Mirrors and Windows: Reading for and Beyond Empathy
Educator and author Leah Milne's presentation at Hanover College on Feb. 7, 2024.
In the wake of recent race-based discussions in the US, many readers sought windows, books that offered insights into differing lives and experiences. This talk explores the connections between reading and empathy, and the benefits of reading outside our comfort zones.
Leah Milne (she/her) is the author of Novel Subjects: Authorship as Radical Self-Care in Multiethnic American Narratives, which won the 2021 Midwest Modern Language Association Book Award and examines multiculturalism and self-care in works by authors such as Carmen Maria Machado, Ruth Ozeki, Toni Morrison, and Louise Erdrich. As an Associate Professor of English at the University of Indianapolis, she teaches multicultural, postcolonial, and young adult literature. Her work has been published in journals and magazines such as The Journal of American Culture, African American Review. Newsweek, The Hill, and Ms. Magazine. You can find out more at LeahMilne.com.
This presentation was made possible through a grant from the Indiana Humanities' Advancing Racial Equity Speakers Bureau.