Teaching For Social Justice Through the Arts in Social Studies

The Conference on Literacy, Urban Issues, and Social Studies Education (CLUES) held at Georgia State University today turned out to be quite interesting and personal. My colleague, Heather, and I presented this afternoon to a full capacity receptive audience about the role of aethestics and imagination in promoting social justice in our social studies classrooms. Before our presentation, the keynote speaker was Greg Dawson, a reporter who has written a book about his mother's experience during the Holocaust. (http://www.hidinginthespotlight.com/)

He opened his remarks by saying that one of the presentations scheduled for after lunch inspired the focus for his keynote address. He read the title, Teaching For Social Justice Through the Arts in Social Studies, then asked if Doreen Williams was present. Heather and I had worried that no one would come to hear us; now we were really worried! It was rewarding to have our work recognized even before we had presented, but mostly it was just humbling. I had a remarkable conversation with him after our presentation and he signed my copy of his book, thanking me for giving him inspiration. His mother was also there, and she signed the book too! When I spoke with the organizer of the conference after it was over, she invited me to come present again next year. Wow! What an exhilarating day. It's nice to have those speckled in the middle of mostly mundane days. It counteracts the worry of not getting as much writing done as quickly as I would like it to be done.