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Teaching American Studies

ENGL 401.401
instructor(s):

English 401, which combines the study of American literature and history with teaching and other interactions in a high school classroom, is a two-credit course. One credit is attached to the literary and historical study, the second to the high school classroom assignment. Students in the class work with teachers in University City High School, located at 36th and Filbert Streets, a five-minute walk from the center of Penn's campus.

(1) Each student enrolled in the course will meet the usual sorts of academic requirements for an undergraduate course: completing a list of readings in American literature and history, writing a series of brief essays, delivering one or more oral reports.

(2) In addition, each student will assist a humanities teacher in University City High School, and will work five hours each week in that teacher's high school class. This experience, in turn, will provide the basis for a second set of oral and written assignments, including a journal. To accommodate its dual purpose, the course will meet eight hours each week: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-4:30, plus five hours in the high school classroom. We will also meet from time to time as a group with the entire team of high school teachers with whom we are collaborating.

I will need to consult personally with each student who is interested in English 401. Please get in touch with me by email, or feel free to call me, either at Penn (8-5726), or at home (215.413.7088). I will also be holding extended office hours during advanced registration.

Undergraduate Chair's note: English majors taking English 401 may indeed count both course units toward the concentration if the topic of the concentration matches the material in the course.  Don't be fooled by the course number -- 401; this *is* a course for undergraduates

fulfills requirements
Elective of the Standard Major
Sector 6: 20th Century Literature of the Standard Major