Teaching Statement
Because the college classroom is where I developed the ideas and community of collaborators that shape my films, I am committed to helping new generations of artists express themselves through still and moving images. I try to take on the roles of mentor, producer, and facilitator, always looking to empower my students while holding them accountable to classroom agreements and documentary ethics. I want them to feel inspired to pick up the camera and tell stories about their own communities, which is why I often center personal and family-centered storytelling. Moreover, I strive to create a classroom that offers room for experimentation and opportunities to practice critical thinking and research, skills that help produce more responsible, insightful, and committed artists.
My introductory film classes are shaped by my foundations in direct cinema, personal documentary, and experimental film. Early on, I foreground observational strategies that encourage students to notice light, rituals, and power relations. They might create silent cine poems or portraits of individuals at work, allowing them to accrue compositional and visual storytelling skills that serve them across scripted and unscripted forms. I approach narrative film from the neorealist tradition, teaching my students to draw on stories, characters, and sociopolitical context from the world around them. An introductory class may also include an exercise in appropriation, helping students think more critically about media culture, creative reuse, and the expressive possibilities of the film essay. While each of my students has a chance to develop their own voice—and mastery of basic cinematography, editing, sound, and lighting concepts—I use group projects to teach collaborative production methods. My goal is to balance artistry and professionalism while preparing students for a variety of pathways in visual arts and media.
Across my courses, I engage students with avant-garde, feminist, Black, Indigenous scholarship, studying film and photography in their liberatory and oppressive frameworks. For instance, we discuss how early cinema trafficked in racist stereotypes and photography paved the way for increased policing and profiling. I showcase films, photos, and texts that decenter Western European art traditions and challenge the camera’s surveilling gaze. I build in space for iterative feedback and multiple forms of evaluation, always attuned to the needs of my students. On an institutional level, I advocate for practices that lower barriers to studying art in K-12 and college settings, including gateway courses, apprenticeship opportunities, and grants for students. I draw from my experiences teaching art in a variety of settings, from highly-selective private universities to schools that serve a high percentage of first generation and commuter students. In each place, I strive to help students feel comfortable taking risks and engaging in thoughtful and respectful dialogue with their peers.