ENG 3000/STUDIES IN GLOBAL LITERATURE

Purpose: to help other instructors teaching the same course

Common Course ID:  ENG 3000/STUDIES IN GLOBAL LITERATURE
CSU Instructor Open Textbook Adoption Portrait

Abstract: This open textbook is being utilized in a English course for undergraduate students by Dr. Joseph Dornich at the CSUSB campus. The open textbook provides an example of Vietnamese literature and a continuation of the class’s bildungsroman theme. The main motivation to adopt an open textbook was to save students money, but also provide a visual resource for in-class discussions. Most student access the open textbook via an internet browser on their laptops.

Course Title and Number:  ENG 3000/Studies in Global Literature  

Brief Description of course highlights:  Study of literatures from diverse regions around the world with an emphasis on their emergence in and circulation beyond specific local contexts. Considers how global literatures are shaped by various historical and social processes driving conflict, connectivity, and cross-cultural exchange. Satisfies GE category C4; DI designation; G designation; WI designation. Satisfies World Cultures and Diversity Pathway. Satisfies Global Connections Pathway.

Student population: As this is a 3000-level class, most of my students are upperclassmen: juniors and seniors. About half of them are English majors.

Learning or student outcomes:   Learning or student outcomes:  To introduce students to the literary genre, the Bildungsroman. Through the readings, students will track the psychological and moral growth of the respective protagonists from childhood to adulthood. Students will also study the bildung’s emphasis on individual maturation AND integration into society.

Key challenges faced and how resolved: My literature classes are, ideally, discussion based. However, student participation and interest vary, especially this semester with a 7:30 am class. To combat this, I used the Discussion Board tool on Canvas, where I asked students to respond to a series of questions/observations about the day’s reading. Then, as a class, I used their responses to seed our discussion.

Textbook or OER/Low cost Title: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. 

Brief Description:  The conceit of the novel is a letter to the narrator’s mother. Because she is illiterate, is it a letter she will never read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a traumatic family history that began in Vietnam and continues to unveil aspects of the narrator’s life his mother has never known. This coming-of-age novel exemplifies the bildungsroman theme of our class.

Please provide a link to the resource  https://www.are.na/block/11490373

Authors:  Ocean Vuong

Student access:  An internet browser, usually on a laptop.

Supplemental resources: The Discussion option on Canvas was used to generate in-class conversations and analysis about the weekly readings.

Provide the cost savings from that of a traditional textbook.   The book retails for about $12. With 52 students, this is a savings of $624

License: The book is openly licensed.

OER/Low Cost Adoption Process

Provide an explanation or what motivated you to use this textbook or OER/Low Cost option. I wanted to save the students money but having an online version of the book allowed me to project specific sections on the screen. This visual aid was useful when discussing specific sections of the book, ensuring that all students were literally on the same page

How did you find and select the open textbook for this course? I asked friends and colleagues who had previously taught this novel.

Sharing Best Practices: Students seem more willing to engage with a text if they can relate to the character, if they share specific experiences. This feeling is compounded if students, initially, feel that they have nothing in common with the narrator/main character, only to later learn they were mistaken.

Describe any challenges you experienced, and lessons learned. FWhile a free, electronic version of the text does save students money, some will invariably read that book on their phone which can hinder comprehension and the ability to annotate.

Instructor Name:  Dr. Joseph Dornich
Please provide your title and your institution. I am a English lecturer at the California State University, San Bernardino. I teach English.

Please provide a link to your university page. https://www.csusb.edu/profile/joseph.dornich

Please describe the courses you teach.  English 3000

Describe your teaching philosophy and any research interests related to your discipline or teaching.  As befits discussion-oriented classes, my teaching centers on focal questions of interpretation. My lesson plans consist of questions and writing exercises designed to challenge students’ hermeneutic abilities and to encourage them to share their thoughts with the class. These questions appeal to students’ curiosity and prompt intrinsically motivated close readings, while also challenging them to maintain a degree of sympathy or even empathy. For example, when reading David Dow’s, An Autobiography of an Execution, we debate the nature vs. nurture argument of murderers and other violent criminals, and the overall efficacy of the death penalty as a deterrent to violent crime. These moments of civil discourse give rise to thoughtful discussions based on close readings of the text. Students tackle such concepts as the various types of humor and their subsequent effects in Slaughterhouse-five, as well as novel’s use of moral courage and apathetic indifference in the face of war. Whether in general class discussions or shared writing exercises, exploring a text’s points of tension encourages students to make literary analysis and interpretation a matter of personal investment. In the process of trying to balance a civil discourse with sympathy and empathy, my students become acute close readers while allowing for a variety of perspectives.