This class explores the many connections between our emotions and the process of learning. Using various perspectives ranging from the humanities to the social sciences, this class will consider the ways in which modern educational institutions have become fossilized and rooted within a narrow definition of "learning" that stems from instrumental rationality.

Through scholars such as Dewey and Friere as well as contemporary literature and popular culture discourses about learning, we will explore how emotional transformations underpin many of the most effective instances of "education reform" in the last century.

The Terrains of Emotion

Human beings experience and embody emotions tied to specific times, places and events. Although many popular culture discussions of emotion use monolithic statements to characterize people (e.g., "he is unemotional"), individuals' embodied emotions are as varied as the experiences that give rise to them.

Using the metaphor of "terrain," this class explores the multi-faceted nature of emotion. Starting with theoretical discussions about what constitutes "emotion," we will gain various theoretical lenses for understanding the role of emotion in important events such as Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11 World Trade Center bombings as well as unique public spaces such as the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial. As we traverse these events and spaces, we will gain an understanding of how the notion of terrain becomes an apt metaphor for describing embodied emotional experiences.