Gold Links: Teaching Culture Through Commodity Chains

IF 0.4 3区文学 0 LITERATURE

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE STUDIES Pub Date : 2023-08-01 DOI:10.5325/complitstudies.60.3.0460

H. M. Bruhn, Sarah J. Townsend

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Abstract

abstract:This co-authored article offers reflections on the pedagogical potential of focusing on commodity chains as an approach to teaching culture. By way of example, it foregrounds gold, drawing on the two authors' experiences teaching material related to this valuable mineral in very distinct fields: European art history (in courses on the ancient and medieval eras) and Latin American literature and culture (in courses about the Amazon taught in Spanish and Portuguese). The authors also discuss their collaborative work in creating an Open Educational Resources (OER) module on gold, and the possibility of a co-taught course. Gold is a particularly interesting commodity given the many myths that surround it, its history as a form of currency and standard of value, and the aesthetic qualities attributed to it. More generally, however, focusing on specific commodities from the point of extraction to their use in an array of products encourages students to think about the materiality of culture and its implication in an array of political, economic, and ethical issues. It also offers a way of charting connections and differences across long arcs of time, across geographical space and cultural differences, and across different academic disciplines.

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黄金链接：通过商品链教授文化

这篇与人合著的文章对关注商品链作为一种文化教学方法的教学潜力进行了思考。例如，它突出了黄金的前景，借鉴了两位作者在不同领域与这种宝贵矿物相关的经验教材：欧洲艺术史（古代和中世纪课程）和拉丁美洲文学和文化（西班牙语和葡萄牙语课程）。作者还讨论了他们在创建黄金开放教育资源（OER）模块方面的合作工作，以及共同教授课程的可能性。黄金是一种特别有趣的商品，因为它周围有很多神话，它作为货币和价值标准的历史，以及它所具有的美学品质，关注特定商品，从提取到在一系列产品中使用，鼓励学生思考文化的物质性及其在一系列政治、经济和伦理问题中的含义。它还提供了一种绘制长时间弧、地理空间和文化差异以及不同学术学科之间联系和差异的方法。

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来源期刊

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE STUDIES LITERATURE-

CiteScore

0.50

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0.00%

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期刊介绍： Comparative Literature Studies publishes comparative articles in literature and culture, critical theory, and cultural and literary relations within and beyond the Western tradition. It brings you the work of eminent critics, scholars, theorists, and literary historians, whose essays range across the rich traditions of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. One of its regular issues every two years concerns East-West literary and cultural relations and is edited in conjunction with members of the College of International Relations at Nihon University. Each issue includes reviews of significant books by prominent comparatists.