My teaching philosophy is underpinned by a twofold dynamic: to provide students with knowledge and to provide tools for them to understand and apply that knowledge in contexts not previously encountered. This philosophy stems from a belief that students enter neither the classroom in specific, nor university in general, tabula rasa. They bring with them a host of folk knowledge, mythologies, experiences, and formally learned information that must be engaged, unlearned, incorporated, and acknowledged if they are to both retain and understand new aspects of the discipline of sociology. My teaching goals are several and they relate directly to what I hold as core instructional responsibilities. First, I believe my classroom—especially as a researcher of race, difference, and inequality—should be a space accessible to all students. From differently physically-able students, members of underrepresented ethnic, racial, sexual, and/or national groups, and students facing special challenges often obfuscated or minimalized for lack of interest groups working in their behest and defending their interests (e.g., non-traditional students, international students), all students should have equal opportunities to learn and succeed. Second, I hold that classroom pedagogy should incorporate diverse activities in order to engage with students differing learning styles—to teach to their strengths while developing their weaknesses. A prism of pedagogical approaches help to capture students’ attention and passion while sharpening their skills as investigators of their social world. Third, I contend that advising and mentoring (both in terms of a general undergraduate major advising to the specifics of graduate student dissertation supervision) are important aspects of teaching. Fourth, I strongly believe that my research (and the research of my peers) should be incorporated into my teaching. The relationship between research and teaching is reflexive; my teaching impacts my research and affords me a chance to refine and sharpen my pedagogy. Fifth, I believe that I, as a teacher, should continue my education. I believe I should participate in programs of systematic reading in the literature on teaching; attend short courses and professional conferences concerned with teaching; lead or participate in faculty seminars concerned with teaching issues; and (in consort with my responsibilities as a researcher) stay au courant with the issues and debates in my discipline so as to best advise and teach the discipline of sociology. Race and ethnicity; qualitative methodology; theory; cultural sociology; media