During last week’s episode, I spoke with Dr. Parisa Mehran, founder of Women of Color in English Language Teaching (also known as WOC in ELT), to explore how white supremacy is at the heart of ELT and how the industry functions as a racist propaganda machine. We finished the first part of our conversation discussing passport privilege and the barriers for international students. Today, we continue where we left off, and also speak about obstacles to legal immigration, why POC international students may not finish university, and we share our own experiences of the impact of being called terrorists.
Born and raised in Tehran, Parisa Mehran holds a BA in English Language and Literature, an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), both from Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran, and a PhD in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) from Osaka University, Japan. She currently teaches part-time at several universities in Japan. Her passion for social justice has led her to engage in different English Language Teaching (ELT) movements for change and is now a racial equity advocate in ELT. Follow her advocacy on Twitter: @WOCinELT.
Dr. Parisa Mehran and I spoke on July 18th of 2020. What follows is the second of my two-part conversation with Parisa.
But before we jump into the conversation, Aïcha Martine Thiam and I introduce you to The Nasiona Music Series. We begin every episode by showcasing a BIPOC musical artist from our series, which you can explore at TheNasiona.com. Today we have the honor of featuring the world premiere of Aroe Phoenix's and Mallika Vie's cover of “River” by Leon Bridges.
The Nasiona Podcast amplifies the voices and experiences of the marginalized, undervalued, overlooked, silenced, and forgotten, as well as gives you a glimpse into Othered worlds. Hosted, edited, and produced by Julián Esteban Torres López. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @JE_Torres_Lopez
Please follow The Nasiona on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for regular updates: @TheNasiona
Thank you to Aïcha Martine Thiam for co-producing the Music Series component of the episode, and to Aroe Phoenix and Mallika Vie for being our musical guests.
Original music for The Nasiona Podcast was produced by the Grammy Award-winning team of Joe Sparkman and Marcus Allen, aka The Heavyweights. Joe Sparkman: Twitter + Instagram. Marcus Allen: Twitter + Instagram.
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