Exeter+Humanities+Institute--Summer+2010

EXETER HUMANITIES INSTITUTE--SUMMER 2010 (Dughi; also in attendance--Hewitt, Rywell, Szolodko):


 * DUGHI -** I recently attended the Exeter Humanities Institute for the second time (the first was 5 or 6 years ago when Ransom sent its first group to learn something about the Harkness method), and found it just as stimulating and inspirational as the first time. The conference showcases a philosophy as much as a methodology, and it puts participants in a dual position as students and teachers. Attendees get a packet of thematically-linked readings, a mix of literature and history, with some current events and (this year) some anthropology thrown in. Each day there are two morning sessions, each focused on a different set of readings. For each of the two sessions, there are two designated leaders and two designated observers, which leaves about 10 additional "students" to carry on the business of the class--discussion of the readings. After about 45 minutes devoted to discussing the readings and the designated theme (which this year was "age"), the class hears from the observers and then spends another 45 minutes conducting a postmortem, a discussion focused on the dynamics of the discussion. Although the discussions tend to flow unrealistically smoothly since they're conducted by highly motivated, competent academics, participants still learn a lot about what makes discussions work, what derails them, how to set them up, when to leave them alone, when and how to intervene, and why they can be so exhilarating and at times so frustrating. Not only the discussions of the readings but also the discussions of the discussions are conducted Harkness-style, which is to say they are open-ended and student-directed. They raise many questions, provide much stimulating thought, but aren't designed to produce fixed answers or enforce a one-size fits all approach to leading such discussions. Instructors--as a participant one gets two instructors since one is in two separate groups, with separate instructors, for each of the morning sessions--ask questions, share experiences from their classes, and generally avoid handing down codified wisdom. The idea is to model, as much as possible, the Harkness experience, which on the one hand empowers students to take charge of their own learning, and on the other trains them to listen to and learn from each other. Harkness learning is not so much a means to an end--mastering a body of knowledge or even a set of skills--but a skill set in itself. Freshman at Exeter have a term-long introductory course to train them, and the instructors I spoke with all recommended that for the first couple of weeks classes should regularly spend at least the last 5 minutes of each class discussing how the discussion had gone, what made it work and what didn't, and how to participate effectively in such discussions. A question and answer session with current Exeter students (and one recent graduate) demonstrated just how articulate and self-confident the products of such an education can be.

Optional afternoon break-out sessions covered a variety of topics. To remind participants what it was like to be in a classroom in a field in which one was not comparatively expert, everyone was assigned to participate in either a biology class or a math class, conducted Harkness-style, which meant that most of us humanities types got to remember what it was like to feel clueless and slightly lost. Several sessions were devoted to case-studies of specific Harkness classes that did not go as planned. There were also sessions devoted to accomodating different learning styles in a Harkness classroom, to teaching English and History at Exeter (no tests or exams), and to assessing and evaluating student participation in dicussion (at Exeter, participation typically counts for 20 to 50 % of the final grade). I found the session on how to evaluate student participation, which was also very much a session on how to train students to be more effective members of a class, especially helpful. All conference participants get a notebook filled with all sorts of useful goodies--class handouts on how to participate effectively in discussions, rubrics for grading students' participation in discussion, instruments both for tracking and for evaluating discussions, case studies, and background reading.

I highly recommend the conference to anyone; though it is dominated by English and history teachers, also in attendance were a librarian, a science teacher, and a dance teacher. The 60 attendees were geographically diverse--including teachers from Hawaii, Montana, Texas, California, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachussetts, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Italy,. One of the great strengths--both years I attended--was the quality of the participants. Academic conversations spilled over into lunch and dinner hours as well as into the "After Hours" sessions each evening. I returned inspired and ready to re-commit to Harkness-style teaching, and confident that I had a few more of the tools necessary to do so. I would of course be happy to share any of the materials from the conference with anyone who is interested.


 * SZOLODKO** - This was my first trip to Exeter, and I found the experience enriching and rewarding. Though I had attended the workshops conducted here at Ransom some 7 years ago and found them valuable experiences, being at Exeter and enjoying the camaraderie of discussing thematically-grouped readings with peers in situ was especially useful. In particular, I felt that I got the most out of the morning sessions - experiencing being a "student" gave me a new-found appreciation for how daunting a task it is to read, but more specifically think, about the material and to frame my thoughts every day for our discussions. I found the experience of being an observer especially tough - being able to follow the conversation AND to assess it's quality and key components was a true challenge. Our Exeter instructors, however, were very supportive and gave just the right amount of guidance - minimal, so that we were forced to "do for ourselves" - and the quality of fellow participants was excellent.

I am not certain that the afternoon sessions were as rewarding as those in the morning. Typically, we would do our readings (our theme this year was age/aging) and meet for two sessions in the mornings/early afternoons. The optional afternoon sessions I found less useful, in part because much of the material had been presented to us when the Exeter instructors had visited our campus, and in part because the "best practices" approach was a bit too basic for teachers at our school. In other words, many of us already have a baseline with Harkness so much of what was presented was materials already implemented at our school and fully supported by our administration.

I highly recommend this experience for teachers of all disciplines - I was skeptical that it would prove as useful for math but after having attended a math class (and as an historian having suffered through the torture of being asked to solve a math problem), I see that it does have applications for a variety of disciplines. I am happy to discuss my experiences with you further, if you'd like, or to share the materials provided to us at the conference.