tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post8864930691780324421..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Required Reading? Crowdsourcing of ExperienceCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-5977519016972458232013-05-24T09:48:07.407-04:002013-05-24T09:48:07.407-04:00I struggle with this. The opportunity very rarely ...I struggle with this. The opportunity very rarely comes my way because I largely teach first-years in Oxford and the Oxford history syllabus omits the tenth and fourteenth centuries in first year (NO I DO NOT KNOW WHY). But when dealing with third-years it's still tricky. My book wasn't written to answer the questions one might ask undergraduates. One or two of my articles might be more useful. On the other hand I feel a bit more useful assigning it to graduates working on the Feudal Transformation--but that is, all the same, a theme I have explicitly <i>avoided</i> in my published work. So in the first place I think I lack the confidence to assume that what I've written is relevant; but it's also that I can't tell whether I recommend it, or they read it, because it <i>is</i> useful or just because I wrote it. On the other hand one of my future plans is a volume of translated charters for teaching with, so I'll have to quell these insecurities when that's done, if I'm still teaching (currently somewhat unlikely). Then comes the question of whether to require its purchase and on what scale...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-55695561838165590592013-05-01T06:12:23.359-04:002013-05-01T06:12:23.359-04:00Jonathan, I'm sure that's a large part of ... Jonathan, I'm sure that's a large part of it. My most widely taught text is "Monster Theory" and I wrote that in 1994. I'm contacted frequently by students who've encountered it during a composition class and it just makes me uncomfortable to think they are using something that to my mind belongs in an archive (and doesn't represent the way I now write or think).<br /><br />I suppose the more cheering part is that they don't see it that way, and I am grateful that the piece has remained alive...Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-21253233646108073072013-04-30T21:29:10.268-04:002013-04-30T21:29:10.268-04:00Thanks for chiming in Jeffrey! I was wondering wha...Thanks for chiming in Jeffrey! I was wondering what you might think about this.<br /><br />Something that also occurs to me right now is just how much of a *time lag* there typically is between the time something is written and the time it appears; published work can be a "time capsule" or snapshot of your thinking at the moment but by the time it's "out there" your own thinking will most likely have advanced... so I wonder (in addition to "boredom") if part of the emotional difficulty in teaching your "own" work is the fact that you're weirdly revisiting a "past self" that you no longer inhabit.Jonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-52491766988683188852013-04-30T20:05:38.504-04:002013-04-30T20:05:38.504-04:00It's a vexed issue! Reading through the FB com...It's a vexed issue! Reading through the FB comments it was interesting to see how ambivalent people feel about assigning their own work. I can see why it might be a good idea to take the risk, but after almost two decades in the classroom I have never done it.<br /><br />Then again, work I've published bores me and the idea of teaching it is pretty terrifying. I'd have to pretend I'm interested in things that are out of my life ...Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-64501989066313332592013-04-30T12:56:47.360-04:002013-04-30T12:56:47.360-04:00Is this assigned reading mandatory?
Signed,
A for...Is this assigned reading mandatory?<br /><br />Signed,<br />A former studentCrystalhttp://www.crystalbae.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-3607236369172107652013-04-30T12:39:58.308-04:002013-04-30T12:39:58.308-04:00Usually not. They have access to my perspective in...Usually not. They have access to my perspective in class. I'd rather they spend the time and money on an additional source or perspective. Steve Muhlbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18136005762428407135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-50895302168621106172013-04-30T12:29:17.454-04:002013-04-30T12:29:17.454-04:00Heinrich C. Kuhn provides some great insights over...Heinrich C. Kuhn provides some great insights over on Google+ (the comments thread is public):<br /><br />https://plus.google.com/114194813937417228452/posts/W7YRMQaArNdJonathan Hsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13214201468052661183noreply@blogger.com