Fresh Perspectives

This semester I am teaching three new preparations: ENGL 200 Literature Matters: The Evolution of Storytelling, ENGL 219 The Lawyer in Literature and Film, and ENGL 493 Senior Seminar: The Best Writing of 2012.

What I am not teaching is anything related to African American culture, Popular Music, or Ethics. Given those have been mainstays in my course rotation and where most of my research interests lie, it is  a strange semester. Probably more than most semesters, I can relate to students,who are overwhelmed and baffled by so many new ideas.

I am both working harder in the classroom than I have in awhile and less certain of where my classes are going. I feel like I am learning with my students every day. What a great feeling! It is also an absolute pleasure to watch my ENGL 200 students dig into literary analysis with such gusto. So far, they have thoroughly enjoyed 1984 and a unit on classic fairy tales.


On the other hand, I am realizing a few things about the courses and topics I usually teach. First, talking about race every semester is very draining and exhausting. I am constantly dancing on the fine line between pushing students to see how race structures our world and creating a positive environment to do that kind of reflection. It is weird not to be doing that kind of work. I must admit that these other courses seem much more selfish in that they do not push students as much to have a social conscience. This may seem strange but this break from teaching African American literature seems like another example of white privilege. I can get a "break" from the national dis-ease about race and racism, but most African Americans cannot!

Second, teaching about popular music is "easy" in the sense that students always have something to say even if they have not done the reading. They bring their own theories and ideas into the class and have a wide range of musical experiences to discuss. I miss that. I wish students had as much background in other topics and as much passion. The downside to this knowledge and passion, I am realizing, is that students are less willing to hear and think through the theories that scholars have developed to analyze popular music. For some reason, students are a bit more willing to give a literary theory or analysis a fair hearing before evaluating it.

Third, a semester without teaching ethics means that I am missing the opportunity to revisit some of the classic moral issues. I feel less "ethical" simply because I am not thinking about ethical dilemmas and grounding my own habits, actions, and decisions in an ethical theory. I will be excited to teach ethics again next spring.

This semester has been a blessing. It has given me a new perspective and gotten me out of my comfort zone. I am reading different books and thinking about new things. How very liberating!