Pedagogy

In this anthology, teachers and scholars examine the ways in which teaching is a performance that incorporates acts of impersonation.

Drawn from a conference on classroom dynamics, this anthology explores both the personal and performative aspects of teacher-student relationships. After David Crane’s prefatory “postscript,” George Otte recommends that students pretend, writing from various perspectives; Indira Karamcheti suggests putting on race as one can put on gender roles. Cheryl Johnson gets personal by playing the “trickster,” and Chris Amirault explores the relationship between the teacher and “the good student.”

While Karamcheti, Gallop, and Lynne Joyrich use theatrical vehicles to structure their essays, Joseph Litvak, Arthur W. Frank, and Naomi Scheman incorporate performance as examples. Madeleine R. Grumet theorizes pedagogy, while Roger I. Simon suggests that pedagogical roles can be taken on and off at will; Gregory Jay discusses the ethical side of impersonation; and Susan Miller denounces “the personal” as a sham.