Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Publication Title

Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion, and Culture

Volume

52

Issue

2

Pages

85-102

Abstract

[First section]

Why I Teach Listening to the Divine Song

This autoethnography narrates how I came to teach listening to the divine song as part of an undergraduate listening course called Listening to the SONG of Life.1 Before I describe two personal stories that explain why I teach listening to the divine, a brief introduction to my interpretation of the autoethnographic method is in order.

Autoethnography, as used in this story, is grounded in the assumptions that language is a primary medium by which we are conscious, understand the world, and communicate our learnings to others in stories,2 and that signs in the teacher-student relationship serve as entry points to a myriad of ways that reflect and enhance meanings in the ongoing story of life.3 For me, autoethnography is a personal and emotionally engaging story about meaningful events in the author’s life (auto) that connects with the story of others (a relationship, group, community, organization, and/or culture)(ethnography) within a conceptual framework, theory, and/or stream of ideas for some particular purpose. In the field of Communication, autoethnographies function in a variety of ways such as consciousness raising, political praxis, teaching/learning.4

Original Publication Citation

Baesler, E. J. (2017). Listening to the divine song within the greater song of life. Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion, and Culture, 52(2), 85-102.

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