Critical theory, critical culture, & postmodern humanism
In a nutshell: Two decades after the Culture Wars, has humanism slipped behind an Iron Curtain? Advocates of a values-free academy would have us teach the humanities minus the ongoing confrontation with freedom and justice that veritably defines the humanistic Continue reading Pedagogy & the Iron Curtain of Humanism
In a nutshell: Postmodern critical theory has undermined our belief in a unified individual subject with a core human nature that transcends social construction and historical specificity. But we need not choose between our individuality and our humanity, nor need Continue reading Humanity in a Post-human World
In a nutshell: Identity politics made the human condition unfashionable. But if we want to practice a humanistic pedagogy, we need to bring the human condition back into vogue. For their Daily Write on February 21, I asked my mythology Continue reading Bringing the Human Condition Back
In a nutshell: If literature is transformative, then as teachers of literature, what we are really trying to teach is the capacity for self-transformation. That’s why this business Gerald Graff has called “professing literature” is so damned hard, and so Continue reading Transformative Pedagogy
In a nutshell: An old Saturday Night Live sketch helps me teach my classical mythology students about the double life of Eros as mythological god and philosophical concept in Plato’s Symposium. Part of my approach to classical mythology involves creating Continue reading Eros is a floor wax AND a dessert topping
In a nutshell: Joe Strummer is why I teach. He exhorted (“Let fury have the hour!”); he provoked (“Anger can be power–Do you know that you can use it?”). That’s what we should do as teachers in front of the Continue reading Post-Punk Pedagogy
In a nutshell: It’s been a crazy busy six weeks, but the semester is winding down, and my future is falling into place. Well I was going like gangbusters there for a while, but I haven’t posted a new entry Continue reading A Reckoning
In a nutshell: Students often evade thinking critically about a text by identifying a topic or theme as “important” rather than explaining how and why it is important. Teachers need to intervene. As literature teachers, we ask students to read Continue reading Importance Is Not a Thesis
In a nutshell: A low-stakes writing exercise can serve as a way of reviewing for an exam and can even allow students to participate in developing the test. Before I make up essay questions for a midterm or final exam, Continue reading Low-stakes Writing as Test Prep
In a nutshell: What I care most about in the classroom is increasing students’ awareness of social justice, categories of privilege and oppression, the connection between knowledge and power, and their own potential as champions of freedom. Here I explore Continue reading Critical Pedagogy in My Classroom