My teaching philosophy…

My teaching philosophy is faithful to bell hooks’ conviction that “the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy.”  I believe that the sociological imagination is a powerful political tool that students can refine as they learn to encounter the world with conviction and care.  My courses foster the development of theoretical, conceptual, and methodological skills, in an environment that celebrates students’ diverse backgrounds and orientations to sociology.  My students have described my teaching as “intelligent, genuine, and relatable,” “motivating and fascinating.” And I often describe them as the highlight of my day.

Classroom Environment

Undergraduates have varied exposure to the material we examine in sociology, and this presents challenges in course design. For some students, sociology is quite personal. These students are intimately familiar with social theory or sociological terminology, and they are eager to engage in abstract theoretical discussion and political debate. Sometimes they desire a respite from the harms of everyday life, a safe space to confront social problems and unjust institutions, free from micro-aggressions. For other students, sociological frameworks are unfamiliar, and participation is intimidating. These students sometimes express a fear of mis-speaking or clumsily offending a peer. Their tendency is often silence, or an unproductive distance from class discussion. I have found this schism to be particularly noticeable in my courses on sexuality and social problems.

I believe in adaptive classrooms that honor both of these entry points. My classrooms provide care and welcome the inherent messiness of learning. My students are expected to hold space for articulate commentary, empirically grounded beliefs, and the most vulnerable voices in the room. But they are also expected to uphold a classroom environment that values the imperfections of public learning. These values are reflected in both my facilitation of class discussion and the guidelines associated with group work and debates. I challenge novice students to assert themselves clumsily, to wrestle with new language out loud, and to seek out clarifying feedback whenever possible. I challenge more advanced students to reframe and refine their beliefs to stand up to the nit-pickiest critics, and to confront the distinction between what they know and what they "believe is obvious.” My students can all attest that I challenge them the most when they’re articulating a viewpoint I share, as agreeing with me is nowhere near the bar.

Much inspired by Eve Sedgwick’s work on “paranoid and reparative reading,” I challenge my students to engage critical thought and reparative thought equally. Students are invited not just to identify social problems, but to imagine alternatives and address the consequences of those possibilities. We generally practice this skill in class activities. For example, rather than simply critiquing the “assigned sex at birth” model, in my Sexuality and Society course, students are invited to imaginatively narrate the legal and medical ramifications of a world where gender is assigned at birth based primarily on hormone levels, rather than genitalia and genetic makeup.  They tell these stories creatively, through film or creative writing, all the while grounding their work in established theories of “doing gender.”  Similarly, after my students critically examine the Massachusetts public school sexual education curriculum, they follow up by selecting learning objectives to “repair” and developing teaching companion tools for educators based on their course readings.   All of these activities are carefully organized such that reparative speculation is always founded in criticism and comprehension.

I believe that it is my responsibility to provide my students with rich interpretive toolboxes for examining and engaging the social world. I work to frame the political history of course content and to challenge my students while contextualizing unfamiliar material. In each of my courses, we spend about a third of our time focusing exclusively on comprehension through dynamic lecture, engagement with content, and guided close reading. Additionally, I ask students to produce reading guides for their peers in the form of accessible, graphically-compelling handouts. In this way students improve their communication skills and develop a stake in the learning of the whole classroom community.

Assessment

My work in Sociology and Communication Studies has helped me design innovative activities and assessments for my classrooms. I incorporate reparative close reading, creative writing, group debate, public speaking, and digital communication exercises alongside more traditional teaching tools. My students are challenged to integrate critical sociological thinking with audience awareness, and to revisit the foundations of their own beliefs as they convey those beliefs to others.

Assessment is generally scaffolded such that students display comprehension, critical analysis, evaluation, and reparative or community-engaged problem solving. That is, students are invited to recall social patterns in history while refining their ability to anticipate outcomes in their communities based on empirical observation. They are invited to use social theory, sociological concepts, and sociological methods to shape their participation in real or simulated policy debates, bioethics discourses, or consumer behavior. Drawing from my background in communication studies, I invite students whenever possible to incorporate audience awareness into their work — to produce not just a sociologically grounded political opinion, but to anticipate (and make ethical, strategic choices about) how that opinion might be received by different audiences.

