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Teaching contested topics

In this series of workshops and events, we discuss the changing dynamics in the classroom in light of academic freedom, polarisation, identity and intersectionality, and viewpoint diversity. We explore how understanding and practice of these issues evolve, and how and why, through our roles as lecturers, teachers, and professors, we can foster a constructive learning environment for our students and ourselves.


a unique place to exchange ideas and share experience with other scholars...this forum fills that gap by allowing for open, sincere discussions about our teaching and how to make it better

  

From contestation to conversation – bridging differences in the classroom

 

As teachers and lecturers, how do we ensure that our lectures and seminars, and the discussions that ensure therein, are thought-provoking instead of just provocative? As the culture wars swirl around us, teaching social sciences and humanities can and has become a fraught space for both, academics and students. In this session, we will share and explain key principles of classroom discourse that you can adopt to enable your students to engage with the ideas, arguments, and evidence rather than the rhetoric. We will consider examples from politics, science, culture, and business among other disciplines and evidence from across the sector in the UK and internationally.


This is part of the Teaching Contested Topics series. Other sessions in this series are New rules of engagement: mediating dissent, debate, and dialogue in the classroom and Teaching Sensitive Topics.

Wednesday, 18 May, 1-3 pm GMT
On campus/via Zoom (details provided on registration) 

Please register here.   

 

Teaching sensitive topics

Do your students have strong reactions to your courses? Course content that elicits strong emotions can inspire students. It can also cause distress and anger, and discourage students from participating. This workshop draws on the practice of LSE academics, on pedagogic research, and on counselling practice to develop strategies for maximising learning. We will discuss both advance planning and in-the-moment responses. Participants can share their tools for planning and establishing a productive teaching environment, and how they handle strong student responses.

This is part of the Teaching Contested Topics series. Other sessions in this series are New rules of engagement: mediating dissent, debate, and dialogue in the classroom and From contestation to conversation – bridging differences in the classroom. 

Tuesday, 10 May, 2-3.30pm GMT
Via Zoom (details provided on registration) 

Please register here.  

 

 

 

 

New rules of engagement: mediating dissent, debate, and dialogue in the classroom

As a moral panic about the culture wars takes hold, academic freedom comes under threat, and society becomes more polarised along political, cultural lines and identities; staff and students are hesitant to speak up in class or sometimes, they might self-censor, and when they speak, they could inadvertently alienate their students and peers. We hear from four experienced academics and a student about how these issues emerge in the classes and seminars they teach (and attend) and how they approach them.

 

Part of the Teaching Contested Topics series, this event was run as a panel discussion and is now available as a podcast.

 

 

For the full Atlas programme, please click here.

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