Shakespeare Class

So this summer's course on Shakespeare is winding down, and I find myself looking back on it as one of the best classes I've had in years. My students are always great, but what a difference it makes to have a smaller sized class (30 students), where I actually know everyone's name and even a little bit about them, and where we can have such full and satisfying discussions in which everyone participates. I have not had the opportunity to do this kind of teaching in years. Budget cuts in recent years have necessitated larger classes; now I can expect 50 students in an upper division lit class at a minimum. And the GE courses are, of course, much worse--normally I don't even get the opportunity to learn my students' names.

This class, though, was marvelous. We could do more focused individual projects, share each others work, and invest in a few more creative enterprises, like the digitalized poetry project in which students applied music, image, and layout to their favorite Shakespeare sonnet. The results were incredible--I wish we could share them even beyond our class.

Already I am regretting that I may not get to have another class like this one in a good, long while. Fall will bring us back to the budget cuts and back to the large classes. But how nice to have had this experience again? It reminds me why I love teaching, and why I got into this business in the first place.