Context | First
Year | Computer Courses
Other Courses | Applications | Resources
Other Courses | Applications | Resources
Courses with computer components
In addition to computer-based courses, several other English courses make (or have made) use of computers to some degree: one makes regular use of the Rutherford computer lab, for example; others are taught in a "smart" classroom and make periodic use of the display facilities. With increased training of faculty in computer skills, especially through ATL, this trend toward computer use in regular courses is likely to increase.
Links to existing courses and other course materials are provided below. This is followed by further suggestions, and a summary of implications for resources.
The deployment of computing in other courses, where appropriate, is desirable in order to introduce students to computing who would otherwise not encounter it in first year or in one of the designated computer courses.
Web site Comments English 383: History of the Literature of Popular Culture (J. Rak) Course page: provides the course schedule, details of assignments; also information about hypertext fictions and links to several Internet examples. English 388: Folklore in Children's Literature (M. Morris) Course page: provides the course schedule, student essays, resources, and a bulletin board (for student discussion) English 475: Thinking Photography: Contemporary Canadian Women's Writing and Visual Work (J. Williamson) Course page: provides a detailed course schedule; students also participated in a WebBoard discussion group. English 450: The Gothic Subject (D. S. Miall) Course page: provides the course schedule, etc., and access to various Internet handouts prepared for this course and other resources; page also provides links to several student projects and reports. Making a Scene: Romeo and Juliet Act 1, scene 5 (G. Epp) Online resources for studying Shakespeare's play, including early folio editions, Shakespeare's theatre, etc. Proposals
Computing resources in some areas of literature are now sufficiently developed and reliable that we might consider "mainstreaming" them by including a computer component in several of our regular courses. If this is accepted, then we could develop web sites for each of the areas we wish to include. Two examples are described briefly below, merely to initiate discussion. Colleagues will undoubtedly be aware of other areas that could be similarly developed (for example, the American Technologies proposal from the American Literature group; Contemporary Literature, which might include hyperfiction and other computer-based literary genres).
Area Possible Resources Shakespeare
Online study of early editions of Shakespeare; download etexts of plays and poetry for bibliographical and/or concordance work; study Shakespeare's theatre online; read critical essays online
Internet:
Concordance: study word distributions, collocates, etc., through Concordance program (see Applications for details)Romanticism
Historical and cultural background on Romanticism: the CD-ROM; many etexts available, especially hitherto neglected women writers; some valuable critical resources
Internet:
- Romantic Circles (criticism, reviews, etexts for later Romantic writers)
- Romantic Chronology
- Romanticism on the Net (journal)
- Women Writers Project, Brown U.
- British Women Playwrights around 1800
- The Gothic Literature Page
Other resources:
- Romanticism: The CD-ROM (for lab installation)
- Etexts for Concordance work (some available from Miall include complete Coleridge poetry, several Gothic novels, authorized for use at U of A)
Teaching methods
An area computer component would require support by lab sessions and/or a smart classroom. To acquaint students with the resources local and remote, and provide hands-on experience, the course could either schedule a block of (say) two weeks lab work, or hold one session per week in a lab. Regular classroom sessions might make use of smart facilities.
Student assignments might include not only the use and evaluation of Internet resources, but the mounting of students' projects as web pages, whether individually or collaboratively. For examples of collaborative student projects in a Romanticism course see these examples.
Internet resources for literature courses are likely to be available soon from several publishers, which will offer reliably edited texts and come with copyright clearance. These will allow instructors to tailor a course pack for download by students to their own computers; with access to the course pack will come permission to use extensive online journal and other critical resources. For an example see XanEdu.com.
Summary of resource implications:
page updated November 14, 2001