Changing the Subject: Using First-Person Narratives in the College Classroom to Foster Self-Study, Well-Being, and Empathy

Abstract

Susan Friedman, a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at the University of South Florida, has found through her own teaching experience that incorporating autobiographical texts and self-writing into her pedagogical practices can foster a classroom environment that pays attention to subjectivity to promote mindful, ethical behavior in both teacher and student, and teach empathy for the other. Her pedagogical practices are greatly influenced by progressive, feminist, and psychoanalytical pedagogies that she believes fall under the auspices of what feminist pedagogue Bell Hooks terms "engaged pedagogy." In this essay, the author shows why and how self-reflective personal writing improves the well-being of the writing subject, and how self-writing taps into a student's multiple intelligences, possibly facilitating the writing process for some learners. It is the author's intention to promote the use of self-writing in the college classroom as a valuable resource for teaching empathy.