November 8, 2018
Ralph Savarese will read from his new book, “See It Feelingly: Classic Novels, Autistic Readers, and the Schooling of a No Good English Professor” (Duke University Press, 2018), on Thursday, Nov. 15, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons, 114 E.S. Bird Library.
Savarese teaches American literature, creative writing, medical humanities and disability studies at Grinnell College in Iowa.
Syracuse University alumnus Jamie Burke ’13 will be joining Savarese to discuss his participation in the book project, which paired Autistic readers with Savarese.
Since the 1940s, researchers have been repeating claims about Autistic people’s limited ability to understand language, to partake in imaginative play and to generate the complex theory of mind necessary to appreciate literature. In “See It Feelingly,” Savarese, whose son is one of the first nonspeaking autistics to graduate from college, challenges this view. Discussing fictional works over a period of years with readers from across the autism spectrum, Savarese was stunned by the readers’ ability to expand his understanding of texts he knew intimately. Their startling insights emerged not only from the way their different bodies and brains lined up with a story but also from their experiences of stigma and exclusion.