My second version of the Memory Bandits class is about to start, including an on-line blog. Designed as a capstone for International Comparative Studies majors at Duke, the class uses human rights and the uses of memory to look at central questions and themes related to ICS and our increasingly interconnected world.
Some of the questions are focus on how societies confront the legacies of the past and contemporary struggles for social justice. What do we mean when we talk about universal rights? How have different societies phrased rights; where are rights struggles clashing with cultural, economic, political and/or physical boundaries or traditions? How do these debates relate to broader questions, such as peace, stability, climate change, economic growth and democracy? How do communities and individuals account for what they’ve done and how they’ve suffered – or even what they didn’t do?
ICS majors on a rights tour of downtown Durham
I taught this in the Spring of 2012, and had a very good time with the students, who really dug into the material in surprising and thoughtful ways. The picture is during our tour of downtown Durham, finished off with a stop at the Daisycakes store beside this gorgeous Pauli Murray mural.
Students will be posting reading notes as comments to the blog each week. I’m curious about how on-line blogs works for others. Do you have a public class blog? Plusses and minuses?
One thing I noticed was that reading notes greatly improved. Students knew the comments were public so framed their responses more deeply. Another benefits was that they read each others’ notes, and in class responded to observations and ideas. This enriched our real-time discussions noticeably.
