‘Teaching Political Science Through Feminist Methodology to Generation Z by a Millennial in a Cyber Classroom’

with Dr Aruni Samarakoon, University of Hull

28 October – 1:30pm

As a millennial holding a feminist epistemology, teaching political science in a cyber classroom has raised critical self-reflection on the questions: “What should be taught, and why?”

This proposal aims to share my empirical experiences of teaching Generation Z students from both the Global North and South through the cyber medium of Microsoft Teams. My teaching experiences include Politics of South Asia for undergraduates at a university in the United Kingdom and Gender and Politics for undergraduates in Sri Lanka. These courses motivated me to organize this discourse, which was later intellectually shaped by the feminist and decolonial scholarship of Angela Davis and Chandra Mohanty.

Despite their differing contextual backgrounds, disparities in access to information, and hierarchies influencing confidence in participation, the undergraduates in both classrooms shared a common learning consciousness centred on two fundamental questions: Why learn political science? and What is political science in this moment?

This learned consciousness then reshapes the teaching context, shifting the focus toward examining what the teaching and learning of politics bring into the classroom. As Chandra Mohanty argues, politics today is deeply embedded in neoliberal structure that transform universities and classrooms into “knowledge factories,” “digital diploma mills,” or “compartments of academic capitalism.” This shift erodes the connection between education and lived realities. Similarly, Angela Davis highlights how neoliberal, profit-driven politics have completely dismissed the true purpose of education, a reality that is mirrored in the dynamics of classroom teaching and learning.

Feminist scholarship provided a lens to re-examine the current state of student consciousness. Today’s learners often exhibit self-centred and individualised tendencies, a preference for instant gratification, gendered perspectives, rising ethno-nationalism, and a highly polarized worldview. While they are deeply connected to virtual realities, they are increasingly disconnected from the social realities around them.

This re-examination crystallized the central question of this scholarship: What should be taught, and why—especially in a moment when politics is divorced from social reality?

My presentation will share qualitative, empirical experiences drawn from two groups:

• 15 predominantly male undergraduates studying in the UK, and
• 25 predominantly female undergraduates in the Gender and Politics course in Sri Lanka.

Age is a key factor here, as all participants belong to Generation Z. They are deeply immersed in social media, actively posting, liking, and sharing content throughout the semester. Their engagement in the cyber classroom was shaped by this virtual immersion, though their levels of interaction, participation, and willingness to challenge dominant narratives about social reality differed between the two groups.

Among the Sri Lankan students, bringing everyday experiences into classroom discussions to interpret contemporary politics was particularly common. Meanwhile, applying feminist practices that dismantle hierarchical teacher–student dynamics allowed both groups to develop autonomy in their understanding and learning.

Conclusion

This proposal argues for a paradigm shift in pedagogy: moving from a focus on how to teach and learn toward a critical exploration of what to teach and learn. Aligning pedagogy with the realities of contemporary politics empowers undergraduates to become autonomous thinkers, future scholars, and politically active citizens. Such transformation is essential for sustaining democracy in an era of neoliberalism and virtual dominance.