In terms of this particular angle that Beth brought up, that of the
classroom setting, the book "Foucault's challenge" and the book "Queer
theory in education" have some useful material. And applying it to
the classroom setting is particularly an interesting thing,
particularly if it leads you to also reflect more critically on your
pedagogy.
In more general sense, however, anything that helps them to connect it
to their lives, before applying it to the more literary realm, seems
reasonable. In one course that I took on Sexuality & Culture, for
example, we talked about confession in popular culture, for example,
and the role of daytime talk shows, web-logs, and the modern
equivalents that seem to have formed recently in our culture. I would
imagine, too, that almost any student (with sufficient guidance) could
relate to the constructed nature of their identity when given an
opportunity to critically reflect on their own position and the
identities which they identify with.
For the latter aspect, I imagine assigning an article that applies
Foucault to the subject matter you are working with would at least
give them a model of how to do that part of it. There are many
different ways in which students could interact with this sort of
material, but I think examples of how to apply a theoretical text to a
practical purpose would definitely make it less of a jump from the
abstract theory to actually applying to a field, particularly one
which Foucault did not specialize in himself and might have himself
had a hard time doing.
-James
On 2/3/06, Beth Davies <bdavies@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Dear Erin,
>
> Ronald did such a great job summarizing the essential Foucault!
>
> I teach community college. This means I teach survey courses, and can't
> assign anything advanced, nor do I feel right requiring more than one
> textbook, since my students are working poor people and are really feeling
> the strain.
>
> So, Foucault never comes up.
>
> But I always find an opportunity to say to them, "I am a tool!"
>
> And I see the understanding in their eyes.
>
> Along with a little bit of disagreement. After all, I just stood up there
> and told them that.
>
> I don't think students necessarily need to be taught the basic observations
> about power and the institutional construction of the subject. They are
> themselves intense sites of struggle, and they know it. So these basic
> realities are already known to them. All you have to do is teach them
> Foucault's particular take on it, and help them sort out the specific
> details of the struggles being waged over how their Selves should be
> constituted. Boys and girls, men and women, will have different and
> overlapping experiences.
>
> So you might assign them a critique of you, your teaching style, the
> arguments and claims you encode, and their encounter with it, and the
> institution at large. I mean, if it were me and I could do more than what I
> do, I would tell my students, "I am a tool!" And then I would tell them to
> defend and deny in 1000 words. That would cover the "what Foucault is
> saying" part of your question. I don't know what literature you are
> reading, so I don't know how to help with the second part.
>
> How about that?
>
> Yours,
> Beth Davies in Denver, CO
> bdavies@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Great word games!
> http://www.stofkagames.com/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>
classroom setting, the book "Foucault's challenge" and the book "Queer
theory in education" have some useful material. And applying it to
the classroom setting is particularly an interesting thing,
particularly if it leads you to also reflect more critically on your
pedagogy.
In more general sense, however, anything that helps them to connect it
to their lives, before applying it to the more literary realm, seems
reasonable. In one course that I took on Sexuality & Culture, for
example, we talked about confession in popular culture, for example,
and the role of daytime talk shows, web-logs, and the modern
equivalents that seem to have formed recently in our culture. I would
imagine, too, that almost any student (with sufficient guidance) could
relate to the constructed nature of their identity when given an
opportunity to critically reflect on their own position and the
identities which they identify with.
For the latter aspect, I imagine assigning an article that applies
Foucault to the subject matter you are working with would at least
give them a model of how to do that part of it. There are many
different ways in which students could interact with this sort of
material, but I think examples of how to apply a theoretical text to a
practical purpose would definitely make it less of a jump from the
abstract theory to actually applying to a field, particularly one
which Foucault did not specialize in himself and might have himself
had a hard time doing.
-James
On 2/3/06, Beth Davies <bdavies@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Dear Erin,
>
> Ronald did such a great job summarizing the essential Foucault!
>
> I teach community college. This means I teach survey courses, and can't
> assign anything advanced, nor do I feel right requiring more than one
> textbook, since my students are working poor people and are really feeling
> the strain.
>
> So, Foucault never comes up.
>
> But I always find an opportunity to say to them, "I am a tool!"
>
> And I see the understanding in their eyes.
>
> Along with a little bit of disagreement. After all, I just stood up there
> and told them that.
>
> I don't think students necessarily need to be taught the basic observations
> about power and the institutional construction of the subject. They are
> themselves intense sites of struggle, and they know it. So these basic
> realities are already known to them. All you have to do is teach them
> Foucault's particular take on it, and help them sort out the specific
> details of the struggles being waged over how their Selves should be
> constituted. Boys and girls, men and women, will have different and
> overlapping experiences.
>
> So you might assign them a critique of you, your teaching style, the
> arguments and claims you encode, and their encounter with it, and the
> institution at large. I mean, if it were me and I could do more than what I
> do, I would tell my students, "I am a tool!" And then I would tell them to
> defend and deny in 1000 words. That would cover the "what Foucault is
> saying" part of your question. I don't know what literature you are
> reading, so I don't know how to help with the second part.
>
> How about that?
>
> Yours,
> Beth Davies in Denver, CO
> bdavies@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Great word games!
> http://www.stofkagames.com/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>