Results tagged “interviews” from PEDABLOGUE

The latest issue of DISSECTIONS: The Journal of Contemporary Horror just went live online. The theme this time around is "Teaching Horror" which emerged as part of a series of panels at the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts in March 2008. It includes a few spectacular articles from a panel I was on with Doug Ford and Frances Auld. My article from that panel ("The Unlearning: Horror and Transformative Theory") went on to be published at a journal called Transformative Works & Cultures), but I wrote a new essay for Dissections in its place: "Horror and the Responsibilities of the Liberal Educator" . Here's a sample:

....Luckily, the teacher fully knows what the students want to ignore: that horror is inherently an educational genre. The very notion of a ‘cautionary’ tale is predicated on the notion of teaching someone a lesson. And while not all horror stories and films are cautionary in nature, they are always stimuli that aim at generating a dark emotional reaction which - when all the screaming stops - one inevitably attempts to manage with enlightened intellectual reasoning: whether it's in the mode of investigation (‘what's really lurking in the shadows?’) or metaphysical inquiry (‘do alternatives to God exist?’) or logic judgement (‘why did her baby have to die?’). Our rational minds are still at work when we contend with the most irrational of fictions. Indeed, even when a horror narrative - such as the work of Lovecraft - attempts to obliterate logical reasoning and symbolic systems altogether, it needs to construct them first.

What all this means is that, despite the naysayers, horror provides an excellent context for learning. It raises the serious questions that allow critical inquiry to transpire.

Go visit Dissections to read on, or to see other essays on issues related to integrating the horror genre into the classroom by Ford, Auld, Brock-Servais, Schnopp-Wyatt, Wisker, and more!

Public Service ALERT:

The following search on our campus -- for a published mystery author qualified to teach creative writing -- has been extended, and will continue until filled. Candidates interested in this position should apply immediately, as we will be considering applicants over the summer. Please pass along or post this information as you see fit:

Assistant Professor of English

Application Due: Open Until Filled
Type: Full Time
Tenure-track, starting January 2010.

Seton Hill University seeks published novelist of popular fiction (preferably mystery/suspense), to teach and to mentor novel-length theses in the graduate low-residency Writing Popular Fiction program (half-load), and to teach undergraduate courses in creative writing and first-year composition. Background in journalism, publishing, and/or editing a plus. Teaching experience at graduate level desirable. MFA required (Ph.D preferred). 4/4 course load.

Seton Hill University is a Catholic, liberal arts University, serving undergraduate, adult and graduate students. Seton Hill is located 35 miles east of Pittsburgh. Visit setonhill.edu for more information.

Send a letter, C.V., official transcripts, statement of teaching philosophy, sample publications, and three letters of reference to Michael Arnzen, Ph.D., Seton Hill University, Greensburg, PA 15601. The review process will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Seton Hill is committed to a diverse faculty; women and persons of color are encouraged to apply. AA/EOF.

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Feel free to e-mail me with questions.

Halloween is fast approaching, so horror literature is in the air. If you're teaching it, you might want to look for the "Writer's Talk" series on WCBE (Ohio's NPR station), which will be airing interviews with horror writers Michael Arnzen, Gary Braunbeck, Lucy Snyder, and Lawrence Connolly each Wednesday in October.

The topic is "The Business & Life of Writing Horror" and all of us had a blast together answering questions about this crazy genre of dread and terror, from how to write it, to what it means for today's culture. The Arnzen session airs tonight on WCBE (10/8/08) at 8pm, and I think it turned out really well.

If you miss it, don't worry:  you should be able to hear the podcast online, provided by Doug Dangler and the Ohio Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing. In fact, you can stream a copy of it on your computer right now here:

The full interview will all four horror writers will soon be available on OSU's CSTW website -- which you can also subscribe to on iTunes .

"Student Outcomes" is a continuing series of interviews with my former students who are now living life after college. Considering how much of our work is based on the assumption that "learning outcomes" will be met, I thought it would be a good way to catch up with them and to see what sort of impact college has had on their lives in the long term. Past students interested in participating should e-mail me. Comments, as always, are appreciated. -- Michael Arnzen

Kate Hursh (aka Kate Cielinski), Seton Hill U class of 2005 (& CMU class of '06)

Start with a brief bio that tells us first where you are now, then what your status was in college (e.g. "Creative Writing major, Volleyball player, Tetris fan, whatever.) Let your personality show.

I've justed started a new job; I'm supporting a group of engineers by utilizing my writing, coordinating, and teaching/training skills in a pioneering company in the nuclear energy field. After studying literature and creative writing in college, I went to grad school to pursue a master's degree in cultural studies. Grad school set me straight and I decided I didn't want the PhD I had once desired, so I returned to SHU to assist in running the writing center. Now I find myself oddly situated somewhere in the nuclear renaissance, and I'm enjoying the opportunity to soak up something new.

