HU Queer Press

My undergraduate institution was Harding University. Though there are many good things about Harding, it is one of the most conservative colleges one could hope to attend. Nearly all students are required to live on campus in dorms; there are nightly curfews for all students living in dorms; and students (and faculty!) can be kicked out (or fired as the case may be) for drinking alcohol, having sex, being gay, or even dancing. Along with the rules of conduct, students are required to attend daily chapel and Bible classes each semester. The rules are strict, but many students–most student’s parents, too–don’t mind them too much. Things don’t often change at Harding but something new is afoot.

An anonymous group known as HU Queer Press published a zine chronicling the stories of queer students who did or do attend Harding. In the zine (which can be read on their site) are many stories of queer students who have been ostracized, bullied, and belittled by their peers, educators, and administrators. Though there may not be much hope for immediate change on campus, I am excited that these brave students and former students have stood up and made their voices heard.

One note: I was not involved in the production or hosting of HU Queer Press, and I don’t know who they are. I just received an anonymous email a few days ago asking me to help with getting the word out since I have a blog.  In fact I think it’s more powerful not knowing because they could be anyone I knew at Harding. (this note is directly stolen from Brett Keller’s much more thorough write-up of the zine)

On Coming to Voice

“A distinction must be made between a shallow emphasis on coming to voice, which wrongly suggests there can be some democratization of voice wherein everyone’s words will be given equal time and be seen as equally valuable (often the model applied in feminist classrooms), and the more complex recognition of the uniqueness of each voice and a willingness to create spaces in the classroom where all voices can be heard because all students are free to speak, knowing their presence will be recognized and valued. This does not mean that anything can be said, no matter how irrelevant to classroom subject matter, and receive attention–or that something meaningful takes place if everyone has equal time to voice an opinion. In the classes I teach, I have students write short paragraphs that they read aloud so that we all have a chance to hear unique perspectives and we are all given an opportunity to pause and listen to one another. Just the physical experience of hearing, of listening intently, to each particular voice strengthens our capacity to learn together. Even though a student may not speak again after this moment, that student’s presence has been acknowledged.”

-bell hooks in “Confronting Class in the Classroom”

Meeting Expectations

As the semester draws to a close, professors/instructors everywhere anticipate grading, finals, and a well-deserved holiday break. For many, the end of the semester also brings course evaluations to mind. While I am not here to debate the merits of student evaluations (that is well covered elsewhere), I do want to draw attention to a notable course evaluation from UNC-Chapel Hill.¹

The student describes what, to me, sounds like a wonderfully developed second-semester freshman composition course that incorporates teaching methods from many different sources and works to appeal to many different types of learners. Her complaint is that though the course was interesting, it did not teach her how to write for her upcoming humanities course. The student’s expectations were not met, though the instructor’s goals seem clear enough.

For this student, a course, titled “English Composition and Rhetoric,” should emphasize composition, and the instructor seemed to put more weight behind rhetoric. Instead of teaching the hows of academic writing, the professor emphasized communication and thinking–skills, as lamented by Bessette, that most high schools no longer teach.²

I suppose this highlights the need to explicitly state course goals and objectives to our students. Composition, of course, is an important skill for college study but the broader skill of communication is a vital skill for every facet of life.

That being said, I’m rather excited to get my course evaluations back.

Image by Flickr user billso / Creative Commons licensed

1. College Ready Writing, a wonderful blog maintained by Lee Skallerup Bessette, brought this course to my attention. [↩]
2. I don’t mean to over-simplify rhetoric or, for that matter, insult high schools. Please do forgive me. [↩]

Pre-Evaluation Evaluation

Inspired by Dr. Nels Highberg (who was inspired by Jo(e)), I asked my students to write down on thing they learned during our class together. I passed out index cards at the beginning of our last class together and here are their anonymous responses, unedited and in the order they were received:

• I learned how to better compose myself and my writings with the uses of new styles of writing and bad habits to break.
• Zotero is the most magical invention since shoes…
• I learned that marijuana is specifically endorsed by God. [editor's note: this was not taught or endorsed by the instructor] I also learned more about logical fallacies. I feel like if more people don’t learn about them, the economy will collapse and a massive nuclear holocaust might incur. But seriously, I did not know much about fallacies until this class.
• I learned how to use various writing styles to create a cohesive and logical paper.
• I learned a lot of simple grammar stuff and about logical fallacies.
• I loved this class. I learned a lot better with his learning style and his personality helped a lot with the learning environment.
• Transitions are good.
• How to do a Pecha Kucha (complete with anime-esque drawing).
• I learned that no matter what Mr. Thomas says, logical fallacies are legit.
• Something I find valuable is that I learned how to write a good argumentative paper. This will help me at my job because I can persuade people of my ideas.
• I have learned to be a better writer.
• How to fix comma splices.
• I learned the different writing styles for a paper, grammar, and logical fallacies.
• I learned that logical fallacies are fun!
• I learned how to make my paragraphs in my papers flow smoothly.
• Learned how to improve my writing and use different techniques to capture the reader.

Challenging my Anglocentrism

Several weeks ago, the New York Times printed an article about the future of academic peer review and potential alternatives that garnered quite a bit of attention in academic circles. Besides inspiring one of my favorite non-meme memes, #LOLDan, the NYT piece was picked up by newspapers and news outlets worldwide, including Le Monde. What intrigued me most about the Le Monde article (after, of course, my surprise that I could still read French enough to get the gist) was the bracketed phrase contained here:

“Cette évolution était derrière la récente décision de la prestigieuse revue Shakespeare Quaterly [spécialisée dans les études des textes du poète et dramaturge britannique] de s’embarquer dans une expérience inhabituelle.”

The bracketed phrase specifies that Shakespeare Quarterly specializes in the study of the British poet and playwright. My egregious Anglocentrism is showing here, but I was stunned that the newspaper would find it necessary to explain to its readers who Shakespeare is. Would French literary scholars be surprised if a US newspaper specified who Molière was (which, sadly, it surely would)?

Rather unrelatedly, there is a joy to be felt at the promise at the increasing globalization of literary scholarship. Google Wave (now slowly going the way of the buffalo) showed great promise for global collaboration and it gives me great hope for the future of the increasingly small world of the academy.

With increased contact with non-English-lit-centered scholars, I can only hope that my anglocentrism will dissolve into a more nuanced approach to literature and scholarship.