6.0531 Rs: Humanities teaching lab; Student Computers (4/89)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Thu, 18 Feb 1993 15:58:30 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 6, No. 0531. Thursday, 18 Feb 1993.


(1) Date: Wed, 17 Feb 93 15:08:51 MST (26 lines)
From: DUSKNOX@IDBSU
Subject: Re: 6.0527 Query: Humanities Teaching

(2) Date: 17 Feb 1993 17:49:22 -0700 (MST) (16 lines)
From: OCRAMER@CCNODE.Colorado.EDU
Subject: Re: 6.0519 Rs: Student Computers

(3) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 93 9:02:58 EST (30 lines)
From: David E. Latane <dlatane@hibbs.vcu.edu>
Subject: Re: 6.0527 Query: Humanities Teaching

(4) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 11:54 EST (17 lines)
From: Jim_Cahalan <JCAHALAN@IUP.BITNET>
Subject: Re: 6.0527 Query: Humanities Teaching

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 93 15:08:51 MST
From: DUSKNOX@IDBSU
Subject: Re: 6.0527 Query: Humanities Teaching (1/26)

I'm not really sure what Professor Littlefield is after when he asks
about a Humanities Lab. My upper division history students do history
by reading lots and lots of stuff, thinking it through, then writing
up their conclusions. We already have our lab -- it's called the
Library. There's nothing about our discipline that would be enhanced
by having a special room with computers in it.

Except . . . access to the Internet. But even here, the ideal would
be having a desk in the library with a computer on it. Next best, and
more realistic, would be having internet access from home or dorm. A
room full of computers and printers offers no special charm for the
history student. Even things like CD drives, scanners and the like
live in labs mostly because they're still a bit expensive. Eventually,
even these services will be in the home or dorm room where they
belong.

Can anyone else think of a reason for a Humanities Lab?

Ellis "Skip" Knox dusknox@idbsu.idbsu.edu
PC Coordinator & Faculty Computer Lab Supervisor
Professor of History
Boise State University Boise, Idaho
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------29----
Date: 17 Feb 1993 17:49:22 -0700 (MST)
From: OCRAMER@CCNODE.Colorado.EDU
Subject: Re: 6.0519 Rs: Student Computers (3/139)

Well, here at Colorado College we don't require computer purchase,
the college bookstore sells Macs, the College owns lots of DOS machines,
with a good fiber optic network now reaching into dorms, and very few
Macs with computing people pointing out their drawbacks but with students
continuing to prefer them. Student aid issue would arise but with a
smallish student body it surely could be worked out (Swarthmore people
tell Laura Talbot hi from me: my son, class of '93, didn't buy a computer
and made a bit of a name for himself tapping noisy disk drives with
a hammer or something, back about two years ago). Right, the network
is important and a big investment; when students discover the Internet,
WAIS etc., there's a kind of revelation that makes it worth the investment.
Owen Cramer
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------42----
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 93 9:02:58 EST
From: David E. Latane <dlatane@hibbs.vcu.edu>
Subject: Re: 6.0527 Query: Humanities Teaching (1/26)

V.M. Littlefield asks the following question about teaching in the
Humanities:

> > In college teaching, as we move toward more active-learning,
> > student-centered approaches, the question arises: How can we facilitate
> > students' *doing* rather than only *hearing about* subjects. For years,
> > the sciences have had hands-on labs so that students might, for example, do
> > chemistry in addition to just hearing about it in lecture.
> >

I think this begs the question of the validity of the analogy. I
teach British Romantic poetry. In what sense is it possible for my
students to "do" British Romantic poetry in a way that a student can
"do chemistry"? Do I fly them to Britain, bus them to Hampstead,
stick them in a garden at night to have them think of suicide while
listening to nightingales? The laboratory for "doing" Romantic
poetry--and it seems to me that it is very student centered--is the
same as it's always been. 1) armchair, 2) reading lamp, 3) book, 4)
student willing to read book. I'm sure, however, that we'll hear how
this isn't possible anymore, and that students must go sit in front
of several thousand dollars worth of intermedia computer equipment
and learn to link up with their fellow students and the network.

D. Latane'

dlatane@hibbs.vcu.edu
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------28----
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 11:54 EST
From: Jim_Cahalan <JCAHALAN@IUP.BITNET>
Subject: Re: 6.0527 Query: Humanities Teaching (1/26)

In response to V.M. Littlefield's forwarded query about student-centered
teaching in the humanities, I shamelessly recommend PRACTICING THEORY IN
INTRODUCTORY COLLEGE LITERATURE COURSES, ed. James M. Cahalan and David B.
Downing (National Council of Teachers of English [phone 1-800-369-6283], 1991).
While focused on the teaching of literature, it deals with student-centered
approaches extensively and in ways that could be employed in humanities courses
in general. Essayists include David Bleich, John Clifford, Brook Thomas,
Louise Smith--a cast totally 22 scholars and teachers through the U.S.

Jim Cahalan, English Department BITNET: JCAHALAN@IUP
110B Leonard Hall, Internet: jcahalan@grove.iup.edu
Indiana University of Pennsylvania FAX: 412-357-6213
Indiana, PA 15705-1094 Tel: (412) 357-2262