Tag Archives: teaching

World War II Internment Still Resonates

By Robin Bates | Published: August 2, 2012

American students of color respond in powerful ways to “When the Emperor Was Divine,” Julie Otsuka’s novel about Japanese Americans’ experience in World War II internment camps.

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Death, Faustus, and a Search for Meaning

By Robin Bates | Published: February 16, 2012

The Faustus story can aid one in an existential search for meaning.

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Steinbeck Makes Microeconomics Real

By Robin Bates | Published: December 7, 2011

Economics teacher Steve Ziliak uses Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” to teach the human side of microeconomics.

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A Poem for Those Feeling Dragged Down

By Robin Bates | Published: December 1, 2011

In “The Fascination of What’s Difficult,” William Butler Yeats gives us a poem that will help get us through end-of-the-year workplace fatigue.

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Teaching Integrity in High School English

By Robin Bates | Published: August 29, 2011

Describing a high school English class that he teaches, Carl Rosin draws on the American Transcendentalists as he insists that his students live lives of integrity. His final assignment requires them to put what they have thought and read into action.

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A Day in the Life of a College Professor

By Robin Bates | Published: April 13, 2011

I had a very interesting day Monday. Taking inspiration from Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, I thought I’d describe it to give you a window into the life of a college teacher.

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Lit’s Precondition: People All the Same

By Robin Bates | Published: February 15, 2011

I’ve just come across an illuminating contrast between literature and war.  Theater director Mary Zimmerman is currently staging a version of the Arabian Nights at Washington’s Arena Stage, and in the program notes she responds to the question, “Are you saying that you believe certain feelings are universal, or perhaps that we share an essential […]

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What Fictional Fantasy Means

By Robin Bates | Published: January 6, 2011

Having taught British Fantasy Literature for the first time last semester, I need to think back on it before it becomes a distant memory.    By reflecting publicly, I can share some of the insights I gained from the course. Two major things I learned are that (1) fantasy is an oppositional genre—by which I […]

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How to Write a “True” Essay about Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: December 9, 2010

When I wasn’t teaching class yesterday, I was continuing my marathon essay-grading session. I took a break to write today’s post, however, and used a well-known poem by Langston Hughes to reflect on what I was asking my students to do. In “Theme for English B,” the only black student in a college composition course […]

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