form our relationships with […]

Three Kinds of Unknowns You MightShould Know… (Or, Cracking Open Some Johari Windows)

August 20, 2018

by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies You mightshould. While strolling through the Kentuck Festival in 2013, I saw these words printed on a postcard made by the Southern Letter Press. I thought the phrase was odd. I thought the phrase did not exist. I asked a friend what it meant, and she said people say it all the time. Technically speaking, the sentence above contains a stacked or double modal. The word is typically heard in the Southern United States. People say […]

Teaching Slavery and Its Legacy Offers Unique Possibilities

December 13, 2017

by Hilary Green, Department of Gender and Race Studies Teaching slavery and its legacy offers unique possibilities. Since initial construction to April 4, 1865, the labor of enslaved men, women, and children had an integral role in shaping the University of Alabama (UA). By embracing this history and legacy in my classroom, I engage my students, undergraduate and graduate, with lectures, assignments, and discussions on how historical understandings can shed light on contemporary issues as well as their place at […]

Fostering a Safe Class Environment for LGBTQ+ Students

November 28, 2017

Setting the Tone There are steps you can take to ensure your classroom is a safe space for all students. Some of these can be taken before the start of the semester. You can include a ‘classroom environment’ policy on your syllabus to reassure LGBTQ+ students that your class is a place for open, respectful dialogue. Here’s some boilerplate you might want to use for your syllabus, but feel free to adapt it into your own words: As part of […]

Strategies for Including Inclusion in Your Classroom

November 9, 2017

Dr. Frank Deaver's journalism class meets Gov. Wallace, 1985

by John Miller, New College There are things you expect from a working session on lessons for bringing diversity into the classroom; a photo of then-governor George C. Wallace (yes – he of the “Schoolhouse Door”) posing with a smiling journalism class is not one of them. Yet, this is — at least in part — what qualifies Journalism & Creative Media Associate Professor Chris Roberts on the subject. He’s there in the photo as an undergrad in 1985. As he’ll tell you, he’s already “lived this as a University of Alabama student.” And now, as a professor […]

Creating Accessible Online Courses

November 1, 2017

by Jessica Porter, Office of Educational Technology (eTech) This post answers some of the most frequently asked questions about online course accessibility. To learn more about the accessibility of specific instructional technologies, visit accessibility.ua.edu or consult the official documentation for that technology. What does making a course accessible actually mean? Accessibility means all students can access and use your course from the beginning, including those with visual, auditory, cognitive and physical impairments. More specifically, it means your course follows the […]

Incivility in the Classroom

August 20, 2017

by Lisa Dorr, Associate Dean Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed concerning instances of bigotry and hate, and many may question whether it is possible to foster civil dialogue about the problems that face the nation and the world. While these events have been horrifying, as Michael Signer, the mayor of Charlottesville, wrote, “Democracy, like a muscle, needs to be worked out.” He identified the special role of universities in “instilling the values of deliberation and civility in […]

Student Perspectives: Civility, Dialogue, and Inclusion

March 27, 2017

Lane McLelland, director of Crossroads Community Center, asked students how they wish to experience civility, inclusion, and dialogue in the classroom. Here’s what they had to say. Consider the classroom space “Simply rearranging the classroom space can astronomically enhance the civility and inclusivity of a classroom. Traditional classrooms tend to not only be intimidating but also offer a sort of isolation to students, which both discourages dialogue and relies on uncomfortable silence in order to achieve the goal of teacher-focused […]

Ceci n’est pas une Ban: Engaging Travel Restrictions with Students

February 21, 2017

by John Miller, New College In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, a good many marginally political events have become thoroughly politicized: post-Super Bowl White House visits, the Grammys, and yes, the granting of visas to visitors or would-be immigrants to the United States. But unlike the Super Bowl or the Grammys, many Americans have only the most rudimentary understanding of what a visa is — or how it works. Sure, we’ve all heard of student visas, green cards, […]

Diversity and Inclusion in Math Courses

January 9, 2017

by David Cruz-Uribe, Department of Mathematics Diversity and inclusion really have nothing to do with the subject of mathematics, per se. Mathematics is among the most abstract and universal of human disciplines. Pure mathematicians work hard to strip their subject of anything contingent, anything to close to the “real world.” Attempts to decolonize mathematics, or to construct a feminist algebra [1] notwithstanding, pure mathematics is remarkably free of cultural influences. This does not, however, let math instructors, or those who teach […]

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