tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2164185959238733667.post7032906829026831918..comments2023-09-29T04:22:04.132-07:00Comments on Quills: what I did at medievalist campFretful Porpentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11165078003123517013noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2164185959238733667.post-34733206060014877192009-05-16T16:56:00.000-07:002009-05-16T16:56:00.000-07:00R -- Yeah, I think Shakespeare Intimidation is a b...R -- Yeah, I think Shakespeare Intimidation is a big factor (and Archaic English Intimidation in general), especially for students who haven't had a chance to get comfortable with the language in high school.<br /><br />Dr. V. -- I'm wavering, but leaning toward keeping at least one mystery play; now, the problem is that I have to figure out what <I>else</I> to cut. Damn. If only there were another couple of weeks in the semester.Fretful Porpentinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165078003123517013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2164185959238733667.post-35360867238203278632009-05-15T13:05:00.000-07:002009-05-15T13:05:00.000-07:00why the English major, and early English lit in pa...<I>why the English major, and early English lit in particular, so often seems to be an exclusive club for white upper-middle-class students</I>I wonder about this too, having never been any of the above save "student." In addition to the points raised, some of it might be cultural/ institutional: "Shakespeare" (in my case) is this incredibly daunting construct for most of my family, including my mother (even though I drag her to watch Shakespeare whenever I can, and she seems to enjoy it). And I might not have had the confidence to take a Shakespeare class in college if I hadn't gone to a high school that had us read and write on several Shakespeare plays first. (One of my cousins didn't read a single Shakespeare play in high school.)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17770950068958941330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2164185959238733667.post-60437097335725774132009-05-12T13:01:00.000-07:002009-05-12T13:01:00.000-07:00Oh no, don't take the drama out of your surveys!! ...Oh no, don't take the drama out of your surveys!! If you want help, ask me -- I'm happy to provide it. (Early drama is my thing, you know.)Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2164185959238733667.post-2539670457297682792009-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:002009-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:00Dame Eleanor -- Thanks for the suggestion! I thin...Dame Eleanor -- Thanks for the suggestion! I think my real question, though, isn't so much "what texts to teach?" but rather "how do we get a more diverse bunch of students into our classrooms in the first place?"<br /><br />mc -- Yeah, I think it's a complicated issue with more than one root cause; your point #3 seems particularly on target. (Somebody did bring this up during the q&a session, to be fair, but I would have loved to hear more about it in the papers themselves.)Fretful Porpentinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165078003123517013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2164185959238733667.post-11749021660055375192009-05-12T07:13:00.000-07:002009-05-12T07:13:00.000-07:00I'm a multiracial, middleclass student who loves e...I'm a multiracial, middleclass student who loves early english lit, but I can think of some possible reasons-<br />1. boring/badly taught high school english classes making people not sign up for any in college if they can avoid it<br />2. earlier stuff is all out of europe, since after all the language started there, and while that isn't a negative for me, maybe some who do go into english might focus more on the later stuff, where you've got people from lots of different continents and races writing in english? haven't got any statistics on this, though<br />and 3. perception that you'll never make any money with an english degree might discourage some students who aren't upper or middle class<br />I have no idea whether any of these are the case, they're just some random ideas,#2 especially, but it's an interesting question.<br />~mcAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2164185959238733667.post-38011854114331324472009-05-12T07:00:00.000-07:002009-05-12T07:00:00.000-07:00It was good to see you there, & I hope you'...It was good to see you there, & I hope you'll be back. It is such a blast. On teaching minority students, my suggestion is Chaucer's MOLT (this summer I have to do an R&R about teaching it, for SMART).Dame Eleanor Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06512884104691200975noreply@blogger.com