Exploring Contested Realities
In a world of information overload, where we regularly come across multiple and contradictory claims, how do we make sense of what is reality? How do personal experiences and cultural backgrounds shape what we believe to be true? How should we, as educators, think about the realities we teach, and those informing our students? This summer, a group of about 40 educators came together to consider such questions at this year’s Global Studies Outreach (GSO) Workshop, held at the Harvard campus in Cambridge from July 28 to 31.
First launched in 2013, Global Studies Outreach at Harvard is a collaboration amongst regional and internationally focused centers and programs at Harvard that share a commitment to educational outreach. The primary goal of this collaboration is to help the general public, and especially K-12 and community college educators and students, better understand the complex world in which we live. The annual GSO summer workshop is sponsored by the Global Health Education and Learning Incubator (GHELI) in partnership with the Asia Center, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and the Center for African Studies.
For this year’s workshop, educators from across the United States gathered to discuss the theme “Contested Realities.” This year’s theme emphasizes how people’s differing versions of reality come from a diverse set of values and lived experiences.
Being able to navigate through people’s differently perceived realities is important to global health because those who work in global health must be able to connect and collaborate with people of all different cultures, religions, and ways of seeing the world. In that vein, before coming to the workshop, attendees were given a pre-workshop reading by the late Paul Farmer, global health pioneer and co-founder of Partners in Health. The reading discussed different perceptions of health and religion, as well as finding a common language to talk about health across race, class, and culture. The reading and global health perspective informed the workshop and prepared participants for further discussion during the week.
Over the course of four days, attendees explored the spectrum of contested realities through lectures and various hands-on activities aiming to inform future teaching practices. One session featured a talk from a climate advocate who grew up in a religious community enmeshed in conspiracy theories. Other sessions included tours through the Peabody Museum and the Harvard campus examining Harvard through an often-overlooked lens: its own history with colonialism and slavery.
GHELI Senior Scholar in Residence, Terry Aladjem, who was on the committee that organized the event and developed the agenda, said this year’s group of educators was eager to engage with the material and each other. Aladjem noted workshop participants had great discussions in their table groups, with some even choosing to continue their conversations during lunch breaks to enjoy this special time to reflect with other teachers.
Aladjem hopes educators leave knowing they can draw on the connections that were forged and the resources that were shared during the workshop. “I think it’s important that Harvard extends its resources to other teaching communities,” said Aladjem. “These are real teachers dealing with real students, who are going to be the future.”
To learn more about communicating and connecting with people across contested realities, check out our resource packs on Science Communication and Storytelling for Global and Public Health.