Request for comments: Draft Syllabus

[rax]

For anyone who doesn't know, I'm teaching a class at MIT next semester on passing (especially race and gender) in (especially) American literature. I get to come up with my own syllabus, of which I am supposed to turn in a draft by November. After tons and tons of reading, and a whole lot of thinking and conversations, I've actually put together a draft syllabus; it doesn't have my notes for each class yet, but that's OK. I could wing it off of this but will write up some more in the next couple of weeks to give my supervisor a better idea of where I will be going with things, and to give myself something to fall back on if my brain is made of mush when I sit down to actually teach the course.

This is an undergraduate course open to all levels of experience, so I'm not expecting students to necessarily be literature or gender studies majors (especially since it's, well, MIT). I've put the draft syllabus up here and would love for you all to make comments on it. I'd also love comments on a couple of additional things: What should I call this class? My supervisor doesn't want me to put the word "pass" in the course title because she thinks people will think it's about death. I've come up with all sorts of ridiculous titles but nothing useful. "Re/Constructing Identities" ? Myegh. Also, do you have any recommendations of books, movies, &c. where people pass or try to pass and it's relevant? I want to offer students (and anyone else interested) a big annotated list, so anything's fair game; even if I've already heard of it, if you wanted to write up a description, I'd be happy to put that on the web and credit you. Or not credit you! Whatever you want!

And yes, blondestwolf , I did finally watch Some Like It Hot. :) It was research, you see!

Thanks for the help if you do get around to commenting, and I hope the syllabus/suggested readings are interesting. Expect me to keep posting about this until the course starts; if you want to point people who might be interested here, I'd be honored. If you're an MIT undergrad and this seems exciting, you should take my course. Please!

Comments

[kilroi.livejournal.com]

I've got to agree on the first parts. In my mind (and what I want from classes) a syllabus is a reference, not a discussion. Having all that course *conent* within the syllabus is just a tad overwhelming to me. The Week 1: Week 2: , etc, would be much more what I expect. Perhaps with a one sentence recap, but not the first person discussion. As above, you have the class to do this in - you don't need to do it all on a piece of paper from the first day of class.

Also, I'd put in more of the technical info - the list, obviously, as you say, but, you know, contact info, etc.

[rax.livejournal.com]

Oh, contact info! Seriously, this is why I need other people to look at things because otherwise I will miss something obvious. Thank you!

It's interesting that you find the content in the syllabus overwhelming. I've gotten acclimated to graduate English classes, where this is more or less what the syllabi look like: a page or two of discussion on the general thrust of the class, and then a paragraph or two about each expected class thereafter, with some addenda for additional reading and suggested paper topics. However, I'm teaching an optional seminar for MIT students, not a graduate lit class. :) Maybe I should take that information and make it a separate handout and link to it from the syllabus? That way people who want to read it before the class can, but the syllabus itself isn't as intimidating?

[jadia.livejournal.com]

Having 2 handouts was what I was about to suggest after reading kilroi's comments. This provides a clear separation between the meta information "what the class is about" and actual in-class information that you want them to absorb and think about.

[kilroi.livejournal.com]

I think having a second piece of paper would be great. If you're making it available on the web, why not just have a course website with that info residing there, say, for the other people who may not be taking the class you're talking about?

And yeah, when I'm thinking "syllabus" I'm thinking like 8.01 style, not grad lit so much, since I've never taken a grad lit class :)

[kilroi.livejournal.com]

Er, stupid markup. I meant Week 1: [ book 1], Week 2: [ book 2 ] etc