Associate professor Avery Gordon has four goals as a teacher. The first is to foster her students’ independent and critical thinking skills and make them comfortable learning new things. Second, she hopes to inspire her students to identify their own special talents so they can make meaningful contributions to society. Her third goal is to help them understand how absolutely crucial cultural and theoretical knowledge are to addressing pressing social problems and to understanding our society and its history. Finally, she hopes to demonstrate that interdisciplinary research and teaching are complementary pursuits. "I present my research to the students and learn from their questions and feedback," she explains. "I also encourage students to see themselves as researchers seeking answers to important questions."

Gordon teaches undergraduate courses on American culture, social theory, and the sociology of art and literature.

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