Teaching Up

Abstract

In the current political climate, racial, gender, and sexual differences are controversial topics, particularly on college campuses. This illuminates the need for increased focus on these issues in college classes. Although the literature on teaching about privilege is small, it is dominated by the voices of White faculty and almost completely focuses on racial issues. Marginalized faculty are rarely heard in this literature for our intersectional understanding of teaching about oppression and inequality. This chapter explores how female faculty (who also identify as working-class, queer, or as racial minorities) experience teaching about privilege. It builds an understanding of issues surrounding teaching about inequity from an intersectional perspective and moves the focus beyond tenure-track faculty. It expands an understanding of the experiences of faculty within the classroom and provides ways to support marginalized faculty in their teaching. Although the faculty interviewed here are sociologists, there are broad implications for teaching across disciplines.