Teaching
I entered the world of education as an agricultural extensionist, facilitating training workshops on soil management, sustainable farming, and agroforestry for small groups of farmers. During this period I drew on the wisdom of Roland Bunch’s revolutionary book Two Ears of Corn: A People-Centered Guide to Agricultural Improvement, which integrates Paolo Freire’s popular education model into agricultural extension to create an alternative to the top-down, transfer of technology approach. Moving from the field to the classroom, this model of collaborative, experiential education continued to inspire me. My goal is to allow students to take the step to bridge theory and practice, to see with their own eyes, to act with and react to the world around them rather than standing to the side as the ostensibly objective observer. Learning is a truly social endeavor and I try to expand the community of learning beyond the classroom, collaborating with community partners when possible. I’ve taught (or currently teach) the following classes:
PSU: 2019/2020: USP 689 - Advanced Urban Politics & Sociology (Fall) USP 313U - Urban Environmental Issues (Winter, Spring) USP 576 - Feeding the City (Spring) Previously: USP 430 - Participatory Research Methods for Community Development USP 569 - Sustainable Cities & Regions: Theory, Politics, Practice USP 589 - Theorizing Urban Natures USP 610 - Field Course: Urban Agriculture in Montreal & Portland USP 617 - Sociology & Politics of Urban Life UNST 421 - Senior Capstone: Urban Agriculture & Food Systems UQÀM: ENV7000 - Perspectives interdisciplinaires dans l'étude des problématiques environnementales UC Berkeley: ESPM 117 - Urban Agriculture GEOG 130 - Natural Resources & Population GEOG 298 - Agriculture at the Metropolitan Edge L&S 70B - Global Warming (TA) DS 100 - Development History & Theory (TA) NC State: CS 11L - Crop Production (TA) Central Carolina Community College: AGR 293: Overseas Development & Appropriate Technology AGR 266: Organic Crop Production |