Témoignage : Ann Downer

Le 11 janvier 2014, j’écris à Ann Downer, qui me réponds dans la journée au sujet de la citation de Gide qui accompagne son profil sur le site de l’université de Washington : “Education is freedom”.

« I do not know his writings well, but this quote has always resonated for me as an educator, global health specialist, and person who believes that greater access to education worldwide is perhaps the most important key to global development–even more than basic health. I feel this is especially true for girls–their freedom is stolen from them by lack of access to education. The Gide quote means so many things to me–access, as I’ve mentioned, and the ability to transcend the moment by (to achieve a type of freedom) sending your mind to another place. This latter point is related to literature for me. Literature is way of knowing the world–its places and people–even if you can never leave the room you’re in, the neighborhood you’re in, the city or state or country. Many people have alluded to this, the freedom of the mind. I recently revisited Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, and his experience surviving a concentration camp taught him the same–that you can control your mind and take it places. But you need the raw material to do that–exposure to ideas and images and knowledge.

So, though I’ve never thought about your questions before, I do think literature can be part of a social movement. It enhances imagination, exposes people to what is possible, motivates, explains, questions. I think literature is greatly neglected in education now, making the experience of education more one dimensional without it. Literature is highly valuable in public health and health, yes, but you seldom see its inclusion. I used to teach a class called AIDS and the Arts, using poetry, movies, art, etc. to show the various dimensions of the AIDS experience. This was before antiretroviral drugs came on the market, and death was a common theme associated with it. Though people liked the class, I didn’t teach it beyond two years. Most of the healthcare workers who took it had little time to consider things from these various and valuable points of view when the study of medicine and nurse was so demanding of their time. Even my public health students had trouble choosing the class in competition with requirements.

Anyway, I’m sorry I don’t know more about Gide, but I will take the time to learn now that you’ve written to me. And thanks for asking my opinion. A very pleasing surprise. My best regards to you. Ann »

DATE 11 août 2016 CATEGORY Textes

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