teaching philosophy

my teaching philosophy is grounded in place-based approaches that examine how geography shapes the social, cultural, economic, political, and ecological processes structuring Black life. through my triangulation framework, i weave together theories, concepts, and methods instead of privileging one over the other. in doing so, i offer a holistic pathway for students to generate questions, think purposefully, and develop their critical thinking and research skills through the humanistic social sciences. my course objectives prepare students to address historical and contemporary societal issues that disproportionately impact marginalized communities by identifying how the production of space, place, scale, and time are tied to the production of difference. i build collaborative and safe learning environments for students from diverse social and academic backgrounds to express themselves freely, navigate difficult subject matter, and to consider, question, critique, and challenge how they know what they know.

as an academic discipline and the stage upon which life is lived, geography can be abstract as something mythical, commonplace, and often taken for granted. i empower my students to establish what geographer doreen massey termed “a-where-ness” through Black feminist epistemologies, which reminds us that theory comes from living. i teach complex theories by deconstructing key geographic concepts with rigor, passion, and patience to help students understand their positionality in the world based on their experiences living in and moving through it. everyone has a “where” and a space or place that matters to them. Black chicagoland is my “where” and the foundation for how i bring geography to life as an analytical lens that equips the future leaders of our world with what is required to address the most challenging problems of our time. 

my approach to teaching is a love letter to geography and Black chicagoland and how both help me cultivate productive learning environments through intellectual curiosity and the politics of care. i offer students some of my joy and excitement teaching and lecturing about chicagoland and the chicagolanders who call it home.