• Capella University
  
• Governors State University
  
• Iowa Department of Education
  
• Kamehameha Schools
  
• Regent University
  
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  
• University of Houston - Clear Lake
  
• University of Pittsburgh
  
• Utah State University
  
• Virtual High School

Virtual High School
Cultural Identity Through Literature
 

Submitted by: Lisa Pupo

"Cultural Identity through Literature is a course that touches my heart in many ways. It incorporates a belief that tolerance for other cultures is critical in today’s shrinking world. Virtual High School has provided me with the opportunity to share this class with students from many different backgrounds and countries, and Blackboard’s Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program has allowed me to further expand my audience." (Lisa Pupo)

Fiction can be a powerful way to transport ourselves to distant lands and to learn about other places and people, and through it we can sometimes learn what our traditional history books exclude. In Cultural Identity through Literature: Understanding Place, students explore a variety of cultures and societies using literature as a medium. My students not only explore distant lands through assigned reading and web activities, but they also learn through their interactions with each other. Born from my own academic interests, travel experiences, and zest for literature, the main premise behind the course is that we can come to understand other cultures through literature, and therefore increase our empathy for humanity.