Cultural studies, pedagogy, and response-ability

A few years ago, in a tutorial in an advanced level undergraduate subject that I teach"”''Emotions, Culture and Community''"”I was a witness and participant in a pedagogical event that moved and provoked the class: It incited responseability. This article is about that event, the meaning of response-ability, and the window that it opens onto the larger question of what it means to teach into a cultural studies program in an Australian university today. It is a tricky, complex, and much discussed question (see, e.g., Barcan 2003; Noble 2009; Turner 2009) and it has a particular currency now. With the increasing corporatization of universities, and the associated emphasis on measurable outcomes, we may too easily lose sight of the immeasurable value of cultural studies and its place in advancing the immeasurable qualities of university study. The pedagogical event that I shall discuss illustrates a movement toward, and dwelling with, immeasurability.