I value a student’s ability to articulate an informed opinion at the dinner table on par with their ability to articulate it in a term paper. As such, structured debate and critical discussion are central components of my courses. These formats challenge students to enter into ethical and political discourse with greater confidence and clarity. For example, in my Sexuality & Society course, midterms are structured as group debates and roundtable discussions. Students are assigned positions on a current event, legal battle, or policy initiative and are expected to present the highest form of argument, defending this position to their peers. They use established sociological frameworks to organize these arguments. They are graded based on their performances, portfolios, and reflection follow-ups, but compete also for extra credit via the votes of their peers. In this way, they learn the value of an informed, well-structured argument, and the power of influence, rhetoric, and audience-awareness. It is not until students have defended their assigned positions and worked for the support of their classmates, that they reveal their personal beliefs on the assigned topic. It has been my experience that these debates have solidified the convictions of many students, overturned the postures of others, and invited valuable nuance to all of their orientations.

Professional and Political Formation

Many of my students go on to work in counseling, social work, education, policy development, law, policing, and medicine. Sociology is pedagogically exciting in this way! While it’s generally true that students in business and computer science will ultimately work in business and computer science, it’s quite rare that sociology students become sociologists. For this reason, I hold their professional formation and their development as sociological citizens in very high regard in my classes.

In almost every unit of every course, I foster dialogue between my students and experts doing service and advocacy work on the ground. For example, after students studied and debated the introduction of the “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act” in my Sexuality & Society course, students prepared and hosted a Q&A with two sex worker harm-reduction advocates about their experiences with the fallout of the policy change. After their unit on bioethics and fertility, students hosted an expert in mental illness and addiction recovery programming and facilitated a discussion about the role of sexuality and fertility in addiction recovery work. After a unit on criminalization in my Deviance & Social Control course, my students dialogued with an RN from a syringe exchange clinic in Philadelphia about the successes of that program, ongoing debates about safe injection sites, and the ongoing “War on Drugs.” And after reading about the state management of sexual behavior, students hosted an LGBT member of the US Air Force, about his experience serving since the reversal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” These are just some of the dialogues that have invited my students into draw their sociological imaginations into their professional formation and their political lives.

Evaluation and Adaptation

Above all, I believe that the classroom is a living, breathing environment that requires ongoing reflection and adaptation. I incorporate self-reflections, mid-semester course evaluations, and ongoing reflective checkins in order to maintain a classroom where students feel accountable to one another, where each student has a stake in the learning outcomes of their peers.

Statistics

“Jackie is a great professor and she makes the course accessible to all students regardless of their prior knowledge. She also made herself so available there was never a time where I felt lost without any guidance.”

“The instructor made a concerted effort to vary her teaching and types of activities and often tied in real–world situations to make the material relevant and accessible. Her goal was for students to understand the material and was always available for help and willing to be flexible to help students in any way she could.”

“I’ve never had an instructor who I felt was so “on my side,” and this was very comforting when taking a course whose material made me very uncomfortable. I feel like I not only know the material on a superficial level, but that I can apply it to real life.”

“Professor Carroll went above and beyond with her online instruction. Her website was clear, easy to follow, and walked us through each new concept in incredible detail.”

Building the American Body

“This was by far the most rewarding course I have taken at Boston College. As someone who is not a Sociology major, it allowed me to dive deeper into a subject I have never explored. J was so willing and available to meet with me outside of class, and she made me feel supported throughout the entirety of this course. I could not have had a better experience.”

“It is very well organized and engaging. It is obvious the professor greatly cares about her students and wants us to succeed. It is also clear she is passionate about the material. She breaks things down in simple and understandable terms, which is immensely helpful.”

“I really loved this class! It was one of my favorite classes here at BC. I learned so much from Jackie and she was great at making sure we knew what we need to know. She was also great at giving back good feedback. Overall, it was well organized, well delivered, and one of the most interesting and thought provoking classes here at BC. I hope you keep offering this course!”

