Teaching
My goal in teaching is to critically inform. I want my students to gain a better understanding of race, gender and ethnicity in the United States. My classes challenge students then provide them with new ways to make sense of their world. Paulo Freire calls for raising one’s consciousness or “concientizção,” as a means to enter the historical process as responsible subjects. As an educator I equip students with new tools to engage in this processes.
In my classroom I cultivate my student’s critical engagement, while developing their writing skills and expanding their knowledge of lesser-known yet vitally important histories. In my courses I employ both traditional and experimental pedagogy, teaching foundational works alongside non-dominant texts. I equip students with new analytical tools by providing an engaged, classroom that embraces diverse methods. For example, in my California Indian History, we study eras of Indigenous history through seminal texts, archival materials, guest speakers, and fiction by Native authors. Students leave my classes with a deeper understanding of race, gender and ethnicity in America and gain the analytical tools to think through our Nation’s complex history. Broadly, I teach courses on race, ethnicity, and gender, Indigenous studies and research methods.
I am also a dedicated research mentor, and have have worked with student researchers in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF), the Student Mentored and Research Training (SMART) program, the Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP) as well as the Koret Scholars Undergraduate Research Program. In this capacity I instruct my research assistants in locating, accessing and digitizing archival records as well as coding with qualitative data analysis.
In my classroom I cultivate my student’s critical engagement, while developing their writing skills and expanding their knowledge of lesser-known yet vitally important histories. In my courses I employ both traditional and experimental pedagogy, teaching foundational works alongside non-dominant texts. I equip students with new analytical tools by providing an engaged, classroom that embraces diverse methods. For example, in my California Indian History, we study eras of Indigenous history through seminal texts, archival materials, guest speakers, and fiction by Native authors. Students leave my classes with a deeper understanding of race, gender and ethnicity in America and gain the analytical tools to think through our Nation’s complex history. Broadly, I teach courses on race, ethnicity, and gender, Indigenous studies and research methods.
I am also a dedicated research mentor, and have have worked with student researchers in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF), the Student Mentored and Research Training (SMART) program, the Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP) as well as the Koret Scholars Undergraduate Research Program. In this capacity I instruct my research assistants in locating, accessing and digitizing archival records as well as coding with qualitative data analysis.
Some course offerings
Indigenous Feminisms - Upper Division - Fulfills the Ethnicity and Race (ER) General Education requirement
California Indian History - Lower Division - Fulfills the Ethnicity and Race (ER) General Education requirement
Comparative Settler Colonial Studies - Upper Division - Senior Seminar Course
California History - Graduate Student Seminar
California Indian History - Lower Division - Fulfills the Ethnicity and Race (ER) General Education requirement
Comparative Settler Colonial Studies - Upper Division - Senior Seminar Course
California History - Graduate Student Seminar
What students say
"This course influenced me to reflect more deeply on the histories I have been taught and their validity. I took this class because as an individual who was born and raised in California, I felt incredibly disconnected and uneducated of my state’s history. Exposing myself to such impactful information taught me to question history more…In an odd way, this class has made me feel more connected to the land here in California, because I understand it better.” - California Indian History
"This class far exceeded my expectations. I did not expect to learn so much within these 10 short weeks and I can honestly say I've learned more in this class than I have another classes I've taken thus far…. I also appreciated that you encouraged us to have conversations with the readings…you want us to ask questions, make connections, and have critical conversations with the text so we were fully engaged with the course material and Indigenous feminist ideologies. I will carry this skill forward as I move through my academic career” - Indigenous Feminisms
“In addition to Indigenous Feminisms, this has been (another) foundational course in my life and time at UCSC" - California Indian History
Consulting
In addition to University instruction, I am available for consultation and have consulted with various organizations including the James Irvine Foundation, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Humboldt County Office of Education and the San Diego County Office of Education, among others. Contact me for more information about consulting services.
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