Behind a course, underneath its design, are fundamental questions. Essential, quintessential matters; pedagogical and existential. What’s the point of an assignment? Of assessment? Of a course? Of a university education in the literate humanities? Of learning? What are we doing? Who, where, when, how, why?
Here is some older writing from my main blog, ten years’ attempts to think through assignments and assessment, or—”staying with the trouble”—at least to think at and around them.
- February 2025:
TEACHING, COURSE DESIGN, PEDAGOGY: A MEDIEVAL STUDIES / ROMANCE STUDIES COURSE – MID-TERM UPDATE - November 2022:
ON MIDTERM BREAKS - June 2020:
AGAINST SURVEILLANCE EXAMS
and WORK IN PROGRESS: OLD NOTES, SUMMER FREN 101 AND 102 ONLINE COURSE DESIGN - May 2020:
TERM-LONG, WEEKLY, AND SHORT ASSIGNMENTS FOR UNIVERSITY FRENCH (TRANSLATING TO OTHER LANGUAGES TOO) FOR #COVIDCAMPUS #REMOTETEACHING #REMOTELEARNING - January-February 2020:
ANIMAL READING: TEACHING AND LEARNING ABOUT ANIMAL THINKING
and ON ANIMAL READING AND BEING HUMANIMAL - May-July 2019:
MEDIEVALISING BEGINNERS’ FRENCH ASSIGNMENTS & ASSESSMENT: 2018 RENOVATIONS & INNOVATIONS (1)
and (2), SAVOIR-VIVRE
and (3), THE NEXT STEPS - November 2018:
POETICISING LANGUAGE LEARNING FOR BEGINNERS (FEAT. APOLLINAIRE FOR #APOLLINR18) - October 2018:
“SAVOIR-VIVRE” PLURILINGUAL INTERCULTURAL LEARNING PORTFOLIOS - August 2017:
MAKE ESSAYS MONTAIGNIAN AGAIN
and MAKE THE ESSAY MONTAIGNIAN AGAIN (2) - March 2017:
LITERARY WARM-UP EXERCISE FOR STRETCHING IMAGINATIVE MUSCLES / UN EXERCICE D’ÉCHAUFFEMENT LITTÉRAIRE : L’IMAGINATION AU POUVOIR - January 2017:
EXPERIMENTAL MEDIEVALIST TEACHING: A TALK FOR @UBC EARLY ROMANCE STUDIES RESEARCH CLUSTER ABOUT #MDVL301A (PART 1 OF 2)
and (PART 2 OF 2) - August 2016:
MEDIEVALISING MODERN FRENCH & HOPE - December 2015:
AH, EXAMS…