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Karl Ashoka BrittoAssociate Professor, French and Comparative Literature |
Karl Ashoka Britto, Associate Professor in French and Comparative Literature, is a leader in the emerging field of Francophone literary studies. A member of the Berkeley faculty since 1996, Britto teaches a wide range of classes: “Gender, Culture, and Identity in Francophone Literature,” “Murder in Literature,” and “Reading and Writing Skills in French,” to name a few. “This course,” writes an undergraduate, “has been truly amazing. Professor Britto has vast knowledge of the subject and he put the literature in interesting and relevant perspectives that I would never have thought of. I loved this class.” The Committee was particularly impressed by Britto’s mentorship of graduate students and his long-term commitment to their progress, as well as by his contributions to his department and to the campus. Pairs of qualities—compassion and generosity, command and rigor—form a theme in students’ comments. The Committee also noted Britto’s abilities not only to advance his field on campus but also to cultivate in his students the exactitude that the field merits. “His seminar,” says a student on an evaluation, “is a weekly reminder of the reasons I chose to pursue graduate studies in literature: invigorating, thoughtful, challenging.”
Statement of Teaching Philosophy
I began my teaching career by walking into a room full of students and speaking to them in a language they could not understand. I expected that teaching language would be difficult and frustrating, and on some days it was. What I didn't anticipate was how much fun it could be, or how moved I would feel when students were willing to step outside of their cultural and linguistic comfort zones and take the risk of falling flat.
My early experiences as an instructor of first-year French continue to shape my approach to teaching today. On a very basic level, the imbalance of knowledge and authority that shapes any pedagogical situation is taken to an extreme in a beginning language class, particularly one taught entirely in the target language. I understand my task as a teacher to be one of recognizing that imbalance while working hard with my students to reset its terms. I expect them to participate actively in this process and to push themselves to think and speak in new and different ways, whether on the level of language itself or in relation to unfamiliar literary, cultural, or theoretical contexts; they can expect me to help them to acquire the knowledge they will need to make this push, to foster an atmosphere of respect in the classroom, and to listen and respond with the same care and attention that I would hope to receive in return.
One of the primary objectives I set for myself in teaching Francophone literature (that is, literature in French written outside of France) is to allow my students the freedom to hone their critical skills as readers and to bring their own perspectives to bear, while at the same time offering them the specific historical and cultural information they will need in order to produce informed interpretations - in other words, I try to teach them how to read responsibly without extinguishing those sparks of inspiration that make for compelling literary analysis. During discussions, I make every effort to keep open multiple lines of inquiry, moving with my students from close textual readings to questions of literary form and ideology, from historical contextualization to considerations of literature's role in colonial domination and anti-colonial resistance.
For me, teaching "French Civilization from Margin to Center" in Fall 2005 was a particularly exciting experience. The contemporary political relevance of issues we were considering in relation to literature became unexpectedly clear as riots broke out in low- income housing projects-largely populated by communities of immigrant origin-throughout France. Situating these unfolding events within a broader historical and cultural framework was deeply satisfying, for it allowed me to feel with newfound intensity the potential for the work we do to change the ways our students understand the past and inhabit the present.