[Xmca-l] Re: Identity through "experiential texts"

[Kevin O'Connor]

Hi David-
This sounds really interesting - it would be great to see what you come up with.

There were a number of films that came out in the early 2000’s that explored themes of memory, memory loss, memory erasure - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 50 First Dates, and others.  I think films like this problematize the essential self, at least implicitly, though what each film does with it can vary.

The best of these films, in my view, was Memento; it has the added bonus of placing mediational means at the center of the main character’s narrative reconstruction of identity. I’ve never assigned it as a primary text for a course, though I have recommended it and had useful discussions about it with students.

Good luck with your course!

Kevin


> On Jul 28, 2016, at 11:04 AM, David H Kirshner <dkirsh@lsu.edu> wrote:
> 
> I'm preparing to teach a capstone graduate course for teachers-to-be that includes a focus on identity.
> The major assignment is a Personal Literacy Portfolio in which students compile, organize, and discuss artifacts of their past in exploration of their identity. The rationale is that this self-awareness of positioning facilitates engagement with students of diverse cultural locations.
> 
> I'm asking for suggestions of course resources.
> Rather than a single course reader, I'm looking for "experiential texts"-that is creative products in any medium that can help perturb essentialist ideas of core identity in favor of a more complex, poststructural view of identity as multiple and fragmented. Media can include academic writing in psychology, sociology, philosophy; short stories; poetry; film; works of art, etc.
> 
> If you'd like to email me off-line (dkirsh@lsu.edu<mailto:dkirsh@lsu.edu>), I'll send a compilation of all suggestions to XMCA.
> 
> Below is a list of some experiential texts I'm already considering.
> 
> David
> 
> Walkerdine, V. (1990). Chapter 1: Sex, power and pedagogy. In V. Walkerdine (Ed.), Schoolgirl fictions(pp. 3-15). London: Verso. Reprinted from Screen Education, 38, 14-24, 1981.
> 
> PBS Video: http://www.pbs.org/program/nine-months-that-made-you/
> 9 Months That Made You   -  How a person's individuality is developed, including their sexuality
> 
> Documentary on the life of a child kept without language for 13 years.
> https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/14/genie-feral-child-los-angeles-researchers
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E
> 
> Movie: Enemy  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_(2013_film)
> The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as two men who are physically identical, but different in terms of personality.
> 
> Gee, J. P. (2001). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. In W. G. Secada (Ed.), Review of Research in Education, 25 (pp. 3-56). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association. [identity = kind of person one is recognized as being]
> 
> Stremmel, A., Burns, J., Nganga, C., & Bertolini, K. (2015). Countering the essentialized discourse of teacher education. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 36(2), 156-174. [discussed in http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=20275]
> 
> 
>