COURSE :Introduction To Literature

DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH

PROFESSOR : OLMSTED

Lecture14 : Welcome

View the Power Point Presentation of the Lecture

Hi, I’d like to welcome to English 200. My name’s Jane Olmsted as a class we’re accomplishing a couple of firsts. This is the first Western has implemented a Winter term which means none of us have taken a course in 3 weeks in January and in my case I haven’t taught a January course at least here. I used to teach at Berea College which is near Richmond, Kentucky some of you may know it and we had what we called a J-term it was intensive but lots of fun. So I was glad when Western decided that we’d try this experiment. This is also the first time I’ve taught a course online in just 3 weeks. I’ve been teaching online for about 3 years but not in such a short time span. I suspect many of you are taking your first online course while others of you are pros in any case if we are all diligent and don’t get behind I think we’ll survive and be ready for Spring semester. Although there are many advantages to online course, one disadvantage is that we don’t get to see each other. Nothing can replace face-to-face exchanges especially when we’re trying to understand something difficult or we’re having problems with material. That’s why I decided to record this introduction. I just wish we could have one for each of you instead I hope you’ll all introduce yourselves by setting up your own personal webpage. Just go to tools in the menu and click on homepage and then you’ll see a place for setting up your own webpage. Anyone who does this including a picture of yourself gets 10 bonus points right off the bat. You can go to staff information to find out more about me but for now I’ll say this. I’ve been at Western since 1996 which is the year I finished my PhD at the University of Minnesota. I’m an associate professor of English and director of the Women’s Studies program. If you’re on campus, my office is located in Women’s Studies center which is between EST and the International Center at 1532 State St. we’re in a stone house. My area of specialty in English is 20th century literature, multi-cultural literature, and autobiography. I’m married to a philosophy professor at Hopkinsville Community College we have three sons, two of them are students at Western and one is a junior at Warren Central. We have three dogs and three cats. My first grandchild Omni Jolie was born last year in Florida she and her mom are here now and her mom is also a student at Western so you can see that we love Western. You can see pictures at my personal webpage if you really want to see what my gorgeous little granddaughter looks like. I guess the last thing I want to say is that I love literature. When I was an undergrad like you it took me a while to figure out what it was I wanted to do. I tried psychology, I tried education, but in the end my literature classes were acting like a magnet pulling me back. I also love teaching though I didn’t always know that. After I got my Master’s degree in English at the University of Louisville I tried working as a technical writer in a corporate setting it was like trying to force a round peg into a square hole. Two years later, bruised but wiser I found an entry level job teaching and eventually I went on to get the doctorate so I could teach at a university. I always say to my students when they come in to talk about what should they major in listen to what your heart says and do what you’re good at, what makes you happy. That sounds like a cliché but having resisted following my own advise for a number of years, I can speak firsthand to the wisdom of knowing who you are and basing your decisions on what’s important to you not on what your parents or your best friends say not on what’s safe necessarily or even on some romantic image you may have constructed of yourself. Well that’s my lecture on getting your own education. I hope this course helps you, we’re going to read some wonderful poems, stories, and plays. Much of them will challenge you, they challenge me every time I read them but it’s a good kind of challenge and there are many rewards. Now that I’ve introduced myself why don’t you introduce your selves? Feel free to call me or email me or drop by anytime.