The start of the month was a bit odd and weird to me. I’ve become more comfortable in my role as neither student nor teacher. I’m not even really a TA in the traditional sense. I am more of an observer who adds a comment rarely in class. This became increasingly hard when we read Minor Detail. I had a lot to say about the book and the way it was being taught and the way students were discussing it, but did not feel as though it was my place to say anything. Before the first class, where we discussed the short novel, I asked Dr. Lewis to speak with him privately to explain my hesitancy with the book and being in the class. Most of my experience in undergrad, I have been the only Middle Eastern person in a class, and yet I also tend not to feel comfortable commenting on much. Particularly in this dynamic, I felt the need to be silent and simply observe. My main issues with the way this novel was being taught, and frankly, some of the other pieces we’d gone over already, were that it felt very one-sided. It’s a novel that talks about one side in a way that frames the other side horrifically. Although Dr. Lewis wanted to look at this novel to examine the way the author chose to write it, there is a responsibility, in my opinion at least, to give context to what is being read. As of yet, this has been the hardest part of the class.
3/14/2025
