This collection, edited by Daniel S. Strasser, was unearthed from the demand for more inclusive and expansive dialogues on intersectional identities, ethnicity, neuro-diversity, physical ability, religion, sexual orientation, class, and gender performance in academia. The autoethnographic and narrative accounts within Communication and Identity in the Classroom: Intersectional Perspectives of Critical Pedagogy offer personal, experiential perspectives on the power of identity to influence educators in classroom and mentoring spaces. The multiple perspectives offered here promote dialogue about how personal experience provides the ground upon which we build more dynamic relationships and communities. The contributors’ experiences offer examples for a more expansive understanding of privilege, oppression, and identity. These seeds for conversation nourish discourses that build new communicative bridges between educators and students as we prepare to face the next interaction, class, and challenges and opportunity for resilience. This collection invites educators to be critical of their bodies, of their politics, of their intersecting identities, and acknowledge in words and actions that our bodies are political. Throughout this collection the contributors expand upon theories and methods of critical communication scholarship, radical love, and intersectionality using their embodied pedagogical experiences to ground the scholarship.

Table of Contents:
Preface by Bernadette Marie Calafell Introduction: Communication and Identity in the Classroom: Intersectional Perspectives of Critical Pedagogy Daniel S. Strasser SECTION ONE: Autoethnographic Accounts of Critical, Intersectional Pedagogy Chapter One Finding Space and Place within the Ivory Tower: Conversations on Intersectionality, Voice and Silence Tomeka M. Robinson and Jahnasia Booker Chapter Two You Are Not My Child, I Am Not Your Parent: A Case Against the Infantilization of Students Meggie Mapes and Benny LeMaster Chapter Three Empath(olog)ic Pedagogy: An Autoethnography of Health, Class, and the Classroom Brandi Lawless Chapter Four “Bad Hombre” in the Classroom: Pedagogical Politics of Performing “Brown Man” in a Conservative Time Andrew R. Spieldenner and Antonio De La Garza Chapter Five What Difference Does it Make?: Navigating the Privileged Halls of Academia as a Queer Black Woman Professor Elizabeth Whittington Chapter Six Teaching While Vulnerable: Connection through Shared Vulnerability as a Pedagogical Stepping Stone To Queer Consciousness Richard G. Jones, Jr. Chapter Seven Queer-Femme-Pedagogy: Telling Our Tales // Confessing Our Truths Bri Ozalas and Kathryn Hobson Chapter Eight Pedagogy, Passing and Privilege Rachel Silverman SECTION TWO: Personal Narratives and Reflections on Critical, Intersectional Pedagogy Chapter Nine Sawubona - We See, Value and Respect You: A Critical Pedagogical Invitation to Communicate Eddah M. Mutua Chapter Ten Family Stories, Pedagogy, Inclusive Practices and Autohistoria Sergio Fernando Juárez Chapter Eleven Unmasking the Hegemony of English: Exploring English Neo-Imperialism and the Internationalization of Whiteness Sachiko Tankei-Aminian Chapter Twelve Managing Mental Health in the Classroom: A Narrative Reflection on Pedagogy Andrea L. Meluch Chapter 13 Navigating Intercultural Identities at a Crossroads of Mindfulness and Instruction Aayushi Hingle Chapter 14 Going the Extra Mile: Mentoring Black Undergraduate Students Lance Kyle Bennett Index About the Contributors