TEACHING METHODS
 

LEVEL 1 / II  LECTURE COURSES

Lectures:

There are two compulsory lecture hours in each course.  The lecture hours each week are devoted to carefully explicating, most often by means of detailled notes which are available for you to download, the often difficult required readings.  As you get more experience drawing the key points from the assigned readings for yourself and in an effort to avoid merely spoon-feeding you, I may use the lecture hours to explore the tutorial questions by calling upon individuals to answer specific questions.  In this case, careful preparation of both the required readings and the questions ahead of time will be indispensable and the result will be active rather than merely passive forms of learning.

I normally post the notes (these are all PDF documents) at the latest on the night before a lecture.  Please print and bring to class.  If, for some reason, I cannot post the notes, I will bring copies to class.

Tutorials:

There is one compulsory tutorial hour chosen from several options.  The tutorial hour each week is designed to allow you to assimilate the material covered in the lectures.  Tutorials offer you the opportunity to engage actively with the material delivered in the lectures.  Sometimes they will take the form of answering the tutorial questions listed for that week which should therefore be prepared ahead of class.  Alternatively, when the lectures are used to discuss the tutorial questions (see above), the tutorials may be used to other ends.  For example, they may be devoted to ironing out any difficulties that arise or applying to a particular literary work specific reading methodologies arising from the theories in question discussed in the lectures.  Remember that your mark for participation and / or presentation(s) will be derived almost entirely from your contributions to the tutorial (in the form of general participation, answering questions and/or making presentations).

LEVEL III / GRADUATE LEVEL SEMINARS

Level III and Graduate Level courses tend to take the seminar format.  Sometimes, seminars will be devoted to carefully explicating, most often by means of my detailled notes which are available for you to download, the often difficult required readings.  As you get more experience drawing the key points from the assigned readings for yourself and in an effort to avoid merely spoon-feeding you, I may call upon individuals to answer specific questions and make presentations.  In this case, careful preparation ahead of time will be indispensable and the result will be active rather than merely passive forms of learning.  Sometimes, too, the seminars may be devoted to applying to particular literary and other forms of texts specific reading methodologies arising from the theories in question.

All in all, the degree to which seminars are productive is a function of the effort which students put into their preparation of assigned materials and the effectiveness of the presentations and reports made to their colleagues.  Students must also be prepared to engage in class in a vigorous but respectful exchange of ideas with their colleagues.  It is, in short, through a combination of careful preparation and dialogue that students will be encouraged to glean for themselves the important information to be drawn from the assigned readings.  All in all, your ability to participate generally in seminar discussions hinges on your familiarity with the material -- it is, hence, in your interest to be as up to date as possible with the readings.

I normally post the notes (these are all PDF documents) at the latest on the night before a seminar.  Please print and bring to class.  If, for some reason, I cannot post the notes, I will bring copies to class.

Remember that your mark for participation and / or presentation(s) will be derived almost entirely from your contributions to the seminar (in the form of general participation, answering questions and/or making presentations). You should note that if you miss without a legitimate excuse a presentation which has been assigned to you, you will receive no marks for the presentation; it is in your interest, accordingly, to inform me of any circumstances which might prevent your participation.