In light of the events of this emotional and chaotic week I will try to focus on how my faculty member worked with the students through the rough week.  My faculty member had the students sit in a circle.  They then began by saying that they recognized how the results of the election have effected the students.  We went around in a circle sharing any thoughts or feelings about the elections and its possible repercussions.  It was hard to watch each of the students share their experiences, it was raw and heart felt.  The class felt like a strong exercise is brave spaces.  Even students who said that they had nothing to share would end up speaking about some experience.  I spoke up shared some thoughts, and I ended by saying that I found hope in students like those in my class.  It may have been cheesy by I stand by what I said.

The faculty member then shared a passage from Paulo Freire that related the strength of liberation pedagogy.  We then read from August Wilson’s Seven Guitars for the rest of the class, reading the first two scenes and the last two scenes.  The faculty member clearly understood that the work that needed to be done in class could be paused to focus on what is happening outside of academia.  My faculty member managed to create a space that was conducive to both engaging with current events and course material.