October 31, 2016 - 20:17
,
| Draft Syllabi & ED 244: Unsettling Literacy: Praxis Two linked courses, co-taught by Bryn Mawr College, Spring 2017 |
"...the library as a social creature within a changing social technological landscape":
Book Hive, Bristol Central Library, England, Spring 2014
“Unsettling Literacy” will involve three 8-pp. “web events,” due at spaced intervals throughout the semester. Every week there will be writing “towards,” and then revision of, these projects, with feedback given in in-class workshops, on-line, and in conferences with the professors. We imagine our process involving a shared on-line site, which students will create collaboratively; chapters could include visuals, things they are producing for their placements, etc.… Students will also engage with those who are or have been incarcerated, in weekly praxis sessions exploring experiences of literacy
UL newly drafted syllabus (12/20/16)
Run Ed Talk idea by Nell today?
I’ve listed no readings for Weds…?
The “arc” of this cluster:
what it means to become literate--
in schools,
about schooling,
about prisons,
in prisons and
in resistance to them.
lit·er·a·cy
from late Middle Englishà Latin littera, ‘letter of the alphabet’
* the ability to read and write.
* competence or knowledge in a specified area.
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” --Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
“Stories are compasses and architecture; we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and our prisons out of them.”--Rebecca Solnit, The Faraway Nearby
“...literacy becomes a meaningful construct to the degree that it is viewed as a set of practices that functions either to power or disempower people.”--Paolo Freire and Donald Macedo, Literacy: Reading the Word and the Worl
Weeks One-Two: Conceiving (and reconceiving) Literacy
Day 1, Tues, Jan. 17: Telling one another our own stories of becoming literate
Read together, from Chapter 6, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass ?
Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. To use his own words, further, he said, "If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master--to do as he is told to do. Learning would ~spoil~ the best nigger in the world. Now," said he, "if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy." These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought. It was a new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things, with which my youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty--to wit, the white man's power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom. It was just what I wanted, and I got it at a time when I the least expected it. Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master. Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read. The very decided manner with which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife with the evil consequences of giving me instruction, served to convince me that he was deeply sensible of the truths he was uttering. It gave me the best assurance that I might rely with the utmost confidence on the results which, he said, would flow from teaching me to read. What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn. In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the benefit of both.
Day 2, Wed, Jan. 18: Becoming literate about prisons
Before class, read: Brian Stephenson, Introduction: “Higher Ground,” Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption(Spiegel & Grau, 2015), pp. 3-18.
Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, “Ava DuVernay's 13th Reframes American History,” The Atlantic (October 6, 2016): http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/10/ava-duvernay-13th-netflix/503075/
In-class viewing: 13th. Directed by Ava DuVernay, featuring Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Angela Davis, Henry Louis Gates, Van Jones, Bryan Stevenson and others. Kandoo Films, 2016 (100 minutes).
Day 3, Thurs, Jan. 19: Becoming literate about literacy
Paolo Freire and Donald Macedo, Chapter 1, "The Importance of the Act of Reading.” Literacy: Reading the Word & the World (South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey, 1987), 29-36.
CAMPUS WIDE TEACH-IN
Day 4, Tues, Jan. 24: “Reading the room”
Dialogue about how we talk with and listen to one another, what practices we want to use together. How to read ourselves, our classmates, our classroom, attentively, collectively, and with care? [Olivia to lead this?]
Read something ahead of time about classroom interactions; maybe Ellsworth? i.e:
“the space of difference between address and response is a social space, formed and informed by historical conjunctures of power and of social and cultural difference….The point is that all modes of address misfire one way or another. I never ‘am’ the ‘who’ that a pedagogical address thinks I am. But then again, I never am the who that I think I am either….the eruptive, unruly space between a curriculum’s address and a student’s response is populated by the difference between conscious and unconscious knowledge, conscious and unconscious desires.”(Teaching Positions: Difference, Pedagogy, and the Power of Address, 1997).
Or from David Bohm, On Dialogue (Routledge, 2004):
Different groups … are not actually able to listen to each other. As a result, the very attempt to improve communication leads frequently to yet more confusion, and the consequent sense of frustration inclines people ever further toward aggression and violence, rather than toward mutual understanding and trust.
