The Joys of Teaching Literature, started in September 2010 and with a Spanish version since July 2021, is a blog for ranting and raving about teaching and researching English Literature, Cultural Studies, and Gender Studies, and other aspects of the Anglophone world. I publish a post once a week, usually on Monday. Please, download the yearly volumes for free or read the volume collecting some of the entries (Passionate Professing: The Context and Practice of English Literature, 2023). The comments option is not available, sorry, but you may contact me through my e-mail address, Sara.Martin@uab.cat. The contents of this blog are protected by a type 4 Creative Common License (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (by-nc-nd)).

  • (OVER)REACTING TO STUDENTS’ NEGATIVE CRITICISM (AND TRYING TO STAY COOL)

    I wrote a while ago a post titled “Students’ Ratings of Faculty: How It Works and Some Ideas to Improve It (sic),” criticizing how the survey to rate our task as teachers is organized. Since then I’ve been pestering the Dean of my school to do something about this matter. Other teachers must have been…

  • CÓMO REACCIONAR A LAS CRÍTICAS NEGATIVAS DE LOS ESTUDIANTES (E INTENTAR MANTENER LA CALMA)

    Hace un tiempo escribí una entrada titulada “Las valoraciones estudiantiles del profesorado: cómo funcionan y algunas ideas para mejorarlas”, criticando cómo están organizadas las encuestas para valorar nuestro trabajo como profesores. Desde entonces he estado persiguiendo a la Decana de mi Facultad para que haga algo al respecto. Otros profesores debieron protestar también, porque hay…

  • REMARKABLE PRE-21ST CENTURY AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS: A LIST

    As I have mentioned I’ll be soon teaching an elective subject on autobiographies and memoirs (in English). In preparation, I’ve been putting together a list of 100 remarkable pre-21st century texts in those genres, apart from the list of 21st century books my students need to read (each student chooses four from this list). This…

  • NOTABLES AUTOBIOGRAFÍAS Y MEMORIAS ANTERIORES AL SIGLO XXI: UNA LISTA

    Como he mencionado, pronto impartiré una asignatura optativa sobre autobiografías y memorias (en inglés). En preparación, he estado elaborando una lista de 100 textos notables anteriores al siglo XXI en esos géneros, aparte de la lista de libros del siglo XXI que mis alumnos deben leer (cada estudiante elige cuatro de esta lista).Este tipo de…

  • RESPECT FOR WOMEN’S BODIES AND CHOICES: JENNIFER LOPEZ, MADONNA, AND GROK

    Today I’m writing from a mixed Gender Studies and Cultural Studies perspective adding, obviously, some very personal views. The gist of my argumentation can be summarized as ‘let 50+ women display their bodies as they wish and destroy Grok so that it can’t produce fake images of naked women’, but, logically, arguments like this are…