1. Chris Schulenburg UW-Platteville

2. Empathy Study- Observations and Tentative Conclusions Project: Investigating the cultivation of empathy in undergraduate readers of Sab (1841), an antislavery novel from 19th century Cuba. Assessment: Reaction papers written in-class dealing with the role of the once- enslaved protagonist of the novel (empathy rubric above). Sample size: 16 students out of 23 chose to participate in Literature course (Spanish 3840)

3. Observations: Students excelled in analyzing role of protagonist in novel and society. Reactions able to reach conclusions regarding projected future role of Afro-Cubans in nation building in Caribbean. Majority of reactions found lacking in ability to volunteer personal examples related to role of Caribbean slaves in novel. Language was found to be sufficient in describing Romantic emotional background of protagonist but needed work in terms of social circumstances. Textual examples were plentiful while personal connections were not well-developed.

4. Tentative Conclusions: Despite previous lexical hints, language of novel (Spanish) represents an obstacle to creating empathetic connection for many students. Pre-teaching in unit (such as movie Biutiful, lexical instruction, student oral catalysis, overview lecture) aided in cultivation of empathy among students. In The Age of Empathy, De Waal sees similar empathetic connections among other mammals, is learned and modeled behavior- Students need to be instructed as well. Future Directions- Explore linguistic impediments to cross-cultural empathetic links.