Every other week, I’ll be attending a new class to review for students who might be interested in taking it in the future.

I chose African-American Literature for my first class review because of its recent return.

If the class size of 46 students is any indication, students are certainly eager to enroll in this course.

Jaleesa Harris teaches the ENGL 2016 class.

Harris began the class with a discussion of the “Cultural Exchange Project” in which the class will soon participate. The project will blend the cultures of her class with English as a Second

Language class with students from South Korea. Harris told her students they would “present a slice of American culture” to them.

Harris then used stories to prepare the students for the day’s discussion. During her presentations to the class, she would break words down so students could learn the words’ etymology. Harris said she wants her students to realize “there’s always an origin somewhere.”

The separation of the class into groups to discuss meanings of the word “slavery” showed its interactive atmosphere early into the class. Students had to cooperate and involve themselves in the lesson early on in the class.

Though the class focuses on some literature written over a century ago, it still included modern aspects such as social media. These modern aspects helped relate the idea in the literature to students today. Harris even used song lyrics to help students examine words and understand context.

Harris’ literature class combines terms, history and literature and presents them in different and engaging formats.

The works mentioned showed varying viewpoints of authors to prompt certain questions. The healthy amount of reading will enrich students’ overall experience. With the knowledge they gain from the readings, the students in the class are already holding powerful stances in discussions.

This class is the most engaged one I’ve ever seen. The class is a discussion forum, and the method seems to certainly be working and resonating with its students. Harris reminded the students, “Honor your thoughts.”

As a special topics class, it’s typically offered every three years. Ironically, Harris was a student the first time it was offered in 2007, a graduate student and a teacher’s assistant for the class when it was offered in 2011 and now is the instructor for the course.