Pedagogies of Possibility Workshop - Imagining America National Gathering

We are facing threats to higher education on many fronts. Many of us are uncertain about how increasing fascism in our government will impact our working conditions. These fears include job security, constraints on academic freedom, students and community members being targeted for expressing their political views or worse - disappeared b/c of their immigration status. Students and faculty together will face climate chaos, and increasing economic precarity. This session will invite educators in higher education to brainstorm what is most pressing for them on their campuses, and then create and share teaching practices that meet this current moment. We hope to create a sense of solidarity among higher educators who are experimenting in their classrooms and supporting students (and all of us) to face uncertain futures with a sense of possibility and a world-building sensibility that centers the relationships of humans, non-human beings and the natural world. What are the "portals" that educators in the room are already discovering in their work with students? How can we share them with each other? Our Collaboratories grant allows us to develop a website where these can be shared among educators who are able to attend our session, as well as with those who are part of the IA community but are not able to attend the conference at all.