EDCI7310: Tue. 4:30 to 7:30, Dr. Claudia Eppert

Testimony, Ethics, and Social Change: What does it mean to aspire to ethical and caring relations with others and with the environment in today’s world? How might such relations be supported by educational practices, in particular, literature and the Arts? What tensions and possibilities exist between contemporary understandings of ethics and curriculum, ethics and social change, ethics and representation? This course considers these questions in the context of engagements with testimonies – literature, art, film, drama, music – that bear witness to our current global environmental crisis, struggles of women and minorities, and past and present events of trauma and violence. The writings of Paulo Freire, Simone Weil, Nel Noddings, Emmanuel Levinas, the Dalai Lama, and Thich Nhat Hanh will be examined, among others.

EDCI7901: Thurs. 4:30 to 7:30, Dr. Denise Egéa-Kuehne

Curriculum Theory: Curriculum as a field of study is both complex and diverse with multiple perspectives and approaches. This course will examine the field by looking at curriculum not as a technical document, but as a social process. The course will introduce various theoretical discourses in the field of curriculum (including pragmatist, feminist, poststructual, political, postmodern, phenomological) and the representative works of several influential curriculum theorists (Dewey, Tyler, Freire, Apple). Students are expected to acquire a working knowledge of contemporary curriculum thought, its historical antecedents, and be able to articulate a position, however temporary, where they find themselves within the field.

COURSE OF RELATED INTEREST

ELRC 7890 (session 2): Mon. & Wed. 3:00 to 6:45, Dr. Mitchell Roland (Summer 2007)

Unspoken: Engaging Taboo Subjects in College Teaching: In this quick paced and engaging seminar, students will explore approaches for dealing with several of the most controversial issues that occur in college classrooms. The topics that you were always told not to discuss in public settings (religion, politics, sexuality, and race) often occur in classroom settings. However, lacking meaningful information and skill at effectively facilitating the resulting discussions that arise from these topics some of the best opportunities for teaching and learning are either missed or badly botched. In this class students will learn ways to engage these topics as pedagogues and practitioners across multiple disciplines and subject areas.

ENGL 7222: Wed. 3:00 to 6:00, Dr. Sue Weinstein

African-American Literacies: While African-American cultural practices cannot and should not be talked about in singular, monolithic ways, there are traditions of practice that can be traced historically to particular African-American communities. This course will examine such traditions in detail, focusing on language, reading, and writing as they are carried out in specific social contexts. The course will include an overview of the features of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) including both its grammatical and its performative aspects. We will examine the intersections of class and gender in African American literacy practices, looking at the traditions of women’s reading clubs, religious and political oratory, memoir and autobiography, and folk and popular traditions including the dozens, toasting, blues, and rap. Students will be asked to develop a research project connecting the course topic to their own larger research interests.

EDCI 7142: Thurs. 4:30 to 7:30, Dr. Jacqueline Bach & Claudia Eppert

Studies in the Teaching of English in Secondary Schools: Can Teaching Literature Save the World? Inspired by a recent English Journal article written by several high school students titled "Literature: An Exercise in Futility or the Way to Save the World?" this course debates the questions of whether and how engagement with literature and approaches to teaching it might/might not make a difference to changing the world. We will examine a variety of scholarship from the field: Literacy with an Attitude, A Curriculum of Peace, and "But Will it Work with Real Students?" to examine the complexities of teaching and incorporating such literature in the secondary English classroom. We will also read diverse works of young adult literature and consider films which deal with these questions. Possible topics include environmental awareness and change, peace and conflict resolution, social difference, and recent reconsiderations of the teaching of English/Language Arts.