June 17, 2013: Difference between revisions

From Gerald R. Lucas
(Created page.)
 
m (Tweaked format.)
 
(2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Large|Teaching Norman Mailer}}
{{Large|Teaching Norman Mailer}}


This post is the first post in a series that discusses the “legacy power” of {{NM}}, the challenge of carrying this legacy to the college classroom, how I radically changed my pedagogy to teach “Norman Mailer’s ‘America’” to college undergraduates, and what I learned from the experience.
{{dc|T}}{{start|his post is the first post in a series}} that discusses the “legacy power” of {{NM}}, the challenge of carrying this legacy to the college classroom, how I radically changed my pedagogy to teach “Norman Mailer’s ‘America{{' "}} to college undergraduates, and what I learned from the experience.
[[File:1965-NM-Ali-San-Juan.jpg|thumb|NM and Ali in San Juan, 1965.]]
[[File:1965-NM-Ali-San-Juan.jpg|thumb|NM and Ali in San Juan, 1965.]]
At last year’s Conference of the {{NMS}}, [[pm:Phil Sipiora|Phil Sipiora]] discussed what he called the “challenge of legacy.” He argued that the work of Norman Mailer, like that of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, has “legacy power”: i.e., it deserves to be passed on through the work of academics and enthusiasts, and we literati have a responsibility to maintain that legacy in our various capacities. Norman Mailer’s presence may still be felt in the culture and history of the United States today, even if his work is not literally read. He helped write the culture of the twentieth century and thus helped to shape the identity of a nation. Mailer’s legacy lives on in the currents of history and culture, and we must endeavor to preserve and perpetuate its flow.
At last year’s Conference of the {{NMS}}, [[pm:Phil Sipiora|Phil Sipiora]] discussed what he called the “challenge of legacy.” He argued that the work of Norman Mailer, like that of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, has “legacy power”: i.e., it deserves to be passed on through the work of academics and enthusiasts, and we literati have a responsibility to maintain that legacy in our various capacities. Norman Mailer’s presence may still be felt in the culture and history of the United States today, even if his work is not literally read. He helped write the culture of the twentieth century and thus helped to shape the identity of a nation. Mailer’s legacy lives on in the currents of history and culture, and we must endeavor to preserve and perpetuate its flow.
Line 10: Line 10:


===Continue Reading===
===Continue Reading===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
# [[Obsolete Education]]
# [[Obsolete Education]]
# [https://grlucas.svbtle.com/the-classroom-in-the-cloud Classroom in the Cloud]
# [https://grlucas.svbtle.com/the-classroom-in-the-cloud Classroom in the Cloud]
Line 16: Line 17:
# [[February 28, 2014|Integral Social Media]]
# [[February 28, 2014|Integral Social Media]]
# [[July 12, 2013|Final Thoughts]]
# [[July 12, 2013|Final Thoughts]]
 
{{div col end}}
{{2013}}
{{2013}}


[[Category:06/2013]]
[[Category:06/2013]]
[[Category:On Norman Mailer]]
[[Category:Teaching]]
[[Category:Teaching]]

Latest revision as of 14:42, 28 August 2020

Teaching Norman Mailer

This post is the first post in a series that discusses the “legacy power” of Norman Mailer, the challenge of carrying this legacy to the college classroom, how I radically changed my pedagogy to teach “Norman Mailer’s ‘America” to college undergraduates, and what I learned from the experience.

NM and Ali in San Juan, 1965.

At last year’s Conference of the Norman Mailer Society, Phil Sipiora discussed what he called the “challenge of legacy.” He argued that the work of Norman Mailer, like that of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, has “legacy power”: i.e., it deserves to be passed on through the work of academics and enthusiasts, and we literati have a responsibility to maintain that legacy in our various capacities. Norman Mailer’s presence may still be felt in the culture and history of the United States today, even if his work is not literally read. He helped write the culture of the twentieth century and thus helped to shape the identity of a nation. Mailer’s legacy lives on in the currents of history and culture, and we must endeavor to preserve and perpetuate its flow.

Sipiora’s call to action resonated with another shift gaining momentum in the academy. Like most academic disciplines, the humanities is being influenced by the increasing availability and use of networked digital technologies. This new media landscape not only repositions our relationships with old media forms, but encourages us to think about them in new ways. Nascent disciplines like Digital Humanities consider both the importance of textual preservation and the shifting attitudes and practices in our relationships to these texts. The Digital Humanities borrows from the disciplines of new media and the traditions of the liberal arts to foster communities based on affinity, accessibility, and collaboration.

While the implications for digital media on Mailer studies are many, the academy’s traditional realms of influence – scholarship, teaching, and service – are where I most see the continuity of Mailer’s legacy. My emphasis here will be on Mailer in the college classroom; specifically, a classroom in the cloud that blends traditional face-to-face with e-learning: approaches with exploratory, differentiated learning based on student interests and networked data. In this approach, students use mobile digital devices to communicate, explore, and self-organize their discovery of Mailer.

Continue Reading