In honor of Black History Month, all faculty, staff and students of the School of Education and Social Policy are invited to participate in interpretive discussions on the meanings of two compelling texts. Both are high-profile speeches — Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and Barack Obama's speech on race delivered last year in Philadelphia.Sophie Haroutunian-Gordon, director of the Master of Science in Education program, is planning this opportunity for interpretive discussions in groups of no more than 15 people. "The goal of interpretive discussion is to identify a point of doubt about the meaning of the text that the group wishes to resolve and to make progress toward its resolution by interpreting the text," she says.
The discussions will take place on Monday, February 16, from 5 to 7 p.m. As a follow-up, a second discussion may be scheduled. "Those who wish to participate will receive line-numbered versions of the texts, which they should read beforehand and bring to the discussion," says Haroutunian-Gordon.The discussion leaders will be Master of Science in Education alumni who have prepared clusters of questions about the meaning of the texts. For the last year, Haroutunian-Gordon has met monthly with a group of alumni to explore issues related to interpretive discussion. After developing questions about texts from a variety of disciplines, the members of the group then have led discussions. Haroutunian-Gordon has published two books related to the topic of interpretive discussion.
Anyone who wants to participate in the discussions of the King and Obama texts should contact Haroutunian-Gordon directly at shg@northwestern.edu by Friday, January 30.
Last Modified: 4/5/10