Instructing Intersectionality: Critical and Practical Strategies for the Journalism and Mass Communication Classroom

Intersectionality makes visible and relevant marginalized identities and engages students in critical strategies for social justice against oppression, power, and hegemony inside and outside the classroom. As a framework for teaching and learning across journalism, media, and mass communication studies, intersectionality allows instructors to build more inclusive, critical, and reflective educational spaces.

In this book, experienced and award-winning professors explore practical teaching strategies and innovative pedagogy to guide other instructors through the practice of integrating intersectionality into courses and curriculum. Chapters offer strategies, case studies, and activities for classroom implementation, as well as providing invaluable practicality from the lived experiences of the authors, most of whom are from intersectionally diverse backgrounds.

As an inspiring and immediately applicable guidebook, Instructing Intersectionality is an essential read for course developers, administrators, and instructors in all undergrad and graduate programs.

Contributors: María DeMoya (she/her/ella), Celeste González de Bustamante (she/hers/ella), Leandra Hernández (she/her/ella), Patrick R. Johnson (he/him/his), Tammy Rae Matthews (she/her/hers), Rafael Matos (he/him/his), Kathleen McElroy (she/her/hers), Stevie M. Munz (she/her/hers), Arionne Nettles (she/her/hers), Kix Patterson (he/him/his), Gheni Platenburg (she/her/hers), Arleen Jia Rasing (she/her/hers), Leilane Menezes Rodrigues (she/her/hers), Nathian Shae Rodriguez (he/him/él), Alexis Romero Walker (they/them), Yidong Wang (he/him/his), and Sherry Yu (she/her/hers).

Nathian Shae Rodriguez (he/him/él)is associate professor of digital media and the associate director of the School of Journalism & Media Studies at San Diego State University. He is also a core faculty in the Area of Excellence: Digital Humanities and Global Diversity, a public speaker, and podcast host. Rodriguez is founder and director of the Media, Identity, & Communication (MIC) Innovation Research Lab, a creative research collaborative that focuses on intersectional identity studies in media, entertainment, communication, and pop culture. Rodriguez has published over twenty-three journal articles and eight book chapters. He’s won numerous awards for his research and teaching, presented a TEDtalk, and has been featured on national and international media for his innovative courses on pop culture and intersectional identity. Rodriguez also has ten years of professional radio experience in on-air talent, sales, promotions, and social media marketing.