My name is Ben Cushing. My classes explore a lot of different social issues, but each class, at its heart, is an exploration of power, agency and change. How can we better understand the social world we inhabit? And how can we use our learning to grow and heal, individually and as communities?
How I teach:
My goal as an educator is to co-create – with the folks enrolled in my classes – a learning community in which everyone involved can grow and support one another in their own learning process. I am deeply concerned that too often school can feel alienating, boring and manipulative. I want to avoid that! I try to facilitate a learning process in which students have more agency over their assignments and their grades, and where learning feels intrinsically valuable – not just like a hoop they have to jump through. I also try to bring my whole self into my role as a teacher, and I encourage students to learn with their hearts as much as their minds.
Projects:
I recently created a podcast related to my teaching. It explores the deep roots of the climate crisis, including a discussion of capitalism, colonialism and widespread cultural beliefs. You can also check out a video of me teaching, below.
Podcast: Tracing The Roots of the Climate Crisis (Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most other podcast platforms)
What I teach about:
- Power
- Colonialism
- Capitalism
- Imperialism
- Nationalism
- Culture and Ideology
- Race, Racism and White Supremacy
- Gender, Sexuality and Patriarchy
- The Climate and Ecological Crises
- Social Movements and Revolutions