Publications

Publication details [#10959]

Van Buskirk, William and Michael London. 2008. Inviting the muse into the classroom: Poetic license in management education. bollettino Itals 32 (3) : 294–315. 22 pp.

Abstract

Instructors are responsible for making teaching come to life. This article seeks to energize the classroom through an exploration of the tacit synergies between the language of poetry and the language of management. In the process, the authors delve into both the opportunities and the obstacles in bringing together two disparate discourses. As an autoethnography, the article details a journey that is both personal and professional. It includes a literature search to explore the uses and potential of poetic language, the design of a workshop to enhance the experience of poetry in management professors, and the crafting of classroom activities using poetry to elicit students' felt connections to the course material. In the end, the authors envision a style of teaching rich enough to compete for the center of students' attention--their depth, their creativity, and their stillness of mind. (William Van Buskirk and Michael London)