What Makes this Course Different than Other 1100 Courses
English 1100 has been taught with many different approaches. Some instructors take a traditional text approach and teach classical texts. Others take a thematic approach and teach important issues like climate change, the Middle East, and technology. Some previous courses have technological aspects, like blogging, but not all. In general, it seems that the course is taught in a wide variety of ways, which leaves plenty of room to get creative with it!
The existing course is described as an introduction to literature, titled Literary Interpretation. The catalog description is “An introduction to the study of literature, aimed at developing abilities to read literature and write about it with skill, sensitivity, and care. Students will read poetry, drama, and prose fiction, and through the writing of several papers will be introduced to terms and methods of formal study of literature. Course required for entry into most upper-level English courses” ("Registar's Office"). It seems that some sections have a multicultural perspective, but not all of them. It doesn’t seem to be a consistent topic. Some courses, like the climate change and Middle East sections, would likely address multicultural perspectives. They would be presented through diverse literature and students would likely learn more about multicultural experiences. The sections that focus more on traditional texts are unclear on if they have multicultural perspectives. It would seem some texts would provide an opportunity for discussions on diversity in social class, but perhaps not cultural diversity. The treatment of the past, present, and future also appears to vary based on the instructor and topic of the sections. The climate change section would likely very much involve looking at the past and present to see how the future is being impacted. Other sections, such as the one on the Middle East and the one that uses traditional texts, likely gives historical context, so the past is probably very important. It would make sense that students also consider the present and how the past has shaped it. All sections appear to allow space for student creativity, although it varies quite a bit. The section on the climate change refugees clearly involves student activism with a project based on getting involved in the community. In other sections, it is less clear if students are expected to participate as activists in any way.
When beginning the class, I will let students know that my approach on the class is through the lens of Afrofuturism, but I myself am aware that there is still much to learn about the topic. As the teacher, I will situate myself not as the gatekeeper of knowledge, but as a resource for students to learn more about the past, present, and future through the lens of Afrofuturism. I will make sure students know that their voices and ideas are extremely important to the success of this class and we will all work together to learn.
The current description of the course requires that students develop abilities to read literature and write about it. Some specific objectives for one section of the an English 1100 include students enjoying literature, develop vocabulary of literary analysis, get better at reading closely, increase knowledge of theoretical frameworks, and to improve writing (Webb 2019). This Afrofuturism centered course meets those objectives because students will be reading a lot of texts and be asked to think through them in ways they likely haven’t before. Because students will be reading and writing about the texts, students will develop their abilities to read literature and write about it. Class discussions and activities will help prepare students for the writing assignments. The texts are mostly very current and aimed at young adults and slightly older, so students will more than likely enjoy reading these texts. Students will be practicing close reading constantly because they will be reading for examples of how historical events are portrayed, reading for ideas on how they can use these texts to inform their own actions, and reading for examples of literary elements. Students will learn more about the theoretical framework of futurism, which is awesome because they probably haven’t heard about it before and they will be able to get excited about learning about it and using it to think about their own actions. This course expands on some of those objectives by including having students do all these skills by reading multicultural literature and thinking about events in the past, present, and future, from different viewpoints. This will enhance students’ reading and writing, too, because it is essential that students be aware of other viewpoints, practice questioning how events are portrayed, and think about how they can become involved in their own communities to make a difference in important issues.