Teaching literature for the sake of literature has become difficult at my institution as it is oriented towards degrees in engineering, business, and STEM. Many of our majors are double majors in one of these disciplines, and so their interest lies in more tangible subjects. To many, literature offers no factual knowledge and has no concrete answers it asks. In addition, a concerning development is the loss of the ability to read longer texts–the pandemic didn’t help there either. But the strong believer in the value of literature that I am, I developed two successful ways that provide entry points for my students to rediscover reading literature: one by teaching advanced level German courses that are literature based, and another by focusing on translating literature in my translating courses. In my presentation, I would like to share my experience with the developing and teaching process of both courses. Apart from describing my teaching methods, I will share assignments and activities that can be useful to other colleagues in developing entire courses as well as individual class meetings. At the same time, I hope to instigate a discussion how we can revisit and revitalize the significance of literature in our classrooms.
Susanne Gomoluch
UNC Charlotte