Alimentar: Theorizing Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Mentorship for Democratic Doctoral Education

Abstract

This conceptual paper suggests ways in which pedagogical practices, curriculum, and mentorship could foster democracy in doctoral education. Building upon critical, dialogic, caring, anti-colonial, and engaged pedagogies, we propose a framework for examining marginal spaces of teacher and student relationships that build upon life-projects (Gunzenhauser & Gerstl-Pepin, 2006) in learning spaces. We use the Spanish terms “alimentar” and “infame” pedagogy to capture dichotomous approaches to teaching at the doctoral level. The challenge to linguistic borders should be read as a metaphor for the challenge of transcending ideological borders of doctoral pedagogy.