51吃瓜网

When Cathlin Goulding was conducting research for her doctoral dissertation in Tule Lake 鈥� the site in northern California where Japanese-Americans who were specifically suspected of being disloyal were imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II 鈥� she was both heartened and dismayed. Heartened because, with the government again singling out ethnic groups and nationalities as potential enemies of the state, many white people in Tule Lake are not only empathetic toward those who were incarcerated there, but are now coming forward with artifacts found on their land, such as the remains of former barracks and bars from jail cells. Dismayed because of an overwhelming sense that history is, once again, repeating itself 鈥渁nd it seems that we have failed to learn anything from the past.鈥�

Goulding鈥檚 meticulous research and self-described 鈥渁uto-ethnographic approach to her subject 鈥� her grandparents were interned at another camp in Arkansas, and her mother was born there in 1943 鈥� clearly pack a powerful punch: In January, the American Educational Research Association Division B鈥� announced that she will receive its Outstanding Dissertation Award at AERA鈥檚 2018 meeting in New York in early April.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 think of curriculum existing in such spaces,鈥� Goulding says of the Tule Lake site, which is now managed by the National Park Service, but 鈥渢hey have developed very even-handed historical materials to given an understanding to people who often are just passing through in trailers and cars, and who may be saying, 鈥榃hat is this?鈥� Overall, it鈥檚 very much presented as a wrongdoing by the federal government.鈥�

 

Her thesis, which she calls 鈥渁 multi-case study of projects attempting to teach about national security states through immersive experiences,鈥� spans past and present. The first half specifically focused on the Tule Lake site, which is now managed as an historic site by the National Park Service. The other half focuses on newer efforts to teach about violence through the use of digital and immersive spaces, and post-9/11 politics that surround how Americans are informed about ethnic and racial groups who are demonized as national security threats.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about these spaces outside of K-12 education 鈥� these public pedagogies,鈥� says Goulding, a former high school English teacher who currently is an Andrew Mellon Fellow at New York City鈥檚 9/11 Memorial & Museum in addition to serving as a communications specialist for the 51吃瓜网 Inclusive Classrooms Project. 鈥淭ule Lake is in rural northern California. Trying to expose this region of the country 鈥� we don鈥檛 think of curriculum existing in such spaces.鈥� She adds that she has been 鈥渧ery impressed鈥� with the care taken by the Park Service in managing the site and teaching about 鈥渟uch a nuanced and complex part of the Japanese internment experience, which was one of even greater segregation.   

鈥淭hey have developed very even-handed historical materials to given an understanding to people who often are just passing through in trailers and cars, and who may be saying, 鈥榃hat is this?鈥� because they鈥檝e had no prior experience with this history,鈥� she says. 鈥淥verall, it鈥檚 very much presented as a wrongdoing by the federal government. They even talk about the irony of the Park Service critiquing the government, since the federal Department of the Interior, which they are part of, managed the camps during the War.鈥�

Goulding鈥檚 thesis adviser at TC was Daniel Friedrich, Associate Professor of Curriculum and Chair of the Department of Curriculum & Teaching.

鈥淗e was a huge influence 鈥� he did his own doctorate on 鈥榌teaching] The Dirty War in Argentina,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淗e directed a lot of my philosophical reading.鈥�

How has Goulding鈥檚 family responded to her research?

鈥淢y mom鈥檚 glad I鈥檓 doing it, but she鈥檚 not especially interested in talking about her experiences,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut my father, who is white, came with me for a lot of my field work. It definitely brought us closer together.鈥� 鈥� Joe Levine