Teaching in Times of Crisis: Applying Comparative Literature in the Classroom [Hardcover]

Introduction

Memo IThe Deliverance or Domestication of Others: Memos from Comparative Literature Classes in Appalachia

Memo IISyllabusing: Mapping Appalachian Texts onto a World Literature Curriculum

Memo IIIPedagogies of Cultural Translation: Debating Polygamy, War, and Patriotism in Comparative Literature Classes

Memo IVSyllabusing: Mapping Appalachian Queer Texts onto a Comparative Literature Curriculum

Memo VMonstrous Encounters in Outer Space: A Pedagogic Analysis of Star Treks Racial Politics from a Comparative Perspective

Memo VIComparative Feminism and Social Justice: Instrumentalizing the Poetics of Assia Djebars The Woman in Pieces in Experiential Learning Courses

Conclusion

Teaching in Times of Crisis explores how comparative methods, which are instrumental in reading and teaching works of literature from around the world, also provide us with tools to dissect and engage the moments of crises that permeate our contemporary political realities.

The book is written in the form of a series of classroom reflectionsor memoscapturing the political environment preceding and proceeding the 2016 US presidential election. It examines the ways in which the ethics involved in reading comparatively can be employed by teachers and students alike to map and foster lifelines for cultural sustainability (to borrow the term from Djelal Kadirs Memos from the Besieged City) that are essential for creating and maintaining a healthy multicultural society.

Nyawalo achieves this through comparative readings of postcolonial films, LGBTQ texts, French slam poetry, as well lc-