Resource | Resources | Wabash Center

June 19, 2018

Dear White People – “Woke” Requires Work

Nancy Lynne Westfield, Ph.D., The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion

My course began with an iconic book by bell hooks and ended, after several other readings, with a beloved text by Parker Palmer. On the last day of class, a white woman student came up to me to tell me how much she enjoyed the course (she had earned an A in the course), and to give me feedback, saying, “Next time, start with the white guy and not bell hooks; it will be easier for us white people to stay in the conversation.” So much teaching is complicit with dominant race ideologies and patriarchy, yet we yearn for different ways to teach. White normative approaches to disciplinary-subject matter, reading lists which strain to add even one non-white author, grading standards which insist upon majority culture assessment categories are only a few of the ways that the ideals which normalize whiteness permeate our daily living and teaching. Disrupting these patterns of evil and shifting these detrimental values takes mixing things up, muddling stuff, creating newness and difference. Increasing our knowledge of new resources and redefining our criteria of what might constitute acceptable academic resource for our classrooms, might be a way forward. Look for narratives which resist and repudiate the story of whiteness. Stories that champion and reinforce whiteness and patriarchy, stories that allow for a token few minoritized people to triumph, but refuse to portray a change in the oppression for all or stories which never question the absence of powerless people in significant roles permeate our airwaves and imaginations. We are persons immersed in the narrative which supports and promotes white supremacy, white nationalism, and patriarchy. We have to find ways to resist. A critical challenge for all teachers who want to teach as a disruption to whiteness and patriarchy is that, regardless of personal social location, each of us must expand our knowledge of freedom narratives. We, all of us, given the ethos of the United States in the 21st century, must with great intent, seek out and immerse ourselves in the counter-narratives to the lie of whiteness. We must internalize a narrative of freedom, love, creativity, and forgiveness. We must believe in the sacredness and worth of all human beings and teach this story in unflinching and believable ways. As a spiritual discipline, take time to fill your consciousness and imagination with freedom narratives as a way to fortify yourself for teaching against the status quo. We must re-teach ourselves in order to teach toward freedom. Read stories that depict and portray people of color as intelligent, generative, and caring human beings – as normal. This is why the movie Black Panther was so popular and so refreshing. It did not start and end with chattel slavery. It made use of fresh portrayals of people of the African diaspora which told a story of community, kinship and the complexity of freedom. Avoid the motifs of the individual superhero like the ways Martin Luther King’s or Harriet Tubman’s legacies have been distorted. Look past the stories of inferiority and degradation often told in the daily news cycle. Find stories where the women are not one-dimensional wooden beings and the people of color are not gratuitously violent, oversexualized, or stupid. Teach yourself to identify the narratives of freedom and bring them into your classroom. In immersing yourself in freedom narratives, look for a multiplicity of mediums: film clips, music, screenplays, artwork, photography (all means of storytelling), and then consider making use of the best ones in your classes. Narratives that are sophisticated about race/gender politics are seeping into the U.S. culture. Look for new stories like “Dear White People” on Netflix. Binge watching both seasons of “Dear White People” took focus and stamina. I managed to do it in 48 hours – taking occasional breaks to walk my dog, get a snack and sleep. The well-written Netflix series is based upon an acclaimed film of the same name. The plot is set in a 21st-century fictitious college called Winchester University. The story depicts the lives of African American college students at this Ivy League, predominantly white university. The Black students are bright, articulate, culturally and politically conscious, and conscientious. In other words, the black folks are woke. The title “Dear White People” is a clue that the white folks of the community are not woke. The lead character and protagonist has a campus radio show. She often, to inform white peers, professors, and university administrators formats her radio soliloquies in the form of a letter which begins, “Dear White People.” Then in great poetic rant, she informs and reprimands the offending, or simply ignorant, white people about their white supremacy, privilege, and the ways their behaviors and the racist, sexist systems which privilege them, to which they seem to be oblivious, continually affect her and her friends. The poignant stories disclose and interrogate cultural bias, social injustice, misguided activism, and the zeal that comes with college-aged persons. The stories are also about the relationships of young people and the ways they struggle to negotiate their social, cultural, and intellectual growth. Creator and executive producer Justin Simien is a storyteller who understands the ever-present irony, bitter humor and too often anger for persons attempting to live life while being a target of white supremacy and patriarchy. “Dear White People” is an expanding of freedom narratives. This is the kind of material you want to explore for possible classroom use. Material which unapologetically tells the story from the perspective of the oppressed and the ways we navigate the dehumanizing terrain. Consider radical ideas as you find new resources. What if you taught your introductory course with no white or male authors? Develop a course which is soundly disciplinary, but has no majority culture readings. This might mean using all articles and no textbooks, per se, but why not? Teaching to transform might not mean including a few voices of the marginalized --- it might mean excluding the voices of the oppressor so we can learn the perspectives, voices, and stories of the oppressed. And/or consider introducing each text to be read by providing, or having your students research, the social locations of each author. If an author is white and male, identify the person in this way. Resist only identifying the gender and race of authors who are female and people of color because it signals they are “exceptions” to the routinely read normal readings authored by white men. Creating educational spaces for which the voices of the oppressed and marginalized is taken seriously, respected, even prioritized is a paradigm-shifting act – an act of freedom in which you can participate by the stories you bring into your classroom.