Tell us where you thought you'd be now, back when you were a college freshman.

I thought I'd be an art history professor. I switched my major to lit and writing when I had a taste of my freshman writing class. I learned that I liked writing about all kinds of things -- issues relating to education, gender, The Little Mermaid... In the end, I guess I didn't really love writing as much as I loved the subjects I was analyzing. This is probably why I ended up in cultural studies; I'm just fascinated by all kinds of STUFF, and I like thinking about how we, as producers and consumers of culture, relate to "stuff."

Describe your college experience in one word. Then elaborate in no more than five sentences.

Bizarre. I was fascinated by taboo topics (and the responses people have to them), so I often wrote about feces and menstruation. This has proven to be an obstacle when attempting to locate suitable writing samples for job interviews. I suppose that some people would find papers about gigantic poop-monsters to be offputting.

Describe one very specific lesson from the college classroom that you'll never forget. Give us concrete details. Tell us not only what it taught you, but also how and why it worked.

I was scared into becoming a better writer. In the second or third week of classes, my writing professor put a paper of mine on the overhead and tore it apart in front of the class. He said something like, "I'd give this paper an 'A' for its ideas, but an 'F' for its style." I wanted to crawl under the table. Even though my name had been covered on the overhead, I was so embarrassed to have followed a five paragraph essay format. It was such a very high school thing to do.

What do you know now that you wish someone would have taught you in school? How might that lesson best be taught?

I wish I had learned the importance of doing what I wanted to do. I'm attempting to re-career now that I've spent five years of my life pursuing a subject and career path that is painfully unappealing to me. As excited as I was in certain classes (those where I was granted permission to write about whatever I fancied), I hated the majority of my English classes. I abhored over 90% of the books and literature I read. That should have been a sign. Instead, I trudged on.

Very few people (regardless of age) know what they want out of life, but college students are particularly confused. They're bombarded with all these ideas about what and who they should be. Parents tell them what to do. Professors tell them what to do. P Diddy tells them what to do.

I could have possibly learned what I wanted to do by taking advantage of the career development office and internships. Career development offices can help students to explore options they did not know existed, and an internship is a much better way of trying a job on for size. When I advised students, I was constantly talking to them about the importance of exploring different majors and going to the campus career development office to tap into its useful resources.

What teaching method(s) were you subjected to that never made a dent on your learning?

Group learning was consistently awful and useless, especially in classes where professors relied on it as the sole method of teaching. All it really showed me was that most people are lazy and disrespectful, but I can't say that was a lesson I hadn't already learned.

What college experience did you find most displeasing at the time, but now recognize as an important contribution to your learning?

Presentations. I used to hate them, but I now realize the value they hold and all of the fantastic practice they gave me for leading my own classroom and capturing an audience's attention.

What habits -- good and bad -- did you pick up in school, that you still continue to apply?

Good habit: awesome research and critical thinking skills.

Bad habit: waiting for validation from others. I'm just beginning to act my own without any need for an 'A' paper or a pat on the back.

What do you miss about the college classroom, if anything?

I miss having the opportunity to be completely selfish. I was lucky that I could soak up the college experience without having to pay for my tuition or other bills (well, I did have to maintain my GPA in order to earn my scholarship). Although I regret that I didn't pursue a major that would ultimately satisfy me, I am so, so thankful that I had a chance to just be a student. I would do anything to once again be a fulltime student without any financial worries.

If there was one suggestion you would make to college teachers everywhere, what would it be?

Never make your own book a required text. Even if it's the best book ever written on the subject, don't do it. That leads to a classroom situation that is just too awkward. Spare your students. Spare yourself.

THANK YOU, Kate, for sharing such honest and useful insights. Thanks, too, for all you did to help others in the writing center. We miss you at SHU!

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Read more "Student Outcomes"!

"Student Outcomes" is a new, ongoing series of interviews with my former students who are now living life after college. Considering how much of our work is based on the assumption that "learning outcomes" will be met, I thought it would be a good way to catch up with them and to see what sort of impact college has had on their lives in the long term. Past students interested in participating should e-mail me. Comments, as always, are appreciated. -- Michael Arnzen

Mike Rubino, Seton Hill U class of 2007

Start with a brief bio that tells us first where you are now, then what your status was in college (e.g. "Creative Writing major, Volleyball player, Tetris fan, whatever.) Let your personality show.

I am currently a graphic designer for a commercial and political strategy firm in Pittsburgh. I graduated from SHU with a B.F.A in graphic design with a minor in creative writing. While at Seton Hill I was a "Renaissance Man," bouncing between graphic design, fine arts, theater, creative writing, and politics with the occasional pause to watch some "MacGyver" on DVD and write some blogs.

Tell us where you thought you'd be now, back when you were a college freshman.

