Capturing and Building Visual Fluency into Ohio State’s Humanities Curriculum

I am not proposing a game of Capture the Flag where those of us who teach in the Humanities use strategy and guile to avoid being imprisoned by old methodologies.  Instead, I am proposing a session where we talk about ways to invigorate the curriculum through the visual.  Students today are less inclined to read.  Educators in composition and literature fields of study generally acknowledge that the curriculum satisfies students well when courses use visual and other multimedia in the classroom.  As one model, I will teach a 500-level English class this summer on the Graphic Novel.  The proposed session will be fluid in nature.  I imagine that, after a general introduction, participants will cluster into pairs, small groups, and the like to talk and brainstorm independently.  One thread begun at Ohio State’s recent INNOVATE! conference was growing use of mobile technologies in secondary and higher education classrooms (e.g., Digital Storytelling using the iPhone and iPad).  I expect that participants in the proposed session will:  a) talk about students’ interests and proficiencies with one another; b) share Real World stories, projects and templates; and c) brainstorm new ideas during the day that may potentially update the curriculum in Humanities.  When individuals and small groups reconvene as a large group, I will facilitate sharing the following:  learning and talking points, technologies to explore, and questions for further consideration.  One of the outcomes I anticipate may be creation of a Virtual Network in the Humanities (contact list) or website where people share ideas and discuss ongoing projects, research, emerging technologies and best practices.