{"id":22711,"date":"2022-09-01T12:02:53","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T12:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=22711"},"modified":"2023-07-10T20:20:11","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T20:20:11","slug":"fulfilling-his-teaching-destiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/09\/01\/fulfilling-his-teaching-destiny","title":{"rendered":"Fulfilling his teaching destiny"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcus Johnson says teaching is his destiny. \u201cIt is a destiny in which my curiosity, passion and imagination flood my mind with endless questions and also allows me moments to reflect on my journey through life,\u201d said the alumnus of the University of Washington Bothell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That journey, he said, is largely informed by race. A Black man, Johnson said that ever since he can remember, he has been keenly aware of the lack of representation of people of color in educational leadership roles. \u201cI have experienced firsthand how the academic environment can be unwelcoming due to not seeing representation of individuals who look like me in the classroom, or in a mentorship or leadership capacity,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson received his bachelor\u2019s degree in Global Studies in 2013 and a master\u2019s degree in Cultural Studies in 2016, both from UW Bothell\u2019s School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences. Now a doctoral candidate in the UW’s Department of Communication in Seattle, he strives to give his students the representation and knowledge he never had. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mission is to create a classroom where students feel both safe and brave,\u201d he said. \u201cI have had many students of color open up and share painful experiences they have never spoken about before, which is huge and can be incredibly healing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recognition of the significant impact Johnson has had on his students, he was awarded the UW Excellence in Teaching Award<\/a>, one of two presented in 2022 as part of the University\u2019s annual Awards of Excellence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transformative teaching <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This excellence award recognizes extraordinary teaching by graduate students. The recipients are honored for demonstrating exceptional teaching ability as graduate instructors or as graduate teaching assistants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMarcus infuses activism into scholarship and scholarship into activism,\u201d said Dr. Ralina Joseph, professor in the Department of Communication and Johnson\u2019s mentor, in her letter of endorsement. \u201cHe establishes the classroom as a liberatory space for all students, and for Black and Brown students in particular. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMarcus is currently the only Black male graduate student in the Communication Department, and one of four Black men to have ever been graduate students in the department\u2019s more than 50 years,\u201d she noted. \u201cFurthermore, the Communication Department does not now have, nor have we ever had, any Black male professors. This means that Marcus is the only Black male Communication instructor our students ever experience. And he has set the bar high.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson has a taught number of classes, including African American History, Asian American History, American Ethnic Studies and Black Cultural Studies \u2014 which he admits was his favorite. \u201cIn my opinion, it is one of the most transformative courses students take when they come into the Communication Department,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI have seen many students go on to change their focus and studies because of this class.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healing knowledge <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The class, Black Cultural Studies, is especially transformative for students of color as they learn more about their history, some for the first time. It even helped one student repair her relationship with her father, Johnson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were about four or five weeks into the quarter when one of my students came up to me after class and said, \u2018My dad wants me to tell you thank you,\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was like, your dad? Can you say more?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The student disclosed to Johnson that before taking this class, she and her father had a very rocky relationship and barely spoke to one another. \u201cHer dad carried a lot of generational trauma that got in the way of their relationship, but when she took this class she started learning what her father had lived through and was able to empathize with him,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the quarter, Johnson said, the student and her father often talked for hours on end. \u201cFrom those conversations she learned that members of her family were activists in the civil rights movement and Black Panther Party,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTeaching is pretty cool if it can help facilitate all of that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Safe space <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to making peace with others, the class also helps students make peace with their past, most notably through weekly discussions about race, representation, power and privilege. \u201cThese are topics a lot of students have never talked about before in a public forum either out of embarrassment, vulnerability or to avoid conflict,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut most everyone who comes into my classroom has experienced microaggressions, and they don\u2019t know how to move through their feelings. When then they come to my class,\u201d Johnson said, \u201cthey get to learn by speaking up and sharing how it has impacted them. I have had a lot of students tell me how transformative it is to just be seen, heard and validated.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another class he is particularly proud of creating and teaching was Ferguson and Beyond: Race, Police and Protest in the Contemporary U.S., a course at UW Bothell that Johnson co-led with faculty. \u201cIt emerged as an expression of solidarity with UW Bothell students and alumni who were trying to understand and respond thoughtfully to important current events concerning violence, racial injustice and protests following the shooting of Michael Brown in 2014,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the class, students followed current events and engaged in public conversations about the aforementioned topics, as well as contemporary policing, incarceration and racialized state violence. By the end of the class, Johnson said students were able to gain a more in-depth understanding of the historical and systemically racial components that led to the mass protests taking place across the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe course provided a space for students to voice their feelings about the political and social climate, and how these moments directly affected them,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cTheir fearlessness and dedication were inspiring to see.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making a difference <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When he is not teaching, Johnson can be found working alongside his mentor Joseph at the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity, a space where UW students, faculty, staff and alumni gather to make a positive difference in their communities. His involvement centers around nurturing the leadership skills of underrepresented students of color, particularly those active in Rainier Scholars and in Boys & Girls Clubs of King County. Coincidentally, Joseph also received an Award of Excellence this year, the Marsha L. Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson said he is honored to receive his award and views it as proof that his efforts matter. \u201cI try to put in the extra effort to support students and help them get across that finish line,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope to make a difference in the lives of underrepresented people and institutions that are striving to push toward diversity and inclusion.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UW Bothell alumnus Marcus Johnson ’16 was awarded a 2022 UW Excellence in Teaching Award for his contributions as a doctoral candidate to his students’ learning and development. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[209,211,197,200],"tags":[],"school":[419],"class_list":["post-22711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-honors-and-awards","category-news-releases","category-profiles","school-school-of-ias"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"Contact Us","email":"test@uwb.edu","phone":"(206) 999-1234","box":"Box 358500","address_line_1":"18115 Campus Way NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nFulfilling his teaching destiny - 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