I'm pretty much exactly where I expected to be. I knew when I enrolled that I wanted to work in the world of graphic design, and I discovered during my junior year that I wanted to work for the company that currently employs me. Maybe it's strange that I was able to plan ahead and attain my goals with only minor hiccups; that either means that I'm boring or I'm blessed.

Describe your college experience in one word. Then elaborate in no more than five sentences.

Unique. My field of study, extracurricular activities, and friendships yielded experiences that few others could expect from a small liberal arts school. As a cartoonist and writer for the school paper, as well as a campus blogger, I was able to reach a large number of people on campus without ever actually meeting them. My interest in English and theater allowed me to expand my education into new areas and consequently integrate these ideas into my graphic design degree with the help of independent studies and self-designed courses. I was also able to meet amazing people that I hope to be friends with the rest of my life.

Describe one very specific lesson from the college classroom that you'll never forget. Give us concrete details. Tell us not only what it taught you, but also how and why it worked.

In my freshman drawing course with Phil Rostek (a course that almost all art majors take, and everyone loves), he began the first day of class with the odd exercise of having us draw with the lights off. Students stand by their easel with a raw stick of charcoal in hand and a piece of blank newsprint in front of them. Phil turns out the lights and everyone begins to draw. It was an odd sensation to say the least; however it was also the first indication that I was in a new environment, I was out of high school and in this strange and unnerving place called "college." The exercise was fun and messy, but in the grand scheme of things it served as a reminder of the new sort of learning environment I had entered into.

What do you know now that you wish someone would have taught you in school? How might that lesson best be taught?

Personal finances. Now that I have a full time job, my parents have been working extra hard to teach me about investments, savings, and creating a nest egg for my future. It isn't likely that upcoming generations will have Social Security when they retire, so it's important for students to learn formally how to save money, invest, and budget their income (even if college kids don't actually make enough money to put the knowledge into immediate action).

What teaching method(s) were you subjected to that never made a dent on your learning?

The most ineffective teaching method I have encountered is the "group project." This isn't because I'm anti-social or fear cooperation; rather, I found that group work slowed me down and diluted the learning process. First, students that I knew rarely wanted to be in a group (and if the kids get to choose their groups, then you are faced with the "picked last in dodgeball" scenario). It's like playing on a team that no one wants to be on. Secondly, students who are self-motivated leaders find themselves at odds with other members of the group, and, in my opinion, have to stunt their own advancements in order to keep the "learning field" level. Lastly, group projects, presentations, and discussions rarely felt appropriate when they were instituted in the lesson plan. They weren't present in every course I enrolled in, but oftentimes I found that their inclusion was because people assumed groups were necessary, rather than actually adding to the learning experience.

Of course, the idea behind the group project is noble: that they prepare you for a team-oriented working environment commonly found in the real world; but in my work experience so far, my collaborative efforts (which hinge on seniority and hierarchy) have been very different from the classroom.

What college experience did you find most displeasing at the time, but now recognize as an important contribution to your learning?

Doing fake interviews. In a couple of the core courses, students are asked to sit through a mock interview to go over their resume and test their job-grabbin' skills. At the time, I sort of rolled my eyes at the idea, and wasn't thrilled about going through the motions of an interview. Looking back, however, the practice interview in my core courses, like Senior Seminar, was a huge help. It taught me instinctual skills that I had to actually use at an interview six months after graduating.

I'm sure there are plenty of other exercises and lessons I went through in college that I didn't enjoy but ended up needing... but my advice to students would be to sit through them and try your best to absorb everything, because you never know when it'll come in handy.

What habits -- good and bad -- did you pick up in school, that you still continue to apply?

1. Drinking upwards of 4 cups of coffee a day
2. Listening to Charles Mingus when I really want to get something done
3. Constantly employing the phrase "I could blog that" in my head

You can decide if any or all of those are bad.

What do you miss about the college classroom, if anything?

It was nice having a syllabus to tell me about what I'll be talking about and doing each day. It provided me with a gameplan, a learning track that I could see in its entirety and prepare for. It's a shame the real world isn't like that.

If there was one suggestion you would make to college teachers everywhere, what would it be?

If you're going to make students buy a book that costs over $50, you'd better use every chapter in that thing.

THANK YOU, Mike! You offer some fantastic advice in here for students and teachers alike.

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Read more "Student Outcomes"!

Jennifer Olivarez (aka J. Leigh Welteroth) , Seton Hill U class of 2001

Start with a brief bio that tells us first where you are now, then what your status was in college (e.g. "Creative Writing major, Volleyball player, Tetris fan, whatever.) Let your personality show.

My name is Jennifer (J.Leigh) Olivarez (Welteroth) and I moved to Arvada, Colorado (a suburb of northwest Denver) after college and have lived here for seven years. I love hiking and camping in the mountains and I wouldn’t trade Colorado weather for any other! For the last few years I have been working as a production assistant for a company that manages homeowners associations. I produce layouts and proofread newsletters for over 270 associations. The work is right up my alley: I was an English creative writing major with a minor in graphic design. I aspire to find an editing position in a more creative industry though!

