I am starting to realize how much we limit our students at the college level. Unless they are in a creative class (and often even then) I see that they are not willing to actually let any part of their interest or experience in a topic show. They are not shy, but the outside of the classroom and inside of the classroom split is quite extreme. I know that this is often a good thing; the separation of the curricular and co-curricular and "real" worlds allows us as teachers and them as students to step outside of ourselves to deal with contentious subjects as academic discourse. It is in some ways a parallel of the fictional "willing suspension of disbelief." But it can also make a subject that is potentially experience-able irrelevant to the daily lives we lead. To a certain extent what I am thinking is that there is a place and a time for everything. However, when it is time for the personal, I am finding it is hard for students to travel from the purely "them" or "there" universe into the one that is "us" and "here." Even when given permission and models it is challenging to let go of the comfort of reporting to achieve true narration.
The orange Silk Road twisty path is in your way. Let's cross it together, shall we?