Your syllabus matters: Power, pedagogy, and possibilities for syllabus writing

Weinberg, Nicole

Item

Your syllabus matters: Power, pedagogy, and possibilities for syllabus writing

Weinberg, Nicole

Date

2025-03-25

Abstract

This paper-based dissertation comprises of three conceptual articles, each engaging intersectional anti-racist and anti-colonial approaches to interrogate the normative conventions, political realities, and imaginative possibilities of syllabi in higher education. The first article (Chapter 2) inquires into the relationship between the syllabus genre and interlocking systems of oppression in university settings; as such, this article is structured through three sets of relationships: 1) syllabi and Land, 2) syllabi and bodies, and 3) syllabi and capital. Through elucidating these relationships, I argue that the syllabus is not merely a product of interlocking systems of oppression but a narrative that actively builds and sustains them in university contexts. The second article (Chapter 3) begins by analyzing academic literature on syllabi and institutional syllabus-writing guides. I argue that current approaches to syllabus writing are often reactionary, prescriptive, and incremental. In response to these limitations, I engage intersectional anti- racism, anti-coloniality, and radical imagination(s) to explore new directions for discussing and writing syllabi. This involves rethinking syllabi as both curriculum and curriculum-as-narrative that actively shape educational environments. I introduce speculative syllabus studies as an imaginative, radical, and relational approach to syllabus writing toward more just futures in education. The third article (Chapter 4) pushes the boundaries between what is currently imaginable for syllabus writing in higher education and what might become possible through engaging radical imagination(s). By interrogating the politics of syllabus writing, the third article applies speculative syllabus studies to an analysis of three exemplars of syllabus subversion, demonstrating how syllabi can serve as tools for community engagement, advocacy work, and political organizing.