This term’s seminar series focuses on the challenges and the pleasures of teaching the eighteenth century. Across the term, leading scholars and tutors from four disciplines will reflect on their experiences of and approaches to teaching this period. The themes of the talks range from the practical to the theoretical. Hanneke Grootenboer (History of Art) will explore the use of material and visual culture as teaching tools, while Joanna Innes (History) will reflect on the challenges, opportunities and methods of teaching the eighteenth century to undergraduates who generally have almost no prior awareness of the period. Meanwhile, Susan Wollenberg (Music) and Ros Ballaster (English) will lead discussions of how ‘historicist’ our teaching of eighteenth-century music and literature should be and whether this can lead students to lose sight of the distinctive aesthetic developments of the period.
To complement the wider aims of RECSO, all talks will aim to highlight and discuss aspects of these questions applicable to all disciplines. They are aimed at postgraduates and postdocs who are beginning to (or will soon) teach this period for the first time, as well as other faculty members who wish to share ideas and expand their repertoire of teaching techniques. Seminars take place within the Radcliffe Humanities Building on Woodstock Road; a free buffet lunch will be provided from 12:15pm. Talks will begin at 12:30pm and will be followed by a general discussion. We look forward to seeing you there.
Tuesday 21 Oct (Week 2), 12:15pm-1:30pm, Seminar Room, Radcliffe Humanities Building
Prof. Hanneke Grootenboer – How to Portray a Touch, a Kiss: Eye, Mouth and Breast Miniatures
Thursday 6 Nov (Week 4), 12:15-1:30pm, Seminar Room, Radcliffe Humanities Building
Prof. Susan Wollenberg – ‘Music in Context’: Studying and Teaching the Eighteenth Century
Friday 21 Nov (Week 6), 12:15-1:30pm, Colin Matthew Room, Radcliffe Humanities Building
Prof. Joanna Innes – Eighteenth-Century History for Beginners: Teaching Challenges
*N.B. Room Change
Tuesday 2 Dec (Week 8), 12:15-1:30pm, Meeting Room 4, Radcliffe Humanities Building
Prof. Ros Ballaster – Historicist Norms and the Argument for Aesthetics in Teaching the Eighteenth Century
*N.B. Room Change