Tell us where you thought you'd be now, back when you were a college freshman.

When I was a freshman in college I thought I would be an elementary school teacher. But I just kept taking English lit., creative writing and art classes and before I knew it, I had changed my major.

Describe your college experience in one word. Then elaborate in no more than five sentences.

Creative. I learned to appreciate and develop my own creativity. And I value the opportunity college gave me to experience my fellow students’ insights and share my own in collaboration.

Describe one very specific lesson from the college classroom that you'll never forget. Give us concrete details. Tell us not only what it taught you, but also how and why it worked.

Dr. Lynn Conroy’s Asian Philosophy Class: I remember there was a group of rather rowdy students who sat in the back and week after week would cause a disruption. And every week she would find a way to keep control of the class. This particular week, Dr. Conroy was teaching about Buddhism. I remember she showed us mala beads, Buddhist robes, and prayer flags. And she taught us to meditate, even the rituals of a meditation ceremony. She taught us how to hold our hands when we meditate and I still meditate that way. (While others learn these things at the temple, I’m always proud I learned to meditate in college.) You know, now that I recall, there was not a peep from the rambunctious group in the back of the class. Her lesson was that engaging. That’s how Dr. Conroy kept in control. She commanded our attention through interesting activities fueled by all the knowledge she has and the excitement she holds for the Far East and its people.

What do you know now that you wish someone would have taught you in school? How might that lesson best be taught?

Somehow even though I learned how to diagram a sentence in high school, a lot of grammar rules either didn’t stick with me or had never been taught. I’ve taught myself about proofreading and editing over the last seven years and often wish I could’ve taken a class on this subject in college. I think a lesson in proofreading could be part of the creative writing curriculum. I feel I’m a better writer now than I was in college because of it.

I also remember learning about the publishing industry and how to submit one’s work, but perhaps it would be worthwhile to also teach more to the undergraduates about what happens on the other side of the publishing industry (editing, proofreading, typesetting, etc.). I think in the least it would be beneficial for them to know what to expect in general once a manuscript is accepted for publication. Maybe inviting a guest speaker, an editor from a publishing house, could give students a broader perspective.

What teaching method(s) were you subjected to that never made a dent on your learning?

When a professor would assign students the task of teaching a section of the curriculum to the rest of the class, I never seemed to learn as much, though I appreciated the fresh perspective. With this method, I found that I learned a lot about my own topic, since I invested so much time and energy into it, but I never really learned as much about the other students’ topics. Often the only thing I got out of the other student presentations was a worksheet. And I’m sure they felt the same about my presentation.

What college experience did you find most displeasing at the time, but now recognize as an important contribution to your learning?

Portfolios were a major part of the Core Curriculum when I was in college. I thought it was a waste of time back then, because what future employer is going to care how I did on my term paper about William Blake?

I still keep portfolios; however, the term papers have long since been replaced by sample layouts and magazine articles. It taught me how to keep my career organized and to be prepared. Keeping a portfolio and resume current has kept me ready to seize any opportunity that may come my way.

What habits -- good and bad -- did you pick up in school, that you still continue to apply?

Good

• Walking to work (I used to walk to SHC—over the train tracks and up that giant hill!)
• Brainstorming
• Keeping a running to do list
• Reading, reading, reading
• Writing, writing, writing
• Researching

The bad habits:

• Too many to do lists
• Tendency to get involved in too many activities and projects

What do you miss about the college classroom, if anything?

I miss the variety of feedback and the exchange of ideas.

If there was one suggestion you would make to college teachers everywhere, what would it be?

Be excited about what you’re teaching and the class will be excited too.

THANK YOU, Jennifer! Congratulations on your success in Colorado and thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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Read more "Student Outcomes"!

Karissa Kilgore, Seton Hill U class of 2007

Start with a brief bio that tells us first where you are now, then what your status was in college (e.g. "Creative Writing major, Volleyball player, Tetris fan, whatever.) Let your personality show.

I am currently pursuing my master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), but I will also be starting as a full-time technical writer at Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. this summer.

I graduated in May 2007 from Seton Hill University (SHU) with a B.A. in English literature as well as minors in creative writing and new media journalism. I was the Literary Editor for Eye Contact, the literary/art magazine at SHU, and published several creative pieces in the magazine. I also wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Setonian.

Most notably, perhaps regrettably, were my experiences on crutches—having broken my left foot twice between the beginning of my junior and senior years, it seemed like I was always crutching around campus. Beyond that, I would like to think that I was a jovial, thriving, active member of the student community and especially of the Class of 2007.

Tell us where you thought you'd be now, back when you were a college freshman.

