The Trickiness of Care in the Classroom with Dr. May Friedman and Fiona Cheuk

The Trickiness of Care in the Classroom with Dr. May Friedman and Fiona Cheuk

From Podagogies: A Learning and Teaching Podcast by Podagogies: A Learning and Teaching Podcast

November 17, 2025 · 26 min

About this episode

This episode explores the complexities of care in the classroom, focusing on both student support and instructor self-care.

This episode of Podagogies is an exploration of care, from showing care for students in our classes to how instructors can ensure their own care needs are met. Dr. May Friedman and Fiona Cheuk from Toronto Metropolitan University share their approaches to navigating this complicated balance. May Friedman is a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. Much of May’s work explores issues of fat activism and weight stigma in many different settings. Drawing from her own experiences as a fat racialized mother, May looks at unstable identities, including bodies that do not conform to traditional racial and national or aesthetic lines. Fiona Ning Cheuk (they/them) is a gender neutral lecturer at the School of Disability Studies. Their pedagogical practices are informed by their continuous nurturing by queer, disabled, BIPOC community wisdom on how to survive and build resilient futures within academia. Read the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/2v2nvcz4

People in this episode

Guests: Fiona Cheuk, Dr May Friedman

Topics covered

  • care in education
  • student support
  • instructor well-being
  • fat activism
  • weight stigma
  • queer pedagogy
  • disability studies

Keywords

  • Toronto Metropolitan University
  • BIPOC community
  • resilient futures

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Trickiness of Care in the Classroom with, Podagogies

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