Research for teaching’s sake: Preparing public affairs students for the fight over social equity, reflections from a PATNet roundtable

Abstract

The social movements of the last few years have highlighted the continued institutional inequities that exist in the United States. They have reinvigorated policy and administrative practices and programs that support DEIJ. They have also reawakened in earnest a battle that has been waged since colonial America, one in which people in power work to pass policies and promote institutions that undo social equity and uphold oppression. As public administration scholars and teachers, it is critical for us to give our students the tools, language, and skills necessary to fight against oppression. In this dialogue, I present advice from social equity scholars on how to accomplish this by highlighting conversations from a roundtable discussion held at PATNet 2023. Themes include overall feelings about teaching social equity, discussing positionality, incorporating interdisciplinary theory, linking theory to practice, and teaching under censorship.