Bryan Shuler
Humanities, Dale Mabry Campus
Course Range: (Traditional)
Quotable Quote: When studying the Humanities, especially in
my African Humanities course, “It’s all
about “Culture,” and not about Colour.”
Capital Course: HUM 2420- African Humanities; as one of only
a handful of Africanists in the state, I take pleasure in bringing my fieldwork
as a Fulbright Research Scholar and Cultural Expert for National Geographic-Lindblad
Expeditions to the classroom and sharing it with dedicated and curious students
here at HCC.
Ideal Ideology: I believe that only through hands-on in-depth
research in the field can an instructor fully perceive, appreciate and explain
the various aspects of their course topics, and therefore, present the insight
our students desperately need in order to successfully compete in the global
environment they are and will experience in their lifetime.
Teachable
Moment- Student Success: As a Humanistic Anthropologist, I
continuously place myself within the scenario of the culture being discussed,
and honestly share my personal experiences and reactions in the moment to what
was occurring around me, rather than observing the culture at arm’s length,
keeping it in a glass museum case. The students will automatically perceive the
difference in approach and will come to embrace the culture rather than allow
it to remain 2-dimentional in a textbook. It is one thing to discuss health
issues through published statistics; it is another to share my personal
experiences and emotions interacting with lepers in the community in which I
lived. Photographs of textiles in a textbook cannot even begin to match the
same classroom experience as allowing students to adorn various cloth and
costumes from a culture. In the end, these moments of sharing between students
and instructor inspire them to engage in their own unique experiences which
jettison them into a world of personal exploration.
Techno Tool: I enjoy using the Power-Point presentations
created using photographs taken during my fieldwork as it transcends a product
made from “Clip-art” into a statement of personal point-of-view.
Optimized Advice: Break out of the academic sterility; do not
be afraid to expose one’s own emotions and experiences in your given field to
the students, as this is the real basis for genuine honesty in the classroom.
