Category Archives: Teaching

Checking Out THE STREET

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Sharyn

I’ve been teaching Richard Wright’s Native Son for years in my American Literature since 1914 course. (See related posts under the tag for “Native Son”) But because the book has so many problematic components–rape, murder, violence against women, a really lagging … Continue reading →

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Drama is Always Relevant

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Sharyn

I’m teaching a new-to-me play in my Introduction to Drama course this semester: Death and the King’s Horseman (1975), by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. I feel quite ignorant for not having read any of his work before, but I am an Americanist, … Continue reading →

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Book Orders, How Do They Work?

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Sharyn

It’s that time of the semester–time to submit my textbook orders for the impossibly far-seeming Fall semester 2017. The pressure to get them in on time is pretty strong, since each department gets a stipend from the book store that … Continue reading →

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A New Native Son, Part I

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Sharyn

Content Note – discussion of fictional rape and murder follows. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, Y’ALL: Variety is reporting that Richard Wright’s novel Native Son will be adapted for film by Rashid Johnson and Suzan-Lori Parks. And I’m not sure I can effectively … Continue reading →

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Trumptuffe

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Sharyn

I was teaching the 17th century French play Tartuffe, by Molière, last week to students in my introduction to drama class. We got into a really interesting discussion about hypocrisy and why phony human beings irritate us so much. Why is … Continue reading →

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End of Semester Breakdown

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Sharyn

There’s just one more week left in the Fall Semester and, as usual, I am ready to be DONE. There are still piles of grading and then two more classes to teach, final exams to put together, and student evals … Continue reading →

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And So it Begins

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Sharyn

Fall 2016, that is. Classes at my university start on Monday, but I don’t have a face to face (F2F) class meeting until Tuesday. As I often do, I am teaching 2 sections of my course load F2F, and 2 … Continue reading →

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Truthiness & Consequences

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Sharyn

Chances are that you’ve heard something about First Lady candidate Melania Trump and her oopsie of a speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention. It already has a nice Wikipedia entry: Melania Trump speech plagiarism controversy. There was much discussion … Continue reading →

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Making Black Lives Matter

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Sharyn

I don’t have a lot to say in this post this week–last week was a very difficult week for the US, and for our nation’s Black citizens in particular. At this point, it seems incomprehensible that concepts like white privilege, … Continue reading →

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The Renaissance of Angels in America

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Sharyn

I regularly teach the American Literature Survey in my department–all three parts of it. My academic expertise technically only covers the last two courses, which at our institution cover 1865-1914 and 1914-present, respectively. (But I actually love teaching the first … Continue reading →

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