From: Ed Wiltse <ecwiltse-AT-naz.edu>
Subject: globetrotting/pedagogy
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 15:29:44 -0400


Many thanks to Sangeeta, Maria, Liz, Lisa and Terry for their responses.

Sangeeta aptly notes that "Some of [the texts formerly known as "poco rewrites"]
are transtextual and intertextual, pastiches, parodies etc a phenonmenon not
solely relegated to postcolonial worlds. I have also found it useful to
contextualize these works in other contexts--within their own local situations
as well as in terms of cosmopolitanism/cosmopolitics."  This is helpful, I
think, though most helpful for the texts and authors that/who are themselves
globetrotters.  I wonder if that inflects the syllabus of these "call and
response" courses, toward the more mobile poco texts/authors and away from the
more situated?  It's easier to teach Rushdie as a "response" to some Western
text than, say, Mahasweta Devi...

Lisa Greenstein asks about my African novels class:

> Um, just a thought: what kind of teaching methodology were you using?  I've
> noticed that the lecturers most likely to rattle the paradigms of *us
> undergrads* are those who get us to do the work - not only to give
> researched presentations, but, quite importantly, to investigate what
> personal political history we were bringing to bear on the material at
> hand..
>
> Just a thought from an *undergrad* with some dubious teaching experience

This was a seminar class (12 students) and I didn't do much "lecturing" that I
recall (ranting and haranguing, sure...).  Of course I did my best to put as
much of "the work" on the students as possible (presenting research, providing
discussion questions, leading class...), though I may not have done enough to
motivate the students to unpack the baggage of "personal political history" we
all bring to the courses we take or teach.  I'm hoping your asterisks around
*undergrad* and apologetic tone are meant ironically (perhaps to send a
worthwhile reminder to people like me, speaking about you as though you weren't
part of this conversation), but in case you were sincere, I'd say if anything
your student status makes your contribution *more* welcome and useful.

Happy Friday,

Ed

***********************************************************
Ed Wiltse                            ecwiltse-AT-naz.edu
English Dept.                       ph: (716) 389-2646
Nazareth College                 fax: (716) 586-2452
Rochester, NY 14618         http://www-pub.naz.edu:9000/~ecwiltse/




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