Postcolonial Perspectives, Theories and Curriculum

SUMMER 2007

Room 934 ED South
July 9-26 from 9-11:15 Mon to Thurs
Instructor
Dr. Ingrid Johnston
845 Education South
492-3751 (O) 458-4806 (H)
ingrid.johnston@ualberta.ca

This course will consider key concepts and reading practices in postcolonial studies and explore their relationships to and significance for teaching, learning, and curriculum.
Concepts for consideration and discussion will include:

• Representation & Orientalism

• Postcolonialism in Education
• Hybridity

• “Englishness”
• Travel
• Diaspora & Dislocation
• Decolonizing Methodologies
• Language     

You’ll receive a course package of readings drawn from a variety of recent books and journal articles on postcolonial studies and education.

The following required and recommended texts are available in the University bookstore:
McLeod, J.: Beginning Postcolonialism. Manchester University Press: 2000 (required)
Johnston, I. Re-mapping Literary Worlds: Postcolonial Pedagogy in Practice. New York: Peter Lang, 2003 (recommended)
Additional required readings will be available on line and in print.
Students will also be asked to rent and view the film Lagaan.

Policy Information
Please note: Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4 (2) of the University Calendar.

Grading: The University of Alberta uses the following letter grading system with a four-point scale of numerical equivalents for calculating grade point averages.

Normally the course median for 600 level courses is B+ (3.3)

Academic Integrity: “The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty.  Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect.  Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence.  Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.”  (GFC 29 SEP 2003)

Inclusive Language: This course supports Faculty policy of using non-discriminatory language that works to create a classroom atmosphere in which students’ experiences and views are treated with equal respect and value in relation to their gender, racial background, sexual orientation and ethnic background.

ASSIGNMENTS AND EVALUATION

Introducing a Reading:  40% (oral presentation: 20%; written discussion: 20%)

• You will be asked to select one course reading to introduce during class. In your presentation, assume everyone has read the article already, so limit your introduction to the text to 5 minutes.
• Use one or more ideas in the text as a springboard for making connections to your teaching and research and to other relevant academic theories, writings and perspectives. Feel free to present these connections in whatever format you wish (e.g. visually, orally, dramatically, etc) in a 15 minute timeframe.
• Generate one question relevant to the reading for a class discussion. You will have up to 20 minutes of class time for discussion.
• Hand in a two to three page discussion of how you see the article relating to other readings and theories and to your teaching and research.

 
Presentation Evaluation: (20 marks)
This assignment will be marked on both the content and the quality of the presentation during class. The content should be well-organized and show evidence of critical reading and reflection on the selected article and its pedagogical significance.
The question you generate should engage the class in an exploration of the theoretical and pedagogical possibilities raised in the text.
Handout Evaluation: (20 marks)
The 2-3 page discussion should make links with other reading and theories and to your own teaching and/or teaching.

Reading the World - Presentation: 30% 
This activity is intended to promote reflection on the multi-dimensional personal, social and cultural experiences that have brought you to your current positioning in the world.

• Collect three or four artifacts that you feel best represent the complex portrait of your identity, cultural location, beliefs and values. You will be creating a visual and oral narrative of yourself as a researcher/educator and how you came to your current location. These items can include anything that has personal significance for you and for your research/teaching, e.g. a particular text (theoretical, fictional, multi-media); an autobiographical piece of writing; family heirlooms; photographs; scrapbooks; teaching artifacts; articles of clothing; symbolic articles etc.

• Be prepared to come to class with your artifacts and present your cultural landscape creatively to others. You will have up to 30 minutes for this presentation.

 Evaluation (30 marks)
This activity will be evaluated on the basis of the coherence and engagement of your presentation and your ability to reflect critically on your own cultural locations and landscape.

Abstract of Publishable Paper:  30%
(due on the last day of class)
Write an abstract of a paper on a topic of your choice related to research or theory in postcolonial studies that you can develop for future publication in a refereed journal. The abstract should include an overview of the main ideas of the paper, a review and bibliography of the resources you will draw upon, and some insights into the value of the paper for expanding our knowledge of postcolonial theories, research and/or curriculum. The abstract should be at least 1000 to 1500 words. 

Evaluation:  Your abstract will be evaluated on the coherent development of your ideas, your insight into your chosen topic and ability to draw on theoretical and pedagogical resources to substantiate your ideas.

Selected Bibliography

Ashcroft, Bill (2001). Post-Colonial Transformation.  London & New York: Routledge.

Ashcroft, Bill, Griffiths, Gareth & Tiffin, Helen. (1998). Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies. London and New York: Routledge.

Barker, Francis, Hulme, Peter & Iverson, Margaret (Eds.). (1994). Colonial Discourse/Postcolonial Theory. Manchester & New York: Manchester University Press.

Bhabha, Homi. (1994). The Location of Culture.  New York & London: Routledge.

