Dr. Quesada is a religion professor at TCU whose specialization is in Biblical Studies. Among other religion subjects, Dr. Quesada teaches Interfaith courses, which involves learning about many different religions of the world. This course allows students to understand where other religions are rooted from. She does not feel restricted by speech in the classroom. While she feels more vulnerable teaching some subjects more than others, she has felt student responses to controversial subjects have been respectful and taken well.
The classroom needs to make space to honor voices and humanize people who have differing perspectives. Dr. Quesada brought in a guest speaker to one of her classes who described his experience going to his place of prayer when men with heavy weaponry were surrounding it. He had a discussion with these men and they agreed to disagree. This is an example of how human connection creates a bond and gives a face to the opposing belief. This is so important and something that society has lost, especially with social media. Hate builds up so much, particularly on social media, and Dr. Quesada pointed out that one really cannot negotiate with hate.
Dr. Quesada talked about her openness to differing perspectives, specifically from students. She said that she admires those who challenge her beliefs and thinks that students should push back and question ideas more because it will make learning more enriching. She notes that both students and teachers need to have the facts and research to back claims up. Whether it is a paper or a verbal discussion comment that differs from her personal view, she does not care about what is being argued, as long as the work and research has been done. Dr. Quesada overall wishes students spoke up more with their opinions.
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