Fill in the Blank: Social Media and the Non-Writing of Student Lives, Ilana Blumberg
An Action-Oriented Hybrid Approach to Teaching Life Writing, Dana Di Pardo Léon-Henri
Rant On!, Oline Eaton
Fill in the Blank: Social Media and the Non-Writing of Student Lives, Ilana Blumberg
Abstract
In a pedagogy committed to looking with students at their everyday experience as a source of knowledge, I consider the way that the identity work of social media resembles not so much written life narratives of the past as the modern bureaucratic apparatus of filling-in forms. How do available “forms,” whether Facebook’s “What’s on your mind?”; Google’s reminders to consider where we were a year ago today; or Twitter’s imposed brevity, alter how we experience our lives and selves? Can studying the long history of life writing provide examples of resistance to forms that can easily begin to write us?
Bio
Dr. Ilana Blumberg directs the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar Ilan University, Israel, where she also teaches a cluster of courses in life writing and creative nonfiction. Ilana is the author of two memoirs, most recently, *Open Your Hand: Teaching as a Jew, Teaching as an American.*
An Action-Oriented Hybrid Approach to Teaching Life Writing, Dana Di Pardo Léon-Henri
Abstract
At the tertiary level, we strive to teach critical, analytical, and metacognitive skills to our students. These are lifelong skills that will assist them in succeeding throughout both their personal and professional lives. In the context of English for non-specialist hybrid language teaching, life writing can serve as the basis for discussion to appreciate, interpret and understand known and lesser-known life writers. This conference paper proposes to show that an action-oriented approach is the key to assisting students in focusing on a methodological framework to improve their language skills, as well as their level of confidence for public speaking.
Bio
Dana Di Pardo Léon-Henri completed her PhD in Applied Linguistics at the University of La Sorbonne, Paris. Tenured Associate Professor at the University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, France, she teaches English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Her research is focused on ESP didactics, diagnostic assessment, and professional skills development.
Rant On! , Oline Eaton
Abstract
In Western culture, a rant is often seen as impassioned communication which, due to its use of pathos, is somehow less valid than ideas more coolly, “objectively” delivered. In my pandemic teaching of writing classes, I’ve used the rant as a low-stakes, informal space for students to vent and process. The argument at the core of my Rant of the Week assignment is that students can use the material of their own lives as experimental ground to more effectively communicate as activists and make “good trouble.” In this paper, I will detail my use of rants in the classroom.
Bio
Oline Eaton teaches writing at Howard University and NYU-DC.