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Grounded in narrative theory, this book offers a case study of a liberal arts college's use of narrative to help build identity, community, and collaboration within the college faculty across a range of disciplines, including history, psychology, sociology, theatre and dance, literature, anthropology, and communication. Exploring issues of methodology and their practical application, this narrative project speaks to the construction of identity for the liberal arts in today's higher education climate. Narrative, Identity, and Academic Community focuses on the ways a cross-disciplinary emphasis on narrative can impact institutions in North America and contribute to the discussion of strategies to foster bottom-up, faculty-driven collaboration and innovation.
List of contents
Introduction Section I: Interrogating and Framing Reality: Identity and Cultural Perceptions 1. Old and New Technologies of Asynchronous Communication: Virtual Narratives and "Presence" Thomas Klein 2. Onitsha Market Literature: Narrating Identity and Survival in a Colonial African City Raphael Chijioke Njoku and King Yik3. Narrative Identities in India’s Global Age Alan Johnson 4. Narrative Text and Photographs: A Case for Ethnographic Research Poetry Terry Ownby Section I Summary: An Author Conversation Raphael Chijioke Njoku, Thomas Kline, Terry Ownby, and Alan Johnson Section II: Narratives at the Intersection of the Public and Private 5. Finding Story in Unexpected Places: Branding and the Role of Narrative in the Study of Communication John Gribas, Zac Gershberg, Jim DiSanza, and Nancy Legge 6. The "Not Yet Pregnant:" The Impact of Narratives on Infertility Identity and Reproductive Policy Kellee J. Kirkpatrick 7. Letter-Writing and the Eighteenth-Century Scientific Community: Constructing Narratives and Identity Paul Sivitz Section II Summary: An Author Conversation Zac Gershberg, Paul Zivitz, and Kellee Kirkpatrick Section III: Performing Bodies, Creating Stories 8. Narratives of Pain Gesine Hearn 9. Narrative and the Performing Arts: A Symposium
Brian Atteberry, Vanessa Ballam, Grant Harville, and Lauralee Zimmerly 10. Stories and Objects: Narrative and the Construction of Connective Links in an American Quilting Guild Sonja Launspach 11. The Currency of Stories: Anthropologists, Nawaals, and the Strange World of Academe Elizabeth Cartwright Section III Summary: An Author Conversation Gesine Hearn, Sonja Launspach, Grant Harville, and Elizabeth Cartwright Conclusion???: Narrative Diffusion Paul Sivitz
About the author
Brian Attebery is Professor of English at Idaho State University, USA.
John Gribas is Professor of Communication, Media, and Persuasion at Idaho State University, USA.
Mark K. McBeth is Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Letters and Professor of Political Science at Idaho State University, USA.
Paul Sivitz is Lecturer of History at Idaho State University, USA.
Kandi Turley-Ames is Founding Dean of the College of Arts & Letters and Professor of Psychology at Idaho State University, USA.
Summary
Grounded in narrative theory, this book offers a case study of a liberal arts college’s use of narrative to help build identity, community, and collaboration within the college faculty across a range of disciplines, including history, psychology, sociology, theatre and dance, literature, anthropology, and communication. Exploring issues of methodology and their practical application, this narrative project speaks to the construction of identity for the liberal arts in today’s higher education climate. Narrative, Identity, and Academic Community focuses on the ways a cross-disciplinary emphasis on narrative can impact institutions in North America and contribute to the discussion of strategies to foster bottom-up, faculty-driven collaboration and innovation.
