tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post7827611435214324951..comments2024-03-15T01:11:32.832-07:00Comments on Bardiac: Canon to the Left of MeBardiachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-17290478042655921952012-08-27T18:59:33.142-07:002012-08-27T18:59:33.142-07:00As long as I don't have to ride into the valle...As long as I don't have to ride into the valley of death, I'm good with challenging canon!<br /><br />One of the ways I've also tried to shake matters up is by ensuring I give a good account of modern women scholars when picking monographs for my seniors. There are a wealth of fabulous women working in my field but it's easy for students to only see the men, especially as they dominate the textbook & documentary end of things.Janicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14093558563358431804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-91311406229490504152012-08-26T10:38:47.559-07:002012-08-26T10:38:47.559-07:00At Heartland U, we hand out our traditional canon ...At Heartland U, we hand out our traditional canon readings in the Humanities classes. In there, I'm teaching Genesis, Gilgamesh (I know I'm out of order), The Iliad, a couple of Seneca plays, Beowulf, Inferno, The Prince, Marlowe's Edward II, and Shakespeare's Henry V. It's heavy on drama this year because that's my field. (I feel like drama isn't taught enough, besides Shakespeare, so I'm hitting it hard.) No women writers, of course. <br /><br />It's not my fault, really. There are about fifteen standards that Humanities repeats yearly, and I chose mostly from those. The wild cards that I insisted on were Seneca, Marlowe, and Shakespeare. The rest were the standards. The second class goes from the Restoration to 20th century, and has some choices of women writers, but not many. I do know, though, that most of the women writers who are taught on this campus are white, heterosexual women. It was a little bit of a surprise to my women playwrights class last year when I taught a couple of plays by lesbians (Eve Ensler and Jane Bowles) and non-white women (Alice Childress and Elizabeth Wong). <br /><br />Tomorrow, I lecture on Gilgamesh, and I'm trying to get something of the gender tensions in there. We'll see how it works out. Fie upon this quiet life!https://www.blogger.com/profile/12047096700049201873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-85487108599625938502012-08-26T09:08:31.008-07:002012-08-26T09:08:31.008-07:00But Hurston, Morrison, and (less so) Maxine Hong K...But Hurston, Morrison, and (less so) Maxine Hong Kingston ARE the canon now, at least for high school students beginning to take college lit courses. All the high school students have read _Their Eyes Were Watching God_ or something by Morrison. Of the DWG (dead white guys), they've read Fitzgerald's _The Great Gatsby_ and that's about it. undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17974015.post-79586034321496947002012-08-26T08:46:41.551-07:002012-08-26T08:46:41.551-07:00What a prime example of administrative-speak! It ...What a prime example of administrative-speak! It is funny, but also sad. <br /><br />We aren't currently teaching Hemingway at either of my institutions, but everyone graduates having read at least one Morrison. Just sayin'. :-) Meansomethinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10063386254235591342noreply@blogger.com