Introduction

Abstract

Introduction Jacqueline Ellis and Jason D. Martinek This issue of Transformations represents a change from previous issues in that we have included a distinct section where articles, methods and texts essays, and the Teachers Talk are organized around a theme. In this issue, that theme is "Teaching the Future" a topic that co-editor Jason D. Martinek considers in relation to his own teaching in the introduction to the special section. The "Teaching the Future" themed articles include Sarah Gerth v.d. Berg's "Pedagogical Possibilities: Arts-Based Practices of Collective Time for Teaching the Future," Laura McLauchlan's "Lively Collaborations: Feminist Reading Group Erotics for Liveable Futures," and the Teachers Talk with Sonya Donaldson, "Understanding the Past, Imagining the Future: Teaching Speculative Fiction and Afrofuturism." The rest of the issue includes contributions on a general theme but that reflect our usual commitment to inclusive pedagogy that is oriented toward teaching social justice. In "Reading about What It Is Really Like Is Eye-Opening: Literature for Youth and College-Level Critical Pedagogy," Scott Beck uses children's and young adult literature to help college students explore current political and cultural issues such as gender diversity, immigration, and Islamophobia. Using quantitative analysis, he finds that texts that might be considered simplistic or naïve because of their intended audience are nevertheless useful tools for exploring complex issues. In this way, Beck's article intersects with the Teachers Talk discussion of speculative texts—including fiction, movies, and television shows like Star Trek—in the Teaching the Future section. In both cases, such materials form the basis of creative and rigorous intellectual work. Peri Yuksel's Methods and Texts piece also touches on points raised in the Teachers Talk that focus on technologies and media as learning resources. Yuksel's focus is TedTalks and their role as tools for engaging students in material before they enter a physical classroom. Katherine Thorsteinson takes up the issue of antiracism as a pedagogical practice in her article, "Anarchy in the Classroom: The Efficacy of Self-Directed Learning for Critical Whiteness Pedagogy." Like Beck, Thorsteinson pays close [End Page 1] attention to the current political climate as she considers the importance of student-centered teaching and the difficulty for instructors in abandoning traditional classroom structures and strategies. Interestingly, like Maclauchlan's discussion in the Teaching the Future section about Audre Lorde's notion of the erotic, Thorsteinson relies on a foundational black woman intellectual in her analysis—in this case, bell hooks and her call for "education as the practice of freedom"—as spearheading the transformation of her classroom into a more collaborative, equitable, and productive space. Heidi Hanrahan's essay, "Complicated Communities: Faculty's Fraught Participation in Learning Communities," offers a different perspective on teaching strategies designed to encourage more engaged student learning. Hanrahan's discussion is refreshing in that she explores the benefits and shortcomings of learning communities in tandem with the institutional expectations and assessment processes with which untenured faculty must comply. Jamie Wagman and Betsy Schlabach also address themes that are pivotal to Hanrahan's and Thorsteinson's work in their Methods and Texts essay, "Social Justice Inside and Outside the Classroom." Half of the essay examines teaching an African American studies course in the wake of campus protests about racial injustice at Earlham College and the other half explores experiential learning activities at an LGBTQ nonprofit in a women's and gender studies class at a Catholic college. [End Page 2] Copyright © 2018 New Jersey City University