I’m entering the fifth week of my eight-week intensive course, Critical Hope & Self-Preservation in Contemporary Librarianship, which I’m offering to currently enrolled Dominican University School of Information Studies students (why Dominican University SOIS?). The course is billed as a Special Topics course (LIS 805) within the school, and I’m using Dr. Kari Grain’s book, Critical Hope: How to grapple with complexity, lead with purpose, and cultivate transformative social change, as a core text. One of the first things we explored as a class was our positionality. After reading the positionality statements of practicing librarians and considering how several positionalities can be layered, I asked students to “map” their positionalities on the Positionality Wheel below (students have given me permission to share the included image).
There are areas of reflection for us to consider -for instance, which, if any, positionalities are augmented or neutralized from slice to slice – and what is revealed as we consider student demographics within the course? What are the implications of these positionalities as we consider Critical Hope praxis and how it may be perceived and received in library workplaces?
Students noted the expected but still stark hegemony of the class’ majority closeness to power. They also expressed interest in the placements on the outer rim of the Wheel, wondering about the experiences connected to them; and they shared that this exercise helped them consider shifting their mindset to how could they use any positionalities of privilege to create power-sharing strategies for those who are further away from power. Students also noted the challenges and benefits of reflecting on positionality:
Challenges: cynicism and anger.
Benefits: community-building and the importance of sharing art with others to both validate them and help them find their voice/share their experiences.
I’m so excited about this inaugural cohort – how they are connecting with each other, and what they are teaching me! I’ll share another update soon.
If you’d be interested in taking a course like this, let me know in the comments below!
