Dissonant Methods is an innovative collection that probes how, by approaching teaching creatively, postsecondary instructors can resist the constrictions of neoliberalism. Based on the foundations of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, whereby educators are asked to explore teaching as scholarship, these essays offer concrete and practical meditations on resistant and sustainable teaching. The contributors seek to undermine forms of oppression frequently found in higher education, and instead advance a vision of the university that upholds ideals such as critical thinking, creativity, and inclusivity. Essential reading for faculty and graduate students in the humanities, Dissonant Methods offers urgent, galvanizing ideas for anyone currently teaching in a college or university.

Contributors: Kathy Cawsey, Kit Dobson, Ada S. Jaarsma, Rachel Jones, Kyle Kinaschuk, Namrata Mitra, Guy Obrecht, Katja K. Pettinen, Kaitlin Rothberger, Ely Shipley, Martin Shuster

Ada S. Jaarsma is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Humanities at Mount Royal University.

Ada S. Jaarsma's profile page

Kit Dobson lives and works in Calgary / Treaty 7 territory in southern Alberta. His previous books include Malled: Deciphering Shopping in Canada and he is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Calgary. He grew up in many places across Canada, but returned again and again to the landscapes of northern Alberta where his family members settled – and that continue to animate his thinking.

Kit Dobson's profile page

"[The editors] frame this anthology with relevant questions about the time we're in: How do we teach, and think about teaching, when in certain quarters post-secondary education is understood as a consumer item? [The} anthology emerges at an important time as we in Alberta grapple with COVID-19, severe budget cuts from the provincial government and the need for clear critical thinking."

Joe Kadi

“Readers of this collection will find that it lives up to its title: it ‘undoes discipline’ through the readership it invites. I am a scholar of literature, but I felt as energized and provoked by the contributions on teaching philosophy, music, creative writing, and martial arts as I did by those on teaching literature. The book’s focus on the methods of teaching make it widely and, most crucial, practically applicable across disciplines. I suspect this collection will be of interest to a variety of educators…. Those who work administratively in teaching and learning centres or as curriculum/course developers would also find much use in this book’s practical insights.” Jessica McDonald, Engaged Scholar Journal, Fall 2020