Friday, July 08, 2005

Summer II

I'm about to start the second summer session, here in NW Arkansas -- teaching World Lit, the second half, and a Special Topics class in Science Fiction. Have just finished teaching Chaucer and Second Semester Composition. In five weeks I will begin teaching Victorian Literature, History of the English Language, and first semester composition -- two sections. I'm also going to pitch a Special Topics: Mythology through Literature Class, to my chair, to teach in the Spring, which I'll have to design over the fall, but which will, at least, be in my area.

All this and I've been putting on nine and ten pages a day on the book.

All this by way of saying: Yikes. I'm kind of worn out.

I'm looking forward to starting the SF class. Haven't taught that for a while. It's not exactly in my area (heh, I haven't taught anything exactly in my area in about six years), but hey. (A) I know a lot about it and (B) at this point, I can teach anything.

Well, not math. Or Geology. Or any sort of hard science. Or economics. Or...

But you know. Anything to do with WORDS.

Speaking of which: I got my evals back recently. Which is always charming. And I got another one of my favorite comments. "Doc makes us read too much." (Actually spelled "makes us read to much.")

Which brings me to this point: these are English majors.

This was a class for majors. All of them are majoring in English. Yet I'd say about a third of them don't like to read books.

What the hell.

This is like being a geology major and not liking rocks.

Good lord. Why do it then?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I remember in my own college days, people taking a lot of English classes because it was an "easy A." I don't know for sure, but I'm hoping they were disillusioned by the reality. But English majors complaining about having to read "to much"? Kee-rist! I occasionally complained about the quality of what I had to read in some classes, but seldom about the quantity. (Yep, I were an English major to.)