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What Kim Coles said. Germaine On 2020-06-01 6:52 p.m., Kim Coles wrote: > Colleagues, > > I wish that I could respond to this gracefully—because Dan Lochman, at > the very least, knows how much affection I hold for him. And I know > that you wish to be productive: there is a time for that discussion. > But yesterday, my 13-year-old son wondered why the police want to kill > him. And today I am not OK. I don’t actually care if Spenser goes > extinct. I only hope that my child does not. Please hold space for > your black colleagues on and off this list, who are grieving on so > many levels. > > We can resume important questions of culture, and of race--and how we > teach both—at a later time. Right now, collectively, we have to mourn. > Tomorrow, we have work to do. > > > In solidarity, > > Kim > > > On Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 5:06 PM Lochman, Daniel T <[log in to unmask] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: > > Donald, > > Thanks for the lamentation, thoughts, and suggestions: these are > the days for the elegiac, in many respects. It is time for Tears > of the Muses. > > Let's hope there is a resurgence in interest in literature > generally and early modern literature specifically, but the > constant barrage calling for utilitarian education works against > us, as well as now social disintegration. At least there are those > few rebels who, as you write, frequently take creative writing. > You are correct that we need to show that early modern texts are > also creative, delightful, important -- and, I might add, > relevant, if, for instance, a case could be made for study of > texts composed in a culture led by someone like Henry VIII. > > A few thoughts: > > At least in the near term we are going to have to teach online > courses more often, making reliance on traditional textbooks more > complicated and difficult. We may need to think about developing > good, scholarly but teachable online editions of works like the > /Fairie Queene/ (or parts thereof): sadly, the Scholars' Bank > Grosart text of FQ lacks basic navigational information such as > stanza numbers as well as apparatus and annotations. There is an > e-text of Hamilton's edition, but it is not especially inviting to > a student encountering the work for the first time. Online > texts/resources would be ideal for the richly illustrated, easily > accessed texts you mention that aim at the beginning undergraduate > -- perhaps, too, we could jointly develop a pool of legally > accessible teaching resources that could be established and housed > on a list-serv or website. > > We need to find ways to make the study of English early modern > literature important and interesting to a diverse student body: if > we cannot access many texts in English by writers outside Britain, > perhaps we need to find ways to link world exploration / > exploitation to our texts more directly and consider the value of > assigning some relevant early modern international texts to > broaden the appeal and significance of an early modern world that > must seem more alien to our students than it did when we first > encountered it. > > Our fall undergraduate classes here are presently under-enrolled > --perhaps because many students are waiting to see what formats of > classes we offer and what living situations will be, given the > ongoing pandemic. > > Surprisingly, our graduate literature classes here are full for > fall, including my Spenser one -- at least for now. For the spring > I am perhaps foolishly offering for the first time a single-author > undergraduate course titled "Spenser Teaches Us to Read" -- not > sure how that will go, but if it makes I plan to spend the > semester with just a couple books of FQ and other poems to try to > nurture interest on a smaller, less daunting scale. > > Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a major social realignment > and have limited control over the outcome. We can only do what we > can and try to persuade those in charge to keep delight and > imagination well and thriving in humanity. > > Dan Lochman > Professor, Department of English > Texas State University > San Marcos, TX 78666-4616 > 512-245-2163 > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From:* Sidney-Spenser Discussion List > <[log in to unmask] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf of Donald Stump > <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> > *Sent:* Monday, June 1, 2020 1:43 PM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> > *Subject:* Spenser and Sidney as endangered species > In a review of Gordon Tesky's new book and my own in the May 15 > issue of the/Times Literary Supplement, /Andrew Hadfield raised > the issue of low student interest in, and exposure to, major > writers such as Spenser. > > As I wrote to Andrew in response, we are seeing the equivalent of > species extinction on a scale almost as widespread we are for > trees. It's going on in