Expanding Perspectives
University of Valencia
Media Analysis in the Internationalized Composition Classroom
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Karma Waltonen, Melissa Bender
Essay assignments asking students to analyze media are common in all levels of rhetoric and composition courses in the US. Most first-year composition textbooks offer whole sections on the topic. The prevalence of this approach is driven by at least two instructor assumptions. First, that presenting students with a subject in which they are already absorbed will increase their investment in their own development as writers and critical thinkers. Second, that teaching our students to analyze the material of everyday life initiates them into a habit of inquiry that is characteristic of the engaged citizens we hope they will become. However, a significant rise in international students complicates our pedagogy: we (and they) sometimes assume media means "American media.” Further, assignments asking students to analyze this media often make broad assumptions about students’ culturally-derived knowledge and attitudes. For instance, assignments that ask students to analyze gender representation in the media commonly assume that students have a basic knowledge of current gender roles (as they are discussed in the U.S.) and how these roles have been shaped over time. As instructors presenting such assignments, we may expect students to share our progressive world view that gender equity is “good/right.” The growing diversity of our classrooms makes these assumptions ever more salient. In this paper, we draw upon cultural schemata theory (Eileen Ketchum, 2006; Patricia Carrell 1987) and our own classroom experiences to discuss problems inherent to teaching media analysis assignments as well as strategies for better implementation in multicultural classrooms.
ArtsTogether Creative Pedagogy for Empowerment : Integrating Migrant Communities through Intercultural Curricula
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session June Bianchi
While United Nation’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights cites participation in cultural, social, and scientific community life as an entitlement for all, global destabilization generates complex intersectional challenges for migrant families and their host communities. Psychological trauma, low socio-economic status, language barriers, and public bias undermine integration into the social fabric of society. International research indicates that creative, intercultural engagement fosters social cohesion between host and migrant communities, addressing linguistic and socio-cultural barriers, and supporting education, health, wellbeing, and economic growth. These findings inform the development and implementation of the two-year ArtsTogether Project, funded by European Commission’s Asylum Migration and Integration Fund. ArtsTogether’s partnership of five European countries, promotes societal integration of migrant communities through expressive arts participation, increasing third country nationals’ educational, cultural and social engagement, and challenging discrimination through shared intercultural experiences and plurilingual dialogue. This paper disseminates ArtsTogether’s research ethos, structure and data, intercultural pedagogy and resources, pilot studies and findings. Initially generating data on migrants’ needs within Greece and Italy, ArtsTogether’s Curriculum team at Bath Spa University, UK, created an inclusive curriculum, in collaboration with educators, museums and cultural centres across EU. Piloted within migrant centres, camps, schools, nurseries, and cultural and community settings, ArtsTogether promotes global plurilingual strategies to support individual and community empowerment and social integration through the arts. Following pilot tests and dissemination at Parlamento Europeo Spazio Europa, ArtsTogether’s Curriculum is available to support diverse communities, facilitating inclusive intercultural practice, and initiating recommendations for international policy and practice.
