Title

What is literacy?

Authors

Jack Russell Weinstein, University of North DakotaFollow
Kim Donehower, University of North DakotaFollow

Files

Description

When people think of literacy, they usually refer to simple reading and writing. They regard it as a mechanical skill that is mostly about deciphering letters on a page. But, in fact, literacy is a lot more complicated than that. It involves culture, power, and the opinion of others. It is defined by communities and can be used as a weapon to disregard the marginalized. On this episode of Why? Radio, we’ll discuss what literacy means, investigate its many competing definitions, and explore how it plays into stereotypes.

Kim Donehower is a Professor of English at the University of North Dakota. She is the coauthor of Rural Literacies, and co-editor of Rereading Appalachia and Reclaiming the Rural.

Publication Date

1-13-2019

Publisher

Institute for Philosophy in Public Life

City

Grand Forks, ND

Keywords

Literacy ; English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching (Higher)--United States ; Academic writing--Study and teaching (Higher)--United States

Disciplines

Philosophy

Recommended Citation

Weinstein, Jack Russell and Donehower, Kim, "What is literacy?" (2019). Why? Radio Podcast Archive. 16.
https://commons.und.edu/why-radio-archive/16