In Their Own Words: Teaching Empathy through the Centering of Individuals Who Have Experienced Abuse

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the Survivors: Local Stories of Domestic Violence (hereafter, Survivors) civic engagement project. Survivors’ learning objectives were to increase the understanding of the complexity of intimate partner abuse and foster empathy in outsiders’ responses, something at the cornerstone of the #MeToo social movement and connected to trauma-informed teaching. To accomplish these goals, students were given quotes from individuals who suffered abuse and were asked to create a “body” that reflected the abuse and the “after” (coping/healing). This project was then presented at a local theater and included community members who read the quotes while the students presented their work. After the event, event participants were invited to submit their feedback via a brief survey or interviews, which resulted in involvement from 45 individuals. Analysis of both items reveals that Survivors was a meaningful experience for the students and community members involved.