A group of students, faculty and staff have begun a project titled, Teaching for Critical Consciousness. The group’s purpose is to develop methods and resources for bringing socio-politically charged topics, not limited to race, class and gender issues, into the public sphere (i.e., the classroom, meetings, campus events).

Two specific initiatives are underway:

1.  The creation of a compendium for all UNH students, faculty and staff. The compendium will be comprised of suggested readings, films, media clips, songs, artworks, historical documents, experiential experiences, etc. that can enhance and deepen the learning process, in class, meetings, and other settings. The compendium, in addition to listing resources by category, will include an annotation of each resource. The compendium, once completed, will be posted on the university website and will be a working document; University community members can add to the document after sending submissions to the committee.

2.  The creation of classroom, meeting, and event exercises that generate thought and discussion. A document that presents ideas and tips for discussing “hot topics” is under development. The document will be organized by theme and sub-themes (e.g., Sexism: The exploitation of females in the media). The document could utilize compendium materials coupled with interactive or experiential exercises. Some of the exercises will be adapted from published materials; other exercises are being developed to meet the specific needs of our university community (i.e., address local issues).