Teaching The Wire

HBO’s critically acclaimed drama The Wire has seen increasing use as course material in college classrooms since the 2008 series finale. This collection of new essays discusses various approaches for using The Wire to bring the experiences of marginalized communities into the post-secondary classroom. The contributors cover a range of topics including leadership, sexuality, class, gender and race.

Tia Sherèe Gaynor is an assistant professor in the Department of Public and Nonprofit Administration at Marist College. Her research seeks to influence decision-making and build social capital in local communities. She lives in New Jersey.
Jocelyn DeVance Taliaferro is an associate professor at North Carolina State University Department of Social Work. Her research interests include nonprofit lobbying, African American student achievement, and parental involvement. She lives in Raleigh.

Edited by Tia Sherèe Gaynor and Jocelyn DeVance Taliaferro
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 184
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9390-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2576-8
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vi

Introduction (Tia Sherèe Gaynor and Jocelyn DeVance Taliaferro) 1

The Clash of Aristocratic and Bourgeois Virtues in The Wire (Gus P. Gradinger and Bart J. Wilson) 5

“You gonna look out for me?” Intersectionality, Young Black

Male Giftedness and Cultural Competency Using The Wire (Heather Cherie Moore) 24

“Cause they’re not learning for our world; they’re learning

for theirs”: A Critical Race Theory and Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory Analysis of Season 4

of The Wire (Hannah Carson Baggett, Crystal G. Simmons,

Sharonda R. Eggleton and Jessica T. ­DeCuir-Gunby) 40

Schooling You on the Domains of Power in The Wire (Tia Sherèe Gaynor and Brandi Blessett) 63

From Sentimentalism to Grief: Pedagogies of Humanization in Waiting for “Superman” and The Wire (Mark Stern) 80

Omar listening”: Queer Theory, Gender Play and The Wire (Jason P. Vest) 98

What Then? The Cultural Forum of The Wire (Joe Allen and Christopher S. Toenes) 116

It’s All in the Game: How NOT to Teach The Wire in Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) (Peggy Jones) 132

“Soft Eyes”: Pragmatic Considerations and Strategies for Teaching The Wire (Jocelyn DeVance Taliaferro) 146

About the Contributors 169

Index 173