S09 E02 How Do We Teach Literature When Students Won’t Read What We Assign?

This episode addresses the elephant slouching on its phone in the corner of many literature classrooms. Mary Isbell (University of New Haven) describes her search for a solution to the student reading crisis, incorporating conversations recorded as she was writing Searching for Wonder: Teaching Literature with Student-Selected Texts. These conversations reveal the many reasons faculty may be hesitant to set aside their carefully curated reading lists. With her guests, Isbell explores the history of literature instruction, the firm hold of close reading on the teaching of literature, the role of scholarly expertise in the humanities classroom, and the challenge of assessing process in literature courses. Production support by Stefan Schöberlein (Texas A&M University-Central Texas). Transcript available at bit.ly/S0902Transcript. To read the conclusion of Isbell's book Searching For Wonder, visit bit.ly/S09E02Resources.

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S09 E02 How Do We Teach Literature When Students Won’t Read What We Assign? is an episode from C19: America in the 19th Century by C19 Podcast.

This episode is 00:37:01 long.

This episode was published on Aug 14, 2025.

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