BLUE
Profile banner
JH
Joseph Howley
@illdottore.bsky.social
I’m an Associate Professor of Classics at Columbia University. I teach and study Latin, Roman stuff, book history stuff, and I’m involved in our gen-ed literature course, Literature Humanities. Be cool
1.7k followers487 following1.2k posts
JHilldottore.bsky.social

One’s punishment for speaking to reporters about curriculum is to see the things one tells them put in terms one would never use www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The Columbia instructors who determine the Lit Hum curriculum decided to trim the reading list for the current school year. (It had been growing in recent years, even while students struggled with the reading, *as new books by nonwhite authors were added*.)
Like Delbanco, some see advantages to teaching fewer books. Even the best-prepared students have probably been skimming some of their Lit Hum assignments for years. Joseph Howley, the program's chair, said he'd rather students miss out on some of the classics—Crime and Punishment is now off the list—but read the remaining texts in greater depth. And, crucially, the change will give professors more time to teach students how they expect them to read.
5

CNcarlosfnorena.bsky.social

If it helps, Joe, I can say that when I read that bit, I actually thought to myself, "Huh, I bet Joe didn't put it that way."

1
JHilldottore.bsky.social

A decade of continuous syllabus expansion also included attempts to include more medieval literature and lyric poetry. But I guess that doesn’t fit anyone’s culture war framing

3
SDsonjadrimmer.bsky.social

Can we just fast forward to the part after which: 1) the article stokes a new battle in the culture war, 2) the journalist writes the airport book, which 3) then gets eviscerated by If Books Could Kill?

0
MAsepoy.bsky.social

lovely word “nonwhites”

0
Eemptywheel.bsky.social

Can you link the current syllabus (and maybe one from 8 years ago)?

0
Profile banner
JH
Joseph Howley
@illdottore.bsky.social
I’m an Associate Professor of Classics at Columbia University. I teach and study Latin, Roman stuff, book history stuff, and I’m involved in our gen-ed literature course, Literature Humanities. Be cool
1.7k followers487 following1.2k posts