Teaching

I teach interdisciplinary analysis of complex social issues and foster critical thinking using the lens of intersectionality. I integrate community-engaged learning and digital media with course materials that encourage students to apply what they learn in the classroom to contemporary social problems. I enjoy mentoring students from diverse backgrounds and working with students on collaborative writing and research.

I am qualified to teach courses on environmental humanities; environmental history; environmental justice; animal studies; ecofeminism; queer ecologies; climate justice; borderlands studies; science and technology studies; history of science; gender and sexuality studies; feminist theory; and queer theory.

Course Descriptions and Syllabi:

My community-engaged course titled “Queer and Feminist Approaches to Climate Justice,” uses frameworks from queer ecologies and ecofeminism to examine how marginalized groups are disproportionately impacted by climate change. We explore approaches to environmental justice from critical ethnic studies and gender studies, including Black ecologies, Latinx environmentalisms, and migrant environmentalisms. This course involves guest speakers from community organizations, such as Queers for Climate Justice, Intersectional Environmentalist, and Latino Outdoors. In order to emphasize the relationship between theory and praxis, the assigned reading pairs feminist, queer, and critical race theory with environmental activist texts and media, including a private screening of documentary films, Can’t Stop Change: Queer Stories from the Florida Frontlines, and Fire and Flood: Queer Resilience in the Era of Climate Change, which are films about queer activists on the frontline of climate change. For the final assignment, students conduct oral history interviews with climate justice activists and learn more about environmentalism in their own communities. See here for “Race, Gender, and Environmental Justice,” a related course that I taught at Texas A&M University in spring 2024.

My course, “Environmental Perspectives on the U.S.-Mexico Border,” explores environmental controversies in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The course examines how histories of migration, colonization, and militarization of national borders have shaped and been shaped by the relationship between people and nature in the region. Students learn about the historical, political, and environmental dimensions of the expansion of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and the implications for borderlands communities and the natural environment. There is a thematic emphasis on race, gender, sexuality, and citizenship using emerging frameworks from Latinx environmentalisms and queer and trans migration studies. Course assignments ask students to consider both the political and environmental aspects of environmental controversies, such as climate migration, water politics, preservation of national parks, and Indigenous sovereignty.

My course, “Gendering Nature in American Culture,” examines how cultural norms of gender and sexuality shape representations of animals and the environment in American culture. Students learn how feminist and queer theorists have criticized patriarchal and anthropocentric representations of nature in popular culture. Example topics include trophy hunting as a performance of white masculinity; norms of the nuclear family as reflected in wildlife documentaries; and scientific research on homosexuality in animals. Drawing from critical theory in multispecies studies, queer ecologies, and feminist posthumanisms, the second half of the course considers how feminist and queer scholars have reimagined the relationship between humans and nature. As this course focuses on developing the skills to critically analyze popular culture, each course meeting will open with a discussion of an example of digital media that illustrates course themes. The final assignment asks students to conduct their own analysis of an example of nature in popular culture.

My course, “Feminist Approaches to Science, Technology, and Medicine,” analyzes how gender and sexuality have shaped the history of science, technology, and medicine. Students learn about how the exclusion of women in the sciences has influenced the history of scientific research. Course materials demonstrate how gender has shaped the practices of scientists in their laboratories and the operationalization of scientific knowledge in politics and culture. The assignments teach students to critically analyze case studies of controversies surrounding gender and science, such as the search for the “gay gene,” the development of hormone therapy for transgender healthcare, and scientific research on homosexuality in animals. I am also prepared to teach a more specialized syllabus on the emerging field of “Queer Science and Technology Studies.”

Here’s how past students have described my teaching:

“I feel that just by being in Dr. Perret’s classroom, I have gained skills to navigate the world with greater care and responsibility and with more feminist and anti-racist intentionality and action.”
“I liked how she tied in readings with other current media like videos, art installations, etc. It made what we were talking about always feel relevant and new and changing.”
“She creates a safe and inclusive learning environment where I feel heard and respected. She always makes sure everyone's voice is heard, encouraging quieter students to speak up without any pressure. She's also very organized and always has a plan coming in to class.”
“She meets me where I am, recognizes my skills and the areas in which I can grow, and helps push me to be a better student. I appreciate how she encourages me to engage with complex secondary material both within and outside of my concentration.”
“She was an incredibly attentive and thoughtful section leader! She genuinely cared about how each of her students, shown through her high commitment to accessibility and her detailed, personalized feedback on assignments.”
“Best class and professor I have ever had. Extremely understanding and accommodating. Dr. Perret actually made me want to come to class which has never happened before.”
“We have open discussion that encourages different viewpoints that either aligns or contradicts what is being said and is welcomed.”
“She was an amazing listener, lecturer, and guide through discussions around complex topics.”