One of the most common things I hear from colleagues who seem terrified by DAH is that it requires too much technology, takes too much class time, or just seems too out there for them. This post is for them, or for anyone else that thinks teaching DAH always has to involve computers, the internet, coding, or complicated software. It… Read more →
Tag: pedagogy
Teaching in the Face of Trauma
(Trigger warnings: mass shooting, death, fires, depression) I am not one for sharing very personal things, especially in public. This might be one of the only posts that I ever write that is so personal, but I felt compelled to write it. This past semester (fall 2018) was officially the most difficult of my career, and it was personally one… Read more →
Skills vs. Content: How best to teach a “Humanities” Class
In my current position, I teach a large-lecture humanities class every semester. I’ve blogged about it before, so it is no surprise (if you’ve been following the blog) to hear that I have continuously tinkered with this class. Recently, I received a grant (exciting!) to overhaul the class (exciting?). I’ve decided that I am going to redo the entire class… Read more →
Ditch the Textbook: Now what? An Experiment with StoryMap JS
In a recent post I mentioned that I was planning to ditch my textbook for my large-lecture humanities class. Instead, I am going to make podcasts and videos, and assign primary sources for students to use before or during class. It dawned on me recently that another great option would be to use StoryMap JS to introduce some material as… Read more →
To Smarthistory in the Large-Lecture Humanities Class
I’ve posted about how I see my work with Smarthistory as an act of doing public art history, and how the process of working collaboratively for smarthistory has encouraged me to rethink how I teach and how I research (and publish). Well, I am always looking for ways to transform my large-lecture humanities class of more than 200 students. The… Read more →
The Balancing Act of the Large Lecture Class
For any of us who have taught large lecture classes (let’s say 100+ students), we are all too familiar with the huge demands on our time and energy. I regularly teach of class of 200+ students, which for me breaks down (on average) to: 6-7 hours of office hours/appointments with students/week 6-10 hours of class prep/week (usually more, but I’m… Read more →
Student-Centered or Teacher-Centered Syllabus?
I have a confession to make: I love making syllabi. There is something exciting about planning a course from the ground up, with all its assignments, readings, and lectures to plan. What do you include or omit? What types of assignment fit well with the class? Why will Project A work better than Project B? The aspect of going on… Read more →
Goals for 2017
I keep telling myself that I will add a new post every 2 months, but then I always seem to forget (blame sleep deprivation). My goal for 2017 is to post more actively, for me more than anyone or anything else. I find that if I draft a post about what I’ve been doing in class, it helps me think… Read more →
Activities for the large lecture class
Now that the Fall semester has ended, I’ve started to reflect on what types of in-class activities worked well and which ones failed or simply need tweaking. In the end, I realize that activities that are successful might eventually work less well depending on the time of the semester. For this reason, I can’t stress enough how important it is… Read more →
Teaching the Large Lecture Course: Some Reflections
This fall semester I am teaching a large lecture course on the Western Humanities. I have around 240 students for a 90-minute class that covers caves through cathedrals (basically, 40,000 BCE–1350 CE). We cover history, philosophy, literature, art history, theater history, music history, and more. It is daunting to think of covering so much material in a relatively short period… Read more →
Team-Based Learning in Art History: Pros and Cons
In the past year, I’ve become passionate about team-based learning, or TBL. TBL was an attractive pedagogical approach that seemed to go beyond simply flipping the classroom. My home institution decided more than a year ago to offer intensive training in TBL for faculty interested in new teaching methods. While I was writing my book manuscript, I decided I would… Read more →
Incorporating Digital Art History into the Curriculum
As the beginning of the semester rapidly approaches (and the summer sadly ends), I find myself trying to incorporate new digital tools into my three courses. After the GMU/Getty institute in Digital Art History ended, I began changing my syllabi to include more digital tools and projects. I have to remind myself not to overload students with all the wonderful… Read more →
