As a feminist and radical economist, my ultimate goal is empowering my students and helping them find socially constructive paths. My short article in Adbusters, “Confessions of a Radical Economics Prof,” explains my strategy for teaching economic in a transformative way. I practice feminist/radical pedagogy, and try to avoid the traditional "conveyor belt" or "banking" model of teaching which views the teacher as the sole possessor of knowledge, and her job as conveying this knowledge to her students. I believe that all members of the class possess knowledge, and view learning as a cooperative process wherein students share and build on their knowledge, and learn how to get information and think critically. I try to construct a democratic and participatory classroom, which embodies the process of “Beloved Community” as articulated by Martin Luther King. Students’ questions, discussions, and research and projects – much of it posted on The Wellesley Solidarity website -- contribute importantly to my research.
I teach two seminars, the Political Economy of Gender, Race and Class (Econ 243) and Feminist Economics (Econ 343), syllabi below, as well as introductory microeconomics (Econ 101). Both seminars are reading-intensive and discussion-focused, and connect directly to my areas of expertise, while the microeconomic class is unusual in that, while it centers on mainstream economics, it exposes students throughout to alternative theories.
Courses regularly taught include:
Econ 101, Survey of Microeconomics
Econ 243, The Political Economy of Gender, Race, and Class