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Burn It Down: Accessible Learning or Academic Surveillance? (Part 2)

Is universal design even possible? What does harm reduction look like in a classroom or on a syllabus? What role have university centers for teaching and learning played in supporting radical pedagogy–and when and where have they interrupted projects of liberation? We address these questions in the second part of our series with Sarah Silverman.

Our conversation is divided into two parts.

  • Part 1 maps the terrain of academic surveillance tech and introduces universal design as a specifically feminist approach to pedagogy, with concrete examples from Sarah’s own practice.
  • Part 2 digs deeper into these issues, as we discuss principles of the “non-abusive syllabus,” classroom practices of harm reduction, and the ambivalent institutional role of university centers for teaching and learning.

about our guest

Sarah E. Silverman, a feminist instructional designer and disability studies scholar, is a leading voice in the multi-front movement to resist remote proctoring and educational surveillance technologies, as well as to promote authentic assessment and universal design for learning (UDL). A generous critic and prolific writer—especially on her extraordinarily useful blog—Dr. Silverman is currently based at the Hub for Teaching and Learning Resources at the University of Michigan, Dearborn. She holds a PhD in Entomology and Demography from the University of California, Davis.

credits

Outro Music by Akrasis (Max Bowen, raps; Mark McKee, beats)

Audio editing by Aliyah Harris

Production by Lucia Hulsether and Tina Pippin