Brian Bremen

Project Title: Graduate Student Training and Support in Lower-Division Literature Classes 

 

Project Summary: Because there is only one other required course for English majors (the research seminar), E314 is taught with special attention to the skills and experiences UT English majors need for their later coursework. All E314 classes have the dual tasks of introducing students to our discipline and preparing them for success in upper-division courses. All E314 courses also emphasize the teaching both of critical methods and of critical writing and revision. As such, all sections of E314 are taught not only with a Writing Flag, but also must also meet the English Department's more specific criteria for lower-division Writing Flag courses.  In all, over 30 sections of E314 are offered every year, serving around 750 undergraduates. The project proposed working with two other members of the English Department over a two year period to restructure the E314 classes by keeping the major variants, but having each course structure itself according to a series of units that focus on particular analytical, expressive, or research oriented skills, relevant to both the study of literature and the academic success of a student, regardless of the field of study they chooses to enter.