Teaching
I have focused my courses on recent theorizations of Racial Studies, Postcolonialism, Decoloniality through readings of non-fictional and fictional texts, dividing them into: a study of the current theoretical discussion on Postcolonialism, Decoloniality, Latino and Black Studies; a reading of Global South dialogues; and a comparative study of works by Black and Latino writers from North America and Latin America. I have also been working on a comparative study of Black and Latino literature, with a focus on decolonization, representation, race, gender, and sexuality in North and Latin America. Deconstructing longstanding myths concerning identities, I provide ample cultural material to show my students the diversity of their country and the effects of African slavery in the Americas, as well as how much literature has long been used as a tool for wielding cultural power in the imperial context. Besides literary texts, our objects of study included photographs, film, and digital media.
Paulo Freire, in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, argues that pedagogy should treat the learner as a co-creator of knowledge, not an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge. As a scholar who has spent years reflecting on decoloniality, I believe that Education has both the power to maintain the system of privilege as well as to subvert it. As you know, much of the university education in Brazil, as in Canada, has been colonial and we are just beginning to learn what it might mean to decolonize the classroom. This does not just mean teaching Black or Latino literature but also teaching all literature differently. Based on Paulo Freire’s theorization, I believe that in any context, education can only be transformative and dialogical ifthe teacher understands the context of where the students are relative to where the whole educational system is inserted in their lives.