all periods of literature, and it's > alarming. To miss Spenser is like never having seen a live elm or > a 300-foot American Chestnut. Someday, I'm afraid, we in the early > modern period will be down to Shakespeare, the one hoary giant > that our students can drive their electric cars through on their > way to Silicon Valley. > > I know there's been a lot of general discussion of this, but I > think we need to take practical steps. Here are three I've been > thinking about: > > 1. We could work to reduce the barriers to a first encounter with > Spenser and Sidney by preparing modern-spelling, deftly > introduced and annotated, and fantastically illustrated > on-line starter excerpts from/The Faerie Queene /and /Arcadia > /and the two sonnet sequences (set over against Shakespeare's > /Sonnets/?) for all of us to have available for introductory > classes. When the building is on fire, fussing about old > spelling and arcane information--much as I love both--isn't > the first step. > 2. We could send an English Department representative to talk > each year with our University admissions counselors to get > them to stop talking about English as the place to learn > 'critical thinking.' This isn't the 60s, and this generation > hasn't been raised to long to be free and challenge > norms--though, of course, they need to learn to do that in > fresh ways as much as ever. In an age of financial crises, > pandemics, race riots, and helicopter parents, so many of them > just want order, security, safety. > 3. In our departmental publicity, we could stress the delight and > value of learning to imagine one's way into fascinating worlds > crafted by great minds as places to play and, in playing, to > find ways to negotiate the challenges of life. > > What fascinates me is that, in a time of fewer English majors, so > many are coming to my department to study creative writing, and > bless them for that. They live in imaginary social and gaming > worlds every day, and I wonder if they aren't drawn to CW because > they want to be left alone to dream, to explore people on their > own terms, and to prepare to negotiate what seems to them a > threatening world in quiet ways that they never had time for in > their relentless rounds of adult-controlled after-school > activities and sports. > > Imagination alone with a text is what English lit teachers do > best--though that has its own problems, of course. In claiming > that high ground, though, we can also point out to prospective > students that, whatever roles they go on to play in society, the > parts will come easier if they are used to playing in imaginary > worlds where the characters have been crafted by wise observers of > human nature and the consequences of words and actions are traced > out concisely, without the static of unrelated data. > > Donald Stump > > Professor of English > > Saint Louis University > > 314 494-3247 (cell), [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > > > Vice President and Director of Program > > Development > > The Green House Venture > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the SIDNEY-SPENSER list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=SIDNEY-SPENSER&A=1 > <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jiscmail.ac.uk%2Fcgi-bin%2Fwebadmin%3FSUBED1%3DSIDNEY-SPENSER%26A%3D1&data=02%7C01%7CLochman%40TXSTATE.EDU%7Ce98995c14a4447960da608d8065bc009%7Cb19c134a14c94d4caf65c420f94c8cbb%7C0%7C0%7C637266338422980265&sdata=pYwwtEaa5qBSUepDYOx6waJ3v3YYyFTzddliubpl3Vo%3D&reserved=0> > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the SIDNEY-SPENSER list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=SIDNEY-SPENSER&A=1 > > > > -- > Associate Professor, English > (she/her/hers) > Editorial Board, /Renaissance Quarterly/ > 3127 Tawes Hall > University of Maryland > 301-405-9662 > > > > Author: /Religion, Reform, and Women's Writing in Early Modern England > <https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/literature/renaissance-and-early-modern-literature/religion-reform-and-womens-writing-early-modern-england?format=PB>/ > Co-Editor: The Cultural Politics of Blood, 1500-1900 > <https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137338204> > Co-Editor: /Routledge Companion to Women, Sex, and Gender in the Early > British Colonial World/ > <https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Companion-to-Women-Sex-and-Gender-in-the-Early-British-Colonial/Coles-Keller/p/book/9781472479945> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the SIDNEY-SPENSER list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=SIDNEY-SPENSER&A=1 > -- *********************************************************************** Germaine Warkentin // English (Emeritus), University of Toronto [log in to unmask] http://www.individual.utoronto.ca/germainew/ "There has never been a great age of science and technology without a corresponding flourishing of the arts and humanities." -- Cathy N. 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