[Comedias] "Crisis in the Humanities" and the Comedia

[AHCT Listserv]

Thanks so much for your input. Your comments are not that far off from the
current situation at Trinity. I have jokingly referred to what I teach as
"literature appreciation," since the students are not prepared for real
literary study, nor are they willing to do the necessary work. I guess my
follow-up question would be, is this approach to Golden Age literature in
general and the *comedia *in particular fulfilling our college's roles
(academic and cultural) as liberal arts institutions? Or are we
short-changing the humanities by "sneaking" the content in at the margins
of the students' pre-professional programs?


Matt

On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 11:23 AM, AHCT Listserv <comedias at comedias.org>
wrote:

> Hi, Matt.
>
>
> I teach at a small (1400) liberal arts college and the vast majority of my
> upper-level Spanish students are majoring in some pre-professional program
> with Spanish as a second major.  Since their objectives is primarily
> language proficiency, I'm compelled to sneak *comedias* in around the
> edges.  I've found that they react to them more positively if I approach
> them from a cultural artifact perspective rather than hope that they'll
> recognize their literary value.  I asked a recent class to reimagine
> *Fuenteovejuna* in terms of a contemporary situation that crosses
> multiple planes of society, to analyze the characterization of roles in the
> original text and think about how they would achieve similar effects in
> contemporary dialogue, and to think about shared understandings of context
> and environment (embodied cognition-, phenomenology- and
> semiotics-"light").  They actually came up with some intriguing insights
> and came away with a much deeper appreciation of the original text than
> students in previous years.  I've found that students can still learn to
> value a text, but perhaps not in the way I did when I was an undergraduate.
>
>
>
> I hope this applies to what you're exploring.
>
>
> Deb
>
>
> Deborah A. Dougherty, Ph.D.
> Chair, Department of Modern Languages
> Professor of Spanish
> Alma College
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Comedias <comedias-bounces at comedias.org> on behalf of AHCT
> Listserv <comedias at comedias.org>
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 28, 2016 9:21 AM
> *To:* comedias at comedias.org
> *Subject:* [Comedias] "Crisis in the Humanities" and the Comedia
>
> There has been considerable discussion the past few years about the
> "crisis in the humanities": lower interest and lower enrollments in
> humanities courses due to the perception that philosophy, literature, and
> art history will be of little or no use in one's career. I have heard a few
> anecdotes about positions that are filled with Latin Americanists when the
> *comediante* leaves, about Golden Age courses being taught by adjuncts or
> professors who specialize in other areas of Spanish-language literature or
> culture, about Golden Age courses being taught less frequently or cancelled
> altogether, declining enrollments causing departments to reconfigure their
> needs, etc. I would very much appreciate receiving other data (including
> anecdotes) to determine whether there is a crisis in Golden Age studies,
> especially in the *comedia, *for any reason (economic, political,
> curricular, etc.). If you would like to share, you may send your
> information to the entire list by responding directly to this message, or
> you may send it directly to me at mstroud at trinity.edu (especially if
> would prefer not to have your name made public). Any kind of relevant
> information (even that which refutes the notion of the crisis in the
> humanities) will be most appreciated.
>
> Matt .
>
> --
> Matthew D. Stroud, Ph.D.
> Professor of Spanish
> Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
> Trinity University
> San Antonio, TX  78212
> (210) 999-7549
> mstroud at trinity.edu
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>


-- 
Matthew D. Stroud, Ph.D.
Professor of Spanish
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Trinity University
San Antonio, TX  78212
(210) 999-7549
mstroud at trinity.edu
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