Narrative, Identity, and Academic Community in Higher Education [Hardcover]

Grounded in narrative theory, this book offers a case study of a liberal arts colleges use of narrative to help build identity, community, and collaboration within the college faculty across a range of disciplines, including history, psychology, sociology, theatre and dance, literature, anthropology, and communication. Exploring issues of methodology and their practical application, this narrative project speaks to the construction of identity for the liberal arts in todays higher education climate. Narrative, Identity, and Academic Communityfocuses on the ways a cross-disciplinary emphasis on narrative can impact institutions in North America and contribute to the discussion of strategies to foster bottom-up, faculty-driven collaboration and innovation.

Introduction Section I: Interrogating and Framing Reality: Identity and Cultural Perceptions 1. Old and New Technologies of Asynchronous Communication: Virtual Narratives and Presence Thomas Klein 2. Onitsha Market Literature: Narrating Identity and Survival in a Colonial African City Raphael Chijioke Njoku and King Yik3. Narrative Identities in Indias Global Age Alan Johnson 4. Narrative Text and Photographs: A Case for Ethnographic Research Poetry Terry OwnbySection I Summary: An Author Conversation Raphael Chijioke Njoku, Thomas Kline, Terry Ownby, and Alan Johnson Section II: Narratives at the Intersection of the Public and Private 5. Finding Story in Unexpected Places: Branding and the Role of Narrative in the Study of Communication John Gribas, Zac Gershberg, Jim DiSanza, and Nancy Legge 6. The Not Yet Pregnant: The Impact of Narratives on Infertility Identity and Reproductive Policy Kellee J. Kirkpatrick 7. Letter-Writing and the Eighteenth-Century Scientific Community: Constructing Narratives and Identity Paul Sivitls0