Name: OER and General Education as “Good, Necessary Trouble”
Start: 2026-10-09T16:15:00-0400
End: 2026-10-09T16:30:00-0400

All sessions are available online except round tables, special activities, and workshops.

OER and General Education as “Good, Necessary Trouble”

Friday October 9, 2026 4:15pm - 4:30pm EDT

Video

ID: 30934

Those who teach general education courses or who advise frequently hear the dreaded question: “Why do I have to take this course?” In higher education, there is a near-constant battle concerning the worth of a college education. Yet, we do not often have effective student-facing ways to frame why we have such requirements.The open access textbook Why Do I Have to Take This Course? A Guide to General Education, published with the Remixing Open Textbooks through an Equity Lens project, helps students think about why they take General Education courses through the lens of U.S. Representative/Civil Rights activist John Lewis’ philosophy of “good, necessary trouble.” Building on S.R. Lambert’s “Changing our (dis)course” (2018), this approach has underscored the value of OER and open education more broadly as ways to engage students with how general education provides a basis of knowledge and skills for creating social change, helping us to move from where we are to where we aspire to be.

Speakers

Kisha Tracy

Professor, English Studies, Fitchburg State University

Dr. Kisha G. Tracy is a Professor and Chair of English Studies and Chair of the General Education Program at Fitchburg State University. She received her Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the University of Connecticut. In addition to several articles, her first book was published by... Read More →

Friday October 9, 2026 4:15pm - 4:30pm EDT
Video

Lightning Talk (View Anytime)

Speaker Modality Online
Track Innovating Open Content to Democratize Knowledge

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OEGlobal 2026

Kisha Tracy

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OEGlobal 2026

Kisha Tracy

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