This week on the Huskie Conversation Cafe, your host J Pappas (they/them/theirs) is joined by Dr. James Cohen (he/him/his), an associate professor of ESL/Bilingual education at Northern Illinois University.

J and Dr. Cohen discuss education, the importance of access and representation in the classroom, ways to teach with inclusion in mind, and why knowing yourself is critical for social justice, equity, and inclusion. They reference chapters 5 and 11 in this episode of the podcast.

For NIU education majors, check out Educate Global here: https://www.cedu.niu.edu/educate-engage/educate-global/index.shtml
Read more about antiracism here: https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist/
Read more about our nation’s history here: https://www.isabelwilkerson.com/, https://www.ibramxkendi.com/stamped

Debrief Questions
Think about your own educational experiences. What was your favorite class in school? Why did you enjoy it?
Did you ever have a time in your educational journey where you felt “othered” like Trevor? What happened?
What would make your classrooms a better place for learning? What would you change about schools?
In what ways can we make an impact in our school communities against racism, violence, and oppression?

Episode Sources
Research conducted by Dulce Hernandez (she/her/hers/ella), Graduate Assistant for Social Justice Education.
https://web.stanford.edu/~jbaugh/saw/Lizet_Education_Inequity.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35427853
https://stanfordmag.org/contents/education-after-apartheid
https://borgenproject.org/south-african-education-crisis/

Continue Engaging!
Find other programming from Academic Diversity Equity, and Inclusion here: https://calendar.niu.edu/department/academic_diversity_equity_and_inclusion
Register for a CODE workshop here: https://www.niu.edu/diversity/education-training/code-workshops/index.shtml

Music:
Many thanks to Kevin MacLeod for the use of his music as the intro and outro of this podcast.
Beauty Flow by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5025-beauty-flow
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/