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Amy Reynolds, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology
I was interested in the CACE seminar because of a desire to be a better story-listener, story-sharer, and storyteller. In particular, I wanted to better share the stories of others, while not attempting to translate their voices. I think about the stories students sometimes note being new for them, such as the story of the United States and its relationship with Latin America and indigenous communities. Or the voices they remark having never heard before, such as a female theologian preaching or writing from the majority world.
This requires that I first think about myself as a learner. Which stories do I listen to? This is a question about who I read, who I listen to, and whose art I engage. We talk about ‘untold stories,’ but often we mean those stories that have been told, and are being told, but to which we are not listening. I’m on a journey of trying to intentionally seek out stories (and theologies and creative works) of those that are not set out in front of me. It’s not a single choice, but a constant choice, day after day, to decenter those whose words are loudest or easily accessible, and to seek those whose perspectives I know less about, especially those who have been marginalized. I’m also challenged not to seek a representative perspective, but perspectives.
Only after considering myself as a learner can I reflect on myself as a professor. How do I engage with, and share, the stories of others, both those which I understand well and those which are more foreign to my own experience? Baldwin’s ideas about translation challenge me to allow the authors and creators and researchers on my syllabus to speak their own words, even as I’m charged with guiding students in the task of understanding and applying such words. I want to be ever aware of this challenge, and of the awesome responsibility is it to share the work of others. It is why James tells us that, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will face stricter judgment” (James 3:1 NRSV).
Alongside the task of professor, I must examine my practices as a scholar. I am constantly involved in the act of storytelling, even as we rarely name research as such. A wise colleague taught me that I frame a paper and review the literature is an act of storytelling; it’s one way of telling a history. No one can engage with all the literature on a given topic, and no one evaluates theories and data the same way. Further, the issues that I focus on, the variables that I analyze, the populations that are my focus, and the audiences I engage – these are all ways of telling a story about who or what matters.
May I as a learner, as a professor, and as a scholar, faithfully listen, share, and tell stories.