University of the Margins

This is the slide deck that goes with my keynote for AMICAL 2019. The full transcript is available at http://robinderosa.net/?p=2767.

Transcript

1. University of the Margins Institutional Structures and Open Practice an unkeynote
3. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
4. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
5. For me this place of radical openness is a margin—a profound edge. Locating oneself there is difficult yet necessary. It is not a 'safe' place. One is always at risk. One needs a community of resistance. ~bell hooks
6. radical openness is a margin bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com • What is something your university does to serve marginalized learners? Are there any ways that those services reinforce the divides that they are attempting to soften? • What would it look like not to accommodate an individual or group of students, but to change a structure so that accommodation were no longer necessary? Can you give a specific example?
7. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
8. The new mestiza has a plural personality, she operates in a pluralistic mode-- nothing is thrust out, the good, the bad and the ugly, nothing rejected, nothing abandoned. Not only does she sustain contradictions, she turns the ambivalence into something else. ~Gloria Anzaldúa
9. • argue for "best" practice; • establish learning outcomes before my courses even begin; • celebrate selectivity in my institution's admission process; • write program reviews or promotion files that obscure failure; • refuse late assignments from students; • use critical mass and market demand as an argument for program development; • design marketing campaigns or discounts to nab other public institutions' enrollments; • design a new course using a credit model system that is pre-mapped onto the course structure; • grade an assignment or grade a student; • participate in diversity initiatives that focus on events, artifacts, or visibility.
10. the good, the bad, the ugly bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com Does your university use the language of pluralism, inclusion, opening, mixing to describe its ecosystem or learning processes? If so, do the structures of your university seem to enable or prevent that kind of experience or community or work? Can you give an example?
11. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
13. hallway conversations bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com • What would a classroom look like if it were set up for dialogue rather than monologue? • What would a syllabus look like if it's goal was to connect things rather than to arrive somewhere? • Will we know learning is happening if we don't measure it by where it ends?
14. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
15. Without a profit-making enterprise, a business that collects more money than it spends, there is no educational mission.
16. no margin, no mission bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com When was a time the financial margins at your institution dictated mission? And/or when was a time your mission was undercut by budget cuts? How does this matter to you and/or to your students?
17. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
19. clearing the margins bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com Can you think of a time in your own institution where something "marginal" was cut in order to protect the health of the larger institution, but then when it was cut, the larger institution was hurt in some unanticipated way?
20. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
22. I envisioned a personal feminist framework that conformed to the shape of my body and experience, an exoskeleton of sorts, which acted as a filter for things coming in and going out. I visualize the framework as multi-layered, at its foundation a perspective constructed from personal experience, and interwoven with the many books, feminist theories, and people in my community-- friends, mentors, colleagues-- who shaped my thinking and values. The framework isn't static but rather it expands, contracts, and changes shape with time and experience. Visualizing this personal feminist framework works for me and is a way of carrying my community with me. It gives me a space to think objectively through a feminist lens, to add to and build upon theory and ideas, to learn and unlearn things as I encounter new situations. It's a filter through which I can separate the self from what's required in the moment.
23. exoskeleton bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com • In general, what arguments do we make for diversity in our faculty, staff, or (especially) administration in higher education? How does Lew's conceptual exoskeleton ask us to rethink or shift those arguments? • Can you think of a time when a person in a position of leadership did something (large or small) to make your institution more inclusive? How does that person's style or identity as a leader compare to Lew's exoskeleton model?
24. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
25. Border-wall prototypes, in California, 2017 (Elliott Spagat/Ap Photo)
26. learning about walls bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com Does your university take down physical walls to encourage collaboration? Advocate for open spaces? Celebrate diversity and inclusion? If so, what has your university had to say recently about the move to lock down borders in America and in Europe to prevent the flow of immigrants and refugees? Should universities speak up? Why? How?
27. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
30. frankenstein’s margins bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com What are some ways that you can imagine students or scholars using public digital annotation to speak truth to power? What are some ways that you can imagine scholars or students being silenced by public digital annotation? How do the margins of the internet matter for learning and/or for the public good?
31. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
35. what needs opening bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com What is a barrier that students face in entering or completing your course or program that your course or program is currently not explicitly addressing? How could your course or program (not some other office) explicitly reduce that barrier for students? Why does this matter not only for students, but for your field?
36. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
39. frame of reference bit.ly/amicalshare #amicalconf robinderosa1@gmail.com Will what you’re looking at look the same if you zoom in or out? Share an image and a thought about education.
40. http://bit.ly/amicalkeynote radical openness is a margin the good, the bad, the ugly hallway conversations no margin, no mission clearing the margins exoskeleton learning about walls frankenstein's margins what needs opening frame of reference
41. University of the Margins Institutional Structures and Open Practice an unkeynote