Creating Intimacy in an Online Class

By Elizabeth Gangemi, September 1, 2020

CSCRE professor builds a supportive, safe community for students interacting with her and each other remotely.

Students attend a class session on Zoom.

Nicole Horsley has a very interactive, student-centered classroom where she teaches topics including Introduction to African Diaspora Studies, Hip Hop Feminism, Black Superheroes and Black Cinema. She is thoughtful in how she builds a safe space for students, so that when they’re asked to write and deliver a poem or rap about love, or to participate in a group discussion about Black sexuality — often examining these topics in public for the first time — they not only feel comfortable, but thrive.

Horsley has had to rethink how to teach these topics and develop assignments given the shift to online instruction last spring. She immediately surveyed students to assess individual needs and adjusted the course — not only her approach to teaching, but the course material as well. Horsley’s Black Cinema students developed ethnographic projects based on how the pandemic altered their communities and homes; and in her Black Porn course, Horsley led discussions about how COVID-19 impacted safe sex and sex work/ers during the pandemic.

“Let’s not consider remote instruction a reductive model. I am proud of our administration, staff, faculty, and students for understanding that in-person classes would compromise each of us at this time. There is value in learning to build a village and care for each other as part of the IC signature educational experience.”

Nicole Horsley, assistant professor and minor coordinator of African Diaspora Studies in the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity

Horsley notes that remote instruction can open many different doors — whether that’s by improving access to college for students who may not be able to attend in-person, or by enhancing courses in ways not feasible in person.

(From left) Nicole Horsley, assistant professor and minor coordinator of African Diaspora Studies, Verity '18 and Nia Nunn, associate professor in the department of education, at IC's 2018 Commencement.

“Given my summer course for students in the Higher Education Opportunity Program was completely online, I was able to invite some amazing guests to speak to the students,” said Horsley.

The experience of teaching online in the spring and summer has helped Horsley learn how to troubleshoot challenges like unreliable Wi-Fi, and create engaging and community-building coursework. She’ll take these lessons into this semester, for which she plans to incorporate online listening parties into her Hip Hop Feminism course.

“Let’s not consider remote instruction a reductive model,” said Horsley. “I am proud of our administration, staff, faculty, and students for understanding that in-person classes would compromise each of us at this time. There is value in learning to build a village and care for each other as part of the IC signature educational experience.”

Nicole Horsley is an assistant professor and minor coordinator of African Diaspora Studies in the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity (CSCRE). She is also an affiliate faculty member in Women’s and Gender Studies. She has taught at Ithaca College for four years. She is teaching three courses during the Fall 2020 semester: Intro to African Diaspora Studies; Hip Hop Feminism: Bad B@itches Only! and Black Superheroes.