ECT Brownbag: Suraj Uttamchandani
The Learning Sciences and LGBTQ+ Lives: Questions, Then Answers, Then More Questions
Thursday, March 25, 10:00 – 11:00am EST
https://nyu.zoom.us/j/99255682170
As the learning sciences increasingly thinks through the political and ethical dimensions of learning, renewed opportunities arise to consider the learning experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Asexual, and other gender and/or sexuality minoritized (LGBTQ+) people. First, I outline the need for learning research that takes seriously gender and sexual diversity. Next, I discuss what I learned by working alongside a group of LGBTQ+ youth advocates who sought to teach teachers and other youth-serving professionals about how to work most effectively with LGBTQ+ youth. I talk through findings from this long term ethnography, including how youth developed a sense of what I call educational intimacy, reflecting a queer lens to their relational learning. I conclude with potential future directions of inquiry for the learning sciences to attend to plurality in gender and sexuality.
Visiting Research Scientist, Center for Research on Learning and Technology, Indiana University
About the speaker
:Suraj Uttamchandani (he/him/his) is currently a Visiting Research Scientist at the Center for Research on Learning and Technology at Indiana University (USA), where he previously completed his Ph.D. in the learning sciences. His research centers on political forms of learning, participatory forms of research, and critical qualitative methodologies. His work has appeared in Journal of the Learning Sciences, International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, and Discourse, Context, & Media. More information can be found at http://surajuttamchandani.com.