Nalo's short story approach is the one I adopt. Very few of my
students are literature specialists (we run two american studies
strands, literature and history and for some unknown reason have
trouble recruiting for the literature strand). I don't know if one has to
have passion to teach. Sometimes I think things will be controversial,
and they aren't and other times am really surprised by the
shockability of my class. This term I have a group who have trouble
uttering the word "prostitute". I have also found that, for me, what
works once, is not guaranteed to work again. I have few "sure fire"
winners to offer. However, I would suggest that if you are teaching sf
as sf (rather than the way I do when it is simply interesting literature
for a particular theme) I would recommend the first chapter of Edward
James' Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century (Oxford Univ. Press)
which talks about how to read sf. My class brought home to me
today just how difficult it can be. I had totally forgottem
Farah.
On Tue, 22 Apr 1997 03:36:48 -0400 Nalo Hopkinson wrote:
> From: Nalo Hopkinson <bl213@FREENET.TORONTO.ON.CA>
> Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 03:36:48 -0400
> Subject: Re: what students read and what should we teach?
> To: FEMINISTSF@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU
>
> NH: Geez. I don't know that I could teach at all, not this stuff (used
to
> teach aerobics, but somehow that's different, y'know? :) ). I'm only
> theorizing here, but I think I would hide a little, only teach work for
> its fem or race or language or whatever content in courses that
> specifically stated that as an objective. That way I'd have students
who
> were there because they're interested. For more general courses,
I'd
> probably still teach works about which I was passionate, but try
to--and I
> don't even know if one can do this--cull the discussion out of
whatever
> aspects of the work the students themselves found worthy of
comment. I
> think that if I knew there would be resistance, I might try teaching
short
> stories. A quick read so the students wouldn't be facing 300 pages
of
> something they think they're sure to hate. I might also try to use
what
> they're already reading to pull out the type of discussion that gets
them
> thinking. Imagine a feminist take on _Jurassic Park!_ I might try
> different formats; for instance, I love the comic "Love and Rockets."
I
> think younger people (I'm 36) would relate to the underground,
> teen-as-outsider feel of it, and while you're relating to that, you
can't
> help but also think about the issues of sexuality it raises (the main
> characters are bi); you can't help but suck up something of the
Latino
> perspective from which it's written. I might try to haul a vcr or a
film
> projector into class and show some of the more underground,
independent
> stuff, or do a class on the 'Alien' movies. And if they hated the
things
> I loved, I think I would back off snail-like and go show them to
someone
> who did love them. My friends all tend to be extremely bookish,
though
> not necessarily about the same books that I am. And I think that
> ultimately, my passion for the work would only catch fire with a tiny
> group of students each year. But hell, maybe they'd remember the
song and
> dance act with the vcr and the comics fondly, and maybe its effects
would
> filter into their lives in unconscious ways.
>
> -nalo
>
> On Tue, 22 Apr 1997, lissa bloomer wrote:
>
> > in response to nalo -- and also a bunch of other stuff:
> >
> > eye-yi-yi. i have so much reading to do. egads. i've never heard
of -Bone
> > Dance- so i'll give it a try. you know, this sounds really really
really
> > terrible, and i promised myself 7 years ago when i first started
teaching
> > that if i ever muttered the words i should quit
immediately..........but...
> > here are the words... i'm beginning to tire of trying fem works in a
> > freshman comp class. i'm not complaining - i love my job and the
students
> > -- i think i'm obsessively worrying as constructive procrastination
since i
> > have papers to grade. however, it's just that it's first of all
damaging to
> > my own persona, since it's hard to teach books that are so close
to home,
> > so personal, and so religiously a part of my core beliefs. ya
know? it's
> > hard for me to distance. for example, i used marilyn robinson's
> > _Housekeeping_ (which Marlene Barr would certainly call
"feminist
> > fabulation", since Ruth and Sylvie both leave ((transcend)) the
patriarchal
> > world for another) in 1105, and felt quite emotionally drained. i
wanted
> > them all to love it as much as me, and when some didn't, it hurt. i
want to
> > use _Momaday_ in a class, but i'm not sure i can well. there are,
maybe,
> > 20 books that i'm not sure i could ever use in a classroom
because they are
> > so close to me. (the kind of books that i want to match the paint of
the
> > covers to paint my bedroom... the kind of books that smell of the
bottom of
> > my sachel...) and, strangely enough, most, if not all, of these
books are
> > feminist and of the sf ilk. and the more i read, the more i find i
cannot
> > share in the freshman english classroom. too scared? yes. and it
sucks.
> > that i have to, as nalo says, "bait and switch" is terrible. that if i
use
> > Ursula Le Guin's "Carrier Bag of Fiction" in the classroom and
then am
> > assumed a male-hating-radical-feminist-who
> > is-going-to-automatically-fail-all-men is too.
> >
> > how does one teach a feminist sci fi book????? how does one
teach a book
> > that one loves without going insane? (( i know the "one should
only teach
> > the books that one loves so that one will be motivated" answer...
and i
> > know the "jesus, get some distance" answer.... and i know the
"you must
> > share all the books, you selfish geek" answer....and the "you
should be
> > teaching an optional class in an arts program" answer...and the
"you need
> > to go pay for your voice and get your damn phd" answer...))
> >
> > could you share your "delaney shelf" with anyone? ((and did you
write that
> > you HEARD him SAY something? wow. did you meet him?))((Le
Guin and Delany
> > are gods.))
> >
> >
> > -lissa bloomer
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > if you're not wearing pants, it's time to go home.
> >
> > elisabeth bloomer
> > instructor, english
> > virginia tech
> > ebloomer@vt.edu
> > 540.231.2445
> >
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