ABOUT THE COLLECTION

The Critical Librarianship and Pedagogy Symposium brings "together the ongoing, but parallel discourse surrounding critical pedagogy among academic librarians, critical pedagogy scholars, and teaching faculty."

The symposium was held February 25-26, 2016 at The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. The symposium is sponsored by The University of Arizona Libraries and the ConfluenCenter for Creative Inquiry.

For more information about the symposium, visit the Critical Librarianship and Pedagogy Symposium website.

Recent Submissions

  • Enabling Accessible Pedagogy - Resource Sharing for CLAPS 2016

    Kumbier, Alana; Starkey, Julia (The University of Arizona, 2016-02)
  • On Critical Librarianship & Pedagogies of the Practical

    Hudson, David James; University of Guelph (The University of Arizona, 2016-02)
  • Librarians in the messy middle: Examining critical librarianship practice through the lens of privilege in academia

    Miller, Sara D.; MInkin, Rachel M.; Michigan State Univerisity (The University of Arizona, 2016-05-10)
    While critical practice involves challenging systems and structures, many librarians function in the “messy middle” - making choices in everyday practice which may both support and challenge privileged academic structures. This workshop will take participants through a series of questions based on privilege as a lens for reflection on our choices, limitations, and opportunities as librarians within academic systems. The aim of the workshop is to help identify points of friction or frustration in our practice, areas for closer examination or opportunities for change, and to provide a more intentional understanding of our values and how they relate to practice.
  • Adjusting & Advocating: Reflecting on Challenges and Opportunities for Doing Critical Pedagogy as a New Librarian

    Crissinger, Sarah; Stoytcheva, Sveta; Davidson College; University of Hawaii at Manoa (The University of Arizona, 2016-02-25)
    Many new librarians are eager to bring our existing commitments to social justice to our professional practice. New to the profession, we are anxious to prove ourselves as we learn to navigate complex institutional cultures and pre-established ways of doing things. On the other hand, being new sometimes provides the perfect cover for asking critical questions of entrenched practices. What are the particular challenges of doing critical pedagogy as new librarians? What unique opportunities for advocacy does being new afford? How can we best support each other and seek support from our more established colleagues? This session was a facilitated roundtable discussion.
  • Institutionalizing Critical Librarianship

    Seale, Maura; Georgetown University (The University of Arizona, 2016-02)
  • Assessment and Critical Praxis

    Gardner, Carolyn Caffrey; Halpern, Rebecca; University of Southern California (The University of Arizona, 2016-02)
    Facilitated Roundtable Discussion Are critical assessment practices possible? Is the role of assessment fundamentally at odds with critical library pedagogy? Assessing both instructor performance and student learning can rationalize academic programs or services, demonstrate student learning, measure teacher performance accountability, or provide feedback on the efficacy of instruction. In today’s neoliberal higher education landscape this is often reflected through “value” and “return on investment.” Given the fraught purposes of assessment in higher education, what would critical assessment look like in practice? This roundtable will ask participants to discuss the tension and propose assessment methods that are congruent with a critical pedagogy perspective.
  • It's Not a Competition: Questioning the Rhetoric of "Scholarly Versus Popular" in Library Instruction

    Seeber, Kevin Patrick; University of Colorado Denver (The University of Arizona, 2016-02)
    Academic instruction librarians often introduce students to the concept of evaluating information by having them compare “scholarly versus popular” sources--an approach that wrongly implies these two kinds of information are a binary, and that they are in competition with one another. This presentation will question the motivations behind presenting scholarly and popular information in this way, as well as offer recommendations for how librarians can adapt this activity into something which allows for critical discussions of context and authority in the classroom.