An Introduction to Criticism: Literature/Film/Culture

Project Description The book will have two separate, yet related and connected pedagogical goals. The first is to provide training in literary and cultural theory and to impart to students basic literacy in the oftentimes difficult ideas that constitute the field. We intend to explain theoretical ideas in a manner that will be easy to grasp and that will be linked to the everyday experiences of students as cultural consumers and cultural practitioners. The part of the book devoted to teaching students how to use those ideas will focus on writing, specifically, the analytic essay. The goal will be to train students to analyze cultural artifacts as well as social issues and political events from their own everyday lives in a theoretically informed manner. In this part of the book, they will receive instruction in how to write analytically and with critical acumen about the world they inhabit. We will begin with ideas such as "hegemony," "ideology," "differential," "subaltern," and "identity." After reading introductory explanations of these theoretical concepts and constructs, students will be asked to engage with several short selections from theorists in each field. Those selections will be included in the book, and we will provide a wide enough range of selections so that instructors can develop a variety of curricular models of their own design from them. We will then ask students to think about objects, events, people, and issues from the world around them using the theoretical ideas. For example, after reading our basic introduction to gender theory and postcolonial theory along with a selection or two from theorists in the field, we will propose that they view films such as Brokeback Mountain or Life and Debt. We will then ask students to compose analytic essays regarding the films that are guided by the concepts contained in the introductory material. Teachers would be urged to ask students to make connections between the theories, the cultural artifacts, and current issues in the world. While the purpose of the book is to teach students to think theoretically about the world, we feel that this goal can best be reached by teaching students to write analytically. We take a developmental approach to learning how to write an analytical essay.The skills required to write analytically must be developed in a step by step process that builds foundations and grows in complexity. In the earliest stage of the pedagogy, students learn how to establish a critical framework and to use it to conduct classifications. Further along in the writing process, we provide training in logical reasoning and ask students to use such logical tools as consequence and derivation in their own writing. A possible assignment at this point in the course would be to analyze a political speech or a newspaper editorial for their use of both logic and the fallacies of reason. As training in the writing process proceeds and as students learn to conduct more complex forms of analysis, we ask students to become more skilled at using different critical frameworks to analyze both cultural artifacts and the world around them. Without always knowing it, students understand the world they live in using theoretical frameworks, and often, they are not aware of the cultural and ideological assumptions embedded in those frameworks.We will ask students to think about how the new critical ideas to which they are being introduced can help produce different understandings and different analyses of the world in which they live. The goal is to make them aware of the cultural assumptions, values, and ideas they rely on always when they live, think, and write.

Table of Contents:
The Author xiIntroduction xiiiPART ONE The Chairs Role and Career Path1. In the Trenches 32. Preparing for the Chairs Role 143. Assessing What Kind of Department Chair You Are 234. Serving as an Untenured Department Chair 345. Coexisting with a Former Chair 416. Creating a Career Plan 497. Returning to the Faculty 588. Seeking Higher Administrative Positions 669. A Scenario Analysis on the Chairs Role and Career Path 75PART TWO Departmental Management and Politics10. Understanding Departmental Ethics and Politics 8511. Chairing Small Departments 9212. Chairing Large Departments 9913. Setting Course Rotations and Schedules 10814. Making Decisions 11415. Setting Annual Themes 12416. Creating Departmental Centers for Excellence in Teaching and Learning 13217. A Scenario Analysis on Departmental Management and Politics 142PART THREE The Chairs Role in Searches, Hiring, and Firing18. Writing Job Descriptions and Position Announcements 15719. Understanding the Chairs Role in the Search Process 16820. Interviewing Candidates 17621. Letting Someone Go 18822. A Scenario Analysis on Hiring and Firing 196PART FOUR Mentoring Challenges and Opportunities for Department Chairs23. Helping Faculty Members Sharpen Their Focus 20524. Coaching Faculty Members to Increase Productivity 21125. Promoting a More Collegial Department 21726. Coping with Passive-Aggressive Behavior 22427. Resolving Chronic Complaints 23128. Addressing Staff Conflicts 24029. Overcoming Conflicts 24730. A Scenario Analysis onMentoring Challenges 257PART FIVE The Chairs Role in Faculty Development31. Facilitating a Positive First-Year Faculty Experience 26732. Coaching Faculty in Writing Effective Resumes 27433. Creating an Effective Professional Development Plan 27934. Creating an Effective Teaching Portfolio 29035. Creating an Effective Course Syllabus 30236. Promoting Creativity in Teaching and Learning 30937. A Scenario Analysis on Faculty Development 317PART SIX Best Practices in Evaluation and Assessment38. Creating Written Evaluations 32739. Conducting Oral Evaluation Sessions 33740. Writing Letters of Recommendation 34341. Doing Assessment Effectively 35242. Conducting Program Reviews 36443. Conducting Posttenure Reviews 38044. A Scenario Analysis on Evaluation and Assessment 389PART SEVEN Essentials of Budgeting and Planning45. Strategic Planning 40146. Planning a Budget 41147. Implementing a Budget 41848. Fundraising 42549. Accounting for Sponsored Research 44050. A Scenario Analysis on Strategic Budgeting and Planning 449Epilogue: A Checklist for the Essential Department Chair 457Index 463TOCUpdater-Profile-2@1326755501878

About the Author :
Michael Ryan teaches American Literature and Film Studies at Temple University, USA. He is the author of numerous publications, including Literary Theory: An Anthology , second edition (co-edited with Julie Rivkin, Wiley-Blackwell, 2004), Literary Theory: A Practical Introduction , second edition (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Cultural Studies: An Anthology (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008), and Cultural Studies: A Practical Introduction (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).

Review :
"But these are only minor criticisms of what will be an extraordinarily helpful and reassuring book for many students." ( Times Higher Education , 28 February 2013)