Learning communities can strengthen early undergraduates' learning, but planning them can be daunting for instructors. Learning communities usually rely on integrative assignments that encourage interdisciplinary analysis. This article reports on our experiences using microloans as an interdisciplinary assignment in a learning community that…

The decreasing interest in the study of foreign languages forces us to reconsider and re-evaluate new teaching methods and approaches. Nevertheless, the use of music, in particular modern or pop music, for interdisciplinary studies and students' language skills appears to be still neglected. I claim that the lyrics and music of the popular group…

Examines four characteristics (brevity, straightforward diction, contemplative mood, and autobiographical content) of classical Chinese poetry, to show how classical Chinese poetry is appropriate for use in many poetry therapy contexts. Includes an 8-item annotated list of sources. (SR)

Investigates a broad question in light of the author's own background: what is it that educators think they are doing while teaching postcolonial literature? Investigates an analogy between postcolonial and gay and lesbian studies by looking at the author's reading and teaching approach to Mariama Ba's novel "So Long a Letter." (TB)

This paper focuses on the geographic area that lies south of Baghdad, the area between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf, an area now under occupation by United States forces. The paper's focus is approximately 4300 years before, yet it hopes in the end to explain the rhetorical relevance of that time, that place, and the particular figure of an…

Argues that Jewish literature and the Jewish perspective should be given some representation in college world literature courses. (MM)

Examines testimonies of teachers to determine how and by whom a teacher/scholar's authority is defined in the teaching of texts of different cultures. Looks at how teachers make themselves invisible and discusses some of the ways in which pedagogy and scholarship demand or allow for this (in)visibility through concealment or disclosure of personal…

Examines mother imagery from the Finnish mythological epic "Kalevala," and describes how they offer healing imagery for understanding and acceptance of one's own mother and subsequently one's self. Offers background to the "Kalevala" itself, its language and to warriors, shamans, and sages in general. Examines seven mother…

This document discusses how insights and knowledge gained from the author's stay in India have been applied to developing a course plan for a "World Literature I" course. Following a brief introduction, the document describes using "The Bhagavadgita" and "Hindu Myths," points out some of the general questions which…

Quotations from a variety of literature are used to illustrate the perspective that English instruction, as part of the humanities curriculum, has an essential place in the college curriculum and is indeed relevant to modern higher education. (MSE)

Explores two questions raised by the tendency to treat works in translation as though they were written originally in English: (1) the political and cultural costs of this approach, such as what knowledges or practices it makes possible or eliminates; and (2) what pedagogy can be developed to address the issue of translation. (TB)

Addresses the evolution of the most authoritative and widely used textbook in world literature courses in the United States, "The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces." Questions if the "Norton Anthology" has provided educators who are committed to the teaching of world literature from non-Eurocentric perspectives with a…

An effective way to expand students' knowledge and enjoyment of noncanonical, or at least unfamiliar, works is by using more familiar works as benchmarks. For example, in a sophomore-level world literature survey course, students have already read a large part of the "Iliad" and all of the "Odyssey" when they are asked to study…

Discusses the teaching of Australian literature in Australian universities and draws parallels with Canadian literature in Canadian universities. (AA)

Describes how the author, in his sophomore world literature survey, uses the Homeric epics to introduce students to Valmiki's Indian epic, the "Ramayana." Describes how students look for likenesses between the two works, and for differences in cultural assumptions, content, and style. Notes students come to recognize and appreciate the…