Empathy+and+Multicultural+Literature

=Whose Face Do I See? Multicultural Literature= ==

"I don't just live in Raleigh, North Carolina; I live in the world."

That's the insight a wise fourth grader shared when asked why she was studying French.

Studying another language opens new windows on the world -- to culture and history and perspectives that are different from your own.

So can learning about other cultures through reading authentic literature, both fiction and nonfiction.

How can we create the conditions for young adults to experience aesthetic responses to multicultural literature?

Greater than tolerance is empathy. When a reader empathizes with a literary character, then the journey through the story is a shared one. Daniel Pink (2005) has included empathy as one of the six key elements of creativity for that very reason. For us to thrive as creative, innovative people, we must learn to see the world through the eyes of others.

Here's a ScoopIt that I'm curating on "Cultivating Empathy."

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In this Collaborative Critical Inquiry, we'll face some tough questions about the wisdom of recognizing minority artists or creating multicultural booklists. What do you think? Are we post-multicultural?

Multicultural Book Resources . ..