“This was one of my favorite classes I have taken at BC. It is so relevant and important to know about these histories and topics and I could not have had a better experience. I would recommend this to anyone!”

“I am in the business school and took this class for fun – I learned a lot and actually found things I can take away for my daily life.”

Sexuality & Society

“The course was very well organized. The [instructor] was amazing at helping students and making sure we understood everything. The presentations were very easy to follow and were interactive. I liked that we all were in small groups for the whole semester so that way we could talk to each other outside of class when we had questions. Overall, one of my favorite classes I have ever taken at BC.”

“Loved the variety of learning in the class. Lots of smaller group discussions, a variety of assignments, lectures, movies, videos, guest speakers. Everything we talked about was really interesting and it was easy to stay engaged.” 

“It was organized, and Jackie was available to provide help and guidance whenever needed. She made the course fun and created an environment where students felt that they could participate freely. I loved her so much I made a point to make sure I am taking another course with her next semester. She was easily the best professor I have had this year and is on the top 3 list of professors that were the absolutely best her at BC. She is only a grad student, but she is the best professor I had. She is very informed on the topic, but is also not afraid to admit when she doesn't know something.” 

“The course is very enjoyable. The professor is very nice, funny, and fair. The course is structured in a productive way. The debate is so a lot of fun and you learn a lot. Grading is fair. Great class and even better teacher.”

“Instructor was extremely articulate and well–spoken about course material. [She] was also so empathetic and respectful of her students which I think showed in the environment and atmosphere of the classroom. It was a very inviting and comfortable space which made learning about the course content easier and more meaningful” 

“I learned so much and never felt like my questions or contributions were looked down upon. I always felt supported in and out of class, by both my peers and the professor.”

“This course is unlike any other I have taken at Boston College. It explores contemporary issues of sexuality that are so normalized many of us often fail to acknowledge them. I think this class could open a lot of students eyes and inform a more tolerant community.”

 “It challenged me to question my own way of thinking about what is the norm, what is accepted, what is valued…”

 “This course provided space for students to think and learn about gender and sexuality that is not otherwise offered at Boston College. This course is extremely relevant to our world today; It not only provides space to understand concepts that may have been previously confusing or unknown to students but also new ways of thinking about sexuality and the role it plays in our everyday lives.”

Deviance & Social Control

“[The instructor] establishes a comfortable class environment in which class participation is welcomed… [She] garners interest in the course material through her own passion… The topics covered in the course are fascinating. We studied trends that occurred between the 16th and 19th centuries that are eerily similar to current events. [The instructor] makes it easy to drawn connections to things that happened centuries ago… The format of the class is structured well so that we remain engaged and active participants. It's just a really cool class.” 

 “Very well taught and focused. It was fascinating and taught in such a way that every aspect was interesting. The chronological module approach breaks down the complicated, interconnected material better. The supplemental materials (eg: archival exercises, videos) also helped me learn the concepts more.”

 “I would most definitely recommended this course to other students. The material is fun and enlightening. The professor is incredibly engaging.”

Social Problems

 “It covered a lot of subjects that are relevant to contemporary society… and challenged students to look at issues they may have never known existed. This course completely unveiled social problems… This class is essential to understanding people and the largest issues surrounding them…

Fundamentals of Human Communication

“I liked most the energy that Jackie had and the non-threatening learning atmosphere. I was not afraid to ask a question EVER.”

“Knowledge, enthusiasm, communication with students… She is a terrific teacher, by far the best teacher I had this semester”

“Jackie was really fun and creative and made the materials interesting and fun to learn”

“Very good role model as an effective communicator, and very understanding”

“Jackie is a great teacher and really knows the subject well. Ive never seen her in a bad mood and she’s always excited to teach”

“Favorite course I’ve taken. It was challenging, but Ms. Carroll is an excellent instructor and I would take it from her again if I could”

“Miss J was one of the best instructors I’ve ever had. Class is always fun, engaging, and helpful.”

“She’s charismatic, funny, and really cares about you”

“The Instructor was very captivating and wanted us to learn”