{"id":6542,"date":"2017-10-20T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T17:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=6542"},"modified":"2017-10-17T19:52:15","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T03:52:15","slug":"new-exhibit-showcases-power-literacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/new-exhibit-showcases-power-literacy\/","title":{"rendered":"New exhibit showcases the power of literacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span>Sam Dunaway | News Editor<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span>Positioned on the third floor of Hamersly library is a new and powerful exhibit titled \u201cIn The Picture, Revisited.\u201d<\/span> <span>This gallery, created by Dr. Hank Bersani and Dr. Chloe Hughes, and updated by Hughes, analyzes the representation of ableism in children\u2019s literature.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ableism is a form of discrimination which favors able-bodied individuals. The exhibit investigates how characters with disabilities are portrayed in Caldecott-Medal-winning children\u2019s books.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to the exhibit, the examples of ableism showcased in illustration books may have a deep impact on the way children view disability in society. Characters that have a disability are often treated as weak and inferior, or they are physically separated from those without disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the book \u201cRapunzel,\u201d<\/span> <span>by Paul O. Zelinsky, the once handsome prince loses his eyesight and is considered \u201cwretched\u201d from then on. Language such as \u201cdumb-struck,\u201d \u201cdeaf as a post\u201d and \u201cblind as a bat\u201d are used in children\u2019s literature; and the illustration book \u201cSo You Want To Be President\u201d ignores Franklin Delano Roosevelt\u2019s paralysis entirely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The exhibit asks important questions when defining ableism in these books; does the book ignore people with disabilities? Are characters with disabilities portrayed as three-dimensional people? Does the book promote positive self-image for people with disabilities?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Hughes is quoted in this exhibit, stating, \u201cLiteracy is agency in our society. Literacy has the power to transform who we are, what we believe and how we cope with our ever-changing world. We all need to find texts with which we can identify, and we all need to find our voice through written expression. Without authentic literacy experiences, people with disabilities will continue to be unheard, marginalized, and treated inequitably. We cannot afford to perpetuate such discrimination.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Visit \u201cIn The Picture, Revisited\u201d to learn tools for further investigating disability and ableism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span>Contact the author at <a href=\"mailto:journalnews@wou.edu\">journalnews@wou.edu<\/a><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sam Dunaway | News Editor Positioned on the third floor of Hamersly library is a new and powerful exhibit titled \u201cIn The Picture, Revisited.\u201d This gallery, created by Dr. Hank Bersani and Dr. Chloe Hughes, and updated by Hughes, analyzes the representation of ableism in children\u2019s literature. Ableism is a form of discrimination which favors [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":823,"featured_media":6543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/823"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}