On receiving the witness: A keynote as a site of care

timothy martin

doi:10.25071/28169344.71

On receiving the witness

A keynote as a site of care

Authors

timothy martin York University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1222-0353

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/28169344.71

Keywords:

Witnessing, Public Pedagogy, Dehousing, Publicness, Activism

Abstract

At this year’s conference, I was privileged to participate as one of the keynote speakers. Drawing on my dissertation, I gave a lecture on the pedagogical work and archival practices of an event known as The Toronto Homeless Memorial. This brief reflection is inspired by the way in which my words were received by conference attendees—and, more broadly, the work of listening to those who bear witness to violence. I, along with many others, relate to the memorial on a personal level; my research is a practice of witnessing and of partnering with the testimony of the memorial organizers. Influenced by Ann Chinnery’s (2013) thinking, I conceptualize the work of storylistening as facilitating cross-temporal relationality with the past—specifically, with past-others rendered silent and invisible. By receiving the testimony of the witness, we make possible moments of interruption and encounter for/with those abjected from public regard.

Author Biography

timothy martin, York University

timothy martin is a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Education at York University. His dissertation maps the context of dehousing in Canada and the pedagogical work of housing activists that gave rise to the Toronto Homeless Memorial.

References

Arendt, H. (1958). The human condition. The University of Chicago Press.

Biesta, G. (2012). Becoming public: Public pedagogy, citizenship and the public sphere. Social & Cultural Geography, 13(7), 683–697. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2012.723736 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2012.723736

Chinnery, A. (2013). Caring for the past: On relationality and historical consciousness. Ethics and Education, 8(3), 253–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2013.878083 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2013.878083

Crowe, C. (2007). Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out. Between the Lines.

Gordon, A. (2008). Ghostly matters: Haunting and the sociological imagination (New University of Minnesota Press ed). University of Minnesota Press.

Jury Verdict of Coroner’s Inquest into the freezing deaths of Irwin Anderson, Mirsalah-Aldin Kompani, and Eugene Upper. (1996). Government of Ontario, Ministry of the Solicitor General.

Rothberg, M. (2012). Progress, Progression, Procession: William Kentridge and the Narratology of Transitional Justice. Narrative, 20(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1353/nar.2012.0005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/nar.2012.0005

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Published

2023-11-18

How to Cite

martin, timothy. (2023). On receiving the witness: A keynote as a site of care. YU-WRITE: Journal of Graduate Student Research in Education, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.25071/28169344.71

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Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2023): Post-Conference Issue: Other Worlds, Any Ways

Section

Conference Proceedings

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