Four Freedoms Revisited

With support from Weitzman museum educator Rebecca Krasner, participants analyzed a portion of the exhibition, which juxtaposes Norman Rockwell’s famous Four Freedoms with other works of art. Together these works ask the viewer to consider who does and does not have access to these freedoms.

Participants then convened for a hands-on workshop introducing texts related to the Four Freedoms that express multiple perspectives, helping students to construct civically engaged arguments. Rebecca and two Philadelphia Writing Project teacher consultants, Javaha Ross and Trey Smith, facilitated engagement with texts related to "Freedom of Worship," "Freedom from Want," and "Freedom of Speech," respectively. Participants constructed a single text by cutting up excerpts from the provided text sets and organizing them around the central text provided by Rockwell. This activity was based on the Weitzman's Open Book curriculum, which itself draws inspiration from traditional Talmudic study. This approach of arranging multiple texts with often dissenting views or multiple perspectives resonates with approaches from the National Writing Project's College, Career, and Community Writers Program.