My commitment to teaching excellence is grounded in continual reflection, collaboration, and a willingness to adapt to the evolving needs of students and society. Over the past several years, I have pursued professional development opportunities that have deepened my pedagogy across five key areas:
teaching with emerging technologies (especially AI),
civic and social engagement in the classroom,
collaborative faculty development,
online and hybrid teaching, and
anti-racist, equity-oriented pedagogy.
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the educational landscape, I have prioritized learning how to ethically and effectively integrate AI tools into my teaching. I participated in the Faculty Communities of Teaching Scholars seminar in May 2024, which explored “Human Learning in an AI World,” and later built on this foundation through Xavier University’s AI in the Classroom: New Assignments for a New Era workshop in October 2024. Most recently, I joined the inaugural cohort for the Brightspace Lumi Pro Pilot at Xavier in April 2025, engaging in hands-on experimentation with interactive learning tools supported by AI. These experiences have helped me reimagine assignments, course design, and assessment practices in ways that support deep learning while addressing the ethical challenges AI presents.
April 2025: Brightspace Lumi Pro Pilot, inaugural cohort at Xavier University of Louisiana
October 2024: AI in the Classroom: New Assignments for a New Era, Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development, Xavier University of Louisiana
May 2024: Faculty Communities of Teaching Scholars, Human Learning in an AI World
Civic engagement and student activism are central to my teaching philosophy. As a 2023–2024 Faculty Fellow with the Center for Artistic Engagement's Unstoppable Voters initiative, I have collaborated with other educators to design interdisciplinary projects that engage students with contemporary political issues through creative expression. In September 2024, I further explored these themes in the online workshop Creative Election Engagement Across the Curriculum and Across Your Campus, co-sponsored by the Center for Artistic Activism and Project Pericles. Additionally in 2025, I was selected as a faculty fellow for the Brandeis University Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation (ENACT). In this fellowship, I will design and implement an experiential learning-based course for student advocacy in state legislative politics. These opportunities have expanded my toolkit for teaching critical thinking, public scholarship, and democratic participation in ways that resonate with my students.
March 2025: The Abraham Feinberg Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation, Brandeis University
September 2024: Creative Election Engagement Across the Curriculum and Across Your Campus This Fall, Center for Artistic Activism and Project Pericles, Online.
December 2023-December 2024: Center for Artistic Engagement Unstoppable Voters Faculty Fellowship
I’ve consistently sought out opportunities to learn from and contribute to faculty learning communities. In July 2024, I joined the HBCU Faculty Development Network Summer Institute, where I engaged in cross-institutional discussions about the future of learning communities and the role of AI. Similarly, my participation in Xavier’s Faculty Communities of Teaching Scholars in May 2024 allowed me to reflect on my own teaching alongside colleagues from diverse disciplines, deepening my thinking about the values that underpin our work as educators. I also was part of the 2024-2025 Faculty Portfolio Working Group through Xavier's Center for the Advancement of Teaching & Faculty Development where I developed my research, teaching, and service portfolio alongside other cohort members.
September 2024 – May 2025: Faculty Portfolio Working Group, Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development
July 2024: HBCU Faculty Development Network Summer Institute, Learning Communities and Artificial Intelligence
May 2024: Faculty Communities of Teaching Scholars, Human Learning in an AI World
In response to the changing demands of higher education, I have also worked to strengthen my approach to online and hybrid teaching. I participated in the #LearnEverywhereXULA initiative in May 2021, a program focused on remote and online pedagogy during the early stages of pandemic-driven transitions. This foundational experience continues to inform my course design, particularly in terms of accessibility, student engagement, and inclusive assessment.
May 2021: Xavier University of Louisiana Center for the Advancement of Teaching #LearnEverywhereXULA, Remote and Online Pedagogy
Finally, my teaching is informed by a commitment to addressing racial and historical justice. In April 2021, I took part in the Race and the American Story Annual Symposium hosted by the University of Missouri, where we examined foundational narratives of U.S. history and their implications for contemporary teaching. This experience has shaped the way I teach cultural texts, historical memory, and systems of power, particularly in the context of Black studies and interdisciplinary humanities.
April 2021: University of Missouri’s Race and the American Story Annual Symposium, Foundations and Aspirations