Pedagogy Instruction: American Like Me (Online)

* * * ONLINE EVENT * * *

This event is open to GGC faculty only. Please register with your GGC e-mail address. Registrations from non-GGC email addresses will be cancelled.

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Pedagogy Instruction: American Like Me

Description:

GGC Reads choose American Like Me as our common read this year, and the CTE presents a session on teaching American Like Me across the curriculum.

Our discussion will cover

• Ideas for integrative implementation in LCs

• Evaluating memoirs and immigrant narratives

• Studies on culture, language, and belonging

• Literary analysis and short story form

• Reaching out to first-generation college students who feel they “don’t belong.”

Along with the discussion of how to use American Like Me as a pedagogical tool, the session will provide attendees with 3 different study guides. Those who wish to teach the book will receive a free copy at the session.

Synopsis of American Like Me: From award-winning actress and political activist America Ferrera comes a vibrant and varied collection of first- person accounts from prominent figures about the experience of growing up between cultures. America Ferrera has always felt wholly American, and yet, her identity is inextricably linked to her parents’ homeland and Honduran culture. Speaking Spanish at home, having Saturday morning salsa-dance parties in the kitchen, and eating tamales alongside apple pie at Christmas never seemed at odds with her American identity. Still, she yearned to see that identity reflected in the larger American narrative.

Now, in American Like Me, America invites 31 of her friends, peers, and heroes to share their stories about life between cultures. We know them as actors, comedians, athletes, politicians, artists, and writers. However, they are also immigrants, children or grandchildren of immigrants, indigenous people, or people who otherwise grew up with deep and personal connections to more than one culture. Each of them struggled to establish a sense of self, find belonging, and feel seen. And they call themselves American enthusiastically, reluctantly, or not at all. Ranging from the heartfelt to the hilarious, their stories shine a light on a quintessentially American experience and will appeal to anyone with a complicated relationship to family, culture, and growing up.

This discussion will take place online in Microsoft Teams. After registering in Eventbrite, you will be sent an Outlook invitation for the Teams meeting. If you would prefer to meet in-person, feel free to sign up for one of the face-to-face instances of this discussion.

Facilitator:

Perry Dantzler, CTE Affiliate for Integrative Learning

Dr. Perry Dantzler is the Faculty Affiliate for Integrative Learning for the Center for Teaching Excellence and an Assistant Professor in English for Georgia Gwinnett College. Perry holds a Ph.D from Georgia State University in English Rhetoric and Composition with foci on multiliteracies, cultural studies, and student success. Perry began her teaching at Georgia State University where she grounded her interest in multimedia and pop culture into active learning and reader-centered writing. Her dissertation and publications examine the triangulation between multiliteracies, superheroes, and student success that drive learning as an innovative, diverse process to propel students forward in their endeavors. Her current interests reflect her enthusiasm for cultural modes, digital learning, and integrative pathways for both faculty and students.

Host or Publisher Center for Teaching Excellence