Building Community in Times of Uncertainty

• In Event: Curriculum History as Lived Practices

Abstract

This paper elucidates the practice of engaging doubt as fertile grounding for theorizing in times of uncertainty by the vibrant intellectual community at the heart of this discussion—The LSU Curriculum Theory Project (CTP). For example, in 2012 Barack Obama the nation’s first Black president, was re-elected for a second term initiating contentious discussions about the United States entering a post-racial era. That same year, Penguin and Random House presses merged to form the world's largest publisher amidst widespread discussions of market incursions on education. Consequently, CTP’s scholarly activity during this era is rife with discussions of the Nation’s contemporary racial perceptions (Fasching-Varner, Albert, Mitchell, & Allen, 2015; Martin, 2022) as well as potent critiques about the danger of neoliberal corporate interests establishing public education as the new frontier for venture capitalists (Taubman, 2007; Martin, 2015).

This paper examines the practices, strategies and tactics of scholars committed to engaging provocative issues like those referenced above in times of doubt. For the authors in this section, this scholarly inquiry informed by the uncertainty of the contemporary moment, takes the form of doubt of disciplinary membership and more intimately doubt of racial, cultural, queer, professional, or regional conceptions of identity. The core of this section of the presentation will consider the instances where these tentative yet generative engagements began. The classrooms, hallways, bars, and living rooms that ultimately served as invitations for students to take part in the storied Curriculum Camp Fireside chats and small group discussions that have grown to be the hallmark of the Curriculum Theory Project.

Author

• Roland W. Mitchell, Louisiana State University
  Presenting Author