I'd like to comment on this article's suggestion that "to attract students from other fields and students with interests beyond literary studies...departments should institute a series of complementary or linked courses that holistically incorporate content and cross-cultural reflection at every level." Along with Erin, I say a hearty "yes!" to this proposal. I, for one, never considered being a French major in my undergrad because I wasn't particularly interested in French literature (no offense all you lit majors!) and I had no idea that the magical field of linguistics even existed! Broadening the content of undergrad courses could help negate the stereotype that language = literature.
On a related note, did anyone know that these types of "credit-bearing discussion module[s] in the target language" are offered at IU? West European Studies (just downstairs on the fifth floor) frequently offers these as a 1-credit add-on to a regular 3-credit course in West European history, economics or geopolitics. I think last year they had a course with French, Italian and German discussion sections. What a great way to make language relevant! I know in the past they've also had discussion sections in German and French for a course entitled something like "Paris and Berlin in the 1920's"...which of us wouldn't love to lead that discussion!
Does anyone know of other departments and/or programs at IU that offer language discussion sections? Maybe this would be a way to start bridging those interdepartmental gaps: offer the option of French discussion sections for specific history, politics, art history and other humanities courses in which our grad students have specializations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I did some language discussion sections for somewhat "unrelated" courses in my undergraduate career. I did it for a "great works of literature" kind of class, but they also offered history and religion with FL discussion sections. While I enjoyed some of the discussion we had, I felt the extra work was in some cases too much, while the discussion wasn't as rich or worthwhile as I was hoping. I think interdisciplinary FL discussion sections are often viewed by both students and professors as an inconvenience more than an opportunity, which is why I think we need to go all the way and just offer a class on French History or Religion in France.
ReplyDelete