The Educational Studies Dept’s #TeacherLives Speaker Series Presents
ILEANA JIMÉNEZ
Teacher, activist, and blogger
Speaking about teaching feminism in high school
Thursday, March 19
4:30-6:30 PM
Swarthmore College, Scheuer Room
Description of Talk
Ileana Jiménez, founder of the internationally recognized blog, Feminist Teacher (feministteacher.com), will talk about how she teaches intersectional and transnational feminisms to high school students as well as how she has launched a movement to bring women’s, gender, and queer studies to schools across the country and around the world. As part of her talk, she will highlight how she created the first high school global partnership on feminist and queer issues between her students in New York and students in India. This partnership provided leadership opportunities for students to address slut-shaming, gender-based violence, sex trafficking, the sexualization of women and girls, and queer youth rights. Merging activism, social media, and global travel, this innovative partnership ultimately resulted in forging new conversations on student activism on gender and sexuality globally.
Ileana Jiménez Bio
Ileana Jiménez, M.A., is a teacher at LREI (Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School) in New York, NY and founder of Feminist Teacher, feministteacher.com. For eighteen years, Ileana Jiménez has been a leader in the field of feminist and social justice education. In an effort to inspire teachers to bring women’s and gender studies to the K-12 classroom, she launched her blog, Feminist Teacher, in 2009; she is also the creator of the #HSfeminism and #K12feminism hashtags. Since then, Feminist Teacher has become recognized by educators nationally and globally. Based in New York, Ileana teaches innovative courses on feminism and activism that have gained the attention of education and activist circles. In 2010, she was named one of the 30 Women Making History by the Women’s Media Center; later that year, she was named one of the 40 Feminists Under 40 by the Feminist Press. She is also the 2011 recipient of the Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching, for which she traveled to Mexico City to create safe and inclusive schools for LGBT youth. In 2012, she appeared on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show to talk about teaching feminism to high school students and to advocate for safe schools. Sought after for her insight on education, she has written for Feministing, Gender Across Borders, the Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine, On the Issues, the Smith Alumnae Quarterly, and the Women’s Media Center. A frequently-asked speaker on feminism in schools, she travels nationally and globally to speak to educators in both secondary and higher education. She received her B.A. in English Literature at Smith College, and an M.A. in English Literature at Middlebury College.
Contact: emayorg1[at]swarthmore.edu or isacks1[at]swarthmore.edu with questions
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