Introduction to English Studies

Course Overview

This course invites participants to explore what people think, write, feel, learn, and accomplish in the field of English Studies. One useful and obvious way to divide up our field is into the three sub-fields of linguistics, rhetoric, and literature, and much of what we study will fall easily into one of those three categories. Yet we also need to study the ways in which those three sub-disciplines illuminate and contest each another, as well as the other elements of English Studies that are more difficult to categorize, including: film criticism, cultural studies, gender studies, ethnic and minority studies, and the pedagogy of literacy.

Literacy and Democracy

As an added bonus and at no extra charge, this course will also devote special attention to the dynamic relationships between literacy and democracy. That is, we will assume that one way in which English Studies becomes interesting and sometimes controversial is through its role in shaping the way decisions get made in our society, with results for such concerns as social justice, peace, health, and personal freedom and fulfillment. Often, but not always, we will therefore ask each other what might be the implications of literature, rhetoric, and linguistics for various visions of democratic culture (and vice versa).

Course Format

Several additional features of the course will require our attention:

A Learning Team

I feel very strongly that we learn best when we work as a learning team. This means that every member of this class should not only know the names and contact information (phone, e-mail, etc.) of every other member of the group, but also know everyone's:  topics for the various course projects; special resources and talents they bring to the group; special needs and areas of interest. The concept and practice of the learning team also places heavy value on class participation, including attendance, preparation, and a high level of intellectual engagement while in class. 

Our Sourcebook

We will collectively compose and publish a book. This will be a "sourcebook" made up of chapters on a range of topics in English Studies.  The chief audience of the book will be future students in English 100. Everyone in this course will contribute a chapter to the book. Shortly after the end of the semester--with assistance from members of this class--the book should be available for viewing on the Web and for purchase in hard-copy form at "Rapid Print Eastside" at Illinois State University (Old Union Bldg., Room 116;  phone [309] 438-3911).

Technology and English Studies

Though we will not meet in a networked (PC) classroom, we will still attempt to make use of a wide range of electronic resources for teaching and learning, including e-mail, the World Wide Web, a Webboard, web portfolios, on-line journals, multi-media, etc. Participants will bring to the course varying levels of expertise in (and access to) these electronic tools, and so we will all need to exercise patience and creativity as teachers and learners of technology. All participants should arrive equipped with an e-mail address and knowledge of how to send and receive e-mail messages, as well as how to navigate the Word Wide Web.

Learning and Evaluation

Pedagogically, politically, and philosophically, I object to tests and lectures. Class meetings of this course will therefore primarily feature discussions of readings and issues, sharing of entries in your response journals, activities to spark further learning, presentations by students, visits from important people in the field, and workshops in which you and your classmates seek responses to your works in progress. Outside of class, you should expect to read and write a good deal and to produce written research. Evaluation of each student's performance will be based on class participation and a course portfolio submitted in the final weeks of the course.