Performing Cultural Reality in the Classroom
Session Coordinator: Meg Gunderson
Dept. of English, University of Missouri
107 Tate Hall, Columbia, MO 64093
meg.gunderson@eku.edu

Triple Afflictions of Ethnocentrism, Sexism, and Racism in Early American History

I demonstrate the connections between ethnocentrism, sexism and racism in my U.S. History classes by using videos, readings, class discussions and writing assignments. I introduce the concept of ethnocentrism the first week of the semester as part of our study of colonization. I use Barbara Welter’s article, “The Cult of True Womanhood,” to introduce the topic of sexism. Students are asked to read the article and come to class prepared to discuss the role of women during the early decades of the nineteenth century. I also ask students to compare the lives of nineteenth century American women to the lives of twenty-first century American women. The third discussion and writing assignment for the class centers on racism. Students are asked to read several short readings that both defend and attack the institution of slavery. Students are also asked to compare the arguments described in their papers to current events relating to the topic of racism. Finally, during the last week of class students are asked to discuss the connections between ethnocentrism, sexism and racism.

Dr. Yvonne Johnson
Central Missouri State University
yjohnson@cmsu1.cmsu.edu

Confronting Disillusionment: Inclusive Performance in the Classroom”

When we try to interest our students in discussions about race, class, gender and sexuality, we confront a culture bell hooks labels as “imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchal,” so we enter the classroom as if we step onto a field of battle. With such dominant attitudes, it is difficult to reach students influenced by mass media and acculturated to distrust liberal agendas. This paper addresses the struggles of teaching students to thing about diversity. Though many of us profess that we consciously address issues of race, class, gender and sexuality in our classrooms, we may not know how actively such discourse engages our students. For us to understand how students receive and process an education that impresses upon them the importance of thinking about race, class, gender and sexuality, we need to learn about their perspectives toward a diverse education. A unique contribution of this paper will be results of surveys given students at a state institution in Kentucky. Students respond to questions about how much exposure to these issues of diversity they perceive they have had. This paper will also include excerpts of student writing where the writers examine their attitudes toward, and understanding of, diversity.

Meg Gunderson
University of Missouri
Meg.gunderson@eku.edu

Teaching in Drag: Performing Gender in the Classroom

In many ways it is possible to consider the role of teacher as a sort of heightened personae, a sort of theatrical extension of ones real personality. We emphasize and hide traits and attitudes from our students for deliberate reasons- to entertain them, to encourage them, to provoke them, and even to silence them. Within this personae, we have a remarkable freedom and opportunity to play not only a “grander” version of ourselves, but to play with the very notions of gender.  If, as Judith Butler argues, our notions of gender are actively constructed, then the performative nature of our roles in teaching provides us with some very interesting opportunities to explore and complicate traditional gender notions.  This paper addresses the ways in which intentional gender play can actually work to open up the classroom as a genderless space.

Emily D. Biggs
University of Kentucky
Edbigg2@uky.edu

Why, What, and How: One Perspective on Teaching Multicultural American Literature

 In 2004, the presence of multicultural literature courses in American universities as an opportunity for students to learn about diversity might seem so obvious as to hardly merit discussion. Yet many institutions are still working toward including such courses in their general education plan, or even in the regular rotation of course offerings. This examination of teaching multicultural literature comes from the perspective of an instructor who was involved in the development of such courses to fulfill a diversity requirement while at one institution, but who now teaches at another university which has yet to implement a diversity requirement in its general education curriculum. In the spirit of hoping to bring about such change, my discussion will explore the importance of the regular offering, and ideally the requirement, of multicultural literature courses, particularly at institutions such as my own. Additionally, I will discuss the content and structure of my approach to such courses, ranging from such broad principles as inclusivity of ethnic groups and importance of historical contextualization to the specifics of particularly effective texts. Finally, this presentation will explore essential principles in the pedagogy of multicultural literature.

Dr. Charlotte Rich
Eastern Kentucky University
Charlotte.rich@eku.edu