Feminist reading circles at the UC Faculty of Education promote critical reflection and transformative training.

During the first semester of 2025, the Gender Sub-directorate of the UC Faculty of Education promoted two series of reading circles with distinct approaches: one for undergraduate students focused on the work of bell hooks, and another aimed at academics, researchers, and graduate students under the title "Reading Circles: Research and Feminisms." Both sessions offered spaces for collective dialogue, critical thinking, and situated training from a feminist perspective.

Bell Hooks Reading Circles: A Space for Undergraduate Students 

Between April and July, students from various pedagogies participated in the Bell Hooks Reading Circles cycle, an initiative of the Gender Branch which sought to generate critical and collective reflection on the links between education, love, desire, ethics and social justice. 

Throughout the semester, selected chapters from key works by the African-American author were read and discussed, such as All about love, Teaching to transgress, Teaching critical thinking y Feminism is for everyoneThe sessions were held on the first Monday of each month and were led by members of the Subdirectorate, in a welcoming, horizontal conversation space. 

“Reading Bell Hooks is very gratifying; it’s as if she were speaking directly to you from her classroom. She inspires me because she speaks of an affective, situated pedagogy that is consistent with what many of us believe: that educating is also transforming the world,” commented Javiera Rodríguez, a student at the Pedagogy in physical education. 

This series was proposed as an opportunity to consider teaching from a pedagogy of love and freedom, and proved key to opening honest and profound conversations among students interested in non-sexist pedagogies, emotional education, and social justice. 

Reading Circles: Research and Feminisms 

In parallel, the Gender Sub-directorate held Reading Circles: Research and Feminisms, aimed at academics, doctoral students, and researchers from the Faculty of Education and other UC units, such as Political Science and Agronomy. These monthly meetings took place during lunch and focused on critical reflection based on contemporary feminist thought and its connection to education and knowledge construction. Based on one reading per session, topics such as love, happiness, and care were addressed. 

The purpose of this series was to create a space for researchers to meet and explore, through reading enjoyment and horizontal dialogue, how love, affection, care, and desire can be conceived not only as objects of study but also as modes of research, teaching, and inhabiting the university. 

Both experiences sought to create spaces for collective thinking beyond the classroom and traditional formats, promoting a more critical, affective, and feminist university culture.