TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
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I view teaching as a collaborative process of inquiry that challenges dominant narratives while equipping students with tools to critically analyze culture and power. My goal is to create classrooms that are intellectually rigorous, supportive, and transformative—spaces where students see themselves not only as learners but also as producers of knowledge who can challenge systems of inequality.
I began my career in education immediately after earning my B.A. from Mills College (1997), and I have taught across multiple levels and contexts ever since, from elementary classrooms to professional development for K–12 teachers. My teaching focuses on how anti-Blackness and anti-Indigenous oppression shape educational systems and broader social structures, and how race, culture, and history intersect to produce inequality and opportunity. Beginning as a literary scholar, I explored how cultural understandings are reproduced through texts such as novels and nineteenth- and twentieth-century political cartoons and pamphlets. Bringing literary theory and textual analysis into K–12 classrooms, I examined how schools and institutions reproduce cultural ideologies through seemingly neutral practices. In professional development work with K–12 teachers, for example, I explored how femininity is often linked to whiteness and compliance, while masculinity is associated with defiance and Blackness, including Indigenous and Latinx identities. I now bring this analysis into the college classroom by guiding students to interrogate how educational systems and cultural texts shape identity, behavior, and opportunity. Students connect theory to lived experience, recognizing the relevance of ideas to their roles as learners, community members, and future professionals.
My pedagogy is shaped by my own educational experiences—successes and struggles alike—as well as by formal training as an educator. I am motivated by guiding students from their current understandings to deeper, more critical engagements. I see teaching as a process in which students grapple with complex and sometimes uncomfortable ideas, construct meaning collaboratively, and recognize themselves as active contributors to knowledge. In doing so, I am committed to designing classrooms that support students from diverse backgrounds—including first-generation, multilingual, and disabled students—so that all learners can engage fully and thrive.
To design courses, I use the framework of Understanding by Design, particularly backward mapping. I begin with the core concepts and enduring understandings I want students to take away, consider what authentic evidence of that understanding might look like, and create assignments and activities that guide students toward demonstrating their learning. Backward mapping ensures that students move from theory to application. In my courses, students may design lesson plans, produce media analyses, or complete public-facing projects that apply theoretical concepts to real-world problems. Although developed for K–12 contexts, this framework translates well to higher education, helping me align course goals, activities, and assessments in ways that produce meaningful, transferable learning.
I also see teaching history, humanities, and social sciences as vital for cultivating informed, reflective, and engaged citizens—especially in a political climate marked by polarization, misinformation, and rapid technological change. Humanities and social sciences courses provide students with critical thinking, historical perspective, and ethical reasoning necessary to navigate these complex realities. In this context, my teaching offers a counterbalance to the growing emphasis on AI and technology in higher education, highlighting the enduring importance of understanding human experience, culture, and social structures.
Ultimately, my aim is to cultivate classrooms where students analyze ideas critically, connect them to lived realities, and see themselves as capable of reshaping dominant narratives. By linking theory to practice, supporting diverse learners, and encouraging active knowledge production, I strive to create learning environments that are transformative for both students and myself. Teaching is a continuous practice of learning, reflection, and collaboration that prepares students to engage thoughtfully and ethically in the world.
I began my career in education immediately after earning my B.A. from Mills College (1997), and I have taught across multiple levels and contexts ever since, from elementary classrooms to professional development for K–12 teachers. My teaching focuses on how anti-Blackness and anti-Indigenous oppression shape educational systems and broader social structures, and how race, culture, and history intersect to produce inequality and opportunity. Beginning as a literary scholar, I explored how cultural understandings are reproduced through texts such as novels and nineteenth- and twentieth-century political cartoons and pamphlets. Bringing literary theory and textual analysis into K–12 classrooms, I examined how schools and institutions reproduce cultural ideologies through seemingly neutral practices. In professional development work with K–12 teachers, for example, I explored how femininity is often linked to whiteness and compliance, while masculinity is associated with defiance and Blackness, including Indigenous and Latinx identities. I now bring this analysis into the college classroom by guiding students to interrogate how educational systems and cultural texts shape identity, behavior, and opportunity. Students connect theory to lived experience, recognizing the relevance of ideas to their roles as learners, community members, and future professionals.
