TEACHING AT THE END
- Jun 30
- 2 min read
By Emily M. Goldsmith
of the world as we know it.
The National Science Foundation posts
a list of flagged words like biases.
In my English 101 class, we use Harvard’s Implicit
Bias test to talk about positionality. I always learn
something about myself, and students avoid
making eye contact for a few minutes afterward.
I learned to play music like Tycho
in the background to help us ground
into veracity: we all have biases.
The power of the mind is incredible:
we can change our thoughts, we can
stretch our brains, we can move beyond
what we once knew or thought we knew
but not if we are redacting our peer-reviewed articles.
Other words that made the list: culturally
responsive, women, systemic. Scrub our teaching
philosophies, scrub 51% of the U.S. population,
scrub organizational structures. In Technical
Writing, someone asks me if they should
add their pronouns to a cover letter.
It depends where you want to get hired,
I say, and what you’re willing to sacrifice.
At the end of the day, we need jobs.
I look out to young lemon-touched faces. Just wait
until Thursday when we talk about DEI.
In a mock interview, I am told not to say diversity,
to take words like equity out of my mouth,
just in case. What am I willing to sacrifice?
Put my whole body into suitcase, zip me up,
hurl my body into ocean, sink.
Emily M. Goldsmith (they/them) is a queer Cajun-Louisiana Creole poet originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They are a Ph.D. candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Mississippi. Emily received their MFA in Poetry from the University of Kentucky in 2021. A Pushcart-nominated poet, their creative work can be found in or forthcoming from Zaum, The Penn Review, LaCreole Journal, Vagabond City Lit, Witch Craft Mag, and elsewhere. Their chapbook, Alligator is a Fish, was a 2024 finalist for Spoon River Poetry Review's Chapbook Contest and a 2023 finalist for Two Sylvia's Press and DIAGRAM's Chapbook Prize Contests. Their book reviews have been published in places such as Tinderbox, and they have presented their critical work at various national and international conferences. They are a dedicated educator and currently teach English classes at the University of Southern Mississippi!
