For the tenth time, I'm attempting to trudge (if there was an uglier verb, I'd use it, but that's the best I can come up with) through this MNHS reading. The summer sessions are week long classes, with each day devoted to a specific topic fitting under an over-arching theme. Last time it was "The Triumph of Nationalism" and each day was broken down into different categories, such as "common man," "politics," "religion," "domesticity" and "expansion." For example for the categorie, "common man," we could from various selections, such as chapters of Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," Hawthorne's "My Kinsman Major Molineux," selections of Walt Whitman's poetry, and several historical sources too. This was quite effective because it narrowed our focus. Also, with each reading we were given helpful reading hints as to how each piece tied in to the overall theme. Plus, as you can tell, the readings at least included some literature.
However, this session is horrible. The reading seem to be thrown together. I actually logged on to the national humanities website - where previously we got the selections for the readings - but our current topic "The Unresolved Crisis America, 1850-1870" doesn't exist. Instead they have something about the emerging African Identity and guilded age. Both sound much more interesting than what we are forced to digest here.
This must have been thrown together by those who don't teach because this is killing me - and I love to read and I love history! But reading 20 plus pages on the Washington National Monument or Jefferson Davis's "Farewell Speech in U.S. Senate" is drubbing my love for this class right out of me. I'm sure the history teachers are right in line with this stuff, but I'm left swimming. I have no context for these readings at all. Gone are all the helpful reading hints that the National Humanities Institute included. Basically what we have is a three ring binder with roughly copied selections randomly thrown together. There are no guiding questions or pre-reading strategies. I might as well ask the history teachers to read several essays by Jacques Derrida and tell me how his theories relate to deconstructionism.
Instead of reading, I'm blogging. At least I'm getting something out of my time. So what am I going to do for the readings then? Good question. I'm going to resort to doing what many of my students do when I put them in this position (and let it be an excellent lesson to me to NOT put my students in this position -- EVER)- I'm going to trudge my way through a few of the readings (the ones that look the most interesting and the ones most likely to be discussed) and make a few notes. Then I'll skip the rest. If I'm asked to share my opinions, I'll be honest - this version of the class is a sham and if I wasn't shelling out $300 dollars for the grad credits, I wouldn't have bothered with it at all. And I have a feeling I won't be alone in this.
And it's a shame too. The Civil War is a facinitating part of American History (not my particular favorite - I much prefer the first world war), but I'm learning nothing because it was likely tossed together by somebody at the MNHS who has never taught or was in a hurry to do something else.
But I'll make the most out of it by being surrounded by our two facilitators and my colleagues. It's just too bad the texts won't live up to that.
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