African American Studies and Māori Studies have much in common. Both disciplines resist dominant narratives about their cultural and social inferiority and motivate students to succeed by teaching them about their cultures’ positive global contributions. In this session, we will consider the question, “How can African American and Māori Studies programs explore these synergies together to create new exchange opportunities for social change?” To address this question, we will learn about scholar Jarvis Givens’ concept of “fugitive pedagogy,” or strategies that African American teachers use for culturally responsive approaches to developing critical thinking skills, as a discussion framework.

This interactive session has two main learning goals: 1) to learn about the Māori international education and the African American “fugitive pedagogy” models and understand why cross-cultural collaboration is crucial for teaching marginalized students about their history in a global context and 2) to discuss ways that African American and Māori faculty can build relationships to create shared curricula and educational exchange opportunities.