#notes-from-the-field #critical-thinking #white-privilege #anti-racism

June 13, 2018

Facing the Facts: Sometimes You Need New Equipment

Heather Hartung Vacek

Heather Hartung Vacek, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

I imagine that once upon a time, a child joyfully ran along the beach in this sandal - picking up shells, building sculptures in the sand, playing in the waves. But, after a season at sea, this sandal would be difficult to walk in – it’s nearly broken in half, now the home of sea life, and no longer part of a pair. Plus, the child who wore it last summer has likely outgrown it. A new season calls for new equipment. Deans are called to help theological institutions, and the people within them, realize these same sorts of things. The shoes we’ve been wearing (perhaps our curricula, organizational structures, recruiting processes, systems of student support, and faculty cultures) don’t always serve us well in a new season. Moving beyond unneeded parts of the past – first naming and then letting go of old ways and sacred cows – can be difficult, however, and so deans also need to care well for faculty, staff, students, and ourselves amid times of significant change. It’s OK to swap out equipment, and sometimes it’s the best option. We still need shoes to get us where we are going, shoes that will provide cushion and support and protection and make the journey easier, but it’s likely time for a new pair of sandals. New equipment may take time to break in, but we can trust that it will serve us well in this new season and allow us to explore and build and play in response to the divine invitation to equip God’s people to serve as they have been called

#theological-school-deans #higher-education #theological-school-deans #administration

