Teaching Assistant, Architectural Discourse II "ARCH4601 & ARCH5332"
Teaching Assistant, Architectural Discourse II "ARCH4601 & ARCH5332"
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by Aymen Aiblu | May 10, 2026 | Ottawa, ON - Canada
Climate change and displacement in Latin America, Ai generated infographic prompted by Aymen Aiblu, 2026.
During the Winter 2026 academic term, I served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Contemporary Theories of Architecture and Architectural Discourse II courses at Carleton University's School of Architecture & Urbanism. Working closely with my colleague Ashleigh Abraham under Natalia Escobar Castrillón, I was specifically responsible for guiding and evaluating the undergraduate students. This 130-hour assignment involved academic mentorship, rigorous evaluation, and active participation in advanced architectural discourse.
Key Responsibilities and Mentorship
The role demanded a high level of organization and academic engagement to support students in navigating complex theoretical frameworks. My primary responsibilities included:
Academic Mentorship & Office Hours: Conducted weekly in-person office hours to assist students with theoretical comprehension and paper structuring.
Comprehensive Evaluation: Graded a variety of deliverables including weekly reading responses, final paper proposals, and final research papers. I provided detailed, constructive feedback on students' critical thinking, use of primary/secondary sources, and adherence to Chicago Style citation guidelines.
Presentation Assessments: Evaluated student presentations at the end of the term, assessing them across multiple criteria including introduction clarity, content rigor, graphics, conclusions, and overall delivery.
Course Administration: Managed the compilation of grades and handled ongoing email communications to ensure undergraduate students met their academic deliverables smoothly.
Accessibility and Inclusive Education
A significant highlight of my term was volunteering as a Classroom Notetaker for the Paul Menton Centre PMC for Students with Disabilities. This role required synthesizing complex theoretical lectures into clear, accessible written formats within a strict 48-hour deadline. By actively listening and organizing course content, I helped ensure that students with various visible and non-visible disabilities had equitable access to the academic material, maintaining a high standard of confidentiality and professionalism.
Course Themes and Theoretical Engagement
The course explored critical, decolonial, and intersectional perspectives on the built environment. As a TA, I engaged deeply with the curriculum, compiling extensive class notes and facilitating learning around the following pivotal topics:
Decoloniality and Historiography: Critiquing traditional architectural canons and exploring frameworks from Latin America, Turtle Island, South Asia, and West Africa.
Intersectional Feminism & Space: Analyzing how architecture intersects with power dynamics, gender, and racial disparities, utilizing mapping methodologies to capture embodied experiences.
Climate, Migration, and Informality: Examining the impact of uneven urban growth, shock-driven migration, and climate change on spatial policy, particularly through case studies in Latin America.
Counter-Narratives in Global Architecture: Discussing spatial practices in the Caribbean, affective queer infrastructures in Berlin, architectural craft as resistance in China, and urbicide in Palestine.
Letter of Appreciation - Volunteer Notetaker, Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities at Carleton University, 2026.
This assistantship provided a rigorous platform to bridge advanced architectural theory with pedagogical practice, directly supporting Carleton University's undergraduate architecture students in developing their critical writing and analytical skills.
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