Inclusive Learning J
oe Parker encourages students to listen to multiple voices. Through engaged discussion and guest speakers, he promotes inclusivity in his classes. As he retires this year as professor of international and intercultural studies (IIS) after more than 30 years at Pitzer, Parker brings life and excitement to the classroom by incorporating new ideas and ways of thinking. “It’s important for students to be able to think critically—to see the pluses and the minuses of every institution, whether it is the nation state, or the capitalist marketplace or patriarchy,” he says. “His classes make you think deeply,” says Ella Meyer ’23. “He draws on different theories and always focuses on language. What words am I using? What narrative am I leaving out? How can I frame this to be more inclusive?” Parker wants his students to move beyond the critique stage and build a constructive vision for what they want in society. “I’ve been happy to see the College thinking more about social justice. It’s one thing to understand justice as a theory, and another to figure out how to do it,” he says. With a master’s and PhD in East Asian languages and civilizations from Harvard, Parker taught Asian religions at Bucknell University and Japanese language and literature at Carleton College before coming to Pitzer in 1989. “I had great mentors at Pitzer who helped me make the transition from specialized graduate work to broader interdisciplinary liberal arts teaching,” says Parker. They include Lourdes Argüelles, then the McArthur Chair in Gender and Feminist Studies at Pitzer and now professor emerita at Claremont Graduate University; she and Parker taught a class together in the early to mid-1990s. “She was interested in thinking of the Americas in a broad way, and I brought my Asian expertise into the classroom,” says Parker. The shared teaching experience led Parker to think more about popular religions and underprivileged and immigrant communities. He began to focus on issues of colonization and imperialism. He went to conferences in women’s studies and colonial studies and began publishing in journals outside of Asian studies. Another key mentor was Emerita Professor of Black Studies Agnes Jackson, who taught Parker to speak more clearly and directly. In graduate school, Parker learned to write in the passive tense and to use obtuse constructions. “I got a lot of training in teaching clear writing at Pitzer—and tons of workshops,” says Parker. In all of his classes, Parker emphasizes clarity
and inclusive communication. “Because I am a person with white privilege, and a man, and cisgendered, and a settlercolonizer, I have to displace myself in the classroom. I have to find ways for students to express themselves, because they bring all kinds of knowledge that I don’t know about.” Parker actively works with students to both “step up” and “step back and listen.” While some students are comfortable talking in class, others are not. Parker will gently hold the talkative ones back to create a silent opening for others to step up. “It becomes a beautiful moment where a student who has never talked the whole semester gets into that silent space and then says something. It teaches them that what they have to say is worthwhile, that students need to listen to it, and I need to listen to it.” Parker also makes sure students hear from outside voices by bringing non-traditional sources directly to them. In (Re)Learning Love of the Land, he invites Indigenous elders into the classroom (mostly from Southern California tribes, including the Tongva and Cahuilla) to interact with students. Without a reservation, the Tongva don’t have
land to harvest plants, explains Parker. So, Parker works with the Pitzer grounds office to provide the Tongva with things they need—such as blossoms from the Pitzer campus’s elderberry trees that the Tongva then use for teas and traditional foods. Students, in turn, are excited about working with Indigenous communities. They harvested the elderberry blossoms with Tongva members in February and March. The Tonga also help students with plant materials, such as making cordage, and with cooking outdoors. “They give us things, we give them things. It’s been a great relationship,” says Parker. In retirement, Parker plans to do “all kinds of writing” and continue working with the Tongva. He recognizes the challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in education and in society in general, yet is optimistic. “It’s very revealing when a crisis happens to see whether large structures are able to respond quickly and effectively and when they’re not. And when they not able to do that, very often people pull together and get things done.”
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