I initially thought that I wanted to teach high school… but that changed after the completion of my freshman year. As I continued my studies at SHU, I eventually discovered the splendor of composition, writing, and the English language, and decided I would continue my education in hopes of some day teaching ESL or writing at the college level or running a writing center.

Describe your college experience in one word. Then elaborate in no more than five sentences.

Networking. I met the most wonderful people during my college years and I am still in contact with the ones who are most dear to me. They are more than just friends, though; I have true resources and mentors within my human network. Opportunities and encouragement alike have come from my network. But more than these, I value the personal connections I’ve made.

Describe one very specific lesson from the college classroom that you'll never forget. Give us concrete details. Tell us not only what it taught you, but also how and why it worked.

In my senior year I took a figure drawing class. The teacher loved that I wasn’t an art major. (He told me my lines and strokes were poetic and lyrical. “Very Matisse,” he said.) It was a three-hour studio course, so the pace was rather relaxed, but the teacher gave periodic lessons about using guides to draw symmetrically, noticing nuances in light and shape, and including or ignoring detail.

When I drew, I saw shapes and light but at first I tried to draw everything. It was frustrating and when the model changed poses I usually hadn’t even finished one drawing. The teacher saw this and reminded me to notice what is there, but also to notice what is not there. He suggested that in my next drawing I shade in the shadows and voids before focusing on the physical matter. I tried it and loved it. My drawing wasn’t something you’ll find in the Met, but it taught me about my own way of seeing. Learning that I had a choice to recognize details changed my perspective of a variety of things in my life, including writing.

What do you know now that you wish someone would have taught you in school? How might that lesson best be taught?

In general, I wish that Compassion 101 was a subject in schools… the world could use it. But for myself, I wish someone taught me more about real studying and note taking. My middle school years were plagued by notebooks filled with Exactly What the Teacher Wrote on the Board, and my high school years were spent experimenting with my own methods. Eventually I found things that worked for me, but I don’t feel like I ever knew how to study.

What teaching method(s) were you subjected to that never made a dent on your learning?

I’m going to answer this one from a different (and perhaps more positive) angle…

I recognize that my teachers used a great deal of scaffolding within (specifically) the English courses that I took. I trusted that I would be able to get a grip on what we were studying before stepping into unknown territory and that always gave me confidence. Courses that did not build up to acquisition and use of new knowledge proved to be frustrating from start to finish.

I appreciated when teachers allowed students to take leadership roles in the classroom. Leading discussions, teaching a lesson, and giving notes helped me remember (and apply) the things I was learning. Lecture is okay, but in measured doses. I don’t recall having many long lectures, but perhaps that’s because they didn’t make an impression on me. When the classroom was student-centered and student-driven, I was a satisfied student.

What college experience did you find most displeasing at the time, but now recognize as an important contribution to your learning?

Ugh, I got a B. It was horrible because I was an A student all my life. It wasn’t that I thought I knew it all or always deserved the very best grade; my perfectionism was getting the best of me. I recognize now that getting that B helped me loosen up a little and see coursework as real learning and not just a competition or a conduit to a pristine grade point average.

What habits -- good and bad -- did you pick up in school, that you still continue to apply?

The good habits:

• Planning ahead
• Writing every day
• Reading something for yourself (and not just for class)
• Trying to see the positive in every situation (no matter how grim)
• Having realistic expectations of others
• Reaching outside your comfort zone
• Considering different points of view than your own

The bad habits:

• Planning ahead (sometimes to the point of absurdity)
• Relying on technology too much
• Forgoing food or sleep to focus on work
• Not making enough time for myself to “live”

What do you miss about the college classroom, if anything?

I don’t miss much at all, really, because I’m still in the college classroom! I’m just at a different level now, so of course it is not exactly the same as my undergrad experience.

If there was one suggestion you would make to college teachers everywhere, what would it be?

Get to know your students. Having a personal connection with someone whenever possible helps me in innumerable ways, and I know I can’t be the only person who feels this! The best experiences through all my years of schooling have been with teachers who loved not only their subject material and their jobs, but also their students.

THANK YOU, Karissa! Great reflection and advice!

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Read more "Student Outcomes"!

First up...

Neha Bawa, Seton Hill U class of 2006

Start with a brief bio that tells us first where you are now, then what your status was in college (e.g. "Creative Writing major, Volleyball player, Tetris fan, whatever.) Let your personality show.

I am an eternal English major who keeps moving from one aspect of dissecting the language to another. I’ve completed my undergrad as an English Literature major, and currently, I am teaching English writing to college freshmen and I’m about to begin graduate classes in Communications.

Tell us where you thought you'd be now, back when you were a college freshman.

As a college freshman, my worldview was very convoluted, and I had no idea of how to picture myself in the future. When I first took Introduction to Literature in sophomore year, I knew I wanted to teach college students, so I’m exactly where I thought I would be.

