Spectrum Contexts

Contextual issues (including digital tech and media)

Popular culture is “of the devil”Popular culture is irrelevant and trivialPopular culture might be interesting in some arcane discourses in cultural studiesPopular culture is a source of meaning-making, drawn upon regularly within critical discoursesPopular culture is a source not only of critical engagement, but of promulgation of learning and researchDigital tech strictly avoidedDigital tech used instrumentally (lectures broadcast, for instance) in search of more credit hours for financial reasonsDigital tech used to create limited access to otherwise isolated students, emphasis on creating access, early adopters do all of the adaptationsDigital tech begins to permeate learning structures, enabling collaboration across diverse contexts and constitutencies, institution invests heavily in faculty learningDigital tech a key form of new media literacy that permeates all learning structures as appropriateCultural contexts of students deemed problematic and often leading to “syncretism”Cultural contexts of students mostly irrelevant to learningCultural contexts of students important to take seriously in learning for effective outcomes“Cultural contextualization” a key element of learning and teachingCultural contextualization is not only a key element of learning and teaching, but thoroughly embedded in theological method and processRacism not perceived as an issueRacism perceived as an issue only for people of colorFaculty urged to provide support for multi-cultural content in coursesInstitutions begin to recognize the distinctions between “multi-cultural” and “anti-racist” learning, and implement strategies in support of anti-racismWhite learners/educators pursue a stance of “aggressive humility” and educators/learners of other cultural contexts become lead educators

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