My name is David Spataro and I am an instructor in Political Science at Bellevue College. I have a Ph.D. from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where I focused on contemporary urban social movements.
I am an anti-authoritarian and a political organizer, and I try to create a classroom space that fosters political engagement. I bring the perspective that we must sincerely question everything, especially our knowledge of politics that comes across as natural or inevitable. In my classroom I introduce students to uncommon ideas and thinkers, and to perspectives that are not always readily available in everyday life. My priorities are simple: that students learn deeply in a cooperative and nurturing environment, and that I discourage the kind of learning that is a superficial and instrumental striving for a grade while out-competing one’s peers.
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