Describe your college experience in one word. Then elaborate in no more than five sentences.

Eclectic. My college experiences have shaped my life and my thinking tremendously and have made a hard core liberal out of me. From the good to the bad and the ugly, the only year I would relive would be my Senior year, for both, academic and personal reasons.

Describe one very specific lesson from the college classroom that you'll never forget. Give us concrete details. Tell us not only what it taught you, but also how and why it worked.

It was a class with you, in fact, that taught me a very valuable lesson in classroom management. I remember, I had started explaining something to a classmate about poetry, and you stopped teaching and asked me if I had started teaching the class at some point. It’s always stayed with me because I use it in my own classroom every time my students start talking in the middle of my sentences. Sometimes, respect has to be commanded.

What do you know now that you wish someone would have taught you in school? How might that lesson best be taught?

I have always wished that, beginning with freshman year, universities made it mandatory for students to learn about post-college savings and retirement options. Terms like “Tax Deferred Annuities” and “Individual Retirement Accounts” hold no meaning for college students and new college grads, which means that the time they spend with philandering away their earnings could have been spent building a nest egg. Also, I’ve always wanted universities to spend more time and resources on career advice and counseling, especially at Seton Hill, where the resources exist, but are not advertised well enough for the students to be completely aware of them.

What teaching method(s) were you subjected to that never made a dent on your learning?

Reading responses based on emotions, instead of literary techniques used in a text. Being inundated with homework doesn’t necessarily mean that the class work is being understood. That just means that there’s more on the plate as “busy” work.

What college experience did you find most displeasing at the time, but now recognize as an important contribution to your learning?

Writing research papers. I have never had the patience to sit in a library for hours and research a subject into the wee hours of the morning, but now that I’m teaching, I realize the importance of understanding research methods, especially when time management is involved.

What habits -- good and bad -- did you pick up in school, that you still continue to apply?

Constant reading. Constant. Whether I read fiction or non-fiction, a newspaper article, or even the back of a tube of toothpaste, I make it a point to read something new every day.

What do you miss about the college classroom, if anything?

The personal and social touches to teaching and learning.

If there was one suggestion you would make to college teachers everywhere, what would it be?

Please don’t ever let yourselves forget, that at the end of the day, after the tenure has been earned, after the papers have been published, after the book deals have been signed, that our profession is about making a difference in our students’ lives and not always our own.

THANK YOU, Neha!

***
Read more "Student Outcomes"!

I was interviewed by Kendra Hamilton for the just-published article, "Getting Off the Burn-Out Track" -- part of a series about important faculty career trends in the latest issue of Diverse magazine. In the article, Hamilton sheds light on the ramifications of the waning of the tenure-track for academics seeking work. She raises the central question: "How do they strike the balance between the job they need right now and the job that will fulfill the aspirations they came into the field with?" Talking about everything from "freeway faculty" to professors-of-practice in the new academic landscape, the essay gives a sobering snapshot of the realities most grad students will have to face and a realistic reminder of how privileged those of us with tenured positions really are.

See Erin O'Connor's blog entry on "Phasing Out The Tenure System" for more context on this issue in relation to Academic Freedom.

Forward, our slick campus alumni magazine, ran this excellent feature story (note: 500k .jpg image) on me this Fall, after I won the Bram Stoker Award in Alternative Forms for my free horror fiction-oriented e-newsletter, The Goreletter. The interview is quirky good fun -- it opens with a few offbeat quotations from students extracted from things I've said during lectures (sort of like what you'd find at profquotes.com), asking me to explain myself.

At a recent meeting of writing instructors, we learned that students who conduct surveys for freshman composition courses are potentially violating campus policies regarding human research. Some have received warning letters from our campus' Human Research Committee. This surprised me, mostly because I have never encountered this issue before in my own education, and also because -- as a literary critic -- I find it difficult to think of "discourse" as "human research."

"Human Research" is a phrase torn right out of policy guides from Psychology and Biology programs at research institutions across the country. When I think of "human research," I think of scientists in white lab coats, probing various regions of the brain with electrodes, or drug experiments using prisoners...not a simple survey regarding, say, student attitudes about the role of athletics in education. Isn't the latter protected speech? If a person is asked a question for a research paper, and told that this is the context under which their speech is being recorded, isn't answering the questions themselves a sort of "informed consent"?

The lines between "human research" and journalistic inquiry are fuzzy to me. A student's journalistic inquiry would seem protected by the First Amendment, but if a student is "experimenting" -- testing a hypothesis -- then perhaps it is not.

I turned to the US Dept of Health and Human Services, whose guidelines seem to shape the human research policies at many academic institutions. The way the HHS defines a "human subject" sheds some light on the difference:

(f) Human subject means a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research obtains

(1) data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or
(2) identifiable private information.

