Fictional Classrooms: Talking About Teaching Through Narrative (May 29-August 27, 2024)
What can we learn about our own teaching practices and identities from fictional depictions of higher education? Join us in “Fictional Classrooms” as we explore and reflect on narratives of education, whether they speak to us as learners, educators, researchers, artists, or simply as humans. This summer we will be taking a relaxed approach to reading one longer novel: R. F. Kuang’s Babel (2022). We will meet monthly via Zoom to work our way through the text together.
About the book: Babel is set in an alternate-reality 19th-century Oxford translation institute, exploring themes of colonialism, language, and power through the story of a young Chinese orphan navigating the complexities of a magical linguistic system and a venerable university. It asks, “Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?”
We are approaching the Fictional Classrooms program with a "read-what-you-can" mentality. We understand that we can get busy and may not finish readings each month, but we hope most will be able to attend each session regardless of how much they have been able to engage with the text so we can still have fruitful conversations and build community. Opportunities for asynchronous engagement will also be available.
Synchronous, virtual meetings will be held on Zoom on the following days:
- May 28th, 2024, 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET – Book I (p. 1-90)
June 25th, 2024, 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET – Book II (p. 91-219
July 23rd, 2024, 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET – Book III (p. 221-323)
August 27th, 2024, 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET – Book IV-V (p.325-542)
