Themes:
Queer Studies, curriculum, allies, queer students, safer space, identity, queer history, sociology, anti-oppression, social justice
Queer Studies, curriculum, allies, queer students, safer space, identity, queer history, sociology, anti-oppression, social justice
Transcript
Tara: What does your Queer Studies course look like?
Garrett: Um, it is specifically catered and designed for the queer students. Um, we get allies in the room, allies are more than welcome, but the purpose of creating it was to meet their needs, to give them a safe space one period a day that they connect. So, when they enter the school, um, through self-identifications, whether being trans, or their sexual orientation, um, our office is trained to hook them up with me. And then I try to engage them. If I’m not teaching the Queer Studies at the time, I track them while they’re here to see how they’re doing. The actual Queer Studies curriculum for me is about identity and seeing themselves, and so a lot of time around identity, terminology, who are you? How do you identify? Where is your place? Um, I do a lot of queer history with them in it as well. It’s a lot of sociology, right? Anti-oppression. Learning to navigate – so, um, figuring out their identities and then learning to navigate a world that doesn’t see them, so I spend a lot of time on those concepts as well, and social justice. So, now that you’re here, what are you going to do? Right? And what can you do?
Tara: What does your Queer Studies course look like?
Garrett: Um, it is specifically catered and designed for the queer students. Um, we get allies in the room, allies are more than welcome, but the purpose of creating it was to meet their needs, to give them a safe space one period a day that they connect. So, when they enter the school, um, through self-identifications, whether being trans, or their sexual orientation, um, our office is trained to hook them up with me. And then I try to engage them. If I’m not teaching the Queer Studies at the time, I track them while they’re here to see how they’re doing. The actual Queer Studies curriculum for me is about identity and seeing themselves, and so a lot of time around identity, terminology, who are you? How do you identify? Where is your place? Um, I do a lot of queer history with them in it as well. It’s a lot of sociology, right? Anti-oppression. Learning to navigate – so, um, figuring out their identities and then learning to navigate a world that doesn’t see them, so I spend a lot of time on those concepts as well, and social justice. So, now that you’re here, what are you going to do? Right? And what can you do?