This website is initially intended to present evidence and information to supplement or support Robert R. Daniel's conference paper presentation, "Culture, Cognition, Identity, Ethics," in the panel titled "Teaching About Borders and Identity," organized by Marilyn Matar and Cybèle Arnaud, of the Catholic University of America, at the Northeast Modern Language Association 2018 conference in Pittsburgh, PA, 12-15 April 2018. (NB: The session focuses largely on literature and culture of the French-speaking world.)

Subsequently, this site will be devoted to broader reflection and research on the interfaces and interrelations of culture, cognition, identity and ethics. It is intended as a teaching- and learning-oriented site informed by scholarly work.

From the "Teaching About Borders and Identity" session CFP:

This panel seeks contributions related to teaching about shifting spaces, conflicting identities, and the Other. How do globalization, territorial expansion, border closing, immigration, multiculturalism, or diasporic identities impact the classroom? How can these topics be addressed through literature courses? How can the classroom become a space for ethical and humanistic inquiry?

We are interested in classes taught on topics including, but not limited to, borders, war, spatial conquest, the question of the self and the other, displacement, identities in conflict, crossings, transculturalism, gender studies, science-fiction, post-colonialism, etc.

Proposals pertaining to French and Francophone literatures are especially welcome.

Excerpt from Robert's abstract:

My experience [developing and teaching multiple courses on the French-speaking Caribbean] suggests that the notions that ought to inform teaching about “borders and identity” or “shifting spaces, conflicting identities, and the Other” are as follows:

1. The cognitive importance of culture in establishing mental frameworks (including territoriality), habitual actions, a sense of belonging, moral codes, and a sense of “the other” as potentially dangerous (Wexler 2006; Narvaez 2014).
2. The productive nature of respectfully allowing the coexistence of multiple and complex identities in individuals and communities versus the generally destructive nature of coerced identity simplification or otherwise forcing folks to choose one identity over another (Maalouf 1998).
3. The necessity of cultural humility for intercultural competence.
4. The necessity of ethics for orderly human coexistence, mutual benefit and shared thriving.

REFERENCES

Maalouf, Amin. (1998). Les Identités meurtrières. Paris: Éditions Grasset.

Narvaez, Darcia. (2014). Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

Wexler, Bruce E. (2006). Brain and Culture: Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

NAVIGATION:

• course descriptions and syllabi
• course materials
• bibliography, suggestions for further reading
• feedback page