My pedagogy is shaped by my own educational experiences—successes and struggles alike—as well as by formal training as an educator. I am motivated by guiding students from their current understandings to deeper, more critical engagements. I see teaching as a process in which students grapple with complex and sometimes uncomfortable ideas, construct meaning collaboratively, and recognize themselves as active contributors to knowledge. In doing so, I am committed to designing classrooms that support students from diverse backgrounds—including first-generation, multilingual, and disabled students—so that all learners can engage fully and thrive.
To design courses, I use the framework of Understanding by Design, particularly backward mapping. I begin with the core concepts and enduring understandings I want students to take away, consider what authentic evidence of that understanding might look like, and create assignments and activities that guide students toward demonstrating their learning. Backward mapping ensures that students move from theory to application. In my courses, students may design lesson plans, produce media analyses, or complete public-facing projects that apply theoretical concepts to real-world problems. Although developed for K–12 contexts, this framework translates well to higher education, helping me align course goals, activities, and assessments in ways that produce meaningful, transferable learning.
I also see teaching history, humanities, and social sciences as vital for cultivating informed, reflective, and engaged citizens—especially in a political climate marked by polarization, misinformation, and rapid technological change. Humanities and social sciences courses provide students with critical thinking, historical perspective, and ethical reasoning necessary to navigate these complex realities. In this context, my teaching offers a counterbalance to the growing emphasis on AI and technology in higher education, highlighting the enduring importance of understanding human experience, culture, and social structures.
Ultimately, my aim is to cultivate classrooms where students analyze ideas critically, connect them to lived realities, and see themselves as capable of reshaping dominant narratives. By linking theory to practice, supporting diverse learners, and encouraging active knowledge production, I strive to create learning environments that are transformative for both students and myself. Teaching is a continuous practice of learning, reflection, and collaboration that prepares students to engage thoughtfully and ethically in the world.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
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Mills College Race Gender, & Sexuality Studies Department (Now Mills College at Northeastern University)
Indigenous History to 1900 (FA 18, FA 20)
Law, Resistance, & Identity: Indigenous Peoples in the “U.S.” from 1900 - present (SP 20, SP 22)
Indigenous & Pacific Islander Women (FA 18, SP 21)
Introduction to Ethnic Studies (SP 19, FA 21, SP25)
Theories of Race & Gender (SP 19, SP 20, SP 21)
Leadership for Social Change (SP 19)
“All Power to the People!”: Politics & Pedagogy of Community-based Educ. (SU 19, SU 21, SU 22 online)
Race, Gender, & the Criminal Justice System (SU 20 online)
Introduction to Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (FA 19, SP 21)
Ethnic Studies Senior Thesis Seminar (SP 20, SP 21, SP 22)
Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Senior Project (SP 20, SP 21, SP 22)
Directed Independent Student Research (FA 18, SP 19, FA 19, SU 20, SP 21, SU 22)
Research Methods in Communities of Color (FA 21, FA 22)
Introduction to Language, Literacy, and Cultures (FA24)
Mills College Graduate School of Education
Instructional Leadership (Fall 2025)
“All Power to the People!”: Politics & Pedagogy of Community-based Educ. (SU 19, SU 21, SU 22, online)
Curriculum and Instruction for Secondary Teachers (SP 18)
Teaching Reading and Writing in the Secondary Schools (SP 18)
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education
Supervised Teaching in Elementary Education (Graduate Student Instructor)
The Politics of Educational Inequality (Graduate Student Instructor)
Education Policy and Practice (Graduate Student Instructor)
TEACHING CERTIFICATIONS |
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Certificate in Effective College Instruction
Association of College and University Educators [2019]
This certificate signifies the completion of a 25-module course in effective teaching practices requiring the implementation of evidence-based instructional approaches. The credential is co-issued by the American Council on Education and distinguishes faculty for their commitment to educational excellence and student success.
California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential
Texas Lifetime K-12 ESL Teaching Credential