Reflecting on Connections: The Self and the More-Than-Human World in the Postsecondary Humanities Classroom

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Abstract

In this paper I describe my formulation and assessment of a series of postsecondary humanities-oriented curriculum materials that are designed to explore our relationship, as humans, to the more-than-human world, and that call upon students to critically evaluate dominant cultural assumptions about the value and significance of this relationship in personal experience and collective behavior. I share conclusions from my research as to the impact of these materials on student thinking, as well as insights gained from students and from my experiences in the classroom on the benefits of explicit reflection on our relationships with nonhuman beings as a regular part of classroom and popular discourse.

Author

• Rita Turner, University of Maryland - Baltimore County