Intervention includes both physical procedures by which data are gathered (for example, venipuncture) and manipulations of the subject or the subject's environment that are performed for research purposes. Interaction includes communication or interpersonal contact between investigator and subject. Private information includes information about behavior that occurs in a context in which an individual can reasonably expect that no observation or recording is taking place, and information which has been provided for specific purposes by an individual and which the individual can reasonably expect will not be made public (for example, a medical record). Private information must be individually identifiable (i.e., the identity of the subject is or may readily be ascertained by the investigator or associated with the information) in order for obtaining the information to constitute research involving human subjects.

I understand that privacy matters, and in cases where the "experiment" involves intervention or observation, then I can see the need to acquire "informed consent" -- a signature from the "test subject" that they understand the context of the survey and are okay with participating in it. And naturally, any private information acquired by a researcher needs to be kept private. But such policies also sound a bit too bureaucratic for a simple freshman composition course, where the "research" will likely never be published. Often it's simply an innocent trial run at data gathering for the sake of writing a paper for a class -- a class that is not housed in the sciences. Should the freshmen who wants to, say, interview ten peers on their dorm floor utilize clipboards and acquire signatures to protect themselves (and the university)?

Most "human research" policies I've seen online govern graduate scholarship. The University of Texas' School of Journalism provides a well-written page that clarifies the line between journalistic research and other forms of human research, and outlines what their school considers "exempt" forms of human research. Of note:

1. Journalistic investigations, the work done by a person writing a biography, and documentaries.

2. Studies conducted by students in conjunction with a class may or may not be research. If the purpose for conducting the study is solely to give the student experience in conducting research, the project is a research practicum project and not, in and of itself, research.

I like the way they put that: "a research practicum project." That's how I would define what my freshmen composition students might be doing, if they opt to conduct a survey or interview on any given paper topic. However, as UTexas is quick to note, such a practicum needs to be overseen by faculty, and some compliance forms (the forms I looked at were six pages long) need to be submitted to a governing board.

Now that I'm a little better informed on this topic, I will contact our own Human Research Committee and acquire whatever forms a student might need. Better safe than sorry.

And I'll keep looking into it. I'm suddenly riddled with questions. When I teach "memoir writing" to what degree am I "intervening" with human subjects when I grade their personal essays and confessional writing? It's not research that I would ever report, but I wonder to what degree I am treading on fuzzy privacy matters as a teacher when it comes to grading my "human subjects"? Should I get a student's "informed consent" to participate in a class where they are expected to share their life stories with me and with other classmates? To what degree does "creative non-fiction" bring the fuzziness of language and discourse theory into play regarding these issues?

Does anyone reading this have experience with human research violations in a writing course? What are your thoughts about this issue?

Demonstrating Good Teaching by David G. Brown -- recently published in Syllabus magazine -- is a good reminder that teachers who integrate lots of technology in their courses may have to take special steps to show its value to their administrators and colleagues. Especially those who are up for tenure and promotion. Brown briefly lists ten strategies for helping others to see that computer mediated instruction can be good instruction.

Brown's tips range from utilizing a website or Powerpoint presentation in a final exam (and archiving that to disk or publishing it online in an electronic teaching portfolio) to publicly soliciting and archiving comments about course materials (as a blog like this one might do). It's all good advice. Brown emphasizes generating empiric evidence to make your teaching process self-evident so that the strengths of your use of technology will be obvious. It can sometimes be difficult for those who don't use technology to understand it's use if you only talk about it or describe it from afar...it's far better to have it speak for itself. That is, if you can get folks to look at the web site or CD in the first place...sometimes that's the hurdle. Brown recommends having colleagues visit classes or soliciting their opinions about specific course strategies you're employing.

One tip that Brown mentions gives me pause. He suggests that technology savvy teachers "Ask students, about every three weeks, to e-mail you comments about how the course is going, its strengths and weaknesses, and how it can be improved." He's probably advocating this because you're likely to get good supportive letters from students who sing your praises that you can put in your promotion file. But even better, you can adjust your approach to a specific class along the way, "tuning in" to the students needs along the way as the course progresses. Of course, this can also lead to troubles: students might see your inbox as a complaint box. And if what research from the PEW Internet and American Life Project suggests is correct, students already e-mail professors so often that such course corrections already occur. In fact, 82-90% of students are already contacted by their profs via e-mail and around half of those students report that e-mail has enhanced their relationship with their professors. (That research also suggests that students only complain 4% of the time, by the way...which, as is often the case in course evaluations, too, is probably a case of one bad apple spoiling the bunch.)

