Teaching

As a "problem-poser," I endeavor to help students come to see the purpose of writing as the active production of knowledge rather than, in the research mode to which many of them are accustomed, the representation of static information. In teaching literature courses, where students are under special mandate to develop their sensitivity to literary language and ability to dialogue with texts, I find Paulo Freire's pedagogy nicely aided by Robert Scholes' progressive model of critical processes—reading, interpreting, and critiquing. Stressing oral and written response, I enable general education students to access and increase their appreciation of literature while leading undergraduate majors toward broader understanding of genre, literary tradition, and historical periods. My pedagogy reflects in equal parts: my commitment to the intellectual transformation which is central to liberal education; and my allegiance to literature, not as a repository of wisdom, but as an invitation to reflection and a writerly stimulus to the creation / recreation of meaning.

Elements of Writing Intensive Classes

1. Multiple essays, with an assignment progression emphasizing increasing complexity and interpretive independence;
2. Revision emphasis, always including either extensive peer-revision or instructor comment;
3. Frequent informal writing, often via web-based discussion assignments to emphasize writing as a process of reflection and inquiry

Some Recent Undergraduate Courses

• American Literature Since 1865 - ENGL2328 - Spring 2003
• Theoretical Appreciation of Literature - ENGL3300 - Spring 2003
• Ethnic Literature - ENGL3306 - Fall 2002
• Postmodern American Poetry - ENGL4389 - Spring 2003

Some Recent Graduate Courses

• Modernist Poetry and Poetics: The Objectivists - ENGL6389 - Fall 2002
• Postmodern Poetry and Poetics - ENGL6353 - Spring 2002

New Course

• Poetry Forms and Themes

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