Melissa James

Teaching Statement

In all of my work, within and outside of the classroom, I have recognized a call to teaching. Because of my interdisciplinary academic training, I have taught courses in Religious Studies, Philosophy, Sociology, and Gender Studies. Regardless of the department in which I have taught, my courses have had a strong underpinning of sociological theory. Because of this I firmly root myself in my home base of Sociology with the added bonus of being able to do integrative work across disciplines. 

I have been able to teach in traditional higher education settings such as USD as well as specialized satellite campuses. One of these specialized sites was St. Leo’s University on the San Diego naval base. Teaching there for 6 years allowed me to gain experience and skills in teaching veterans and active duty military personnel. I have regularly drawn on that experience when I have veterans and ROTC members in my courses. I enjoy teaching introductory courses that allow me to help students across majors learn how sociology can strengthen their own field of study, whatever that field may be. I’ve demonstrated my effectiveness in my teaching both in class feedback and by regularly bringing in majors and minors to the department. Students who take my introductory courses often seek out my upper division courses to continue to study with me. I have taught a number of upper division courses that have already been on the books as well as developed courses to offer that were not offered in recent years. 

In addition to developing my teaching skills through classroom hours, I have consistently sought out professional development opportunities to hone my teaching. From being awarded a Teagle-Wabash Faculty Fellow at the Graduate Theological Union to being a Changing-Making Fellow at USD I find working on my craft essential to continued success in the classroom. 

Teaching Philosophy

Throughout all of my courses, I hold four core commitments. As a teacher-scholar, I am committed to:

Scholarship that is participatory and relevant.

In addition to on-campus connections with the courses I teach and the research I conduct, I actively involve my students in applied work for justice as a way to learn and connect their education with the needs of our communities. For example, I lead my Introduction to Gender Studies students through an issues forum process to identify key concerns related to our course on and off campus. They form groups around the top issues and complete an Applied Feminism Project which includes literature review, power analysis, and proposals for change. Having taught this course a number of times, students who identify issues that have been addressed by other classes have access to anonymized copies of the portfolios created by previous groups with the expectation that they will carry on rather than recreate the work. In completing this project students get to focus on something relevant to their life, integrate theoretical learning with applied sociology, and develop practical skills they can use in future community work

Teaching as Scholarship

Ernest Boyer argues, and I agree, that rigorous, scholarly teaching ought to be recognized as an important form of scholarship within the life of the students and teachers. My students experience the rigor of scholarship embedded in my pedagogy such as deep readings of primary source materials and key thinkers in the field. My upper division courses typically follow a structure of using the first part of the term to learn the primary theories for the course, using the second part of the course for the students to apply those theories to course specific topics, and ending the course with integration and application. In my Social Movements Class, we begin with overviews of social movement theory. I provide scaffolding for students to apply these theories, and then students rotate doing presentations applying this to various social movements throughout history. 

Making education accessible

I teach my courses using pedagogy that honors the experience and learning needs students bring into the classroom. Recognizing that many students are underprepared for the college classroom I build opportunities for them to hone their skills at primary and secondary text reading, scholarly research and writing, and respectful dialogue.

Guided in part by the Universal Design for Learning, I design my classes to create multiple means of engagement that meet various learning styles. I have a vast array of effective learning activities that I have developed throughout my teaching career and continually seek to modify and learn new ways to engage students. Students frequently move between individual time to think, small groups, and whole class activities and discussion. I have found that each class has a different classroom dynamic and adapt which tools I use to best help the class learn. Within the first couple of weeks of classes I can tell whether a class needs more structured activities to aid in the classroom discussion or a less structured, more Socratic approach. I adjust my teaching tools accordingly-often resulting in different tools used in different sections of the same course. While I am happy to work with students to navigate their individual accommodations, it is common for students to talk with me and realize that the structure of both the course and my classroom already meet many of their needs. For instance, in all of my introductory level classes my students have the option of taking traditional exams or proposing an alternative assessment that better showcases their learning. 

Teaching and learning toward liberation and justice.

I teach toward critical consciousness shaped by a commitment to use power to work toward a just and peaceful world. I strive to center the voices of those whom the church and academy have typically marginalized and who empower my students to be prophetic by their witness and example. For example, students in my SOCI 313 Sexualities class use their ability to apply class theory to analyze sexual education programs and draft a response to a Call For Proposals with a proposal for innovative, research-based programs addressing marginalized populations. Many of my students focus their proposals on creating LGBTQIA+ inclusive and/or centered programs.