Teaching Curve 11 Jan Luedert on Signature Pedagogies and the Power of Assumptions

The Teaching Curve is a podcast exploring the teaching and learning of global issues. This episode with Dr. Jan Luedert, Associate Professor and Director of Curriculum and Instruction at City University of Seattle, in Washington state in the US. Jan is currently Visiting Research Scholar at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at City University of New York's Graduate Center. The conversation explores a liberal arts approach to teaching and the benefits for student skills and attitudes, the value of having students identify assumptions as they embark on learning IR theory, and signature pedagogies as a concept that enables reflections on teaching. 

The episode explores:
• A “liberal arts” approach to teaching and how adopting one builds a variety of broader skills and attitudes into global politics courses. 

• How having students identify and own their assumptions helps frame the nuances of IR theory and the nature of politics generally.  

• The concept of a signature pedagogy and how it can inspire reflection about the deeper structures that affect our teaching.