Magdalena Mączyńska

Climate justice means working towards a society grounded in respect for human and greater-than-human life. In my work as an educator, climate justice involves building spaces that honor the presence of each learner, recognize our ecosystemic inter-dependancy, and counter the culture of educational alienation. This approach requires unlearning the logics of scarcity, competition, and unrestricted expansion, at the individual and institutional levels.

For over a decade, I have integrated climate justice into my courses in literary studies and composition, both as a theme and a pedagogical paradigm. I draw on the insights of critical pedagogy, de-colonial theory, and eco-theory to create inclusive, culturally sensitive, interdisciplinary courses that connect to students' lives beyond the classroom. Inside the classroom, I use active, collaborative, and embodied learning techniques to empower students and foster authentic, joyful engagement with course content, with one another, and with the world around us. 

In my more recent work at Drexel's Teaching and Learning Center, I have brought the same approach to my engagement with colleagues through pedagogical workshops, consultations, and faculty learning communities, including this Climate Pedagogy Incubator.

My academic research focuses on contemporary climate fiction and the ways in which it both perpetuates carbon culture paradigms (anthropocentrism, extractivism, cultural colonialism) and helps us imagine better climate futures (Afrofuturism, Solarpunk). My most recent publications in the fields of climate literature and pedagogy include “Here and Now: Using Poetry to Resist Alienation in the Climate Change Classroom” in Existential Toolkit for Climate Educators (University of California Press, 2024) and  “Cli-fi and the Crisis of the Middle Class” in Cli-Fi and Class: Socioeconomic Justice in Contemporary American Climate Fiction (University of Virginia Press, 2023). 

My guiding values are biophilia, generosity, and growth.