When: October 12-14, 2017
Where: Williamsburg, Virginia
Institution: College of William & Mary
Facilitator: Doris Sommer
The Pre-Texts team visited the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia on October 12-14, 2017 to launch Cultural Agents’ new campaign: Literacy Brigades. In a lecture presented to a group of students and faculty, Prof. Doris Sommer invited the William & Mary community to create US literacy brigades in the spirit of literacy brigades that were active throughout the Americas in the twentieth century.
Pulling examples from Nicaragua, Cuba, the United States, Spain, and Colombia, Doris demonstrated the efficacy of literacy brigades that travel to under-resourced communities spreading literacy. The Brigades will work with local educators on Pre-Texts, sharing creative strategies that will encourage students to engage high level texts.
Naseemah Mohamed joined Doris in leading a mini one-day Pre-Texts workshop with 25 William & Mary professors and administrators from departments including Modern Languages, Physics, Philosophy, Gender and Women’s Studies, and the Center for Liberal Arts. Working with Federalist Paper No.10, the group enjoyed exploring this classic document through activities like statues, tangent texts, and a rhetoric talent show.
