McColl Dissertation Fellow Christoph Stutts Makes a Difference in Classrooms
Racism and white supremacy are not easy conversations in any venue, but UNC Teacher Education and Curriculum doctoral candidate Christoph Stutts believes they are necessary topics in public schools. Stutts, the McColl Dissertation Fellow at the Center for the Study of the American South, is a former public schools social studies teacher. He collaborates with middle and high school social studies teachers, working through curriculum and practice problems. His research compares the experiences of three public school educators who teach standard U.S. History, and who are committed to teaching about the history of racism and white supremacy in the South. That equates to hard lessons for not only students, but also the teachers who want to paint a fuller picture of history. In this interview with the Center, Stutts describes his work and its purpose to build a more honest and inclusive future not only in the South, but across the nation. Working to combat master narratives built into social studies and history education, Stutts unravels idealist narratives of the country that hide basic truths about history and exclude experiences of marginalized communities. How do teachers introduce more complete narratives, allowing students to confront a difficult past to make way for the future?
CSAS asked Stutts to tell us about his work, what attracted him to the McColl Dissertation Fellowship, and how the fellowship fits with his work. Take a listen.
CSAS:
What is the goal of your research; what sort of difference do you hope it makes?
Stutts:
I want my research to speak to different audiences. I want to be able to speak to teachers first. That’s who I care about the most. That’s who I spend my time with. But the other thing that I want people outside of education to know, particularly people here on campus and others, is that they do have this role to play. Teachers, especially social studies and history teachers are thirsty and hungry for knowledge in relation to people who are working within the disciplines that are doing this stuff. I’ve been a part of seeing some of those connections between them and professors here on campus, whether it’s Dr. Sturkey, Dr. Caldwell over in English, Dr. Kotch in American Studies, Dr. Seidman here. When those connections happen, teachers are like, “Yes, this person has the stuff that I want.” But teachers don’t get enough of those opportunities to build the connections. It grants those teachers power. A teacher says not only do I want to do it this way, but I’ve talked to Dr. So-and-So here on campus and they’ve written this whole book, and this is real.
About the McColl Dissertation Fellow – Christoph Stutts is a PhD candidate in Teacher Education and Curriculum studying the place of white supremacy and racism in high school U.S. History classes. Christoph has spent the last 17 years as a public school educator as a special education assistant, high school social studies teacher, and teacher educator. His dissertation “The Place of White Supremacy and Racism in High School U.S. History Classrooms” will investigate how three high school U.S. History teachers navigate their schools, their communities, and their lives to make decisions about curriculum and instruction around the country’s white supremacist and racist legacies. This research is designed to help teachers and contribute to classrooms that are prepared to deal with each new reminder of the persistence of white supremacy. Such classrooms more closely reflect the world beyond the door, and also respect the dignity of all students whose reality is inconsistent with the narrow, nationalist attachments found in many conventional resources. This work is an extension of previous work Christoph has done with teachers from around the state, including a summer professional development summit with teachers through the Center for the Study of the American South.