June 7, 2018

2019-20 Early Career Workshop

The Wabash Center

2019-20 Teaching and Learning Workshop for Early Career Religion Faculty Teaching Undergraduates We are mourning the loss of our friend, colleague, and workshop leadership team member David Sanchez who died suddenly in early April. Read more. We will be in touch with workshop participants regarding our plans for moving forward with the workshop. Participants Front Row: Jaclyn Michael (University of Tennessee, Chattanooga), Matthew Hotham (Ball State University), *Tom Pearson (Wabash Center), *Ruben Rosario-Rodriguez (Saint Louis University), George Faithful (Dominican University of California. Middle Row: *Bernadette McNary-Zak (Rhodes College), Shehnaz Haqqani (Mercer University – Macon), Rebecca Berru Davis (Montana State University), Emily Cain (Loyola University Chicago), *Swasti Bhattacharyya (Buena Vista University), Michele Watkins (University of San Diego), Sara Ronis (St. Mary’s University – Texas). Back Row: Kristy Slominski (University of Arizona), Tanner Capps (St. Andrews University), Stephen Waers (Point University), *Steven Ramey (University of Alabama), Jackie Wyse-Rhodes (Bluffton University), Thomas Hoklotubbe (Cornell College). *leadership/staff Dates First session: July 8-13, 2019, Wabash College Second session: January 16-19, 2020, Corpus Christi, Texas Third session: June 15-20, 2020, Online Fourth session: January 14-17, 2021, Online Leadership Team Bernadette McNary-Zak, Director Rhodes College Swasti Bhattacharyya Buena Vista University Steven Ramey University of Alabama Rubén Rosario Rodriguez St. Louis University Description This workshop will gather 14 early career faculty members from diverse scholarly specializations and institutional contexts (primarily teaching undergraduates), for a week in each of two successive summers and a winter weekend retreat. As a collaborative learning cohort of teacher-scholars, we will explore such topics as: • Relationship between scholarship and teaching • Professional and personal life in institutional context • Implications of intersectionality in the classroom • Course design and assessment • Issues of technology in education • Fellowship project design The workshop balances plenary sessions with small group discussions, individual and collaborative work, access to the Wabash Center teaching resources, as well as structured and unstructured social time. Workshop Goals Create a collaborative learning cohort of teacher-scholars Develop the practice of critical reflection on teaching Articulate the relevance of our courses inside and outside the academy Explore strategies for thriving in institutional and personal contexts Honorarium and Fellowship Participants will receive an honorarium of $3,500 for full participation in the three workshop sessions, plus local expenses and travel. In addition, participants are eligible to apply for a $5,000 workshopfellowship for work on a teaching project during the following academic year (2020-21). Read More aboutPayment of Participants Read More about the Workshop Fellowship Program FellowshipProjects Emily Cain - “'First, Do No Harm:’Trauma Informed Pedagogy in the Nontraditional Classroom" Tanner Capps - “The Art of Dialogue: Teaching Inter-religious Understanding Through the Arts" Rebecca Berru Davis - “Images that Transform: The Use of Art in Teaching Theology in an Online Environment" George Faithful - “Empowering Students to Build Bridges Between Their Passion for Social Justice and the Study of Abrahamic Religions" Shehnaz Haqqani - “Exploring Student Biases in First-Year Classes" Chris “Thomas” Hoklotubbe - “Threshold Concepts in Teaching the Bible in a Small Liberal Arts College" Matthew Hotham - “Beyond the ‘Muslim Bible’: Overcoming Student Resistance to Qur’anic Recitation in an Introductory Religious Studies Class" Jaclyn Michael - “Deconstructing the Foreign ‘Other:’ Teaching Asian Religions Through Asian-American Experience" Sara Ronis - “Integrating Trauma-Informed Pedagogy into an Introductory Theology Course" Kirsti Slominski - “Applied Religious Studies for Health Professionals" Stephen Waers - “Self-Location and Sympathetic Listening" Michele Watkins - “Toward a Race and Gender Conscious Trauma-Informed Pedagogy for Undergraduates in Theology and Religious Studies" Jackie Wyse-Rhodes - “Re-centering Biblical Studies" Important Information Travel and Accommodations for Summer Sessions at the Wabash Center Policy on Participation Map of Wabash College Campus Things To Do In Crawfordsville - Recreation Travel Reimbursement Form Foreign National Information Form Payment of Honorarium Fellowship Program For More Information, Please Contact: Nancy Lynne Westfield, Director Wabash Center 301 West Wabash Ave. Crawfordsville, IN 47933 765-361-6047 westfiel@wabash.edu

#programs

June 6, 2018

Ocean, Dunes, or Bridge?

Jeanne Hoeft

Jeanne Hoeft, Saint Paul School of Theology

The ocean – dynamic, powerful and vast – the dean must be willing to be there; walking with and leading others into the movements of change. The dunes - stable, protective and slow – the dean must be a stable and sustaining presence, standing strong with others in the midst of storms. Or perhaps the dean must be the bridge, creating the pathway between energies of stability and change; walking purposefully back and forth between the two and inviting others to walk along.

#theological-school-deans #administration #higher-education #theological-school-deans

June 5, 2018

The Wabash Center

Teaching and Traumatic Events P16-109 Friday12:00 PM to 5:00 PM Convention Center - 201 (Street Level) Current events are pressing conversations about trauma and traumatic events in classrooms across higher education, not just those associated with theology and religion. This pre-meeting workshop invites religion and theology faculty into critically reflective conversations about trauma and traumatic events related to classroom teaching. The workshop will explore such topics as: hot-button issues, teaching methods and strategies for engaging trauma and traumatic events in classroom teaching, and crisis teaching. The workshop will also provide participants with a range of effective teaching resources related to the topic. We will begin with a buffet lunch at noon and conclude at 5 p.m. Prior to the workshop, participants will read a short essay in advance and be prepared to discuss your teaching context. Pre-registration is required. Space is limited to 40 participants. Send an email to Beth Reffett, reffettb@wabash.edu Registration deadline is October 15. Ella Johnson, St. Ambrose University, Panelist Richard Newton, University of Alabama, Panelist

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