Writing on your feet - Reflective Practices in City as Text - A Tribute to the Career of Bernice Braid

Oct 15, 2026

This monograph presents Reflective Practices in City as Text™, a foundational experiential learning form developed in the United States through the National Collegiate Honors Council and modeled on scholars such as Paulo Freire, Clifford Geertz, and David A. Kolb. It explores how writing supports active learning, detailing conferences and five-day Faculty Institutes that use mapping, observing, listening, and reflecting, and emphasizing recursive writing for transforming participants’ perspectives and civic engagement.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages160

Reading Time6 h 43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

City as Text™ (CAT) and its purpose

CHAPTER 1: History and Theory of Recursive Writing in Experiential Education

CHAPTER 2: Claiming a Voice through Writing

CHAPTER 3: The Role of Background Readings and Experts

CHAPTER 4: The Beginner’s Mind: Recursive Writing in NCHC Faculty Institutes

CHAPTER 5: Assigning, Analyzing, and Assessing Recursive Writing in Honors Semesters

CHAPTER 6: Finding Appropriate Assignments: Mapping an Honors Semester

CHAPTER 7: Adapting City as Text™ and Adopting Reflective Writing in Switzerland

CHAPTER 8: Writing as Transformation

CHAPTER 9: Experiential Learning, Reflective Writing, and Civic Dialogue

CHAPTER 10: The Whole Journey

writing on your feet Reflective Practices in City as Text™ A Tribute to the Career of Bernice Braid writing on your feet Reflective Practices in City as Text™ Edited by Ada Long Series Editor | Jeffrey A. Portnoy Georgia Perimeter College National Collegiate Honors Council Monograph Series Copyright © 2014 by National Collegiate Honors Council. Manufactured in the United States National Collegiate Honors Council 100 Neihardt Residence Center University of Nebraska-Lincoln 540 N. 16th Street Lincoln, NE 68588-0627 [www.ncnchonors.org](www.ncnchonors.org) Production Editors | Cliff Jefferson and Mitch Pruitt Wake Up Graphics LLC Cover and Text Design | 47 Journals LLC Cover Photos by Roy Borghouts Fotografie from the Master Class Innovators 010 Conference, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences–Netherlands International Standard Book Number 978-0-9773623-6-3 table of contents Introduction ....................................................ix Ada Long CHAPTER 1: History and Theory of Recursive Writing in Experiential Education ........................................... 3 Bernice Braid CHAPTER 2: Claiming a Voice through Writing .................... 13 John Major CHAPTER 3: The Role of Background Readings and Experts ......... 23 Ada Long CHAPTER 4: The Beginner’s Mind: Recursive Writing in NCHC Faculty Institutes ............................................... 33 Sara E. Quay CHAPTER 5: Assigning, Analyzing, and Assessing Recursive Writing in Honors Semesters ..................................... 41 Ann Raia CHAPTER 6: Finding Appropriate Assignments: Mapping an Honors Semester ............................................... 57 Robyn S. Martin CHAPTER 7: Adapting City as Text™ and Adopting Reflective Writing in Switzerland........................................... 63 Michaela Ruppert Smith Table of Contents CHAPTER 8: Writing as Transformation ........................... 73 1984 United Nations Honors Semester ......................... 74 Rebekah Stone 2003 New York Honors Semester .............................. 80 Nicholas Magilton 1981 United Nations Honors Semester ......................... 84 Nancy Nethery 2001 New York Honors Semester .............................. 90 Brittney Pietrzak CHAPTER 9: Experiential Learning, Reflective Writing, and Civic Dialogue: Keeping Democracy on its Feet .......................... 93 Gladys Palma de Schrynemakers CHAPTER 10: The Whole Journey: Observations, First Impressions, and Turning Point Essays from Faculty Institutes ....... 101 Death and Desire in the American West: Las Vegas/ Death Valley .............................................. 103 Sara E. Quay The Peruvian Amazon: City and Jungle ....................... 111 Ada Long Miami and the Everglades: Built and Endangered Environments ............................................. 123 Joy Ochs About the Authors ............................................. 131 About the NCHC Monograph Series ............................. 134 introduction Ada Long City as Text™ (CAT) is one of the earliest structural forms of experiential learning created and practiced in the United States. Developed within the context of the National Collegiate Honors Council and modeled on the writings of Paulo Freire, Clifford Geertz, and DavidA. Kolb, CAT was the brainchild of Bernice Braid in the mid-1970s. In the intervening decades, CAT has energized more than thirty conferences, twenty-nine Faculty Institutes, and thirty-three Honors Semesters just within the NCHC. Campuses and organizations across the country have also had the wisdom to borrow or steal this form of experiential education in countless adaptations. Two previous NCHC monographs have described the methods and practices of CAT or CAT-based experiential education: Place as Text: Approaches to Active Learning (2000 and 2010) and Shatter the Glassy Stare: Implementing Experiential Lea

FAQs

What is City as Text™ (CAT) and why is writing central to it?

City as Text™ is an experiential learning structure developed and practiced within the NCHC. The monograph emphasizes writing as central to active learning, supporting private reflection and then public expression.

How do CAT conferences typically operate before and during the event?

Before each conference, background readings are gathered to prepare participants with information and starter questions. At the conference, participants receive orientation to strategies such as Mapping, Observing, Listening, and Reflecting, then visit sites in small groups and return for writing and debriefing.

What role does recursive writing play in Faculty Institutes?

Recursive writing is described as key to Faculty Institutes. It prompts faculty to consider not only what they see, but also the lenses through which they see it, strengthening transformation through reflective work.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aria Callaghan