Aporia, interregnum, & pedagogy: Education in a time of crisis

Abstract

The present study details the theoretical and pedagogical development of an experimental cultural studies in education seminar. Specifically, we explore the societal ends of education, and the means they prefigure, through a meditation on the catastrophe of the present. This will involve theorizing this historical moment, thinking through the educational questions posed by this work of contemporary historical study, and developing pedagogical practices appropriate to our present circumstance. To do so, the study will draw upon the work of Theodor Adorno and Stuart Hall, and it will conclude with a reflection on this theoretical and pedagogical study that discusses future directions of study in this project.

Keywords:

• Theodor Adorno
• Stuart Hall
• global climate change
• right-wing populism
• fascism
• pedagogy
• cultural studies

Notes

1 In what follows, we will employ the term “world-system” as a way of conceptualizing our contemporary reality as a globalized system of inter-connected cultural, economic, and political forces operating at a planetary scale (Wallerstein, 2004).

2 The present study details the theoretical and pedagogical development of the seminar. The first iteration of the manuscript was sketched out over the year preceding the course, and the final draft was crafted in the spring of 2023. This study is the first of three that will be followed by a qualitative project exploring the lived experiences of the students and instructor in this course and theoretical-pedagogical work in critical disability studies.

3 Thompson's work played an important role in this part of the course, but seminar readings expanded well beyond her work to include readings from economics (Skidelsky, 2020), political theory and history (Eco, 1997; Paxton, 2005; Slobodian, 2018), and recorded interviews with Paul Gilory (Gilroy & Bertelsen, 2019) for example.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Scott Ellison

Scott Ellison is a associate professor of Social Foundations of Education Department of Educational Psychology, Foundations, & Leadership Studies at the University of Northern Iowa, USA.

Shehreen Iqtadar

Shehreen Iqtadar is a assistant professor Department of Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education Rowan University at the College of Education Glassboro, USA.