Welcome to the conversation!


Welcome to the conversation!

Harriet Beecher Stowe's (1811-1896) best-selling anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), made her the most famous American woman of the 19th century and galvanized the abolition movement before the Civil War.

The Stowe Center is a 21st-century museum and program center using Stowe's story to inspire social justice and positive change.

The Salons at Stowe programs are a forum to connect the challenging issues (race, gender and class) that impelled Stowe to write and act with the contemporary face of those same issues. The Salon format is based on a robust level of audience participation, with the explicit goal of promoting civic engagement. Recent topics included: Teaching Acceptance; Is Prison the New Slavery; Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North; Creativity and Change; Race, Gender and Politics Today; How to be an Advocate

This blog will expand the reach of these community conversations to the online audience. Add your posts and comments to keep the conversation going! Commit to action by clicking HERE to stay up to date on Salon and social justice news.

For updates on Stowe Center programs and events, sign up for our enews at http://harrietbeecherstowe.org/email.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Bringing lessons of empathy and humanity into the classroom

A Stowe staff member was excited when he found comments about empathy, humanity and bullying in a middle school classroom earlier this week. Lori Frederick, who is in charge of In School Suspension at Lincoln Middle School in Meriden, "deal[s] with a lot of kids who are bullied and also the bullies themselves," and uses lessons about these topics to improve student behavior. Her messages are an excellent connection and follow up to National Bullying Prevention Month, and our Salon last week, “Walking in My Shoes: How Can We Teach Empathy?” which focused on Liah Kaminer (Hall High School), Steve Armstrong (Hall High School) and Julia Rosenblatt's (HartBeat Ensemble) efforts to build empathy in students.

What are your reactions to the message Lori Frederick is sending to her students? Why is it important to engender empathy in students, and what more can be done? How did you learn to treat others with respect, honor others and their stories, and have empathy for other people? Share your reactions in the "Comments" section below!



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