In any case, I agree that professors need to be receptive to student e-mail, but the degree to which it is solicited is up to the teacher. Many of my colleagues report being flooded with e-mail correspondence to answer, from not only students but administrators, publishers, communications officers, and even e-mail worms. E-mail can become a workload problem if it isn't managed well. I personally ask students to contact me via e-mail if there are problems they're having in the course, but more often than not my replies ask the student to come by my office hours for a conversation. At the beginning of the semester, I tell students that I'm addicted to e-mail and love to get it from them -- and I am very receptive to their messages. But sometimes e-mail is a false solution to problems. I've had students e-mail me about problems finding materials on reserve, for example, when the obvious solution to that problem is to first ask the librarian for assistance (in my Literary Criticism class recently, I learned that an article was placed in the reserve file folder for a different class -- there's no way I could have solved that problem by e-mail...it took someone asking the librarian about it for them to dig around and discover the error). There's a tendency for people, not just students, to defer work by sending off e-mails to others and hoping they'll do the work for them. Like when students conduct e-mail interviews, whipping out five questions and sending them off without really inter-viewing at all. I've also had students write e-mail to me to "defend" their writing from editorial feedback I'd written to help them revise...which means my inbox became a place for them to vent rather than to critically rethink their writing (of course, again, I invited them to come see me with the subtle reminder that writing must always speak for itself).

But I'm beginning to digress. Like I said above, e-mail is a boon for teaching but it needs to be managed effectively. The same is true of all classroom activities, especially technology, which is usually intended to help organize material. I recommend you read Brown's article and see which tips are applicable to your courses. If you're coming up for promotion or tenure review, you need to start thinking in the ways that Brown advises. Regardless, you might even e-mail David Brown to let him know how you feel about it; his article practices what he preaches and solicits tips. You also might want to review the long list of practical and useful articles he's written for Syllabus magazine. I'm going to let him know about this entry.

A journalism student "shadowed" me the other day for a class project. I knew she was writing a feature story for the class, but I didn't realize it would end up online in a mock newspaper. Since it's ostensibly about a "day in the life of a writing teacher" I thought I'd post a link here: "A Fantastic Voyage into Dr. Arnzen's Mind" by Renee Defloria on the Practice of Journalism mock paper.

The biggest surprise I had reading this was the interviewing with other students about me. And the mention of where I hide the money in my office! Now I need to change its hiding place.

I'll be uploading a student anthology from my poetry class to a different site soon; I'll share here, as well. I think publishing student work in a "formal" (rather than just informally blogged) way online provides a showcase that students can be proud of. When I've done this in the past, I learned that many students would share such websites with their families over Xmas break, as a testament to how well they were doing in school. In a fiction class antho, the students were very interactive in the guestbook. I've always tried to use the internet as a part of my teaching, but I think I am most proud of these sites (which required me to do all the work, unfortunately) where students were "publishing" ... it makes writing more authentic and rewarding than just having the teacher for one's audience. That's something I try to represent as a writing teacher, too: an audience.

It can backfire, however...especially in a journalism course. I once asked a journalism course to submit their end-of-term feature stories for a mock paper called "Newshole" which I would susequently publish online. But when I discovered two plagiarists in the class, and so many other problematic issues in the writing that I just pulled the whole project and decided that it would be safer to just post titles of the papers online. Sure, I could have just dropped the two articles, but then I would have singled those students out and I instead wanted to use this as a lesson to the class about publishing.

Developing a sense of audience is crucial, and I think Renee really projects that development in her article on me. The writing here is different than the papers of hers I've graded: it directly speaks to other SHU students, reflecting a sense of what her audience would most be curious about.

Disclaimer: The bloody rabbit picture isn't a Polaroid, by the way. It's something I found on the net (from Monty Python and the Holy Grail) and used as a "test print" when they installed the new printer in my office.

If you're surprised to discover that I'm a fan of the horror genre, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Students today, he asserts, are engaging neither with history nor with post-structuralism. "What is sexy instead is sex," he announces, in the first chapter, on "The Politics of Amnesia": "Quietly spoken middle-class students huddle diligently in libraries, at work on sensationalist subjects like vampirism and eye-gouging, cyborgs and porno movies." Cast adrift in the stormy currents of postmodernism, they prefer to focus their energy on "the history of pubic hair" or the evolution of Friends, a trend that Eagleton regards as "politically catastrophic".

From an interview with Terry Eagleton, regarding his new book, After Theory. This book seems to be concerned with the movement away from truth and morality in contemporary literary criticism. Eagleton -- a Marxist whose book Literary Theory: An Introduction, I liked enough to use in my Literary Criticism course -- doesn't blame students or teachers for this vacuous research, per se, but culture: "In the old days, rock music was a distraction from your studies; now it may well be what you are studying."

Sounds a little moralizing, and more conservative than the Eagleton I know, but it looks like yet another book to add to my reading list! My gut tells me that he's right, but he's also reacting to the waning of interest among media-raised grad students in Literature proper. I also suspect he's missing the point: analyzing, say Buffy the Vampire Slayer, does give us insight into contemporary culture, even if it reifies the commercial text. But I better save judgment until I read it.