My First Haiku Course: Reflections on Teaching & Learning
I have been teaching in the English department at the University of Maryland for more than twenty-five years. I have taught a variety of literature courses, as well as classes in academic and professional writing. However, I had never gotten to teach an entire course devoted to the study of haiku—until two years ago.
When I daydreamed about teaching such a course, I imagined having several months to prepare: going through my collection of books, reading additional books and articles, selecting readings on a variety of topics. I imagined marketing the course to students who might be interested: English majors, poets, and those interested in the Japanese language and culture.
Here’s how it actually unfolded: Five days before the semester started, I received an email from the director of our campus’s Honors Humanities program (known on campus as “HoHum”). A professor slated to teach one of their “Second-Year Seminars on Global Humanities” had pulled out to accept the head curator position at a prestigious museum. Would I be interest- ed in teaching my own course in that spot? Of course, I said!
I had previously submitted a proposal to Honors Humanities, for a course audaciously entitled “How Haiku Conquered the World,” only to have my proposal rejected. Now I had five days to turn that proposal into a complete 15-week syllabus, with set topics and readings, along with the assignments students would complete. Of course, my proposal had involved some thinking about these requirements. Nevertheless, a brief proposal is very different from a fully designed course.
