Queer pedagogy as spiritual practice
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Brian Dwight Ammons (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Leila Villaverde
Abstract: The purpose of this research is to explore unlikely intersections between the
seemingly divergent streams of spirituality and queer theory in the discourses around
education. When brought into conversation, the two produce creative tensions
particularly in regards to constructions of knowledge and subjectivity.
In an interrogation of "spirituality" as a construct in education, I map a
genealogy through Enlightenment and Transcendental thought arguing that
"spirituality" in its popular usage cannot be understood apart from a larger explication
of Western religious liberalism, and in particular liberal Christianity. I then turn
towards a consideration of the utility of such a construct in light of the erosion of the
foundational thought on which it depends. Having both levied my critiques of
"spirituality" and argued a case for its usefulness, I consider what sort of theological
framework is functional as an underpinning for a spirituality concerned with critical
pedagogy.
My discussion takes shape in relation to three practices more commonly
spoken of in Christian discourse: hospitality, embodiment, and testimony. I explore
these three concepts as they support an understanding of queer pedagogy as spiritual
practice, particularly in regards to my own teaching experience. Highlighting the
investment of both queer pedagogy and spiritual practices in drawing attention to the
limits of knowability, I demonstrate how framing queer pedagogy as spiritual practice
might enrich both discourses.Queer pedagogy as spiritual practice
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Created on 5/1/2010
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2010
- Keywords
- Pedagogy, Queer, Spirituality
- Subjects
- Queer theory.
- Education $x Study and teaching.
- Sprituality.
- Christianity.
- Critical Pedagogy.