Stories as Survival Mechanisms for Surviving a Natural Disaster

One Amazing Thing (2009) by Chitra Divakaruni not only provides multiple stories nested within one main plot line, but presents stories about characters who are reflecting about their lives in the aftermath of a natural disaster.  We hear about brief descriptions of natural disasters (that often have human-made components and causes) of many types in today’s and recent news coverage.  This book focuses on the resilience within diverse characters in the U.S. who are connected in some way to India and experience surviving the after effects of a natural disaster together.  A reader may go away with curiosity and questions about many issues, such as the basics of coping within natural disasters, the kind of questions that spark conversations among friends and strangers, and stories as survival mechanisms.



Part Two: Reflecting on Teaching the Film "Crash"

Good discussion followed the showing of the film. One student pointed out the relationship of how racism was associated with mental illness in the turning point scene when Jean realizes that she is an "angry" person. So this anger is mistaken, excused, and misplaced for racism.

Even more the film left some viewers frustrated with the ending, having no resolution and leaving the message that racism just keeps happening and cannot be helped. Other students saw the message of the movie as activist: the viewer was responsible for doing something to stop the racist status quo. Some students identified the blatent racism in the film as hiding the subtle forms of racism or moments of racism with a smile (such as the part on the movie set).

Other conversation veered into the discussion of racism and struggles as universal, as the film shows "everyone is a little racist" (part of the discourse of public opinion in race talk).  At this point I had to do my best to remind everyone that racism does not impact everyone equally, particular characters are having a much harder time of it than others.  The differences are bound up in histories, systems, and power.

I recommend  the thought-provoking article: "Framing Racism: The Problematic Racial Politics of Crash" a Film as Text Guide  in Screen Education by Vivien Silvey.

Part One: Teaching "Crash" the film

So I am going into new territory and will show Paul Haggis' film "Crash" as a last class activity for an introductory level course.  I am thinking I will be able to evaluate quite quickly where I need to improve my teaching about race. I know that I have a great article to share with the class though. More on this later.

Blogging Resumes

I have been away from my blog for a bit of time as I caught up with professional responsibilities. I am happy to be back.

I am looking forward to several projects. In the next ten months I will be working as an area co-chair for the Native Studies/Indigenous Studies portion of Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association to be held in Albuquerque, NM February 8-11, 2012. 

Just coming back from the Joint National and SW/Texas April Conference feeling pretty motivated on picking up with lots of projects' loose ends and intellectualy and socially refreshed on many levels and so glad to see so many up and coming graduate students and professors who are so collaborative and open to the study of so many topics.  I think that studying popular culture can really open up many ways of knowing in a way that maybe other topics may not invite. By that I mean being able to visit and learn from other experts from other areas of popular culture and note the connections and divergent threads are really important to preventing tunnel vision and for creativity in scholarship and teaching.

March: Women's History Month

The blog is back with more entries! I am highlighting the PBS Newshour coverage here. This entry is related to Women's History Month: stories on women's lives and gender relationships in men's and women's lives around the world:

"'Epicenter of Violence': Guatamala Combats Brutality Toward Women"

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/guatemala_03-07.html#

Photo Essay: International Women's Day 2011

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/multimedia/iwd030811/index.html

The Congo and Beyond: Live Chat on Empowering Women

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/03/the-congo-and-beyond-join-a-live-chat-on-empowering-women.html#

The new film Pushing the Elephant (about a Congolese family war survivors, including a mother and daughter who become reunited) will be airing on PBS television stations' Independent Lens in April and at community screenings in different places.