I'm going to be getting back to this blog soon . . . because I have several projects that I'd like to post about more often. One of those projects is obviously the Remington Steele re-watch (which temporarily fell into scheduling hell between me and Bad Wolf). The other is related to the two classes/curriculums I am developing for next fall.
Both I hope will be a great way to get more teaching experience while I'm in the long stretch of academic limbo . . . but beyond that . . . I hope to (A) find an outlet for my global interests and by extension appreciate my semi-narrow career track more, and (B) to help a few high school students catch the world "pop culture" bug.
This week I had to develop the course descriptions, which meant I actually had to come up with the general theme and structure of of class time. (Which was difficult by definition of being something I'll have to live with for the next year!) I think I managed to come up with flashier, fun gimmicks for the courses (something that will appeal to those mysterious non-studious types) but I'm less worried about "mass appeal" and more about parental approval. I need to refrain from raising the eyebrows of a rather conservative group of parents.
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| If I'm going to talk about Indian film and literature, I have to at least mention the Ramayana. |
I'm not interested in telling the students to forsake any values. That's none of my business, and a rather grey endeavor, anyhow. It's just that I'm worried that I'll end up self-censoring and wringing my hands over whether or not to use terms like multinational corporations or the environment.
These are JUST words, but have become annoyingly politically charged.
How does one broach the ambiguous sexuality of Egyptian bellydance culture or Orientalism or anything with a group of students whose upbringing probably taught them to ignore the first, and pooh pooh the latter? What about world religious practices that students might be "creeped out" by? (As certain members of my family--who shall not be named--feel about Hindu rituals in Indian movies.)
Well, by not calling them by their names, of course! If you don't name it, no one can trip you up on semantics. Right? Right?
My primary goal in the course is to bypass ethnocentrism and alarmism and conflict centrism and all those isms that global studies courses and social studies find themselves bogged down by . . . and let the students see the humanity and the brilliance of other cultures. Like, instead of glossing over Cambodia with just a blurb dedicated to the Khmer Rouge genocide and then moving on to the next great world disaster, why not give the students a taste of something like this, first?
Maybe I'm not the best example, but starting with a story . . . starting with a song . . . starting with a sample of someone else's hopes and dreams. . . in their own particular unique style and delivery . . . I'm not only way more likely to feel the tragedy, but also want to see more BEYOND that tragedy. As I said in the course description . . . the aim is to understand the people behind the headlines, not just the headlines themselves.
