Week 4--Contact Zones in the Classroom

The section in the case study in which we learn that Lin was unfamiliar with events such as Stonewall, reminded me of an epiphany I had during my own teaching a few years ago. I regularly teach a short unit on revisionist fairy tales. After the second semester of doing this, I realized that I needed to assign the original versions before the revisions. I would assign texts such as Anne Sexton’s “Cinderella” and have students compare her version with their ideas about earlier incarnations of the tale, such as the Disney film. I had assumed that students would at least be familiar with Disney versions, but not all students, including international students, are familiar with Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood, for instance. Following one class, an international student approached me and asked me to explain Little Red Riding Hood. I realized that I hadn’t considered how culture-bound my texts were and that I had been placing some of my students at a distinct disadvantage. I still teach these texts, but I ensure we all read and analyze the “original” versions of the fairy tales first.

In thinking about the contact zone of the classroom, I also had a conversation this semester with a Korean student in my Interpretation of Literature class. We were discussing cultural differences between the US and Korea. We’re reading a novel in which the narrator fixates on trying to read people’s non-verbal communications, especially what they are saying with their eyes. She was relating this to how in her home culture, direct eye contact can be interpreted as rude during a conversation. Further, when we were discussing different cultural approaches to student-instructor dynamics, she emphasized the Korean role of the “big brother,” and how that role requires respect, thus affecting how students interact with their instructors. Interactions like these always make me feel fortunate that in teaching Interpretation of Literature or Rhetoric, we teach small enough class sizes that we can get to know our students and their backgrounds, adapting our approaches and lessons to best accommodate as many different students as possible.