Political Moments in the Classroom

"This book offers an interesting and insightful discussion of the politics of difference, community, safety, and authority in the university classroom." - College Composition and Communication Political correctness . . . Race . . . Entitlements . . . Sexual harassment . . . Multiculturalism . . . Gay rights. Today's classroom is the very crucible in which these and other hot-button political issues are being forged--a far cry from academia's removed "ivory tower" image.

But while the stream of politics runs inexorably through everything from pedagogy to curriculum development to student evaluation, it is nonetheless a stream few teachers willingly step into in their collective discussions. "Political Moments in the Classroom" reverses that trend.

This book reprises the conversations of a group of educators in the writing program at Syracuse University over the course of two years.

Through edited transcripts, reflective essays, and commentary, a panorama of political events unfolds as the participants share stories about actual classroom experiences.

We see teachers reflecting on their roles as facilitators, coaches, and audience.

We see students presenting opinions that polarize a classroom.

We see academic departments embroiled in controversy as the traditional canon is accepted, challenged, or enlarged upon. And we see educators from across the political spectrum questioning what to teach, how to teach--and why. Appropriate for educators in all disciplines, "Political Moments in the Classroom" will have special meaning for teachers of writing and composition--areas widely perceived as "content-free" since their substance derives from individual writers' choice of topic.Teachers in these areas most sharply face the dilemma of maintaining the classroom as a safe arena for free expression--even as they use the subjective criteria of language and rhetoric to manage it.