Students

There are teachers and then there are educators. Rather than stand up and talk at you for three hours, professor De Leon creates a conversation, albeit one that often involves critical theory. However, in doing this the instructor not only makes theory digestible, but helps students connect theoretical concepts to their actual lives, insuring that what is learned in class is something students can take with them long after the class ends. Instructor was very accessible and seemed to genuinely care about students learning and personal growth. Overall, great instructor and an A+ human being.

Justin de Leon [Visiting Assistant Professor] has been a major guide and inspiration. Through a teaching assistantship, I was able to work with and learn from de Leon. I admire his pedagogies, how he engages students, and his work on visual sovereignty and Indigenous storytelling, all of which has helped me to develop a clearer idea of how to weave together peace theory and education on an individual level. My current research has involved exploring how Black students imagine academic environments without antiblackness and in which they can thrive.

Professor de Leon is, without a doubt, the best professor I have ever had. Not only did he make it clear that he cared about the material he was teaching us, he also went out of his way to show us that he cared about his students and our well-being. [...] Professor de Leon's questions and insights into the readings were always clear and interesting, and he did a phenomenal job of explaining even really complicated or nuanced subject matter. Unlike other CTSJ courses I have taken, Professor de Leon made sure that, although this class certainly covered some very depressing and heavy subject matter, we never walked away from class feeling defeated or like there wasn't anything we could do about the problems we discussed.