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

[David H Kirshner]

Fabulous resources, thanks Chris. 
You've really caught onto the idea of experiential texts; the anthology of psychoanalytic case studies seems dead on. I checked into sensory deprivation chambers, and there is a place in Baton Rouge, but it's 60 bucks a pop, so it's not going to be a homework assignment. 
David

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Christopher Schuck
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2016 6:25 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Identity through "experiential texts"

Hi David,

Sounds like a great class! The Black Swan is another excellent movie touching upon these themes that wasn't mentioned.

In terms of reading, I would recommend one of the many excellent articles by Mark Freeman on the relationship between memory, identity and narrative self (he also has a chapter in the Kirschner/Martin text that Lplarry [real name??] recommended), or a chapter from either his 2010 book Hindsight or
1993 book Rewriting the Self.

Another perspective is from philosophy of psychiatry, where there has been a lot of interdisciplinary discussion about the ways that certain kinds of psychopathology (or the way society frames them) interacts with identity; for example, Jennifer Radden - Divided Minds and Successive Selves or the collection Personal Identity and Fractured Selves (Mathews and Bok) which also addresses neuroscience. Muriel Dimen edited an anthology of psychoanalytic case studies (With Culture in Mind) that demonstrate how culture and politics inevitably become implicated in identity, and how this in turn challenged the analyst's assumptions about their own identity.
Given that you are critiquing traditional models, you might want to check out Marya Schechtman who has made some interesting critiques of philosophy's reliance on continuity in "personal identity" literature and its wonky tendencies to engage in "what if" thought experiments while ignoring more narrative elements; she has an article on the significance of "empathic access" to understanding identity which might be good for teachers-in-training (attached).

Yet another perspective would be the Buddhist idea of the "empty self"
(maybe a guided mindfulness exercise focusing on that topic?).

Finally, as an experiential exercise: this might be way out there, but have you ever considered offering students the voluntary option of spending an hour in a sensory deprivation chamber (assuming there is such a resource in your area)? This could be a really interesting way of exploring the relationship between perception of self and felt bodily sense. A friend of mind used to go to a place near our town that had a tank you could rent by the hour, and found that it really challenged his habitual frames of mind in this regard. Unless it's too much of a liability issue, of course!

Best, Chris

On Thu, Jul 28, 2016 at 1:04 PM, 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]
>
>
>
>