Well, it is official. I have graduated. Now I just have another month or two of anxiously awaiting responses to graduate applications. *Fingers crossed* In the meantime, I’ve been invited by Westminster’s sociology department to teach a day on Occupy Wall Street. I’m really excited for it, but a little nervous about what kind of reaction it will get. Utah is a very interesting state… Even at a “liberal” school like Westminster, most students are reflexively conservative about matters of economic inequality. During my last semester, when the movement was just getting off the ground, I remember several failed attempts by professors to start classroom discussions about Occupy. Anyway, it will be interesting. I’ve been trying to come up with an engaging way to teach about Occupy. It only seems appropriate that a movement founded on egalitarian principles (nonhierarchical, democratic, conscious of power imbalances) should be taught in a similar manner. Feminist pedagogy seems the natural fit. However, given that many students may not be very familiar with Occupy or its methods, I am grappling with how this is actually going to work, logistically speaking. I am thinking it might be useful to split the class into two sections. The first section would give a brief history of OWS, its predecessors, the direction it seems to be heading, as well as look at the economic and social circumstances it arises out of.  The second part of the class could be more hands on and participatory, maybe try leading the class in their own general assembly. I think the more students understand Occupy as a positive, transformative movement and not as a violent, reactionary one, the more they will be receptive to the idea of it. Anyone have any experience teaching on Occupy? I’d be curious to hear how it went.