WEBVTT

00:00:05.530 --> 00:00:08.051
MICHEL DEGRAFF: So for me,
the best part, actually

00:00:08.051 --> 00:00:09.550
one of the best
parts of the course,

00:00:09.550 --> 00:00:13.890
was having students present
parts of the material.

00:00:13.890 --> 00:00:18.196
And there was one
challenge that often--

00:00:18.196 --> 00:00:19.570
there was a
temptation to just do

00:00:19.570 --> 00:00:23.290
a summary of what you had read.

00:00:23.290 --> 00:00:25.200
But the point was not
just to give a summary.

00:00:25.200 --> 00:00:30.610
It was to be able to integrate
the readings with the larger--

00:00:30.610 --> 00:00:32.590
I call it the germ of ideas.

00:00:32.590 --> 00:00:35.770
And I use that term based
on previous readings

00:00:35.770 --> 00:00:42.220
that we have done earlier in
previous years in this course.

00:00:42.220 --> 00:00:44.110
But that's wasn't always easy.

00:00:44.110 --> 00:00:47.470
Because there's a big difference
between doing a summary

00:00:47.470 --> 00:00:49.450
and then taking the ideas
of readings and then

00:00:49.450 --> 00:00:53.920
incorporating them into your
own reading of the course,

00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:58.060
into personal issues, into
communal or critical issues.

00:00:58.060 --> 00:01:01.540
And for me, I wanted them
to be able to do that too.

00:01:01.540 --> 00:01:04.060
And the motive for that,
which was based on a reading

00:01:04.060 --> 00:01:06.970
by Paulo Freire
and Donaldo Macedo

00:01:06.970 --> 00:01:11.440
was as you read the word, you
also have to read the world.

00:01:11.440 --> 00:01:14.140
And so, it's not enough
to just look at the text

00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:15.010
as if it's a text.

00:01:15.010 --> 00:01:18.160
You have to be able to
connect the text with issues

00:01:18.160 --> 00:01:20.770
of actuality, which
could be personal,

00:01:20.770 --> 00:01:23.830
which could be political,
which could be international.

00:01:23.830 --> 00:01:27.970
And at the end, they did get to
do that in sometimes the most

00:01:27.970 --> 00:01:30.090
beautiful, moving ways.

00:01:30.090 --> 00:01:32.660
And often, after a while,
it got very personal.

00:01:32.660 --> 00:01:34.560
It would bring up
personal issues

00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:37.540
about their upbringing,
which they would connect

00:01:37.540 --> 00:01:39.460
to the linguistic biography.

00:01:39.460 --> 00:01:42.500
So for me, it was a very
rewarding part of the course,

00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:44.500
to see them being able
to make those connections

00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:46.960
between abstract,
complex analysis

00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:50.520
and what they live on
a day-by-day basis.