….one meaning of “to communicate” is “to make something common,” i.e., to convey information or knowledge from one person to another in as accurate a way as possible….Nevertheless, this meaning does not cover all that is signified by communication. For example, consider a dialogue. In such a dialogue, when one person says something, the other person does not in general respond with exactly the same meaning as that seen by the first person. Rather, the meanings are only similar and not identical. Thus, when the second person replies, the first person sees a difference between what he meant to say and what the other person understood. On considering this difference, he may then be able to see something new, which is relevant both to his own views and to those of the other person. And so it can go back and forth, with the continual emergence of a new content that is common to both participants. Thus, in a dialogue, each person does not attempt to make common certain ideas or items of information that are already known to him. Rather, it may be said that the two people are making something in common, i.e., creating something new together.
But of course such communication can lead to the creation of something new only if people are able freely to listen to each other, without prejudice, and without trying to influence each other. Each has to be interested primarily in truth and coherence, so that he is ready to drop his old ideas and intentions, and be ready to go on to something different, when this is called for….
It is clear that if we are to live in harmony with ourselves and with nature, we need to be able to communicate freely in a creative movement in which no one permanently holds to or otherwise defends his own ideas….
When we come together to talk, or otherwise to act in common, can each one of us be aware of the subtle fear and pleasure sensations that “block” his ability to listen freely? Without this awareness, the injunction to listen to the whole of what is said will have little meaning. But if each one of us can give full attention to what is actually “blocking” communication while he is also attending properly to the content of what is communicated, then we may be able to create something new between us, something of very great significance for bringing to an end the at present insoluble problems of the individual and of society….
“Dialogue” comes from the Greek word dialogos. Logos means “the word,” or in our case we would think of the “meaning of the word.” And dia means “through” — it doesn’t mean “two.” A dialogue can be among any number of people, not just two. Even one person can have a sense of dialogue within himself, if the spirit of the dialogue is present. The picture or image that this derivation suggests is of a stream of meaning flowing among and through us and between us. This will make possible a flow of meaning in the whole group, out of which may emerge some new understanding. It’s something new, which may not have been in the starting point at all. It’s something creative. And this shared meaning is the “glue” or “cement” that holds people and societies together.
Contrast this with the word “discussion,” which has the same root as “percussion” and “concussion.” It really means to break things up. It emphasizes the idea of analysis, where there may be many points of view, and where everybody is presenting a different one — analyzing and breaking up. That obviously has its value, but it is limited, and it will not get us very far beyond our various points of view. Discussion is almost like a ping-pong game, where people are batting the ideas back and forth and the object of the game is to win or to get points for yourself…
In a dialogue, however, nobody is trying to win. Everybody wins if anybody wins. There is a different sort of spirit to it. In a dialogue, there is no attempt to gain points, or to make your particular view prevail. Rather, whenever any mistake is discovered on the part of anybody, everybody gains. It’s a situation called win-win, whereas the other game is win-lose — if I win, you lose. But a dialogue is something more of a common participation, in which we are not playing a game against each other, but with each other. In a dialogue, everybody wins.
or from Rena Fraden, Imagining Medea: Rhodessa Jones and Theater for Incarcerated Women (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, 2001):
it was a real challenge to have a conversation about race in jail...it was like opening up Pandora's box--all sorts of evil things began to creep out...she started the workshop by asking the women two questions: what was their first memory of race; and if they could take a pill and change their race, their gender, their entire being, what would they choose to become (6).
That the incarcerated women's experiences have to be acknowledged, understood, related, and heard is a key principle of this feminist theatrical project. That everyone has a story to tell...is a constant refrain. However, though the Medea Project begins with honoring experience, it would be limited if that were all it did. Instead, Jones finds theatrical ways to interrogate the personal, surrounding the contemporary with the mythical,...so that each individual's story is...always seen in relation to others....autobiography alone neither guarantees new insights nor changes behavior. As Joan Scott has argued, experience is not transparent but is "at once always already an interpretation and something that needs to be interpreted" (21).
experience must be given its due, acknowledged as valid....But experience must not think of itself as true, authentic, and therefore impervious to questions and critique, because without critique and dialogue, there cannot be exchange and mutual learning. Identity...coheres...."in a the realm of a context-dependent creativity" (37).
Medea could see only one side of her story. The pedagogical thrust of the Medea Project is aimed at uncovering the connections between an individual and the system of power. Jones and Reynolds believe that critical literacy--understanding social context, moving with others and not alone--will transform the oppressed and pathetic into people who believe they can think and thus act for themselves and also for others....The Medea Project wants to revive community....The best work is harrowing, but its most important effects are always delayed; one breaks up the ground the best one can and hopes that the crops will grow (70).
