About the Chapter:
Drawing on student work produced in a speech communications course, this chapter reveals how genocide education helped change students’ stereotypical imaginary of North American Indigenous Peoples. Students synthesized a 2015 KHC-NEH Colloquium event and Andrea Smith’s lecture on American Indian genocide with academic research to write and perform an informative speech. One striking commonality across students’ work was the realization that North American Indigenous Peoples’ experiences can be viewed through a genocide framework. This new awareness helped students to better understand the history of the United States and the lethal implications of the philosophy of Manifest Destiny on indigenous peoples’ lives. The chapter shows how combining the development of public speaking skills with the learning of controversial subject matter encourages students’ participation in democratic processes.
About the Author:
Franca Ferrari-Bridgers, Ph.D. is a Professor of Communication at Queensborough Community College, CUNY. She holds a Master’s degree in Hispano-American languages and literatures (Università Statale, Milan, Italy, 1995); a Master’s degree in linguistics (Freie Universitaet, Berlin, Germany, 1998); a Ph.D. in theoretical linguistics (New York University, 2005); and a Master’s degree in experimental psychology (Brooklyn College, 2015). Dr. Ferrari-Bridgers’ research interests are in the field of linguistics, psycholinguistics, listening assessments, pedagogical research in high impact practices, and higher education in prison.
Aaron Huey, “America’s Native Prisoners of War - Ted Talk”
Tanya H. Lee, “The Native American Genocide and the Teaching of US History”
Montana Office of Public Instruction, "Indian Education for All"
Jeffrey Ostler, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, “Genocide and American Indian History”
Andrea Smith, “Conquest – Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide "
For more information about “Gender and the Future of Genocide Studies” on September 30, 2015, click here.
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