On Monday, October 31, Falk Lab School librarian and Information Literacy teacher Corey Wittig spoke to a group of students in Pitt’s School of Education as part of a panel on centering LGBTQIA+ voices. 

The panel took place during associate professor Anna Arlotta-Guerrero's “Developmental Meanings of Cultural Distinction” class. The course is designed to lay a foundation for students regarding identity, biases, and marginalized groups of people. Mr. Wittig participated in a month-long speaker series that also focused on race and racism; interfaith beliefs and world vision; Indigenous knowledge traditions; and understanding immigration in the U.S. 

Most of the students in the course are in the CASE Teacher Preparation track, with many in the Traditional Human Developmental track. Most are preparing to becoming teachers, while others are working toward other careers working with children, youth, and families. 

Some of the participants in the panel discussion became engaged with amplifying and centering LGBTQIA+ voices after helping their own children through challenges related to coming out as transgendered, and now offer resources and support to families facing similar situations. Ali Hoefnagel, who was recently appointed as Pitt’s coordinator of belonging and inclusion, described their work running playwriting workshops for queer youth in Chicago. 

Mr. Wittig described the path he took to his position at Falk, from working as a clerk at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s East Liberty branch to his time at the Main library in Oakland, where he was instrumental in creating the library’s “Labs @ CLP” program, which equips teens with the tools and support they need to engage in a wide array of creative and maker activities. 

He discussed how important books were to him while growing up in rural Bedford County, Pa., and said that he sees books and reading as ways to align with other people, to spread kindness and ideas, and to reflect children back to themselves. Mr. Wittig cited the “mirrors and windows” approach to literature, wherein stories are ways for readers both to see themselves reflected back and to glimpse the experiences of others. He also discussed the recent book bans taking place in communities across the country. 

Students asked the panelists about issues like pronoun usage, how to respect the privacy of young people, and how best to educate future students on the importance of respecting everyone in a community.