When Rancière and Critical Race Theory Meet: An Ethics of Using Difficult Images in the Classroom

• In Event: 47.098 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Eight - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 47.098-3 - Conceptions of Learning

Abstract

Through a Rancièrean and Critical Race Theory theoretical framework, this paper analyzes the ethics of using difficult images in the classroom as part of the politics of teaching for justice. Using one author’s choice to show a photograph of Michael Brown lying in the street after being shot by police, the paper enjoins the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, and education for an interdisciplinary examination of (i) why an image might have educative value in ways different from a linguistic text; (ii) how the use of a photograph might be an instance of voyeuristic exploitation; (iii) the risk of triggering trauma with students; and (iv) the politically transformative possibilities of using difficult or “intolerable” images.

Authors

• Lisa M. Perhamus, Grand Valley State University

• Clarence Joldersma, Calvin College