Scott Farver, is an Assistant Professor (fixed-term) in the Department of Teacher Education. He is originally from Michigan, and has deep ties to Michigan State–he completed his PhD here nearly 75 years after his grandfather first attended MSU in the 1940s to study agriculture. Both his parents also graduated from MSU–so Scott always wore lots of Green and White growing up!
Scott is a career educator, and has taught a number of different subjects and grade levels in a variety of locations since graduating with his BA from Central Michigan University. He began his career teaching High School German through Interactive Television (a very early precursor to Zoom!) in mid-Michigan, then ran an after-school and summer program for elementary students in the Bay Area of California for a few years. From there, Scott got married, and he and his wife immediately joined the Peace Corps, where he taught English and Special Education on a rural island in the Philippines. After completing his 2 year service, Scott and his wife moved to New Mexico near the Navajo Nation, where he taught 4th and 5th grade. After receiving his MA, Scott then taught courses at Western New Mexico University for a few years before moving back to Michigan to begin his doctoral studies here at Michigan State. During his graduate work, Scott taught a number of different courses, and completed his PhD in 2019. He has been working in the Department of Teacher Education ever since.
Scott’s teaching and research focuses on disrupting racist structures within schools, using tenets of Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies to ground his work. He is particularly interested in helping future teachers adopt explicitly anti-racist stances and practices to bring with them into their classrooms. Scott has taught courses in both the Urban Educator Cohort Program (UECP) and the Global Educator Cohort Program (GECP), and is currently the course leader for TE 101–Social Foundations of Justice and Equity in Education.
Scott is connected to education in East Lansing through his wife, Erin, who is a 5th grade teacher in the East Lansing Public Schools, 2 children who attend ELPS, and one child who is very excited to start in a few years!