Ecofeminist community-engaged learning in Southern Appalachia: An introduction to strategic essentialism in the first year of college

Community-engaged learning as a foundational pedagogical praxis enables new college students to develop a feminist awareness of interlocking oppressions and acquire tools to intervene productively in environmental challenges that are always experienced intersectionally. Since 2004, I have introduced students to ecofeminism in a full semester course that applied theory to practice in and around Asheville, North Carolina. Funding, assessment practices, and the identities of the students influenced their engagement with ecofeminism in the course and beyond. I conclude that ecofeminist community-engaged learning helps new college students use strategic essentialism as a tool to examine their own assumptions and to intentionally forge activist alliances with community partners.