Developing diverse programs
March 4, 2021
The fault, Mr. Naylor said, is not in the teaching of Shakespeare but the general lack of diversity in American English classrooms.
“We all- myself included as the BA English chair- need to do a better job of including works from diverse author in our curriculum,” he said. “Almost every author we read as a part of English literature cannon is by a male European writer, and the not so subtle message becomes these are the greatest writers ever. Well, when there’s no representation of black writers, Latino writers, female writers and so on, the other not so subtle message is those ethnic and cultural groups have not contributed great writers and great works to our literacy experience, and nothing could be further from the truth.”