by Jared Asser, History History is an interpretive discipline, and this is its strength. Except in the most banal of cases, there is no single “right” answer to any historical problem, and two historians can approach the same documents and leave with different a understanding of their significance. A historian’s interpretation is influenced by their…
by Ali Ahsan, Comparative Literature It is a new academic year. And I have a new academic challenge: to teach an introductory course on “Literature and Medicine.” I have prepared a syllabus for the course, and this time it is experimental in terms of reading as well as writing requirements. There are multiple reasons behind…
by Kelsey Schoenbaum, Music Growing up, I was a reader. I brought a book everywhere: on the playground, in the cafeteria, sometimes in my lap during class time. My teachers loved it, and it was hardly surprising that I developed very advanced language and writing skills for my age. As a young adult, my life became…
by Andrew Paul, Anthropology In 1999, English professor Peter Elbow wrote of the “instructor’s dilemma” in diverse classrooms: how can we make our courses safe for diverse varieties of English, while at the same time fostering students’ ability to write according to the conventions of their profession? This quandary is as relevant today as it…