tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post3833490638597524106..comments2024-03-15T01:11:32.832-07:00Comments on Bardiac: Da VinciBardiachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-35545800491391840502012-04-22T21:16:31.756-07:002012-04-22T21:16:31.756-07:00this is killing me. my college had a multidiscipl...this is killing me. my college had a multidisciplinary course of study for select freshmen -- satisfied all the core requirements -- and the beauty of it was that we had several main professors and lots of visiting lecturers. nobody can teach everything; but it is so important to draw connections among disciplines. sadly, that program is now long dead, but it was absolutely the best education. we got all the experts! <br /><br />i think it would be hard for individual teachers to take this too far in individual classes.kathy a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14479337952651746193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-38946951412957772462012-04-20T22:01:36.659-07:002012-04-20T22:01:36.659-07:00We are trying to create integrative capstone semin...We are trying to create integrative capstone seminars *within* the major. The thing to remember is that for an integrative experience to work, students have to bring things they have learned and want to integrate. So DaVinci is all well and fine, but if students don't know what ze is pulling together, there won't be any integration.<br /><br />End of rant.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-45674689850207945932012-04-20T13:16:49.502-07:002012-04-20T13:16:49.502-07:00I kind of feel like generalists have to be Da Vinc...I kind of feel like generalists have to be Da Vinci, too. This year in my new tenure-track gig, I've taught exactly two Shakespeare plays and a couple of EM poems. That's it. I've taught WAY, WAY, WAY outside my field though. Young adult lit? 20th century female playwrights? Hello!? Before teaching these classes, I knew nothing about them, but I had <i>some</i> interest. Interest doesn't mean intelligence, though. I had to make up everything as I went along. <br /><br />(And don't get me started about what I DON'T know about writing, even though I've been teaching it for a long time.) <br /><br />The good thing is that I'm well trained to figure this stuff out. In other fields, though? I'm not trained at all. I suppose that we can bring new perspectives in by reading new fields like we do literature, but admittedly, our perspectives are limited. <br /><br />And the other inherent contradiction is that PhDs are pushed hard and fast into specialization, but then many of us have to be generalists if we ever get jobs. That's not a complaint, necessarily. I had fun teaching my out-of-specialization classes. But I didn't feel like I was qualified to teach these things by any means. Oh well.Fie upon this quiet life!https://www.blogger.com/profile/12047096700049201873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-55213090594873073632012-04-20T13:00:23.913-07:002012-04-20T13:00:23.913-07:00Zombie Shakespeare FTW!
No, seriously, I have to ...Zombie Shakespeare FTW!<br /><br />No, seriously, I have to watch it when I start getting too caught up in other areas outside of my field because I know that I'm operating out of some ignorance. I might have good ideas, but I don't know the scholarship and the background in which I'm operating.<br /><br />You're also right that to expect that we're all going to be Leonardo is silly: rather than us trying to do a lot of things well and failing in many, it's better to do several things well and share the wealth.<br /><br />(You're also right that those poor people who have to teach boring other topics, outside the golden glow of late medieval and early modern studies, ought to be pitied *wink, wink*)Janicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14093558563358431804noreply@blogger.com