Nearly 50 College of Charleston faculty and staff members heeded the call when Kris De Welde and Tamara Butler invited them to read Bettina Love’s We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom (Beacon Press, 2019) and join in discussions about how we can create a shared language and vision for abolitionist education.
The initiative combined the forces of the T.E.A. (Teaching to Engage and Activate) and the Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) Book Club, bringing together people from across campus to share ideas about how we can move toward freedom from what Love calls the “education survival complex.”
“Education needs transformation at all levels,” says Butler, executive director of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture and associate dean of College Libraries, “and we have the opportunity to be part of the change.”
And, now the College community has another opportunity to take part: Love, an associate professor of educational theory and practice at the University of Georgia, will come to the College of Charleston (virtually) to talk about her book and participate in a Q&A on Thursday, March 11, 2021, at 5 p.m.
“This is a great opportunity for everyone in the campus community, from business to STEM,” says Butler.
The program, titled We Gon’ Be Alright, But That Ain’t Alright: Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom, promises to be an eye-opening discussion about pedagogy.
“There are not a lot of spaces to talk about pedagogy,” says De Welde, director of WGS. “Reading and listening to Love and participating in this discussion is one way we can begin to change the way we educate and work at the College and beyond.”
To join the discussion, register on Eventbrite.
