GS 554 — Reimagining the Gendered Classics: Little Women

Here is a growing list of themes and questions that have arisen during our discussion of Luisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Themes: The gendered nature of toys and products targeted at children (American Girl dolls, Spiderman vs. Disney princess backpacks, etc.). The limits of subversive elements in literature. Questions: What is the relationship between expectations …

GS 554 — Classrooms in Motion: Hip-Hop Based Education

Our discussion of Marc Lamont Hill’s Beats, Rhymes, and Classroom Life: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and the Politics of Identity produced many themes and questions. Here are a few. Feel free to continue discussion by posting comments. Themes: Teachers being afraid. The importance of storytelling in cultivating meaningful relationships. The various levels of resistance (social, institutional, and …

GS 554 — Classrooms in Motion: Digital Youth

Our discussion of S. Craig Watkins’s The Young & The Digital: What the Migration to Social-Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future spawned a number of thematic elements and questions for further discussion. Themes: The difference between technology as a pedagogical tool or an impressive classroom gimmick. Fear of teachers being …

GS 554 — Classrooms in Motion: Multiculturalism

It was our privilege to have Dr. Juan Gonzalez visit our institute for two days to provide his insight, personal experiences, and research into culture and ethnicity as it relates to childhood, coming of age, and pedagogy. Here are a few of the subjects we’ve touched on in class discussion with links courtesy of Dr. …

GS 554 — Constructing Youth

It’s day two of the summer Experienced Teacher Institute, “Coming of Age: The Culture and Literature of Youth in America.” Participants are reading and discussing selections from Huck’s Raft: A History of American Childhood by Steven Mintz. Mintz’s history of childhood in America presents and challenges the following five myths: The notion of childhood as …

Conquering Fortresses, Breaking Language Barriers, and Rocking Cafeteria Dance Parties

Crimea has been drawing vastly different groups of people to its beautiful shores for millennia.  A small peninsula jutting off the southern tip of Ukraine, Crimea sits at the top of the Black Sea.  Visitors to this beautiful area can still visit ruins left by Ancient Greek travelers and the vestiges of the Silk Road.  …

The End

Class is over, Robbie and Henrik have left, and I’m stuck in that odd limbo between finishing everything that I had to do and departing tomorrow. It’s been a good time for introspection, reminiscence and gathering my thoughts on the block and the semester. I’ve learned and grown so much, studying abroad. This class was …

css.php