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Publications in VIVO

Bickman, Martin

Professor

Positions

Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • My research involves the intersection of literary and educational theory with the actual clinical practice of teaching and of teaching teachers. It centers on constructivist, student-centered, reader response approaches to educational reform. I have been planning a new course that is part of our newly created minor, Writing in the Public Sphere, centered around changing schools and have been doing extensive research on the practical, politcal aspects of educational change, based in part on my award-winning book, Minding American Education: Recovering the Tradition of Active Learning, as well as on weekly on-line Newsletter, Active Learning Forum. This will result in a book-length manuscript Enacting the Active Mind.

keywords

  • American Romanticism, 19th century American Romanticism, 19th century American Poetry, 20th century American Poetry, practical and theoretical pedagogy, history and philosophy of American education, history and philosophy of service learning

Publications

selected publications

Teaching

courses taught

  • ENGL 1420 - Poetry
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2019
    Introduces students to how to read a poem by examining the great variety of poems written and composed in English from the very beginning of the English language until recently.
  • ENGL 1600 - Introduction to American Literature
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
    Introduces students to the American literary tradition through intensive study of centrally significant texts and genres.
  • ENGL 2102 - Literary Analysis
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2021 / Fall 2021 / Spring 2023 / Fall 2023
    Students will build skills in careful, detailed reading and critical writing. Focusing on poetry, prose, and plays, the course cultivates an understanding of literary forms and genres and introduces techniques and vocabulary essential for the study of literature.
  • ENGL 2115 - American Frontiers
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018
    This course explores the power of the frontier myth in US literature and culture. The material we cover may range from stories of the American West and American empire to frontiers like cyberspace or outer space (the final frontier). Texts may include short stories, novels, movies, photographs, and computer games.
  • ENGL 2655 - American Literature to the Civil War
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2019
    Students will explore chaos, possibilities, and violence in American literature as Indigenous lands transform into British colonies transform into a nation that expands across the continent, but nearly implodes in civil war. This class considers how authors struggling to define America used a rising print culture and evolving literary landscape to confront issues of nation, empire, race, gender, sexuality, religion, modernity, and industrialization.
  • ... more

Background

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