Teachers As Scholars

Teachers and administrators in MSUNER partner districts are provided an opportunity to immerse themselves in scholarly topics and issues in small, liberal arts seminars offered by university faculty. Seminars focus on three main areas: Great Lives and Literatures; Living, Learning, and the Arts; and Science Matters.

The Teachers as Scholars program at Montclair State University began with a grant from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. This is one of just 29 Teachers as Scholars programs throughout the country and the third such program in New Jersey. Teachers as Scholars furthers school-university collaboration by providing public school educators with intellectually stimulating seminars offered by university faculty in the arts and sciences. Seminars will be offered at Montclair State in fall 2012 and spring 2013.

MSUNER Teachers as Scholars 2012-2013

Teaching Writing with Student Texts
Joseph Harris
September 21, 2012, 8:30am to 3:30pm
ADP Center, Room 1143, University Hall

The morning session is entitled "Teaching a Metalanguage for Writing." In the first half of the full-day workshop, we will focus on understanding the "moves" writers make to accomplish their goals and, as teachers, we will explore how to engage student writers in a language for identifying and applying effective writerly moves. The afternoon session is entitled "Bringing Student Texts to the Table." In the second half of the full-day workshop, we will work with a series of secondary-level student texts to explore how teachers can use student writing as a teaching tool.

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10 Things to Love About Shakespeare—in Two Parts
Naomi Con Liebler
November 13 and November 17, 2012, 8:30 am to 3:00 pm
ADP Center, Room 1145, University Hall

For Shakespeare, as we know, the play was the thing. But what sort of thing was it? How different was a comedy from a tragedy? (Hint: They’re not as different as we might think.) Comedy and tragedy are more than two masks; they are refracting mirrors of a kaleidoscope whose bits of confetti never change but seem to shift as we turn the cylinder. This seminar will explore 10 key principles, some separate, some overlapping, of the two major Shakespearean genres that organize that kaleidoscope into glorious commentary on the great pageant of human concerns.
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The Sixties
Gregory Waters
November 30 and December 14, 2012, 8:30am to 3:00 pm
ADP Center, Room 1143, University Hall

In the tumultuous decade of the Sixties, literature, music and film were all transformed by political events, and to some extent political events were transformed by popular culture as well. This seminar is designed for anyone interested in exploring the intersections of politics and culture, and in considering the lasting impact of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war, the counterculture, Black power, the women’s movement, gay liberation, and Watergate on American history and culture. This decade was a period of incredible hope, turmoil, despair and desperation, one that shaped a generation and transformed America. The seminar will examine all forms of expression, including poetry (Allen Ginsberg, Frank O’Hara, Sylvia Plath), music (Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan), film clips (“Dr. Strangelove,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Apocalypse Now”), and political documents (the Port Huron Statement, NOW Bill of Rights), etc.
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Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior
Scott Kight
January 10 and January 24, 2013, 8:30am to 3:00pm
ADP Center, Room 1143, University Hall

Ever since Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, people have argued about its application to our own species. In this workshop, we will approach the study of human behavior from diverse evolutionary perspectives, including comparative biology, sociobiology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary psychology, and cultural evolution. The goal of this workshop is to critically compare, contrast, and synthesize these perspectives in an attempt to better understand the biological and historical processes that contribute to our human natures.
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The Public View of Language and Gender: Still “Wrong” After All These Years
Alice Freed
January 11 and January 25, 2013, 8:30am to 3:00pm
ADP Center, Room 1120, University Hall

These two seminars consider the astonishing discrepancy that exists between public perceptions of how women and men speak and the findings of language and gender research. We will discuss the amount of press attention given to gender and gender/sex difference and we will examine the sort of misinformation that the media presents to the public. A number of high profile language and gender stories that have appeared in the press in the past year or so will be examined. Finally, we will consider the possible reasons for the mismatch between the public and scholarly view of male and female verbal behavior.

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Literature and Music: Exploration and Criticism of Dual Disciplines
Marissa Silverman
Date: March 5, 2013
ADP Center, Room 1145, University Hall

From Petrarch to Liszt, Shakespeare to Tchaikovsky, Debussy to Mallarme, Shostakovich to Yevtushenko, the works of writers have inspired numerous composers.

 Participants will explore literature and music and how they relate to one another. Through methods of "shared inquiry," this class will survey the combined fruits of writers and composers. In addition, participants will be introduced to criticism from the perspective of experiential evocation. In other words, they will evoke individual interpretations resulting in critical reflections

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Shakespeare and Music
Marissa Silverman
Date: March 19, 2013
ADP Center, Room 1145, University Hall

Many teachers of literature may find Shakespeare’s language difficult, especially for English language learners and those students who do not easily find themselves in the style utilized for the great plays. This class will offer additional strategies for teachers of literature to utilize music as a medium for understanding difficult text. Additionally, it will probe how musical criticism can serve as a tool for students of Shakespeare to find their own voice as it relates to great works of classic literature. This class will focus primarily on King Lear joined by the music of Debussy Le roi Lear (King Lear), incidental music, for orchestra, L. 107, Shostakovich King Lear, incidental music, Op. 58a, and Berlioz King Lear Overture (Grande Ouverture du roi Lear), for orchestra, H. 53 (Op. 4). However, the following plays will also be explored: Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo and Juliet. Therefore, teachers of secondary school English are invited to participate.

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The Ethics of Care
Dorothy Rogers
March 15 and April 12, 2013, 8:30am to 3:00pm
ADP Center, Room 1145, University Hall

In this two-day seminar, we will read and discuss recent work on the feminist "ethic of care."  We will start with historic background on feminine (not necessarily feminist) thought at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries that anticipated the "ethic of care" and consider the distinctions they point to -- between reason and emotion, justice and care.  We will then turn to the work of two critically important contemporary care theorists:  Nel Noddings and Virginia Held.  Noddings looks at maternal practice as a source of morality -- i.e., care.  She maintains that incorporating maternal values into society would provide a more balanced ethical framework and thus a more just world.  Held looks at the link between a personal morality and global issues.  In doing so, she puts forth a theory of care that works in combination with justice to bring equity, trust, and solidarity to global politics.   Participants will be encouraged to discuss their own understandings of the role that care plays -- or should play -- in society and political life.

You can register for Session 1 (March 15), Session 2 (April 12) or both sessions

PD hours based on session/sessions attended - 5 hours for attendance of one session or 10 hours for attendance of both sessions

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Color in the Classroom: A Historical Perspective on How Schools Teach “Race”
Zoe Burkholder
Dates: March 22, 2013, 8:30am - 3:00pm

ADP Center, Room 1143, University Hall

This class uses a historical perspective to analyze the changing ways that teachers have understood and taught about race, from 1900 to the present. We will examine texts written by teachers in the early 20th century who puzzled over the racial traits of Irish, Italian, and Russian children—each viewed as distinct “racial” groups with corresponding patterns of intelligence and behavior. Moving forward in time, we will consider how and why World War II prompted educators to adopt a more rigorous, scientific definition of race in American schools, one that restricted “race” to the more specific categories of Caucasian (a new term), Negroid, and Mongolian. Participants will examine historical documents, including comics and filmstrips designed to teach scientific definitions of race to students in the 1940s. Finally, we will consider the different ways that schools create and disseminate ideas about the meaning of race and the muted rules of racial etiquette in recent years. In conclusion, we will discuss possibilities for antiracist teaching and using schools to promote social justice in the 21st century.
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Download the descriptions of the 2012-2013 seminars: Teachers As Scholars 2012-2013