Day 5, Wed, Jan. 25: “Reading the site”
Nell Anderson explains preparation for praxis
Reps from sites to present?? [too soon?? If not here, when?]
Wed, Jan. 25-Fri, Jan. 27: first site visit
Day 6, Thurs, Jan. 26: Scientific Literacy
Karen Barad, “Reconceiving Scientific Literacy as Agential Literacy, or Learning How to Intra-act Responsibly Within the World,” in Doing Culture + Science, edited by Roddey Reid and Sharon Traweek (Routledge, 2000).
visit from Greg??
Week Three: Learning to Read, in School and Out
second set of site visits
Day 7: Tues, Jan 31: first Ed Talk, about our first set of site visits
(led by Abby and Nell? or by us, first time ‘round? and since on Tuesday??)
Day 8, Wed, Feb. 1: stuff Jody’s reviewing on conv’l literacy teaching
Day 9, Thurs, Feb. 3: more conv’l literacy teaching stuff?
Week Four: Learning to Read “Schooling”
third site visit
Day 10, Tues, Feb. 7:
Neil Postman, “The Politics of Reading” [and perhaps a response or two, though as he says in his postscript, these are remarkably strident, ungenerous and distorted!] The Politics of Reading: Point-Counterpoint, ed.Sister Rosemary Winkeljohann. Urbana, Illinois: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, 1973: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED073447.pdf
Day 11, Wed. Feb. 8: Abby and Nell, Ed Talk
Day 12, Thurs, Feb. 9: Mark Edmundson, “As Lite Education for Bored College Students” and Earl Shorris, “As a Weapon in the Hands of the Restless Poor,” Harper’s Magazine (September 1997): 39-59.
June Jordan, “Nobody Mean More to Me than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan.” Harvard Educational Review 58, 3 (August 1988): 363-374: https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/duncan.hasell/engl1301/jordan-nobody
writing workshop
Sun, Feb. 12: Web Event #1: The Politics of Reading (?)
Week Five: From School to Prison, from Prison to Re-entry
fourth site visit
Day 12, Tues, Feb. 14: Erica Meiners, Chapter 1: “Surveillance, Ladies Bountiful, and the Management of Outlaw Emotions.” Right to Be Hostile: Schools, Prisons, and the Making of Public Enemies. New York: Routledge, 2007. 27-56.
Day 13, Wed, Feb. 15: Abby and Nell, Ed talk
Day 14, Thurs, Feb. 16: Sabrina Alli, “Carceral Educations.” The New Inquiry. September 22, 2014: http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/carceral-educations/
Weeks Six-Seven: Reading Re-Entry
fifth and sixth site visits
Day 15, Tues, Feb. 21: Jennifer Gonnerman, Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett (New York: Picador, 2004). 368 pp.
Day 16, Wed, Feb. 22: Abby and Nell, Ed talk
Day 17, Thurs, Feb. 23: Life on the Outside, continued
Day 18, Tues, Feb. 28: Life on the Outside, continued
Day 19, Wed, Mar. 1: Abby and Nell, Ed Talk
Day 20, Thurs, Mar. 2: Life on the Outside, continued
Spring Break, Friday, March 3‐Sunday, March 12
Weeks Eight-Nine: Reading in Prison
seventh and eighth site visits
Day 24, Tues, Mar. 14: Megan Sweeney, Introduction and Chapter One: “Tell Me What You Read; I Will Tell You What You Are”: Reading and Education in U.S. Penal History,” Reading is My Window: Books and The Art of Reading in Women's Prisons (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 1-17, 19-53.
Day 25, Wed, Mar. 15: Abby and Nell, Ed Talk
Day 26, Thurs, Mar. 16: Megan Sweeney, Chapter Six: “Encounters: The Meeting Ground of Books,” Reading is My Window, 226-251.
