NEH Distinguished Teaching Professors

Stephen D. Arata
Project Summary (2007-2010)

I am interested in working to open more lines of communication among college humanities teachers in Virginia. Given the high quality of the universities and colleges, public and private, in the state, faculty and students alike could benefit from sharing resources and from more frequent opportunities to exchange information about their teaching. My plan is to develop a series of related websites to function as forums for teachers in particular fields in literary studies and in media studies (e.g., Victorian Studies, Contemporary Film). There, instructors could post materials (syllabi, course packets, useful urls, sample assignments) for others to draw on; they could develop materials in tandem; or they could initiate list-serv discussions on topics of shared interest.

These sites could also be the basis for establishing links between courses on similar topics taught at different institutions. Classes on, say, postcolonial poetry at the University of Virginia and at William & Mary might “meet” together electronically two or three times a term to discuss specific topics; or students from the two classes might devise research projects that they pursue together. Or, again, they might simply engage in e-mail debates on topics of shared interest. I would also like to find ways to underwrite occasional visits by faculty to classes at other Virginia colleges and universities for more or less informal colloquia or shoptalks.