Friday, September 4, 2015

September 4, 2015: Fall 2015 Previews: Adult Learning



[As another Fall semester kicks off, a series of preview posts—this time focusing on new things I’ll be trying this semester. Leading up to a special pedagogy post this weekend!]
On how you can help me plan my next Adult Learning course!
Later this fall, I’ll have the chance to teach my fifth Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area (ALFA) course. Whether they’ve been contributing immeasurably to my third book or challenging my pedagogical perspective, each of my prior four ALFA courses has been a pinnacle teaching and professional experience. And I don’t expect this one, which will focus on short stories (or excerpts from longer works) by very new/young American writers, to be any different.
But one thing is definitely different about this ALFA class: I’m not sure what authors and texts to include! The topic for this course was a request from ALFA’s students and curriculum committee, and I was happy to oblige. I certainly have a few ideas about contemporary writers I might include, but I also feel that many of my initial thoughts are of writers who have in fact been working for some time now (Junot Díaz, George Saunders, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie). And for this course I’m really hoping, again, to highlight very new/young writers, folks who are just emerging onto our literary and cultural landscape and with whose works the ALFA students and I can engage for the first time together. So rather than allow myself to be limited by the horizons of my own knowledge, I’m doing one of the things I (hope I) do best: crowd-sourcing!
So if you have thoughts on new, emerging writers I might include, I’d love to hear them! They don’t have to have written short stories—while the readings for an ALFA course are indeed generally short, I could (and have in the past) excerpt longer works just as easily as provide complete shorter ones. So any and all suggestions and nominations very welcome and much appreciated!
Pedagogy post this weekend,
Ben
PS. So suggestions and nominations for this course very welcome!
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 4, 2015 at 8:39 AM

    Ben, what if you subscribed to a small literary journal, like One Story, and read new work by old and up-and-coming writers? https://www.one-story.com/

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  2. AmericanStudierSeptember 4, 2015 at 8:40 AM

    That's an excellent idea, thanks! I'll check that out pronto.

    Ben

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2015 at 8:41 AM

    Ben, I just suggested that you use a small literary journal like One Story so you can read established and up-and-coming authors. https://www.one-story.com/

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  4. AmericanStudierSeptember 4, 2015 at 8:42 AM

    Thanks Nancy--nice to know who "Unknown" was! ;)

    ReplyDelete