Paula Marantz Cohen, dean of the honors program at Drexel, once made a case for one-credit classes, as opposed to the usual three-credit courses.
Instead of rushing through David Copperfield as part of a larger course, students just read one great book.
I wished I’d saved the citation for Cohen’s article. But I remember her main point: Great books inspire people, including teachers. Inspiration is a good thing to have in education.
I can see other advantages. I remember one course where the required reading list had 20 books, more than one a week. We had to be familiar with them all when we took the final exam. They were important books. But the experience didn’t do much to cultivate the joy of reading.
One credit isn’t going to mean much in a degree plan. But the possibility of finding one good book that you can come back to, time and again … I wish I’d had that opportunity decades ago.
Now that I’m retired, I have that opportunity. I’m not missing it.
20 books. geesh. Yeah that wouldn't necessarily make me an avid reader..
ReplyDeleteIve often wanted to get through 100 books a year or something but whenever i put that pressure on to read.. i stop reading.