Academic Impressions: Cultivating an Inclusive Classroom Environment

Topic: Decolonizing the Curriculum

Course: POLS 137: Nationalism

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Reflection on Instructional Change:

The Nationalism course is one that lends itself well to being decolonized - this field of study is dominated by white, Western men from elite institutions. I started by incorporating more scholars from the Global South, and more women scholars, in addition to more critical voices, into the syllabus. For example, I have an entire unit on feminist and queer theory interventions in the field of nationalism, which pushes the students to consider imperialism from a completely different angle than what typical courses of nationalism offer. I also made sure to decolonize the structure of the course. I changed my course policy on late work such that the late penalty is capped at 50%, encouraging students to submit missed assignments for up to half credit at any point in the semester up until the due date for the final projects. I made myself available not just for routine advising and course guidance but also made sure students knew that I am open for any kind of conversation they need to have. Lastly, I made the course entirely zero-cost, ensuring that students don't need to purchase books, software, or even bubble sheets or blue books for this course. All of the above measures were intended to promote equity.
I chose this project because a) equity is a major concern at our institution given the realities of our student body; b) Political Science tends to be a stubbornly inequitable discipline, and c) nationalism is a topic that is of significant and increasing interest in my discipline and should be accessible to all. It is very important that we do what we can to disrupt the centering of Western voices and perspectives not only in the materials we ask students to learn but also the methods by which we teach these courses. I have been working on decolonizing my courses for quite some time, but I believe that the Nationalism course is one of the more urgent areas of concern within which I work.

Reflection on Impact of Instructional Change:

The students have been engaged, thoughtful, and proactive. Many have expressed how helpful it has been for them to be able to submit late work without justification, especially in light of financial challenges that would be difficult to convey. More specifically, I offered for the first time a mid-semester evaluation that I created in Microsoft Forms to solicit anonymous feedback from students on the pace and content of the course. In addition to the inclusion of rubrics for every written assignment, this tool has strengthened communication and rapport between the students and me. I have noticed that many students with backgrounds in the Global South have felt comfortable expressing their perspectives in class; this has been most pronounced among students I have had in my classes in prior semesters. This helps me to gauge how much the decolonized curriculum impacts students' in-class experiences. The last time I taught this course was in 2019. I am blown away by how much the classroom environment has improved with these changes. I am confident that continuing to refine the syllabus, course policies, and readings in the coming years will enhance the equitability of the course and the accessibility of the curriculum even more.

Learn more about the impact of my project:

FLC AI Razavi slides.pptx

**Faculty Bio**
	I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies Center here at Sac State. My regional focus is the Middle East and North Africa, with a specialization in Iran. I teach a variety of courses in Comparative Politics, including Nationalism, Revolutions, and Middle East Politics.

This work was supported by:
	Grant funding from Academic Affairs & the Office of Inclusive Excellence *Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sacramento State.

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