Teaching Note—Cultivating Joy in Uncertain Times: Reimagining Social Work Education With LGBTQIA2S+ Communities

Social work educators are teaching in a political climate where efforts to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion content continue to grow. These pressures directly affect courses that focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or ally, two-spirit, and other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQIA2S+) communities, where curriculum and identity often become politicized. This teaching note describes the redesign of an undergraduate and Master of Social Work elective on social work practice with LGBTQIA2S+ individuals and communities during a semester shaped by antitrans rhetoric, a federal order targeting gender identity, and uncertainty about the future of diversity, equity, and inclusion instruction. Drawing on queer and trans scholarship on joy, belonging, and resistance, trauma-informed teaching, the work of adrienne maree brown, and Tuck’s critique of damage-centered narratives, I redesigned the course to center joy and wholeness. Instructor journal entries show the emotional and political conditions of teaching in this moment and how students shaped the learning environment. The course used ritual, flexibility, and student agency to build community. Assignments asked students to engage queer cultural production and create practice briefs. Lessons highlight the need for teaching that counters trauma fatigue, protects academic freedom, and prepares students for practice in politically hostile environments.