Learning Sciences Lunch and Learn with with Dr. Kieren “Ren” Rende Mendoza
The format for this event will be in-person and speaker will be virtual. All students and faculty are invited and encouraged to join us in the GSE Lecture Hall (Room 124) to connect with each other in-person. Lunch will be provided!
Can’t attend in person? Join us remotely via Zoom!
This talk centers queer and trans perspectives in science education. It traces the roots of scholarship on gender and sexual diversity and considers how these histories shape current research and practice. It highlights emerging work that centers queer and trans cultural praxis as a source of knowledge, pedagogy, and methodological insight in science education, and attends to how these orientations open possibilities for more life-affirming approaches to research and practice. It also identifies strategies for developing scholarship and practice that engage queer and trans ways of knowing in more sustained ways.
Recommended Readings:
To prepare for the discussion, the following papers are recommended:
- Science Educators and Researchers Must Uphold the Human Rights of Trans, Nonbinary, and Intersex Persons
- A (TRANS)formative approach to gender-inclusive science education
Bio:
Dr. K. “Ren” Rende Mendoza (they/them) is an Assistant Professor of STEM Education and a STEM TRAIL Faculty Fellow at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Their work draws on queer, trans, and justice-oriented perspectives to examine how science education is shaped by power, culture, and identity, with a focus on belonging, knowledge production, and the possibilities for more life-affirming STEM futures. Dr. Rende Mendoza serves as Program Chair and incoming Chair of the American Educational Research Association’s Informal Learning Environments Research (ILER) Special Interest Group and on the Steering Committee for the NARST LGBTQ+ Research Interest Group.
Recordings of the Lunch & Learn presentations are typically made available on the Rutgers GSE YouTube Channel. Be sure to check back regularly for any talks you may have missed or want to see again!