Day 27, Tues, Mar. 21: Jane Maher, "Teaching Academic Writing in a Maximum Security Women's Prison." New Directions for Community Colleges 170 (Summer 2015): 79-88: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cc.20146/full
Catherine Burwell, “A Too-Quick Enthusiasm for the Other”: North American Women’s Book Clubs and the Politics of Reading," in Muslim Women, Transnational Feminism and the Ethics of Pedagogy: Contested Imaginaries in Post-9/11 Cultural Practice, edited by Lisa K. Taylor and Jasmin Zine (Routledge, 2014), 199-227: https://www.academia.edu/9529238/A_Too-Quick_Enthusiasm_for_the_Other_North_American_Womens_Book_Clubs_and_the_Politics_of_Reading?auto=download
Day 28, Wed, Mar. 22: Abby and Nell, Ed Talk
Day 29, Thurs, Mar. 23: Anke Pinkert and three of her prison students, “The Transformative Power of Holocaust Education in Prison: A Teacher and Student Account,” Radical Teacher (Winter 2012), 60-65,79-80 http://search.proquest.com.proxy.brynmawr.edu/docview/1449753291/fulltext/7302E1E0EB3245D7PQ/1?accountid=9772
Artif Rafay, "An 'Impossible Profession'? The Radical University in Prison,” Radical Teacher (Winter 2012), 10-21, 80:http://search.proquest.com.proxy.brynmawr.edu/docview/1449753384/337E47852F4746F6PQ/2?accountid=9772
writing workshop
Sun, Mar. 26, Web Event #2: Reading Prison and Re-entry (?)
Week Ten: Acting in Prison
ninth site visit
Day 30, Tues, Mar. 28: Rena Fraden, Introduction, Imagining Medea: Rhodessa Jones and Theater for Incarcerated Women (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, 2001), 1-16.
Day 31, Wed, Mar. 29: Abby and Nell, Ed Talk
Day 32, Thurs, Mar. 30: Rena Fraden, Chapter 2: “To Be Real: Rehearsing Techniques,”
Imagining Medea, 67-119.
Week Eleven: “Stealing the Classroom”
tenth site visit
Day 30, Tues, Apr. 4: Jody Cohen and Anne Dalke, "Intermission: Wherefrom, who to?, "Intermission: Why write as we do” and Chapter 9: “Reassembling,” Steal this Classroom: stealthisclassroom.com/
Day 31, Wed, Apr. 5: Abby and Nell, Ed Talk
Day 32, Thurs, Apr. 6: Jody Cohen and Anne Dalke, Chapter 6: "Leaking," in Steal This Classroom: stealthisclassroom.com/
Weeks Twelve-Thirteen: The Literacy of Abolition
eleventh and twelfth site visits
Day 30, Tues, Apr. 11: Jody Cohen and Anne Dalke. Chapter One: "Being Here." Steal this Classroom: Teaching and Learning Unbound (New York: punctum books, forthcoming 2017): http://stealthisclassroom.com/chapter-one/
Paolo Freire and Donald Macedo, Chapter 3: "Rethinking Literacy: A Dialogue,” and Chapter 6: The Illiteracy of Literacy in the United States,” Literacy: Reading the Word & the World, 47-62, 120-140. [??]
Day 31, Wed, Apr. 12: Abby and Nell, Ed Talk
Day 32, Thurs, Apr. 13: Angela Davis. Are Prisons Obsolete? New York: Seven Stories Press, 2003. 115 pp.
Day 30, Tues, Apr. 18: Are Prisons Obsolete? continued
Day 31, Wed, Apr. 19: Abby and Nell, Ed Talk
Day 32, Thurs, Apr. 20: Megan Sweeney, Conclusion: “This Really Isn’t a Rehabilitation Place: Policy Considerations,” Reading is My Window, 252-258.
Week Fourteen
No site visit this week
Day 30, Tues, Apr. 25: Erica Meiners, Chapter 6: “Horizons of Abolition.”Right to Be Hostile, 165-186.
Julia Sudbury, "Challenging Penal Dependency: Activist Scholars and the Antiprison Movement." Activist Scholarship: Antiracism, Feminism, and Social Change, edited by Julia Sudbury and Margo Okazawa-Rey (Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, 2009), 17-35: https://books.google.com/books?id=oUUeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29&lpg=PT29&dq=Julia+Sudbury,+%22Challenging+Penal+Dependency&source=bl&ots=EdRzScs7CV&sig=2yuLdGqbqfhIUE4c-LufZaloo2o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM3KPOj4PRAhUIwiYKHVmsAXsQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=Julia%20Sudbury%2C%20%22Challenging%20Penal%20Dependency&f=false
Day 31, Wed, Apr. 26: Abby and Nell, Final Ed Talk
[or not? No site visit? But it’s on prison schedule….]
Day 32, Thurs, Apr. 27: Abraham Bolish, “Freedom from Education: Decolonial Study for Abolishing the Prison University Complex.” May 6, 2014: https://classwaru.org/2014/05/06/freedom-from-education/
Finale and final reflections
Fri, Apr. 28: Web Event # 3: What is Literacy? How will you enact it, inside and out?
Anne's Reading Notes (updated Winter 2017)