This episode is part three of a four part mini-series on the NEH-funded project "Toward a Pedagogy from Crisis.” Jolie speaks with Dr. Rachel Rickard Rebellino, an assistant professor in children’s and adolescent literature, and a “camp counselor” for a month-long summer program for humanities faculty on adaptive teaching and learning during the COVID-19 crisis. Tiffany Scarola, an instructor in the University Writing Program, joins to share her experience as a camp attendee. They discuss building just and equitable learning communities within larger, and frequently inequitable, institutions.
Announcer:
From Bowling Green State University and the Institute for the Study of Culture and Society, this is BG Ideas.
Musical Intro:
I'm going to show you this with a wonderful experiment.
Jolie:
Hello, and welcome back to the BG Ideas podcast brought to you by the Institute for the Study of Culture and Society and the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University. I'm Dr. Jolie Sheffer. This episode is part of a mini series focusing on a National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored project called "Toward A Pedagogy From Crisis: Adaptive Teaching and Learning at Bowling Green State University during COVID-19."
Due to the ongoing pandemic, we are not recording in the studio, but are at home talking via phone and computer. As always, the opinions expressed on the podcast are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of BGSU or its employees. Bowling Green State University is located in the great black swamp, long a meeting place of the Wyandotte, Shawnee, Lenape, Ottawa, Kickapoo, Fox, Potawatomie, Erie, Miami, Peoria, Chippewa, and Seneca Indian tribes. We honor the rich history of this land and its indigenous inhabitants past and present.
Today I'm very pleased to be joined by Dr. Rachel Rickard Rebellino and Tiffany Scarola. Rachel serves as one of the NEH project's camp counselors during the summer camp. She teaches courses on children's and adolescent literature for the English department. Her research examines digital youth cultures, girlhood studies, and social justice themes and children's literature. Tiffany is an instructor in the University Writing Program where she teaches first year composition, and she was in an NEH camp participant this summer. Her research interests include encouraging student cognitive processing and establishing a cult of vulnerability in classroom environments. Rachel and Tiffany, thank you very much for joining me today.
Rachel:
Thank you for having me.
Tiffany:
Yeah. Thank you for having us.
Jolie:
Equity, accessibility and social justice are clear priorities in the NEH project, and they're also at the heart of the research and the teaching that both of you do. Rachel, could you start off by talking about how your research on youth literature is a catalyst for conversations about equity injustice? Is this a relatively new phenomenon in children's literature or is there a longer history of that kind of connection?
Rachel:
That's a great question. There is a pretty long history of youth literature being a tool for conversations around equity and justice. So I'm thinking specifically of the example of The Brownies' Book, that was a magazine that was specifically put out to address perceived gaps, real gaps, in the literature that was being written for Black and brown youth. And the purposes of that magazine were very, very explicit that it would be to lift up Black youth, to help them to really see their value in a society that was devaluing them. And this was in the 1920s, I don't think I said that initially.
Rachel:
And since then, youth literature has definitely served kind of a conservative function in upholding social values in some capacities, but there has always been youth
