Oral Presentation Session
Reviewed by: Council on Anthropology and Education
Of interest to: Practicing and Applied Anthropologists, Teachers of Anthropology in Community Colleges, Those Involved in Mentoring Activities
Primary Theme: Citizenship
Secondary Theme: Identity and Equity
Citizenship affords one both rights and duties; it garners a sense of belonging as well as makes a distinction of who belongs, deserves or receives services, and who does not. The understanding varies by who and where one is (gender, race, etc.) and what the policies of the day might be. The policies dictate and educate, but so do social interactions and the classroom. The school can play a role in being a safe space to create community and belonging in the context of strife and division. This session provides insight on spaces where education about citizenship takes place. Hogsett’s paper looks at the role of Lebanese teachers in using a pedagogy of conflict-reduction in conceptualizations of Lebanese citizenship and sectarian conflict. Jiang’s paper examines the class cadre system, a widely-institutionalized school practice for citizenship education in China. Koren’s presentation explores the nuanced reasons behind and manifestations of how immigrant youth negotiate the meaning of citizenship in the context of a peer-led after-school program. Finally, Blum discusses the emergence and strong following of a political blog, La Joven Cuba, by a group of young Cuban professors to debate the ideas of the state and propose solution; it’s garnering attention and educating the people outside the official discourse.
Miranda Hogsett
PhD Student
University of Pittsburgh
Liu Jiang
Doctoral Candidate
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Emily Koren
University of Pittsburgh
Denise Blum
Associate Professor
Oklahoma State University
Denise Blum
Associate Professor
Oklahoma State University
Denise Blum
Associate Professor
Oklahoma State University