Possibilities and Limits of Posthumanist Inquiry for Reimagining Literacy Education as the Practice of Justice

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 4

Session Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Posthumanism in social science research has garnered considerable attention with its promise to “make matter matter” (Alaimo, 2008) by decentering the human as research subject and considering agencies of nonhumans (materials, machines, and animals). Yet, at a time when some literacy scholars are turning to posthumanism to unsettle the humanist ontology that dominates literacy theorizing, others are calling for literacy research that disrupts injustice (Souto-Manning & Winn, 2017) and is humanizing (Paris & Winn, 2013) for non-dominant communities often colonized by literacy research. This symposium brings together literacy researchers grappling with this tension in order to explore the possibilities and limits of posthumanism for reimagining literacy education as the practice of justice.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Writing and Literacies

Chairs

• MARJORIE G SIEGEL, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Gerald Campano, University of Pennsylvania

Papers

• When "You Don't Want to Read It Again"? Exploring First Graders' Responses to "Willful" Texts - Bessie Dernikos, Florida Atlantic University

• Materialities in Early Literacy and Progressive Curriculum Reform - Daniel E. Ferguson, George Mason University

• Rewriting Literacy Curricula as an Ethical Relation: The Lessons of Posthumanism - Rachel May Heydon, University of Western Ontario; Daniel E. Ferguson, George Mason University

• Almina, the Petsitter, and Social Commentary - Kimberly Lenters, University of Calgary