Third Rail Teaching Collaborative: Pedagogy & Peer Support in Contested Classrooms
This will be the first meeting of the Third Rail Teaching Collaborative (TRT Collaborative), a community of practice for faculty who teach courses that engage with politically sensitive, socially charged, or otherwise controversial topics. These “third rail” courses such as those dealing with geo-political issues, race, gender, climate change, immigration, religion, and political conflict often place unique demands on faculty.
The TRT Collaborative will provide a ‘gracious space’ for faculty to share experiences, exchange strategies, co-develop resources, and support one another in the intellectual and emotional challenges of teaching in contested classrooms. It will be guided by values of academic freedom, inclusivity, and ‘graciousness’.
The TRT Collaborative is also an academic freedom safeguard, the cornerstone of Canadian higher education. It protects the right of faculty to pursue truth, conduct research, and engage students in difficult inquiry without undue interference. The community of practice ensures that professors who teach in such contested classrooms are not silenced, isolated, or penalized, but are instead supported to pursue their scholarly and pedagogical work. The CoP addresses the gap between the principle of academic freedom and its everyday enactment in the classroom.
Audience: Faculty
Contact facaffairs@yorku.ca for information
Hosted by Faculty Affairs in partnership with Teaching Commons & CHREI
Upcoming Related Events:
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Engaging Constructively with Controversial Issues webinar with Dr. Judith L. Pace (hosted by Faculty Affairs; Tuesday, October 21, 1 to 2. p.m.; details here)
