Heritages of Change: Curatorial Activism and First-Year Writing [Revised Edition]

Reviewed by Kymberly Morquecho, Adjunct Professor, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 12/17/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Heritages of Change: Curatorial Activism and First-Year Writing [Revised Edition] is an innovative and well-designed textbook aimed at teaching students about the intersection of cultural heritage and the writing process. This textbook is structured to guide students through a thoughtful exploration of cultural heritage artifacts while developing writing skills, particularly in crafting arguments, conducting research, and presenting ideas clearly. It is a comprehensive resource that blends modern pedagogical techniques with multimedia and interactive content.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This book aims to include voices and pedagogies that have historically been marginalized. The author understands the writing process and how to apply it in an innovative and creative way for students. The final project—creating a museum exhibit centered on cultural heritage—is a brilliant way for students to apply what they've learned. It encourages them to think critically about audience, purpose, research, argumentation, clarity, and stylistic choices in writing. This project is a hands-on way for students to connect theory with practice, fostering a deeper understanding of cultural heritage while simultaneously honing their writing and presentation skills.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

One of the standout features of this textbook is its integration of embedded videos throughout the chapters. These videos enhance the learning experience, offering students visual and auditory learning tools that solidify the concepts being taught. Including visual supplements—such as maps, quotes from movies, and other multimedia—ensures that the textbook feels dynamic. The artifacts discussed in the textbook are also current, drawing from a variety of sources that will resonate with students' diverse interests. The textbook’s website adds another layer of interactivity, featuring slideshows embedded alongside activities that allow students to engage with the material in a more interactive and immersive way.

Clarity rating: 5

This book is written in clear, easy-to-understand language that will not intimidate first-year writing students. The author has made a conscious effort to ensure the material is accessible through multiple means. For example, each subchapter has clearly defined objectives, giving students a roadmap for what they should aim to understand in each section. This feature supports independent learning. The chapters are designed to work together, allowing for both flexibility and continuity, but instructors have the freedom to use independent chapters to meet the needs of their class.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is consistent in applying its framework of cultural heritage and writing. Each chapter centers on a different aspect of cultural heritage, highlighting the benefits and potential harms of these practices.
One area for potential concern is the transition between Chapters 1 and 2 to Chapter 3. The shift from cultural heritage to discussions of disability heritage might be difficult for some students to navigate, especially if the connection between these concepts is not immediately clear. This gap may require additional instruction or guidance from instructors to help students bridge the gap between these seemingly distinct topics and the writing process.

Modularity rating: 5

Chapters are broken up into smaller parts, and each subchapter includes a myriad of resources to interact with. Videos, pictures, and slideshows are meaningfully included and do not interfere with the text. Each chapter includes an extended works cited section for references, and all of the embedded links in the chapters function correctly.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The textbook provides a useful and explicit explanation of the framework that guides the entire book, helping students understand the overarching structure and objectives. One particularly thoughtful addition is the inclusion of content warnings in some chapters, which adds a layer of sensitivity and awareness for students as they encounter potentially challenging material.

Interface rating: 5

The textbook is highly user-friendly, with no major interface issues. Navigation is smooth, and all images and multimedia elements are displayed clearly without distortion. The layout is intuitive, making it easy for students to focus on the content without being distracted by technical problems or confusing design elements. Additionally, the book’s responsive design ensures that all students, regardless of their individual needs, can engage with the material effectively. These thoughtful design choices make the textbook an accessible and inclusive learning tool.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The textbook did not contain any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book is highly inclusive. The artifacts provided throughout the text feature Indigenous, queer, Latin@, and Black voices. The content is relevant to issues that are present in current public discourse. The examples of cultural heritage featured tangible and non-tangible types of artifacts and encourages students to think critically about the impact of cultural artifacts in their communities.

Comments

This textbook is so good. I plan to use it in my next writing class. The framework is inclusive and the final project is engaging while providing meaningful writing experiences for first-year students.

Reviewed by Jason Parks, Associate Professor of English, Anderson University on 4/13/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

If you teach first-year writing, you'll find a wide range of activities that will help your students develop their skills in research, close-reading and annotation, and more. As I worked though the book, I discovered prompts for writing review essays, an annotated bibliography, and, of course, the main focus of the book: the final project/essay. Chapter 3: Disability Heritage was the most in-depth chapter, which provides a model for approaching a range of issues related to marginalized communities and recent social and political movements. Ultimately, it takes all of the controversial issues we love to bring up in our first-year writing courses and give them order and focus through the lens of "heritages of change."

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This book is very up-to-date and draws on highly respectable sources for it's information, including government websites, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and numerous primary documents. One of the primary objectives of the book is to help students explore and investigate issues in a way that allows them to reflect on their biases. Also, the wide range of topics helps prevent the book from becoming heavily biased and/or from prioritizing one marginalized community over another, etc. It's smart and sensitive on every level.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

There's nothing in this book related to the content that will become obsolete any time soon (unfortunately). One area that might need to be double-checked would be with regard to the MLA citation examples, etc, since MLA citation rules are often updated. That was very minimal and only at the end of the book though. The examples and links all worked well and were up-to-date. Of course, this book appeals to me because it is very timely (2024). It might need an update in 5 years or so, but it should be a great model for the moment, including material on BLM, Covid-19, etc.

Clarity rating: 5

The writing is targeted directly to first-year students. One of my favorite opening sections to a chapter states, "Conducting research on topics about which you have limited knowledge can be intimidating.” This author understands the minds of students and is sensitive to the ways this can challenge them in terms of content and the entire writing process.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology is easy to navigate. Terms are highlighted in bold with links and explanations throughout the text. The citations are easy to find and follow.

Modularity rating: 5

The readings were very well-organized with plenty of images, video links, and consistency of sections between chapters. I had no trouble clicking around between sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The entire book takes you through the project from start to finish. Each chapter builds on the previous chapter. Nothing is repetitive or missing. You can guide your students through this book and they will have an excellent final project.

Interface rating: 5

No issues at all. Every image was clear, easy to find, and move through.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The writing is clear, well-edited, and jargon-free. It's written for students and should be easy to understand, including the selections of text from outside sources and the student examples.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This entire book is focused on helping instill cultural sensitivity in students through research and writing. Its entire mission is inclusivity. In short, this book will help students learn to navigate complex issues related to marginalized communities while also participating in activism themselves.

Comments

I was surprised at how practical this book was to apply. It really delivers on it's promise. I've been teaching First Year Writing for over 10 years and this book has all the foundations of first-year writing courses built in (from activities to sources) but it also has a focused and manageable final project and set of goals. I really like the approach. I often ask students to research and write about many of the issues in this book, but I think this book gives them a way of thinking about audience in a new way.