January 7, Introductions
In this class, we will get to know each other and the course topic on memory + justice in the aftermaths of mass atrocity. Come prepared to class with any questions based on your close examination of the syllabus. I will first provide a brief overview of the class and my teaching philosophy before inviting introductions (see below), and then ending with an exercise to discuss pedagogy, power and self-reflection.
To prepare your introduction: What are the meanings of your names and the places that are meaningful to you? (Ask your relatives if they can explain if you were named after someone, a place, or event/hope/dream/any histories behind your name—do a little research on the place names). From where or whom do you know the past in the present? How and for what? And/or ‘What does it mean to exist in this time, in this place?’ (123).
What did the readings by wa Thiong’o and Belcourt bring up for you? How does it speak to you about memory and justice? How do you understand dismembering and remembering? What of the claim that ‘the past is never only in the past?’
Readings
- Timperley, Claire and Kate Schick, Hiding in Plain Sight: Pedagogy and Power, International Studies Perspectives, Volume 23, Issue 2, May 2022, Pages 113–128
- Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Something Torn and Something New: An African Renaissance (Chapter 1) – Google PDF online (Content Note: CV)
- An NDN Boyhood, Billy Ray Belcourt (Content Note: SV and RV)
- Listen: Azie Dungey, ‘Past Imperfect’, We are in the Future, Podcast: This American Life. (Content Note: SV and RV)
Photo: Slingshot of missing child, northern Uganda. Memory keepsake by mother.