Carleton A&I Convo with Deborah Appleman | September 27, 2024

Deborah Appleman — Hollis L. Caswell Professor of Educational Studies, associate program director of American studies, and chair of educational studies — delivered the address for Carleton’s annual Argument & Inquiry (A&I) Convocation on Friday, September 27 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. In her address, “Academic Freedom and Necessity of Discomfort: The Trouble with Cancel Culture and Content Warnings,” Appleman drew from her most recent book, Literature and the New Culture Wars.

Appleman taught high school English for nine years before receiving her doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She has been a visiting professor at Syracuse University and at the University of California–Berkeley. She is the author of more than a dozen books on literacy education, including Critical Encounters in Secondary English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents (winner of the Richard A. Meade Award); Adolescent Literacy and the Teaching of Reading: Lessons for Teachers of Literature; Teaching Literature to Adolescents; Uncommon Core; and Reading Better, Reading Smarter. Her 2019 book, Words No Bars Can Hold: Literacy Learning in Prison, draws from her experiences teaching creative writing and literature classes in a high security men’s prison, where she has taught since 2007. Her most recent book, Literature and the New Culture Wars, examines current political challenges in the teaching of literature. At Carleton, Appleman teaches courses such as Educational Psychology, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, and Teenage Wasteland. She also mentors and supervises student teachers. She was Carleton’s second Posse mentor, and has served on a variety of elected committees including College Council, the Faculty Affairs Committee (as chair), the Faculty Personnel Committee, and the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee.

Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations