TYCA-SW

ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM:
TENSIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
(AND POSSIBLE RESOLUTIONS)

October 30-November 1, 2008

This year’s conference features bold and useful presentations from educators across the United States.  Below you can read more about our special guests Ira Shor, Rachel Jackson, and Guy and Phyllis Logsdon, and we also have a great breakout schedule of presentations that deal with all sorts of elephants in the classroom – from racial issues to how to connect with Millennials, from problems with concurrent enrollment to the pleasures of service learning (and even one presentation on the Elephant Man himself).  Check out the “Conference Information” links at the right for further details, and, again, scroll down for more on our special guests.

The TYCA-SW May 2008 Newsletter has arrived. Enjoy!

Ira Shor with Paulo Freire

Special Keynoter Ira Shor: Confronting Inequities in Higher Education

A friend who taught as a graduate student at a grand university experienced culture shock upon landing her first full-time job - teaching in a community college that she described as a glorified garage. Many of us know her story, and no one analyzes her situation and the numerous inequities it suggests better than Ira Shor. His various books take an unflinching look at higher education in America, yet his titles also suggest the hope of his friend and mentor, Paulo Freire - for example, Critical Teaching and Everyday Life, Empowering Education, and When Students Have Power. Ira’s current cutting-edge project involves examining with his students and fellow teachers visual as well as quantitative representations of reality so that we all can read the world better and write about it honestly. He looks forward to sharing his ideas with you.

Rachel Jackson

Cultivating the Wisdom of the Underdog: Applying Freire, Shor, and Shorris to the Fertile Ground of the Southwest

Rachel Jackson loves Oklahoma in all sorts of radical ways, but her affection for it doesn’t always come easy. Her struggle with the prejudices that are often applied to many Oklahomans and other “Southerners” has led to doctoral work at Oklahoma University in Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy (with a focus on Oklahoma regional studies) and a book project for the OU Press on 20th Century radical progressives in Oklahoma. She also edits the online publication “The Oklahoma Revelator – A People’s Almanac and Cultural Journal,” a joint venture of her Red Flag Press and the Mongrel Empire Press. Her ten-year career in teaching college English currently includes her Kiowa Clemente course, which explores tribal culture and wisdom alongside Western humanities (and has been guided by Clemente founder Earl Shorris himself). As Program Director for the inaugural Teacher Training Institute for the Oklahoma Humanities Council, Rachel helps K-12 teachers in Oklahoma incorporate the tribal Clemente Course model into their classrooms. She is excited to share with you her zeal for reaching and teaching all our regional populations - who deserve our best and who have much to give back.

Guy and Phyllis Logsdon: On the Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie

Dr. Guy Logsdon is a native Oklahoman who has earned international recognition as a scholar and entertainer.  It is his liner notes that grace the Smithsonian Folkways CD’s of Woody Guthrie, and he sings and plays guitar himself too.  His books include The University of Tulsa, a History 1882-1972 and the award-winning “The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing” and Other Songs Cowboys Sing, with co-authorship credits for Saddle Serenaders and Ada, Oklahoma, Queen City of the Chickasaw Nation. In person, he tells compelling stories about Woody Guthrie, including why Oklahoma didn’t always welcome their prodigal son, and he performs Woody’s songs too.   Joining him is his wife, Phyllis, a talented “cowgirl” in her own right from Woody’s hometown of Okemah.  They’ll tell stories and sing songs, a bit like Woody did with Lefty Lou.  Don’t miss this great survey of the deep roots of American musical culture.

The September 2007 TYCA-SW Newsletter has arrived!

Click here to read.