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Let Them Smell Something
by Kevin Grace
When I teach a class, a song from The Who’s rock opera Tommy always seems to course through my brain. In “Go to the Mirror, Boy,” an exchange between Tommy and the doctor results in lyrics most of us have heard at one time or another: “See me, Feel me, Touch me, Heal me.” Like those lyrics, it all comes down to “experiential” learning, our pedagogical emphasis on hands-on curricula. For me, experiential learning boils down to putting primary documents—15th century manuscripts, 17th century rare bindings, 19th century letters, early 20th century photographs—into the hands of students so they can see them, feel them, and of course, smell them.
When it comes to the senses of learning, smell should never be underrated. Whether it’s the aroma of fine leather, the pungency of old vellum, or the sharpness from the chemicals of processed negatives, it is important that students make a tangible connection to the subject matter. But it’s the effort to establish that connection that sometimes has me stymied. For the most part, I teach seminars in the University Honors Program, open to all UC Honors students, which follow the four precepts of Honors instruction here: community engagement, global studies, leadership, and research and creative arts. Experiential learning is a hallmark of these precepts, but sometimes I wonder if all this touching hasn’t replaced basic reading of textbooks and other necessary writings in order to gain understanding. Is one form of learning more effective than another? Naturally, then, I start questioning whether or not students read enough these days. And I wish the music in my head would stop! Fortunately I am able to make the connection in most seminars. For instance, in “The Culture of Books and Reading,” students explore the written and printed word—from cuneiform to e-books—and how different societies and cultures regard books. There’s a lot of politics, religion, ethnicity, and economics in all that. Among the items they study, I hand them (carefully!) a book of hours from the year 1475. In that book, students can see the elaborate gold letters, the beautiful use of blue and red and ochre in the calligraphy, the green of the flora and fauna in the illuminated miniatures accompanying the prayers and gospels. They can touch the vellum pages and notice the centuries-old smudged fingerprints on the corners of some of the leaves. Sure, this book’s creation was an act of worship in itself, but could our erstwhile monk fail to have washed his hands after the medieval equivalent of a McDonald’s lunch? There is something exquisitely emotional about such a human thing as a book—do the students get that? Mostly I think they do, especially after I invite them to bring the book close to their faces, to breathe in the creation of 500-years ago. There is then a connection, not only to the religious sentiment that spurred the making of such a book, but to the everyday life that surrounded it as well. In a sense, I hope, students mentally watch the monk take up his work after eating his lunch. Or then again, perhaps our monk carefully avoid leaving his thumb imprint on the text. Was it not instead a reader…two hundred, three hundred years later…who begrimed it? Students don’t know, and neither do I; but thinking about even this smallest of detail leads all of us to consider our reading habits today. The use of primary-source documents for several liberal arts and humanities courses seems to be a no-brainer, but often we don’t incorporate them into our syllabi or lesson plans because we fail to consider how much of an impact they can make on retentive learning. In consulting the on-campus library holdings, many faculty members could find a way to include original-source material in their courses. For example, if a student takes a course on urban planning and is able to consult—and actually hold in her hands—the photographs taken during the ill-fated construction of Cincinnati’s abandoned subway system, that student will never drive Central Parkway again without intellectually feeling the filled-in tunnels beneath the wheels. The 1920s bickering of local politicians and planners, the engineering mistakes, the changes in Cincinnatians’ transportation culture—does any of that resonate with today’s streetcar debates, economic development, and neighborhood revitalization? Sure it does. The same thing happens when an anti-slavery letter written by Thomas Jefferson is placed in the hands of a political-science student studying the issues of global human rights. What the heck…you might as well go ahead and take a sniff and inhale the essence of a founding father. The bottom line is that the expectations for learning outcomes must undergo constant evaluation and analysis. Students need to read, read, and read some more; and I believe that more today than ever before. But belief isn’t faith; I’m sure that many students never complete the reading assignments. What I expect of them, however, is that they can tie things together. I expect them to make connections between what they hold in their hands, what they do, in fact, end up reading, and what thematic relationships exist between past, present, and future. They should be able to achieve a critical understanding of what they’re studying and what constitutes their everyday lives. They’re certainly fully capable of doing so, and the use of primary-source documents to help illuminate the way provides lasting meaning to their education. So I encourage students to literally explore their senses through the course material. It helps them assess and consider, to argue and debate. In effect, they become better thinkers by engaging their senses. They will come back to that experiential learning again and again over a lifetime of what we all hope is a constant pattern of questioning and wondering. As for me, if I’m lucky, that song from Tommy careens inside my skull only when classes are in session. It could be worse. Some weekends, it’s that theme song from Spongebob, Squarepants that just won’t go away. Kevin Grace Tags: aroma, books, Central Parkway, Cincinnati subway system, community engagement, creative arts, experiential learning, global studies, learning outcomes, primary-source documents, research, senses of learning, tangible connections, touch Leave a Reply |
