English Department News

            

November 1, 2000

          

Volume 3, No. 10


November 2

  

AAUP Forum: "Effective Teaching: What Is It? and How Can We Assess It?" 4:00 p.m., Tichenor 206

November 3

  

Great Books Committee meeting, 3:00 p.m., HC 9030D

November 6

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 9:10 a.m., HC 9030D

November 7

  

Michael Montgomery, "Three Streams of Southern English," 7:00 p.m., Pebble Hill, Cancelled

November 14

  

Jan Gretlund, "Southern History, Biography, and Fiction: Is There a Difference?" 4:00 p.m., Pebble Hill

November 17

  

Great Books Committee meeting, 3:00 p.m., HC 9030D

November 20

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 9:10 a.m., HC 9030D

November 22-24

  

Thanksgiving Holiday

December 4

  

Graduate Studies Committee meeting, 9:10 a.m., HC 9030D

December 7

  

Classes End

December 8

  

Dead Day

December 9, 11-14

  

Final Exams for Semester

December 16

 

Graduation

January 29, 2001

  

Littleton-Franklin Lectures, Elaine Pagels, Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, 4:00 p.m.

March 5, 2001

  

Littleton-Franklin Lectures, E. O. Wilson, Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, 4:00 p.m.

April 9, 2001

  

Littleton-Franklin Lectures, Lynn Margulis, Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, 4:00 p.m.


Forum on Teaching Effectiveness This Thursday

If you have an interest in teaching effectively, or if you have concerns about how teaching is evaluated at Auburn, then come to the Forum on Teaching Effectiveness, sponsored by the Auburn Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
The forum will take place on Thursday, November 2, 2000 from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Tichenor 206.
Barry Burkhart will moderate a panel that includes Paula Backscheider (English), Jeffrey Fergus (Mechanical Engineering and Chair of the Teaching Effectiveness Committee), Philip Lewis (Psychology), and Philip Shevlin (Chemistry).
Panelists will make brief presentations and then respond to questions from the floor. The topic of discussion will be "Effective Teaching: What Is It? and How Can We Assess It?"
The forum is free and open to the public.
For more information about the AAUP, visit the local chapter or the national websites.

Rothschild Brings Phi Beta Kappa to Auburn

Our own Joyce Rothschild (with a little bit of help from her friends) was instrumental in bringing the Phi Beta Kappa Chapter to Auburn University. She worked countless hours on the application, and she accompanied Linda Glaze to Philadelphia last week for the final round of interrogation.
The next time you see Joyce, please express your thanks!

Attention Great Books Teachers

Please note that students should submit the extra copy of their paper to you (the Instructor) and not to the Coordinator of Great Books (this is true if the essay is being submitted on paper or electronically).
During the last week of the term, I'll let faculty know which paper they should send to me. Thanks.  --Constance Relihan

Assessment Input Wanted for Great Books!

The Great Books Committee is beginning its discussion of the checklists it will use in assessing the student papers and exams during its pilot assessment project. All GTAs, Instructors, and professorial faculty are invited to forward suggestions about what those checklists should contain to any member of the Great Books Committee (Craig Bertolet, Jon Bolton, Tristanne Connolly, Alex Dunlop, Owen Elmore, and Constance Relihan).
Each checklist will consist of three to five criteria by which we may determine whether student work has satisfactorily demonstrated that it meets our approved short list of intended educational outcomes, which is listed below:

1. Students completing the Great Books sequence will demonstrate the ability to read literary texts carefully and closely.

2. Students completing the Great Books sequence will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the formal and thematic issues presented in the texts they have read.

3. Students completing the Great Books sequence will demonstrate the ability to write competent and persuasive interpretations of literary texts.

4. Students completing the Great Books sequence will be able to relate in a general way the literary works they have read to the cultural and social environment in which the works originated.


Question of the Week

Join the conversation about effective teaching by participating in this week's AAUP forum on teaching effectiveness and by responding to this week's question of the week: "What kinds of evidence may teachers use as evidence of effective teaching?" Please respond to this week's question in The Forum. If you have forgotten your password, please contact George Crandell.


University Senate Leaders Bruce Gladden and Jim Bradley, Dean June Henton (Human Sciences), and AAUP representatives Larry Gerber, Bill Trimble, and George Crandell participated in last week's governance conference, "Toward the Common Good: Faculty and Administrations Working Together." Held in Washington, D.C., the conference was jointly sponsored by the AAUP and the American Conference of Academic Deans.
If you would like to include an item in the "Professional Notes" section of The English Channel, please submit your note to George Crandell.


If you would like to include an item in the "Personal Notes" section of The English Channel, please submit your note to George Crandell.
Please submit items and direct all questions or comments about The English Channel, to George Crandell, who currently maintains this site.
To include an item in The English Channel, submit text items by Monday at 4:40 p.m. for publication the following Wednesday. Graphic images are due by the preceding Friday at 11:40 a.m. Submit items by using my email link or by putting a note or disk in my mailbox (disks will be returned). If you submit an image on disk, please make sure that it can be edited to fit and be read clearly on the page. Items over fifty words in length should be submitted on disk or sent by email. Please check your submission for accuracy and completion--all calendar items and meeting announcements must include the date, time, and location of the event. Please omit all unusual formatting.