1206 | 646 | Teaching gender in the European academia: reflections on the teacher’s positionality and beyond | Camilla Spadavecchia
Over the last decades, gender studies have evolved, and so have the studies on gender across several disciplines, such as geography. For instance, intersectionality has become pivotal in the approach to gender in research and teaching. Further, over the last decades, a growing body of studies has addressed the colonial structure of knowledge production and dissemination (Daigle & Ramírez, 2019). Gender and feminist studies have been increasingly incorporating a decolonial perspective, which, beyond challenging the traditional hierarchies of knowledge, tends to include the views of non-Western, nondominant scholars to challenge the traditional self-other distinction in given spaces and places (Manion & Shah, 2019)._x000D_
Additionally, as researchers, for the trustworthiness of our studies, we must address our positionality concerning the studied topic and the possible biases arising from it (Nowell et al., 2017). The same criteria are not explicitly required in our teaching. Nevertheless, I argue that addressing our positionality when teaching gender has become crucial for the overall quality of the courses addressing gender issues from an intersectional and decolonial perspective._x000D_
In this context, I would like to reflect on the challenges we face when teaching gender in our courses and how those challenges have changed over time. For this purpose, I would like to share my experience as a European (migrant) academic, teaching «gender and culture» and diversity policies in international classes at a Dutch university. Next, I want to reflect on the need to address our positionality when designing and teaching a course on gender-related topics and the need for an intersectional and decolonial approach. Finally, I aim to reflect upon the interdisciplinarity and interactive methodologies in class when teaching feminist geographies._x000D_
Camilla Spadavecchia
Tilburg University
ID Abstract: 646