I was recently asked to reflect on the tasks I assigned in my writing courses at AUB and decide, which of them could be considered as "interesting". This question was one of the hardest for me to answer mainly because I’ve given such a wide variety of odd assignments in my Eng 102, 203, and 204 classes, all of which I feel particularly attached to. So as I rummaged through my notes, I decided that since there were a multiple worth mentioning, I might as well blog about them:
To begin with, after explaining fallacies to my 203 and 204 students, I once asked them to listen to a few Lebanese news stations and identify some of the fallacies they notice our very own politicians making in their everyday speeches and public appearances. My students thought this activity was incredibly humorous especially when they found that they were able to explain how these fallacies weakened the credibility of our alleged leaders.
The discussions also heated up when, after having mastered the art of Macro-blogging via various informal entries that I had asked 203 students of mine to submit on a collective Wordpress account, I introduced them to its antithesis: Micro-blogging. For the purpose of this interaction, I had relied on Twitter as a social media platform as the 140-character restriction meant that my students had to make convincing arguments and counterarguments for the controversial statements I was tweeting about keeping in mind that each tweet could not exceed a single sentence. Brevity proved to be a lot more of a difficult task than they had anticipated, especially when, in one of our debates, the entire blogosphere began to join in and interact with us from all across the globe (I left the privacy option unticked on purpose), unexpectedly making the hashtag we used in our debates the top trending topic in Lebanon for that day.
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| Travis Louie's "Otis True" |
Our eccentric discussions did not end there, however, as I began compiling some of the most uncanny and disturbing fantasy/horror/surrealist paintings and videos, showcasing them one after the other making my 102 students write journals reflecting on what meaning they could excavate from the eerie images they were being exposed to. In one of them, I asked them to contemplate what Travis Louie’s expressionless “Otis True” (photo on the right) did for a living.
In a different activity, I asked them to wonder why a man would remove his skin for his partner just as though it were no different than a jacket he was unzipping -- as depicted in the short symbolist macabre film He took his skin off for me[1]. However, the most surprising and creative journals I received were those reacting to a nursery rhyme[2] that I made my students watch in class. This cartoon was one of my 10-month-old son’s favorites and to be quite frank: I had no idea what more to understand from it than what the catchy refrain said: “There are no monsters who live in our home, there’s only me and my family;” I honestly just wanted to see how they’d react to it. Funnily enough, it was truly inspiring to witness firsthand just how creatively analytical my students were: Many had argued that they thought the greater statement being made was how I’m showing them this cartoon to stress the point that our classroom is a safe haven where they can feel comfortable enough to express themselves, as the greatest fears that exist often only exist in our own minds, and thus, it’s within our ability to control and surpass them.
On another occasion, I had the pleasure of inviting male belly-dancer, Moe Khansa, to perform in our class and discuss his passion for the art of movement and dance. I’ve also invited Jean Assy, a web developer and passionate political enthusiast, to share his testimony with my class regarding the issue of freedom of speech by describing the day he made local and international headlines[3] for being the first Lebanese citizen to receive a prison sentence for tweets of his that criticized the former president, Michel Sleiman. What was personally so educational for me, wasn’t learning that there were two sides to those equations; inevitably it was expected that some of my students would support Moe and think that he should keep belly-dancing even though he is a male, while others, I’m certain, wanted him dead. Similarly with Jean, there was no doubt that some of my students wanted him to continue being the beacon of truth, while others probably felt he went too far. However, and as I mentioned before, those were results I was anticipating anyway. What I wasn’t expecting at all, however, was something particular to the case of Jean. At the time, there was one tiny little detail that I omitted, which made all the difference regarding the sincerity of the content of my students’ essays, and that detail is the fact that Jean was (and still is) my partner. With that fine print in mind, it took all the patience and meditative powers in the world for me to curl up a 90 on the paper of a student who successfully argued why the jail sentence, for my significant other, was fair. I hated myself for it, but I did it. It was then that I realized my students had taught me one of the most valuable life lessons I still carry in my heart to this day: A difference in opinion, isn’t always a bad thing. I don’t have to like an argument that strongly goes against something I passionately feel and believe in, but I am, at all times, always expected to approach it with an open mind, and respect it. And really, there’s no greater joy than doing so with fellow learners who equally respect you right back, just the same.
________________________________[1] Direct link to video: https://vimeo.com/116498390
[2] Direct link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt0S0QNwxdo
[3] For the full story: http://m.naharnet.com/stories/en/118400-jean-assy-sentenced-for-insulting-suleiman-on-twitter
