UCLR 100-E Guidelines

UCLR 100-E: An Introduction

Welcome to UCLR 100-E! The course鈥檚 acronym (University Core Literature in English) is unhappy, but as a teaching experience, it can be delightful. The course is a shared trust across all ranks and specialties in the Department, and its first rule is: make it work for you and your students. There are a few expectations that all UCLR 100-E sections should meet, but even these admit of wide variation. I鈥檒l go over these below, and offer some suggestions that may be useful to new instructors.

Here are the firm requirements, taken both from the original model syllabus as it was approved by the University, as well as some further clarifications from the Department:

鈥淢ust introduce students to the essential forms of literature and the tools for understanding and interpreting it鈥�
鈥淓ach syllabus must include works drawn from at least two periods, and must reflect cultural difference.鈥�
鈥淪tudents in each section will be expected to learn the conventions of the three major forms of literature鈥攑oetry, drama, and prose.鈥�
No more than two weeks should be spent on genres other than poetry, drama, and prose
Most of the syllabus should be composed of materials written in English, not in translation
UCLR 100-E has no required writing component, and literary knowledge should be its focus

What this means in practice:

1. 鈥淧eriods and diversity鈥�: UCLR 100-E is a course about literary difference. Interrogations of difference鈥斺€渃ultural,鈥� national, regional, sexual, racial, gender, bodily, or any other that you can make meaningful鈥攕hould be integrated into the core of the syllabus. Historical difference, though, is specifically required, and it鈥檚 important that each syllabus, regardless of its variations, include materials from at least 鈥渢wo periods.鈥� 鈥淧eriod鈥� is a deliberately flexible formation here, but you鈥檙e encouraged to think ambitiously. It鈥檚 an opportunity to push students into historicizing each text, and all texts against each other. While this doesn鈥檛 mean that you must pitch the 13^th century against the 21^st century, with everything in between along for the ride, it does mean that a particularly narrow view of 鈥減eriod鈥濃€攐ne that considers, for instance, a few decades in one national tradition expansive enough to mark multiple 鈥減eriods鈥濃€攊s against the spirit of the course. More to the point, such a view (say, 1960-2020, or 1800-1860) just leaves too many interesting opportunities on the table.

2. 鈥淭hree major forms鈥�: Every section of UCLR 100-E should work on poetry, drama, and prose. It鈥檚 not required that every syllabus devote equal attention to each form, but that鈥檚 a good starting point. 鈥淧rose鈥� may certainly mean 鈥渢he novel,鈥� but it need not. Other genres and media forms can be included, as well: some syllabi include TV, film, graphic novels and comics, or video games. But the department has determined (as of 10/2/2019) that no more than two weeks in total be spent on anything other than 鈥減oetry, drama, and prose.鈥�

3. UCLR-E: The 鈥�-E鈥� is important. We share this course with several other departments, including Modern Languages and Classics. Our sections (-E) are students鈥� unique opportunity to explore literatures written in English, and so the department recommends (as of 10/2/2019) that 鈥渕ost鈥� of each syllabus be composed out of material originally written in English. You certainly may include literature in translation鈥攖his is another opportunity to think about difference, so consider making the translatedness of the text a focus. But think carefully before representing an entire genre, or historical period, with only literature in translation.

4. 鈥淓ssential forms of literature鈥�: UCLR 100-E can be many things, but there are also some things it 颈蝉苍鈥檛. It鈥檚 a course on literary knowledge, which means the University expects some other forms of knowledge to be handled elsewhere. UCLR 100-E is not a writing seminar, and while writing may be an important component of your assessment regime, the course should not give over too many sessions to drafting, revising, or reviewing student compositions. In fact, UCLR 100-E does not require any particular assessment, and no amount of writing is currently required. Many of us do require substantial student writing鈥攂ut if you do, this work should largely be in addition to the literary work done in seminar, not a replacement for it.

5. Other suggestions:

Challenge your students and challenge yourself. This is an introductory course, but there鈥檚 nothing remedial here. Show the students the sort of heavy thinking literature can do, and the wondrous pleasures this sort of thinking can elicit. The course can and should be hard: expect your students to manage demanding readings and complicated thinking, and they鈥檒l rise to meet your expectations. Don鈥檛 leave something off the syllabus because you think it will be difficult, and don鈥檛 aim low in your assignments. It鈥檚 accepted that some students might struggle with Core courses in other disciplines, and I think it鈥檚 fine if some do so here. Our job is to help them through the struggle, not design an experience without real demands.

Adapt the course to your interests and expertise. Do what you鈥檙e good at, and try to model your passions and masteries for your students. The sample syllabus that we have on file for the course is not a rubric鈥攁lmost no sections look like it, and you don鈥檛 need its two (or any) weeks on elegies unless you really want them. UCLR 100-E can easily be a 鈥渟pecial topics鈥� course: if you want to run a seminar on 鈥淛oy in American Writing, 1670-2020,鈥� then go for it. So long as you manage the core expectations and outcomes of the course, this can be rewarding both for you and your students. If you鈥檙e a graduate student, for instance, this can be a good opportunity to see how your dissertation (or at least part of it) works out in the wild. It鈥檚 also a good place to push your dissertation beyond its limits, since a good UCLR 100-E syllabus is often broader than many dissertations, which have professional reasons for being tailored to very specific historical, national, or conceptual formations. At the very least, if you鈥檙e writing on a particular issue, this is a good chance to see what happens with the same thing three hundred years removed, and elsewhere.

Adapt the course to your insecurities. Consider using the course as an opportunity to get outside your comfort zone, and teach (at least for a little bit of the syllabus) beyond your immediate professional training. For instance, I usually teach a new Shakespeare play each semester, because my training here consists of one seminar in graduate school, for which I did some of the reading. It鈥檚 bracing to expect yourself to deliver high quality instruction on alien material, and I鈥檓 not going to get the space to think about Shakespeare anywhere else in my teaching. I wouldn鈥檛 advise composing a syllabus largely out of stuff you haven鈥檛 read or taught before, but I also wouldn鈥檛 advise composing it entirely out of stuff you have, either. This is especially true for faculty who teach literature courses other than UCLR 100-E鈥攖his is the place to play and explore.

Don鈥檛 let either your insecurities or expertise get the better of the syllabus. Every so often, someone will embark on the bold adventure of giving over half (and almost always the first half) of the syllabus to a single big book. Eight weeks on Daniel Deronda is almost never a winning idea, even if it鈥檚 all you鈥檝e been reading recently, or the only way you鈥檙e going to get yourself to read it finally. The syllabus needs a rhythm of regular change. Likewise, if you鈥檙e basing the syllabus out of your dissertation or current scholarly project, make sure you鈥檝e got some ear for audience. Students can do heavy reading鈥攂ut a very narrowly tailored thematic or set of texts can get exhausting for everyone not living in our own heads. Be generous to yourself, and your students.

Jack Cragwall, Director of Undergraduate Programs