Presenters
Abstract
Instructors assigned to teach the first part of the British-literature survey know they face a formidable challenge, for they enter class to find a sea of hostile faces. Students taking this course — often in order to fulfill general-education literature requirements — tend to arrive with firmly preconceived notions about it. In their estimation, the class will fail to be “relatable”and will provide little appeal to them on a “personal level.” Consequently, they rest assured that they will find the course mind-numbingly dull and a waste of their scant time.
This presentation will explore one potential method for eradicating student apathy regarding these early eras and their works. The recent spate of discoveries concerning the Middle Ages and the Renaissance – from archeological finds of early-modern theaters to the Old-English recipe determined to combat MRSA – provides professors with a serendipitous means of engendering enthusiasm for their subject matter. The MRSA discovery in particular went viral, suggesting that these stories of our past do appeal to millennials. By incorporating these news items into their classes through a variety of methods that appeal to their target audience, professors may be able to illustrate the continued significance of these eras and the works created in them while also providing students with a better sense of the conditions in which these stories were composed. Unlike other methods of engendering interest in these early works, such as the use of flim, tv, and videogames, the use of the news has the advantage of keeping the focus on the actual works, whereas the incorporation of modern productions runs the danger of overwhelming — or even distorting — the original material. News items act as a supplement to the stories at hand, helping students recognize the past’s stubborn refusal to remain forever buried.