Queeries: On Teaching 🐛

I took a break from teaching this semester and it turns out that time still flies by, whether I’m giving feedback on student work or not!

Ever since Q:DREAM closed on March 23rd, I’ve been meaning to write a newsletter. Tale as old as time… (and I may actually write an issue reflecting on Q:DREAM sometime, maybe later this year 😅) Now that Pride Month is right around the corner (in some respects, it’s already June 😵‍💫), and I’ve had my fill of frolicking among and smelling the flowers, here are some thoughts on teaching/learning spaces that I’ve been in, or am planning to be in very soon.

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Last week, I had the privilege of joining an advisory council for a queer organization for folks working in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries. I didn’t ask everyone’s ages during introductions, but I’m pretty sure I was the youngest person in that room (in my thirties and still clinging to “young” as a concept!!). We managed—organically—to have architects sitting on one side of the table, and non-architects on the other. Usually in spaces like those, where I clearly do not have the decades of experience that everyone else has, I feel a panicky, what-am-I-doing-here imposter syndrome.

But knowing that everyone in that conference room was queer made it a safe space. Maybe I didn’t say the most eloquent sentences, or describe my thoughts very articulately, but I felt free to express them, which can be uncommon in the profession of architecture. Our discussion built off of each others’ comments, swirling and weaving together to create cohesive pieces of advice. It wasn’t a formal teaching setup with an instructor wielding grade-giving authority, but it was an opportunity to learn from the conversation we were having together.

This coming Thursday, May 23rd, 6pm - 7:30pm Central, I’m moderating a panel titled “Integrating Queer Perspective into the Design Studio,” hosted by AIA Dallas. (Shoutout to Larry Paschall, also known as Big Gay Architect, for the opportunity!) I’m very excited for this one, not just because all of the panelists are extremely cool, but because they’re practicing queer pedagogies in their teaching in ways that ought to be more normalized. And maybe also because I get to ask all the questions that I have so that the audience—and I!!!—can learn!

Yes, it’s a bit self-serving, but learning how to teach and what it means to teach, especially queer methods of teaching that challenge the status quo of architectural education, is something that I will never stop learning. There are just so many ways to do it, as evidenced by the fifteen chapters and nearly 300 pages in Queering Architecture: Methods, Practices, Spaces, Pedagogies (editors Marko Jobst and Naomi Stead, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023). I contributed a chapter to that book titled “Teacher/student: Queer practices to dismantle hierarchies in studio culture,” in which I emphasize from the start that the practices I write of are based on my own personal experiences. Everyone has a different experience of the world, so moderating this panel is one way for me to start learning all the queer ways!

Click here to learn more about the panel, the panelists, and to register—it’s free and open to everyone.

The webinar is part of Kaleidoscope – The Prism of Queer Architecture, a program series presented by Gensler and organized by the AIA Dallas LGBTQIA+ Alliance. The goals are to enhance the visibility of queer architects, connect the Dallas architecture community with a broader audience, and create a clearer picture of what architects can contribute beyond architecture. Since their founding in 2021, the Alliance has worked to create a space for queer architects in Dallas, and the Kaleidoscope program will help continue that effort.

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At the end of May, I’ve been invited to give a guest lecture on non-conforming design standards, a topic that I’ve touched upon in a previous issue of Queeries.

I wonder if I could give the lecture in a way that doesn’t conform to standards???

The biggest thing I’ve been missing because I haven’t been teaching at an institution these past few months is the wave of student protests, and the faculty members who support them. It’s disgusting to see violent suppression by the police at the urging of the ruling class… mostly I have felt hopeful in a way I haven’t felt in months. Lmk if you’d like to discuss offline 🍉

But I’m still teaching in other ways, learning by other means. Teaching and learning at the same time. Learning about myself… the never-ending story.

Look out for future Queeries about the upcoming AIA Conference (!), interviews about “home” (no I have not forgotten!!), as well as an archive/library for Q:DREAM!!!

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Once again, thank you for reading this newsletter. It really would not exist without you.

I hope these words inspire in some way, shape, or form.

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Until next time,

A.L.