BOOKS@WORK
EMPATHY: A LEARNING FRAMEWORK
Empathy: a curriculum for self-reflection
In her classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s unforgettable
hero, Atticus Finch, cautions his daughter Scout not to rush to judgment of
others: “you never really understand a person until you consider things
from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
While we casually accept that empathy requires putting ourselves in the
place of another, what does it really mean to have empathy for others or
to respect diverse perspectives in a just, meaningful and personally relevant
way?
Working with narratives and texts from diverse cultures, disciplines and
time periods, readers explore how empathy differs from sympathy. A
subtle difference, empathy requires an individual to feel what another feels
(e.g., “I feel your pain”), while sympathy generates an emotional response
to another’s feelings (e.g., “I feel sorry for your pain”) 1.
Authentic empathy requires a deep understanding of the self in relation to
others. But where empathy requires us to go above and beyond, must one
protect the self from engaging too deeply with others? Where does the
line between the self and the other reside in situations that challenge us?
And when must we stand up for the ideals we believe in even when they
differ from the values of others or of the communities in which we live and
work? Finally, how can our experiences enable us to bring creativity,
flexibility and our own unique approach to our own authentic empathic
engagement with others?
An illustrative selection of readings that create diverse opportunities to
explore service and its related issues follows on the next page. The selected
books are intentionally quite broad and diverse; if Books@Work becomes an
avenue for training or moralizing, it loses its ability to inspire and excite. For
example, books that offer stories of empathy ignite an open discussion of
issues and conflicts; books that purport to present “how to treat each other
kindly” become instructive and potentially stifling.
1 Keen, Suzanne (2007). Empathy and the Novel. Oxford University Press.
What is Books@Work?
Books@Work is a highly
interactive program in
which college professors
work with frontline
employees to jointly
explore and reflect upon
broad themes in an
enjoyable and engaging
seminar. The sponsor of
Books@Work, That Can Be
Me, Inc., has developed a
series of curricular learning
frameworks focused on
several popular themes,
with the input and
guidance of both
employers and professors.
These include, among
others, Empathy, Justice,
Courage, Service, Conflict
and Money/Economics.
The frameworks are merely
guidelines, designed to
raise a set of essential
questions and suggest
potential readings, both
fiction and non-fiction.
Each program will be
tailored and unique,
reflecting the needs,
perspectives and interests
of participants.
THAT CAN BE ME
BOOKS@ WORK: LITERARY SELECTIONS ON EMPATHY
The selections listed below illustrate potential reading choices: the list is not exhaustive. To ensure the most engaging
learning experience, final selections will be made by participating faculty with this framework as a guide.
Literature, Poetry and Plays
John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men (1937)
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958)
When the need for understanding and protection brings two
friends to the point of tragedy.
A Nigerian community leader must face societal change under
the influence of British colonization and Christian missionaries.
Lois Lowry, The Giver (1993)
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906)
In a dystopian society where emotions have been erased, the
child who has deep feelings struggles to find his place.
J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace (1992)
After losing everything: his career, his reputation and his
dreams, a man is forced to confront the meaning of humanity.
Bernhard Schlink, The Reader (1995)
When life requires one to judge the actions of someone they
have deeply loved.
Rudyard Kipling, Gunga Din (1892)
In times of stress, we question whether there natural human
hierarchies or whether we are brothers on the same journey.
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)
An African-American man makes sense of his individuality as
he struggles in a society that makes him the “other.”
Emile Zola, Germinal (1885)
Facing extreme poverty, miners protest worsening working
conditions in a French mine and confront societal norms.
Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn (1884)
“...where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into
collision and the conscience suffers defeat.”
David Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars (1994)
Anti-Japanese sentiments prevail over longtime community ties
when a 1954 Puget Sound murder remains unsolved.
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
A young girl comes of age in the Deep South as her father
defends a black man accused of attacking a white woman.
Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (1980)
Children born at the precise moment of India’s independence
and partition make sense of a shifting world.
May Sarton, As We Are Now (1992)
An elderly woman faces the powerlessness of a nursing home
but refuses to give up her fight.
A novel portraying the difficult life of immigrants in the meatpacking industry in the early 1900s.
Philosophy, Non-fiction and Essays
Mark Twain, The Lowest Animal (~1896)
“Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the
only one who inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.”
James McBride, The Color of Water (1995)
Crossing worlds: a tribute to the author’s mother, a white
Jewish woman who chose to marry a Black man in 1941.
George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant (1931)
When man behaves as a puppet for an idea in which he does
not believe, he must justify or reconcile his behavior.
Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not)
Getting By in America (2002)
An undercover journalist investigates the effects of the 1996
Welfare Reform Act on the working poor.
John Hersey, Hiroshima (1946)
An account of the experiences of six individuals following the
bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945.
Science and Nature
Marco Iacoboni, Mirroring People: The Science of
Empathy and How We Connect with Others (2008)
Research on “mirror neurons,” the cells in our brains that
permit us to physically understand the feelings of others.
E.O. Wilson, On Human Nature (1979)
A biologist explains characteristics of humans and society in
light of evolution, including generosity, self-sacrifice and
worship.
James Hansen, Storms of my Grandchildren
(2009)
Caring about the legacy of our children by taking better care
of the world we live in today.
THAT CAN BE ME