Center for General Education
The role that literary studies can play in cultivating humanistic education at the university level is highly acknowledged by myself. I strongly agree with Martha Nussbaum’s notion of “narrative imagination,” which refers to the ability to ask, “What would it be like to be in someone else’s shoes?” This capacity for empathy, understanding, and judging the actions of others through the use of imagination serves as the foundation for comprehending the world. Literature, as an important basis for cultivating the humanities, can portray unique issues that arise in different eras and cultures, stimulating critical thinking and imagination in citizens while serving as a medium for understanding human nature. Therefore, higher education should develop students’ appreciation of literature in various ways, including the selection of “classics” and teaching strategies and methods. Under the pressure of academic research, university literature professors often face the dilemma of either compromising and moving further away from teaching or succumbing to being mere essay graders. Therefore, I strive to improve and innovate in the teaching field, using the issues discovered in the classroom as research topics that inform pedagogical practices. In turn, these research findings can be fed back into the classroom, benefiting the students.
對於文學究竟能夠在大學培育人文的教育裏扮演何種角色,本人極認同紐斯琫(Martha C. Nussbaum)提出一種稱之為「敘事的想像」的能力──意即「如果站在別人的位置,則事情會是怎樣?」這種近似於同理心、設身處地的理解、或者透過想像力的運用去判斷他人的行為,並且成為理解世界的基礎,實為文學作為培育人文的重要依據;因為文學能夠表現出不同時代、不同種族文化所發生的獨特問題,它能夠創發公民的思考與想像力,並作為人性理解的素材與媒介。因此高等教育更應該以各種方式來發展學生對文學的體會──這就關涉到對於「經典」的選擇、教學策略與方法上。大學文學教師在研究的壓力下,不是妥協地轉往更遠離教學的學術研究道路上,就是屈從地成為作文批改的教師;因此本人努力在教學現場的改善與創新之上,希望透過在教學現場發現的問題,可以作為教學實踐相關研究的課題,而這些研究也同樣能夠回饋到教學現場,讓學生們可以受益。