Chapter 1: Reorienting Education as Queer: An Introduction to Queer Approaches

Put simply, the term “affect” refers to emotional responses. “Affective literacy,” then, describes the emotional responses a person experiences when reading (or viewing, in the case of a multimodal composition) a text. To approach education “affectively” means that instructors are concerned with students’ emotional well-being and the development of their emotional intelligence and literacy. To teach affectively is to show care for students’ unique viewpoints, identities, and perspectives. To teach affectively is to create an atmosphere of care and inclusion in the classroom. Open discussion takes place without judgement. Students (and the instructor) feel safe. Students learn to regulate their emotions, to contribute to fruitful and productive conversation, and to listen intently to perspectives that differ from their own. An affective space is a queer space; it challenges traditional norms in higher education where competition and close-minded argumentation (under the guise of scholarly debate) typically thrive. Affect is an important concept for this collection because the chapters work to reimagine academic spaces as places where the individual is cared for and valued. The chapters make a case for how affective approaches in the classroom can benefit marginalized students who have not traditionally been provided safe spaces by the academy. The chapters provide solutions for instructors wanting to queer their teaching, to challenge the status quo, to create spaces of inclusion and belonging.