Ajay Heble

Ajay Heble is the founding Director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI), and Professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. He is the author or editor of several books, and the founding Artistic Director of the award-winning Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium (www.guelphjazzfestival.com). In his teaching, Heble has sought to develop pedagogical strategies that foster connections between what students learn or do at university and how they come to understand themselves as socially responsible citizens. The final “assignment” in his courses often takes the form of a “pro-active, community-facing intervention” which challenges students to move beyond the walls of the classroom in an effort to make collective interventions in the broader community. The excerpt reprinted here is from a book-length collaboration with some of his current and former students, focusing on human rights and community-based learning.

Guelph, Canada