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Submissions are invited for a collection of critical essays tentatively titled Teaching the Novel in the (English) Major and Across the Curriculum. As it stands, the collection will be broken into five chapters, or sections: 1) English, 2) Humanities, 3) Natural Sciences and Mathematics, 4) Social and Behavioral Sciences and, 5) Professional Studies.
Overview/rationale: Professors in many departments across the curriculum are increasingly weaving the genre of the novel into their courses; consequently, we’re seeing novels appearing in everything from humanities courses (English, history, religion, etc.) to classes in the social and behavioral sciences (economics, sociology, political science, psychology, etc.). This temptation and corresponding tendency to assign what often prove to be unwieldy, resistant and yet rewarding texts to teach leads to a number of related questions, some or all of which you may choose to address in your essay: Why do we (in this particular academic discipline) teach novels? How do we teach them? What, exactly, do we have our students do with them? Which novels (and which teaching techniques associated with those texts) cultivate the ways of knowing germane to better understanding issues and problems in our respective disciplines? Which historical novels, for instance, help students better comprehend an era, event, or issue, and which novels enable them to begin to appreciate historiography and historical inquiry? How do novels help us as instructors achieve our objectives and goals in our various courses and related disciplines? How can we make reading these works a truly novel, eventful, and relevant experience for our students?
The purpose of this collection is to share with others in and outside of our disciplines why and how we incorporate novels into our courses. Thus, I am seeking a blend of conceptual and applicable/pedagogical essays that speak directly and/or indirectly to the above questions from various points of view/disciplines.
Paper abstracts (about 500 words) must be submitted by May 1, 2006.
Should your abstract be accepted, your essay must be completed by July 1, 2006.
Completed essays should be between 4,000-7,000 words including endnotes.
The essay must follow the MLA style guidelines.
Submissions by emergent as well as established scholars are welcome. (An editor at one of the leading educational presses has shown strong interest in the project.)
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