Honors Theses and Capstones

Teaching and Learning from Culturally Diverse Literature

Date of Award

Spring 2018

Project Type

Senior Honors Thesis

College or School

COLA

Department

English

Program or Major

English Teaching

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

First Advisor

Alecia Magnifico

Abstract

Works by authors of color are rarely utilized in many secondary school English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Even when these works are taught, teachers are often afraid to center classroom discussions on topics such as diversity, racism, and oppression. While many frameworks exist to help teachers overcome the fear they have in facilitating these sorts of cultural conversations, the conversations surrounding literature are still often based in white, male-authored classics. To advocate for the inclusion of more diverse literature in secondary school, this study examines how college students and professors take up the study of diverse literature. This project reviews the experiences of five college students who have studied minority literature and two tenured faculty members who have taught courses on minority literature in an attempt to understand how to best approach literary conversations about diversity and cultural awareness in a secondary school setting.

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