Bradford, Claire. (2007). Language, Resistance and Subjectivity. In Unsettling Narratives: Postcolonial Readings of Children’s Literature. Wilfred Laurier University Press.

Chambers, Iain & Curti, Lidia (Eds.). (1996).  The Post-Colonial Question: Common Skies, Divided Horizons. London & New York: Routledge.

Curtis, Barry & Pajaczkowska, Claire. (1994). “‘Getting There’: Travel, Time and Narrative” in Travellers’ Tales: Narratives of Home and Displacement. George Robertson et al, (Eds). London and New York: Routledge, pp. 199-215.
 
Diawara, Manthia. (Autumn, 1990).  “Englishness and Blackness: Cricket as Discourse on Colonialism”.  Callaloo, 13(4), pp. 830-844.

Dimitriadis, Greg & McCarthy, Cameron. (2001). “Introduction” and “Conclusion” in Reading and Teaching the Postcolonial: From Baldwin to Basquiat and Beyond. New York and London: Teachers College Press, pp. 1-13 and 117-119.

Gandhi, Leela. (1998). Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press.

Gilbert, Helen & Tompkins, Joanne. (1996). Post-Colonial Drama: Theory, Practice, Politics.  London & New York: Routledge.

Giroux, Henry A. & Giroux, Susan Searls. (2000).  “Teaching the Political with Homi Bhabha” in Impure Acts: The Practical Politics of Cultural Studies. New York & London: Routledge, pp. 87-106.

Iyer, Pico. (2000). “The Empire.” In The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home. New York: Vintage, pp. 232-265.

Kanu, Yatta (2006). (Ed). Curriculum as Cultural Practice: Postcolonial Imaginations. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Lazarus, Neil. (2004). (Ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Literary Studies. Cambridge University Press.

Ledgister, F.S.J. (2001). Growing Up in Two Elsewheres. Jouvert 6.1 – 2.
http://152.1.96.5/jouvert/v6i1-2/ledgis.htm

Loomba, Ania. (1998).“Situating Colonial and Postcolonial Studies” in Colonialism/Postcolonialism.  London & New York: Routledge.

McClintock, Anne. (1994). “Soft-soaping Empire: Commodity Racism and Imperial Advertising,” in Travellers’ Tales: Narratives of Home and Displacement. George Robertson et al, (Eds). London and New York: Routledge, pp.131-154.

Moore-Gilbert, Bart. (1997). Postcolonial Theory: Contexts, Practices, Politics.  London & New York: Verso.

Morton, Stephen. (2003). Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. London & New York: Routledge.

Pennycook, Alastair. (1998). English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London & New York: Routledge.

Pieterse, Jan Nederveen. (1992). White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.

Proctor, James. (2004). Stuart Hall. London & New York: Routledge.

Quayson, Ato. (2000). “Postcolonialism and Postmodernism” in Postcolonialism: Theory, Practice or Process? Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 132-155.

Reagan, Timothy. (2005). Non-Western Educational Traditions: Indigenous Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice. Third edition. Mahwey, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Rushdie, Salman. (1981). “Imaginary Homelands” in Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991.  London: Granta Books.

Seshadri-Crooks, Kalpana. (2000). “Surviving Theory: A Conversation with Homi K. Bhabha” in The Pre-Occupation of Postcolonial Studies, Afazal-Khan, F. & Seshadri-Crooks, K. (Eds.).  Durham & London: Duke University Press, pp. 369-379.

Shohat, Ella. (2000). “Notes on the Postcolonial” in The Pre-Occupation of Postcolonial Studies Afazal-Khan, F. & Seshadri-Crooks, K. (Eds.).  Durham & London: Duke University Press, pp. 126-139.

Slemon, Stephen. (1994). “The Scramble for Post-Colonialism” in De-Scribing Empire: Post-Colonialism and Textuality, Tiffin, C. & Lawson, A. (Eds.). London and New York: Routledge, pp.15-32.

Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. (2001, 1999) “Research through Imperial Eyes” in Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London and New York: Zed Books, pp. 42-57.

Spivak, Gayatri. (1995). Can the Subaltern Speak?” in Post-Colonial Studies Reader, eds. A. Ashcroft, G. Gareth and H. Tiffin.

Schwarz, Henry & Sangeeta Ray. (2000, 2005.). A Companion to Postcolonial Studies. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Willinsky, John. (1998). “Where is Here?” in Learning to Divide the World: Education at Empire’s End. Minneapolis & London: University of Minnesota Press.

Yeoh, Brenda. (2001). “Postcolonial Cities”.  Progress in Human Geography 25(3), pp. 456-468.

Young, Robert, J.C. (2003). Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Young, Robert, J.C. (2001).“Postcolonialism” in Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell, pp.57-70.

Online
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/ (postcolonial literatures in English)
http://152.1.96.5/jouvert/ (on-line postcolonial studies journal)

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