UIW Faculty Publish Research with the National Council of Teachers of English

Dr. Ann David, associate professor of Teacher Education for the UIW Dreeben School of Education, and her colleagues with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) have recently published a research collection titled The Impacts of Censorship, Volume 1: Research on the Intersection of Censorship and Teaching English.

David first joined the NCTE in 2018 and has served as the chair of the Committee Against Censorship for the organization since 2023. Being a part of this organization, which presently is comprised of more than 25,000 members, allows David to uphold the value of intellectual freedom. The articles in this first volume intend to “feature research that examines censorship from a variety of angles” and provides insight on multiple related topics (my.ncte.org).

“Sarah Kendzoir (author, researcher and scholar), who has written about this moment in history, said at a book signing that an essential task right now is to archive and curate knowledge to protect it from being censored, deleted or destroyed,” noted David, who reflected on what she hopes readers take away from this collection of articles. “By publishing original research on censorship in schools, that looks unflinchingly at what is happening and its impacts, all of the scholars in the volume are meeting this moment.”

Subjects that the collection explores include the challenges of selecting curricular books in light of censorship, constraints felt by educators and helpful actions that can be taken in response to book challenges.

In addition to a written work, David, with Associate Dean of the UIW College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) and Professor of Music, Dr. Kevin Salfen, collaborated to create a musical work that also explores the impacts of censorship. The idea for such a project came about after having a discussion around the word “risk.” They found that both the act of singing can be risky, and books have been labeled similarly. By utilizing arts-based research methods, they were able to compose a five-movement choral work titled Five Choral Risks.

“In working with Salfen, we created Five Choral Risks as an answer to the question: Can we risk making something beautiful from the perceived horror of this moment? And if so, how?” explained David. “I composed the lyrics by writing found poems from texts relevant to censorship and he (Salfen) set those lyrics to original music.”

Both David and Salfen were able to present their work at the Symposium on World Literature and Social Justice at UIW. David noted that their colleagues were moved by the experts and intrigued by the use of art to explore the politics of the censorship movement. To her, this project is part of a long tradition of utilizing the arts to call attention to important issues we experience in society. By mimicking how censored books are left fragmented, they were able to take fragments of books to create the lyrics to their piece, creating beauty from this destructive practice.

“Dr. David and I have started with this composition, with poetry and music that we created, but I hope the larger lesson is that people can and should make art – words, music, images – at those times when their perspectives are dismissed or silenced, both as a salve for themselves and an invitation to others to do the same,” said Salfen.

An article showcasing David and Salfen’s research related to Five Choral Risks will be showcased in the second volume of The Impacts of Censorship, which is expected to be released in Fall of 2025.

Congratulations Dr. David and Dr. Salfen!