Service-Learning and Critical Emotion Studies: On the Perils of Empathy and the Politics of Compassion

This article explores the mutually enriching bodies of scholarship in service-learning and Critical Emotion Studies with a focus on empathy and compassion, which, perhaps more than any other emotions, hold a prominent place in service-learning literature. We offer an overview of nascent research on empathy and compassion in Critical Emotion Studies and we review the ways in which empathy and compassion commonly circulate in service-learning literature. Finally, we discuss a specific service-learning course, "Literature of HIV/AIDS," to demonstrate strategies for addressing the perils of empathy and the politics of compassion in service-learning pedagogy and scholarship. [authors]