[Vwoolf] Trigger warnings

[Jean Mills]

I echo the sentiments and experiences outlined by Vara, Diana, and Lorena.
I've had high percentages of war veterans in my classes, and students who
are survivors of sexual abuse, war trauma (not just soldiers from Iraq and
Afghanistan, but victims of war from conflicts all over the globe,
Bosnia-Herzegovinia, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, C.A.R., Nigeria, Libya,
Lebanon, Guatemala, Nicaragua... sadly, I could go on), domestic abuse
survivors, and incest survivors, students from every echelon, race, class,
age, sexual orientation, etc. Since I began teaching in the CUNY system in
1999, integrating students with PTSD into the classroom has been somewhat a
norm (not to mention carrying on teaching literature, especially Woolf and
poetry, through 9/11 in trailers and makeshift classrooms in what had just
the other day been the shadow of the Twin Towers). Thank God we had
literature to help us through. That's what its job is. Our job is to help
them navigate the experience. Professional boundaries are extremely
important in the exchange, an awareness of the support we each have in our
college's counseling services, veterans' services, etc, and the academic
freedom we cherish to craft our syllabi in a way that works both for your
own strengths as an educator and your students, who are encountering the
material for the first time.

I am completely against having any set policy on "trigger warnings" (what a
horrible phrase) on our syllabi, but completely supportive of alternatives
meant to help members of the profession to understand and deal with these
extraordinary teachable moments in our classes.

I also think that medium matters, and we have to be aware of the difference
between visuals in the classroom as pedagogy versus words on the page.
Anything mediated through the camera alters its content, and I have much
stronger opinions about visual representation in the classroom, and very
rarely use it. Our students are visually saturated enough as it is, but
it's a different experience reading a text, interacting with it, and coming
to one's own conclusions and associations, versus being "shown" violence,
where the student does, indeed, become more of a passive receptor trapped
or assaulted by images not of his or her own making.

This conversation also speaks to Woolf's continued relevance to our
students' lives and to the common and uncommon future.

Jean


On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 10:03 AM, Lorena Russell <lrussell at unca.edu> wrote:

> Hi Jim et al.,
>
> I actually had a student triggered in my class last semester while
> teaching Mrs. Dalloway. He was an Afghanistan war veteran with PTSD and
> became distressed during a discussion of “Shell Shock” and WW I. He became
> agitated had to leave the class abruptly and I made the mistake of asking
> him to return and stay. It was only later in conversation I came to
> understand the depth of his distress and the context of his actions. I will
> of course continue to teach the text, but will (as I have done in the past
> with literature that contains potentially disturbing sexual violence) make
> a point of including a reminder for students of the potential for
> triggering events on my syllabus, and work to find ways of minimizing
> trauma and maximizing engagement. With a recent study noting 1 in 4 female
> college students experiences sexual violence and an increasing number of
> veterans, I think the issue of triggers in the classroom needs to be taken
> seriously here in the US. I don’t think it calls for a drastic change in
> curriculum or pedagogy, though.
>
> Best,
>
> Lorena
>
>
>
> =======================================
>
> Lorena Russell, Ph.D.
>
> Director of UNC Asheville’s QEP, the Inquiry ARC
>
> Associate Professor, Dept. Literature & Language
>
> CPO #2130, Karpen Hall
>
> University of North Carolina
>
> One University Heights
>
> Asheville, NC 28804
>
> 828-251-6594 | lrussell at unca.edu
>
> ========================================
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Jean Mills
Associate Professor
The Department of English
John Jay College/CUNY
524 West 59th Street, Room 7.63.12
New York, NY 10019

AUTHOR OF
https://ohiostatepress.org/Books/Book%20Pages/Mills%20Virginia.html


212.237.8706
JEMILLS at JJAY.CUNY.EDU
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