Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

Three core beliefs underscore my approach to post-secondary teaching and learning. For me, effective teaching begins with a supportive environment. In my classroom, learners are collaborators who actively shape their experiences and outcomes with my support. I aim to foster an encouraging environment allowing learners to challenge themselves through productive discussion and authentic assessments.

• Acknowledgement: Being mindful of learners' intersecting identities and power relations in the classroom is essential to a productive learning environment.
• Collaboration: Learners are active participants in the learning process.
• Encouragement and empowerment: As an instructor, I work to foster an empowering environment that challenges learners.

As an educator, I am deeply committed to fostering a respectful, inclusive, and supportive learning environment rooted in feminist pedagogy. Feminist pedagogy considers the classroom a community that understands “notions of listening, speaking, risk-taking, respect, reconciliation, and mutuality as central to its success.^[1]”

Computer-mediated communication

This course introduces public relations (PR) students to online/digital communication in both the classroom and the computer lab. Participants learn to use the technologies and understand them sufficiently to advise others on their applications, strengths and weaknesses. Students become familiar with digital uses for the internet and social applications as they relate to communications and public relations.

“As the semester comes to a close, I just wanted to thank you for your efforts to teach such an amazing class. Throughout the semester you created a healthy and engaging classroom, and I truly looked forward to your class (despite is being so late in the day & on a monday [sic]). Your teaching style is extremely engaging and I admire that from a professor as a neurodivergent student. Many professors, I feel, do not carry the same passion you do, not only in terms of the content you teach but the passion for your research as well. Overall, your class was so wonderful to attend. And I feel as though I can and have learnt alot [sic] from you.” – Student email, April 2024 (PUBR 3867 W2024)

Influencers and content creator cultures

In the winter of 2023, I developed a senior-level course for the Department of Communication, Media and Film. This course was the first of its kind in the department.

In this course, students delve into the world of social media influencers and digital content creators. The readings contextualize the emergence of “the influencer” as a mainstream identity and explore the thriving, multi-billion-dollar influencer industry by examining the interplay between creative labour, social media platform governance, and celebrity culture.

The semester is divided into three units, each addressing a broad question:

1. Who counts as an influencer?
2. How do creators' intersecting identities shape their creative practices?
3. What role do platform politics play in influencer cultures and economies?

We adopt an intersectional approach, paying particular attention to how race, gender, sexuality, class, geographic location, and ability shape influencer cultures and economies. The course aims to identify the cultural, historical, economic, and political contexts from which influencers emerge and apply this critical knowledge to the digital media we engage with daily.

“Alora is a passionate educator, which was most clearly demonstrated in how she designed her lectures to be engaging and shared both assigned and supplementary readings. As her syllabus was so brilliantly constructed, one of its most unique elements was the Coggle Mind Maps. It ensured students processed each reading and connected the course's broader concepts. Additionally, working in groups for these assignments encouraged valuable collaboration with peers.” – Student letter of support, COMS 401 W2023

Critical media studies

This course emphasizes major critical approaches in communication and media studies with the intent of introducing students to the theoretical foundations of media and mass communication-related research. The course explores the contexts in which these theories arose, identifies their major strengths and weaknesses, and provides an appreciation of how critical theory engages the social world through research on communication and media. Areas to be covered include the culture industry, political economy of the media, cultural studies, feminist media studies, and critical race theory.

“Alora promotes student interaction and encourages critical thinking on challenging topics. While she retains her authority in the classroom, the environment is still interactive. Alora, being well-versed in a lot of topics, encourages the class to take little steps toward grasping a concept. She also facilitated my learning by making the educational process easier. This, by no means, lowered the educational standard; instead, the learning process was made to be engaging, which increased my understanding.” – Natsach (COMS 371, S2022)

Teaching assistantships

Throughout my graduate degrees, I was also a teaching assistant for 15 courses (approx. 900 students), including Critical Media Studies, Research Methods, Visual Theory, Feminist Media Studies, Communication Theory, and Communication History.

Student feedback

“Alora was an amazing TA, who made COMS 371 super enjoyable and interesting. They were always easy to contact, responsive and amazing at answering questions in tutorial and after class/tutorial. Please give Alora their flowers! I loved being in their tutorial block!” – Tutorial survey, Critical Media Studies W2024

“Alora was responsive and adaptive to her students' needs both in class and outside of class; attending her lectures was always something to look forward to when I knew I would walk away having felt heard and truly involved in the material. She brought something special to the Department of Communication, Media, and Film.” – Isabel, Influencer and Content Creator Cultures W2023

“Aside from successfully championing one of the most futuristic courses to be known to Communications students at the U of C, Alora was a very relatable prof., this trait of hers made it so much easier for students like myself to reach out to her and ask for advice and support” – Glory, Influencer and Content Creator Cultures W2023

“I found that with this class I was able to experience my program in a way I never had prior and so I sincerely appreciated the experience.” – Student feedback, Influencer and Content Creator Cultures W2023

“Really great! She led discussion groups during tutorial time, and when no one responded she was effective in asking further questions to bringing discussions back. Alora sparked conversations.” – Tutorial survey, Critical Media Studies F2019