Difficult Subjects: Insights and Strategies for Teaching about Race, Sexuality and Gender is a collection of essays from scholars across disciplines, institutions, and ranks that offers diverse and multi-faceted approaches to teaching about subjects that prove both challenging and often uncomfortable for both the professor and the student.

Badia Ahad-Legardy is Associate Professor of English at Loyola University Chicago, where she was recently named "Master Teacher" by the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to her scholarly pursuits, Professor Ahad is the Director of Training and Master Coach for the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD). Since 2011, she has organized monthly guest expert webinars and multi-week courses for the professional development of university administrators, faculty members, and advanced graduate students. OiYan A. Poon is an assistant professor of Higher Education Leadership at Colorado State University. A nationally recognized scholar on the racial politics of college access, affirmative action, and Asian Americans, OiYan received a 2014 Emerging Scholar award from the American College Personnel Association and was a featured keynote speaker at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education in 2013. Dr. Poon currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of College Student Development, Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, and as a reviewer for the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Amerasia Journal, and the Journal of Asian American Studies. Lori D. Patton, Ph.D. is Department Chair of Educational Studies and Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Patton is known for scholarship on critical race theory, diversity initiatives on college campuses, Black women and girls in educational and social contexts, and college student development. The author of over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and other academic publications, she has received national awards for her scholarship including being ranked among the top 200 educators in the US. She is frequently sought for expertise on education topics.

Foreword-Lori Patton Davis Acknowledgements Introduction. When the Shit Hits the Fan, Do We Throw Out the Lesson Plan?-Oiyan A. Poon and Badia Ahad-Legardy Part One. (Dis)Comfort, Fragility, and the Intersections of Identity 1. A Conversation on Challenging and Using Comfort-Zone Racism in the Classroom-Rucha Ambikar, Daniel Guentchev, and Dennis Lunt 2. When Racially Just Teaching Becomes Your Own Heart. Pedagogical Strategies for Teaching Whiteness-Cheryl E. Matias, and Lisa Silverstein 3. Addressing Incivility in the Classroom. Effective Strategies for Faculty at the Margins-Chavella Pittman 4. Whiteness Matters. Tourism, Customer Service, and the Neoliberal University-David J. Leonard and Paula Price Groves 5. Black Lives, Black Women, and the Academy. "Doing" Equity and Inclusion Work at PWIs-Nicole Truesdell Part Two. Embracing Embodiment and Emotion as Pedagogical Praxis 6. Feeling Our Way to Knowing. Decolonizing the American Studies Classroom-Adriana Estill 7. Feeling Black and Blue in Preservice Teacher Education. Encountering Emotion and Embodiment in Antiracist Teaching-Esther O. Ohito and Sherry L. Deckman 8. Transformational Pedagogies of the Abject Body. An Argument for Radical Fat Pedagogies-Breanne Fahs 9. "The Least We Can Do". Gender-Affirming Pedagogy Starting on Day One-Erica Chu 10. Creating Inclusive Classrooms. Toward Collective and Diverse Intersectional Success-Dian D. Squire, Azura Booth, and Brandon Arnold Part Three. Radical Pedagogy in "Neutral" Places 11. A Call for Difficult Conversations Around Diversity in STEM Courses-Thomas Poon 12. Diversity Matters in the STEM Classroom-Jennifer S. Fang 13. Between Critique and Professional Ambition-Akhila L. Ananth 14. Uncomfortable Learning. Teaching Race Through Discomfort in Higher Education-Jasmine L. Harris In Closing. Difficult Subjects for Difficult Times-Badia Ahad-Legardy and Oiyan A. Poon Editors and Contributors Index