Teaching and Learning Anthropology

This commentary describes a pedagogical experiment in youth-led, open-source learning design carried out between Autumn 2022 and Spring 2023 while I was teaching in the University of Chicago’s Colonizations sequence. “Colonizations” is one among several sequences that undergraduate students can elect to take to satisfy their College Core requirement in “Civilization Studies.” Using an iterative “Design a Learning Module” assignment sequence – comprising both a mid-quarter and final submission together with an in-class introduction to principles of curriculum design – I structured the learning pathway to achieve three outcomes: first, to create experiential learning opportunities for students to engage with curriculum design principles through the hands-on creation of an online learning module; second, to expose students to open-source, creative-commons alternatives to dominant, colonial forms of proprietary knowledge; and last, to provide students with tools to analyze, interpret, and navigate their future learning environments.

In this essay, I reflect on my own experiences as a graduate student in applied anthropology working in the context of ongoing higher education legislation implemented under the DeSantis administration in the state of Florida. In particular, I focus on the ways Florida’s House Bill 7 and Senate Bill 266 have impacted my experiences as a graduate student teaching general education courses in anthropology. This commentary argues that these laws have promoted a culture of uncertainty and precarity by disrupting the academic freedoms of people in teaching positions, while potentially undermining critical and creative thinking in the classroom.