A Note From the Chair
Fitz Brundage, History
This article was originally printed in the November 1999 issue of CLASnotes.
Change over time is the time-honored cliche that describes the historian's charge. In recent years, the Department of History at UF certainly has experienced change. Indeed, we confront two significant transitions, one ongoing and one rapidly approaching.
Like other departments at UF and countless other universities, the Department of History continues to explore ways to preserve a commitment to rigorous pedagogy while contending with burgeoning student enrollments. Specifically, in keeping with our discipline's roots in the humanities, our department continues to stress the importance of writing in our courses, whether at the survey or upper level. Our faculty remains committed to laboring through stacks of undergraduate research essays, circling vague pronoun antecedents, pointing out awkward sentence constructions, and marking run-on sentences because the skills we teach (rigorous thinking and clear writing) are at least as important as the content we impart. And at a time when secondary schools all too often fail to teach these skills, our obligation to teach them takes on added urgency.
Regrettably, we no longer enjoy the luxury of offering classes with enrollments so small that teaching fundamental skills is comparatively effortless. Instead, we must satisfy institutional pressures to grow enrollments while simultaneously preserving, whenever possible, teaching techniques that have stood the test of time, such as the Socratic dialogue and substantial analytical writing assignments. Given the current circumstances, we individually and collectively must experiment to adapt these techniques to classes of 50, 75, or 100 students. Fortunately, our limited enrollment junior colloquia remain a centerpiece of our undergraduate program. In these courses, the small number of students allows for a degree of intimacy between faculty and students as well as rigor that is especially valuable at a large university like UF. Consequently, we are zealous in preserving and, when possible, expanding our small, limited enrollment classes.
The second transition, as I noted above, is rapidly approaching. We are waiting eagerly to abandon Turlington Hall and to move to our new home, Keene-Flint Hall. Lore has it that Turlington is an award-winning building. (Having once lived in an award-winning dorm designed by Walter Gropius, I am deeply skeptical of architectural awards.) Be that as it may, we will gladly and without regret undergo the ordeal of moving in order to be united in space as attractive as Keene-Flint will be. The move to our new home should have tangible benefits for both faculty morale and pedagogy (e. g., natural light in offices and classrooms). I trust that we can be excused for anticipating our new home as the Promised Land.
Credits
Writer
Fitx Brundage
