<div dir="ltr">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 <i>comedia </i>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? <div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Matt</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 11:23 AM, AHCT Listserv <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:comedias@comedias.org" target="_blank">comedias@comedias.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p>Hi, Matt.</p>
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<p>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 <i>comedias</i> 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
<i>Fuenteovejuna</i> 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. </p>
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<p>I hope this applies to what you're exploring.</p>
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<p>Deb</p>
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<div style="font-size:12pt;color:#000000;background-color:#ffffff;font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">
Deborah A. Dougherty, Ph.D.</div>
<div style="font-size:12pt;color:#000000;background-color:#ffffff;font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">
Chair, Department of Modern Languages<br>
<div>Professor of Spanish<br>
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<div>Alma College<br>
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<div dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000" style="font-size:11pt"><b>From:</b> Comedias <<a href="mailto:comedias-bounces@comedias.org" target="_blank">comedias-bounces@comedias.org</a>> on behalf of AHCT Listserv <<a href="mailto:comedias@comedias.org" target="_blank">comedias@comedias.org</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 28, 2016 9:21 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:comedias@comedias.org" target="_blank">comedias@comedias.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Comedias] "Crisis in the Humanities" and the Comedia</font>
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<div dir="ltr">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
<i>comediante</i> 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
<i>comedia, </i>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
<a href="mailto:mstroud@trinity.edu" target="_blank">mstroud@trinity.edu</a> (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.
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<div>Matt . <br clear="all">
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<div dir="ltr">Matthew D. Stroud, Ph.D.
<div>Professor of Spanish</div>
<div>Department of Modern Languages and Literatures</div>
<div>Trinity University</div>
<div>San Antonio, TX 78212</div>
<div><a href="tel:%28210%29%20999-7549" value="+12109997549" target="_blank">(210) 999-7549</a></div>
<div><a href="mailto:mstroud@trinity.edu" target="_blank">mstroud@trinity.edu</a></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">Matthew D. Stroud, Ph.D.<div>Professor of Spanish</div><div>Department of Modern Languages and Literatures</div><div>Trinity University</div><div>San Antonio, TX 78212</div><div>(210) 999-7549</div><div><a href="mailto:mstroud@trinity.edu" target="_blank">mstroud@trinity.edu</a></div></div></div>
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