Do I have a case here?

[Seamus123]

.....

 

[eudaemonia]

I can't post much now, but will later. You have some very legitimate grips, and as one in academia herself for the second go around, the humanities is stultifying in its attitudes of what is "proper" inquiry. I'll get back to you later.

And no, you're not stupid.

 

[silverwhisper]

seamus: in a creative writing course? i think that's very peculiar. in what year are you of your studies?

also, have you spoken w/ other majors in the program? does the nature of the coursework change farther down the road?

ed

 

[Seamus123]

seamus: in a creative writing course? i think that's very peculiar. in what year are you of your studies?

also, have you spoken w/ other majors in the program? does the nature of the coursework change farther down the road?

ed

Yeah I was going to do a journalism course but the creative writing option seemed better suited to me. I'm in my second year out of 3. I have spoken to other people about the course and i've got mostly agreeable comments from them, and i've looked at what i'll be doing next year and it is, again, old stuff. 1 module next year of modern work, that's all.

 

[silverwhisper]

is the objective of the course for students to produce fiction? b/c if so, it seems to me that they're doing a wretched job of realizing it.

how much lit crit are you learning?

ed

 

[Seamus123]

is the objective of the course for students to produce fiction? b/c if so, it seems to me that they're doing a wretched job of realizing it.

how much lit crit are you learning?

ed

We do produce fiction, we write a short story or poems and stuff every week. The creative writing side of the course i love, i have no problems with that. But the english literature side of the course is pathetic, it's all old stuff and they have such a terrible attitude to modern texts.

 

[silverwhisper]

could you define "old stuff"?

ed

 

[Eilan]

could you define "old stuff"?

ed

I like the "old stuff."

 

[silverwhisper]

i'm pretty sure seamus wasn't asking about former cops, eilan. :>

ed

 

[Seamus123]

old stuff.. well.. we do a lot of medieval literature, lots of victorian, edwardian.. hardly anything beyond 1900, even less beyond 1950. Mostly between 1300 and 1800

 

[silverwhisper]

well, at least they appear to be including the poetry of the romantics in your courses...that, at least, is good.

but still, nothing of the lost generation or the harlem renaissance? or yeats?

[dismissive snort]

and how they purport to teach you lit w/out even a glance at postmodernism i'll never understand.

ed

 

[Ezzy]

Wow, with such a heavy work schedule I am not surprised you don't have time to read anything that is not on the book list, you poor thing; you must be rushed off your feet.

Ok, putting the sarcasm on one side, here are the serious questions.

1) Did you get to see the details of the course in a prospectus before you picked it as being more suitable for you?
2) Have they conformed or deviated from those details?
3) What sort of books have the tutors written, and did the last of those works of literature happen to come out in 1950?
4) You are looking to see if you have a case for what purpose? To quit or to change to a different course at the same university, or at a different university? Or just to point out to the staff that you find the tutors stultified and pompous?


For all intents and purposes, if they are breaching the details of the prospectus, then you have a case to ask that the skew of the tutoring is removed, and the full course is taught. If they are adhering to the details in the prospectus, you are stuck for they are not breaching their contract with you.

Methods of getting around this sort of problem include.

1) Get together with the student councilor (or course advisor) and see if there are any other courses that you could audit, that cover modern literature.
2) Get together with other students on your course and read more modern works, then critic them amongst yourselves, (and check on the internet for authoritative critics of them too), if there is a less pompous tutor you might ask him to review your works on modern literature.
3) Look at the book list then research, either newer works by the lists authors, or modern works that compare with those on the list, take the time to visit the schools library and the local town ones too, ask the librarians for their opinions on some modern works that would fit right in to the list, most of them are well read and if they don’t read the great works themselves, they will know who to ask or where to find some lists and details for you.
4) Don’t make them force feed you with a spoon, go out and do some research and make the course work for you not against you.


Back in the day (many years ago I admit), my course was 40 hours a week, I used to loose 8 hours a week traveling to and from home to the university, 50 hours a week working two jobs to support myself, 40 hours a week sleeping, and still found 30 hours a week for the two clubs I was in and to socialize with my friends.

 

[Eilan]

old stuff.. well.. we do a lot of medieval literature, lots of victorian, edwardian.. hardly anything beyond 1900, even less beyond 1950. Mostly between 1300 and 1800

I'm no help. I'm stuffy and pompous and pretentious and was taught by dinosaurs and that stuff's right up my alley.

For all intents and purposes, if they are breaching the details of the prospectus, then you have a case to ask that the skew of the tutoring is removed, and the full course is taught. If they are adhering to the details in the prospectus, you are stuck for they are not breaching their contract with you.

Exactly.

 

[SubNebGuy]

I got my BA in English, and my studies were diverse.
While I had certain areas I had to study (i.e. so many credit hours of authors pre 1600, so many hours of minority/women's lit, plus shakespeare), I got to choose WHAT classes I took to fill those criteria.

Courses I took:

Canadian Fiction
Science Fiction
Shakespeare
Medieval Lit.
20th century women's lit
Chaucer, Shakespeare, & Milton
Early american Lit.
3 courses in Creative writing

Yes, I would say I had to read more 'old stuff'...but most 'new stuff' is re-hashed old stuff, so you HAVE to have a deep understanding of it to see its re-hashed use in modern lit.

But I agree, your professors sound unbearable. Some of mine were, but most were more than willing to accept alternate interpretations, as long as you had a justified reason for thinking such.

 

[Seamus123]

I got my BA in English, and my studies were diverse.
While I had certain areas I had to study (i.e. so many credit hours of authors pre 1600, so many hours of minority/women's lit, plus shakespeare), I got to choose WHAT classes I took to fill those criteria.

Courses I took:

Canadian Fiction
Science Fiction
Shakespeare
Medieval Lit.
20th century women's lit
Chaucer, Shakespeare, & Milton
Early american Lit.
3 courses in Creative writing

Yes, I would say I had to read more 'old stuff'...but most 'new stuff' is re-hashed old stuff, so you HAVE to have a deep understanding of it to see its re-hashed use in modern lit.

But I agree, your professors sound unbearable. Some of mine were, but most were more than willing to accept alternate interpretations, as long as you had a justified reason for thinking such.

See, you took awesome courses. I had no choice, and the modules that everyone has to do, the core ones.. they only focus on the 'old stuff' that i've mentioned.. and it's all British old stuff, we don't even venture into Europe, let alone any of the awesome American Literature. The only way we get to expand our literary horizons with this course is through choosing optional modules, but because of the whole TWO EXTRA HOURS a week, we can't even do that.