The Ethics of Empathy in Abu Ghraib - Winter/Spring 2007 CEA Forum Special Section

Oct 15, 2026

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“Where Is the Love?” explores how empathy can be taught as an ethical practice in freshman composition while maintaining strong critical thinking. Using the January 2004 Abu Ghraib photo controversy as a central case, it outlines a two-tier teaching approach: introducing relevant social and political subjects, then training students to analyze events through major researchers and writers. The paper argues that empathetic thinking enables students to challenge rhetorical division into “us/them,” producing essays that connect responsibility, political engagement, and ethical reasoning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Special Section: Empathy and Ethics

“Where Is the Love?”: The Ethics of Empathy in Abu Ghraib

Teaching approach and classroom goals

Two-tier composition strategy

Defining empathetic thinking ethics

The CEA Forum Winter/Spring 2007: 36.1 SPECIAL SECTION: EMPATHY AND ETHICS "WHERE IS THE LOVE?" : THE ETHICS OF EMPATHY IN ABU GHRAIB Elizabeth M. Sturgeon People killin'; people dyin'. Children hurt and hear them cryin'. Can you practice what you preach? Would you turn the other cheek? Father, Father, Father help us. Send some guidance from above. ‘Cause people got me, got me questionin' Where is the love, the love, the love? —Black Eyed Peas, "Where Is the Love?" Abu Ghraib. The name conjures horrifying images of abuse, torture, and man's inhumanity to man. In one photograph, a pyramid of naked detainees huddles outside a jail cell; in another, a soldier holds the end of a dog leash which is attached at the neck to a prostrate prisoner; in another, a soldier gives the thumbs-up sign in front of a line of naked detainees. A constant barrage of images like these can often leave our students shaking their heads and repeating a line from the Black Eyed Peas,“Where is the love, the love, the love?” In this day and age when our technologically savvy students can sing the lyrics to the Black Eyed Peas while simultaneously downloading pictures and stories that commodify and cheapen the cost of human suffering—of “people killin'; people dyin'/Children hurt and hear them cryin'”—images of solders blown up by roadside bombs in Iraq, of mass graves unearthed in Bosnia, of refugees fleeing genocide in Darfur, of AIDS orphans left to fend for themselves in Ethiopia, etc ( yawn )…—how can we show our students the value of empathetic identification while still teaching critical thinking skills, not forcing them to adapt our viewpoints, which often results in college professors being stigmatized as radicals? More importantly, how can we empower our students to engage the political hot-spots around the globe and in their communities instead of turning away to turn up the volume of their iPods and tune out? Here, I discuss a two-tier approach to teaching freshman composition that I have been using regularly for the past eight years. Firstly, I introduce into the classroom current subjects of social, cultural, and political significance. In this paper, I specifically discuss the controversy surrounding the discovery of the photographs in January 2004 which testify to the abuse and torture that occurred at Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad. Secondly, I have students analyze these current events—in this case, the abuse at Abu Ghraib—from the perspectives of major researchers, thinkers, and writers who, in the wake of the Holocaust, attempt to make sense of mankind's common (in)humanity. Theoretically, when students analyze current events from the perspectives of others, they are required to think beyond their own comfortable assumptions about the world and redefine their place in it. Of course, this pedagogical approach is not unique, but what is refreshing and exciting for me as an instructor is how I have had to adapt and change this course after assessing student work and reflecting on what I want my students to get from a subject as disturbing and controversial as Abu Ghraib. While my students practice standard "process writing" techniques—prewriting, drafting, peer reviewing, teacher conferencing, revising, and proofreading/editing which culminate in the final draft—I have had to alter andrearrange the content of the curriculum and student activities in order to achieve the desired goal of essays that demonstrate the ethics of empathetic thinking. For this paper, I define the ethics of empathetic thinking in student work as the ability to use written, formal English to overcome the rhetorical fallacy of dividing the world into “us/them.” I conclude that empathetic thinking is the new critical thinking—politically-engaged, analytical, responsible, and sensitive to the ethical dimensions of empathetic reasoning. Let me give you a little background information on my teaching situation. For the past two years,

FAQs

What teaching approach does the paper propose for freshman composition?

It proposes a two-tier approach: introducing socially and politically significant current subjects, then having students analyze those events from the perspectives of major researchers, thinkers, and writers.

Why does the paper use Abu Ghraib as a classroom topic?

It uses the January 2004 discovery of Abu Ghraib photographs as a controversy that reveals abuse and torture, creating a context where students must practice empathetic identification and critical thinking.

How does the paper define the ethics of empathetic thinking in student work?

It defines it as the ability to use formal written English to overcome the rhetorical fallacy of dividing the world into “us/them,” leading to politically engaged, analytical, responsible, and sensitive reasoning.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS