Teaching Life Writing as Civic Education

Pedagogy Apr 2022

Teaching Life Writing as Civic Education

Ilana M. Blumberg

Abstract

AbstractFocusing on a course taught to Palestinian and Jewish Israelis, this essay suggests that the study of life writing can help students develop a better informed civic identity, particularly in relation to divisive national matters. By carefully constructing collective classroom practices of reading, writing, discussing, and listening, the instructor can forge an environment that strengthens students’ capacity to appreciate the textual and contemporary interaction between individuals and their historical contexts, and to hear alternative perspectives and experiences attentively, without argument. University classrooms can thus play a vital role in democratic culture, as spaces in which a broader range of voices can be heard and in which minority voices are specially protected and projected.

Journal: Pedagogy
Published: 2022-04-01
DOI: 10.1215/15314200-9576398
Open Access: Closed
Topics: voice and style

Citation Context

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Cites in this index (1)

Tobin (2010)

Opinion: Self-Disclosure as a Strategic Teaching Tool: What I Do—and Don’t—Tell…

College English

Also cites 5 works outside this index ↓

Drake (2017)

Embracing the Surface: How to Read a Life Narrative

a/b: Auto/Biography Studies ↗
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On Diary

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Popularization and Memory: The Case of Anne Frank

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Smith (2016)

Narratives and Rights: Zlata's Diary and the Circulation of Stories of Suffering Ethnicity

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Whitlock (2007)

Soft Weapons: Autobiography in Transit

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