Activities

Talks: from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. on Tuesdays, March 11, 18, and 25, and April 1, 22, and 29. Yale faculty members present talks on topics drawn from current or potential Institute seminars. The talks are intended to stimulate thinking and discussion and to point up interdisciplinary relationships in scholarship and teaching.

Seminars: a two-hour meeting on March 4 and April 8 and meetings weekly from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. on Tuesdays between May 6 and July 15. The seminars have the related and equally important purposes of increasing Fellows' background in, and developing new curricular materials on, the seminar subjects. The First Meeting in early March decides questions of each seminar's conduct and schedule and acquaints seminar members with the projects they will pursue individually. Bibliographies prepared by seminar leaders are distributed. The Second Meeting in early April includes a discussion of the final unit topics Fellows have chosen. The seminar decides on common readings to be discussed at subsequent meetings. At Weekly Meetings held between May 6 and July 15 Fellows study the general subject of the seminar and consider work in progress on the individual curriculum units by discussing common readings, including each Fellow's own writing. They also explore teaching strategies and classroom activities.

Reading Period: March 4 to July 1. Fellows read extensively on the seminar subject and intensively on the topic of the unit being developed. Fellows are expected to begin unit research early in this period, and to complete readings in preparation for each seminar meeting. Readings are drawn from annotated bibliographies prepared by Institute faculty members and from the Fellows' own research as they refine their topics.

Curriculum Unit Writing: April 8 to July 31. Each curriculum unit is a minimum of fifteen, single-spaced pages in length and contains four elements: a) objectives—a clear statement of what the unit seeks to achieve, b) strategies—a unified, coherent teaching plan for those objectives, c) classroom activities—three or more detailed examples of actual teaching methods or lesson plans, d) resources—three annotated lists: a bibliography for teachers, a reading list for students, and a list of materials for classroom use. The discussion of objectives and strategies consists of paragraphs of sustained narrative, exposition, or argument, and constitutes at least two thirds of the completed unit.

The stages in the writing process are as follows.

Unit Topic, Prospectus, Reading List: due April 8. Each Fellow, in consultation with the seminar leader and other seminar members, refines his or her topic and chooses basic readings for research. An essay of two-to-four pages describes what the Fellow intends the final unit to contain, and may posit more than one alternative. This provides each seminar member with an overview of his or her colleagues' work.

First Draft: due May 27. The first draft consists of a longer essay on the unit's objectives and strategies and is distributed and discussed in seminar. The seminar leader provides written comments on this draft by June 3.

Second Draft: due July 1. This draft, submitted in printed and electronic form, includes a rewriting of the objectives and strategies of the unit and a first writing of the unit's other elements. The draft is returned with comments by July 8.

Completed Unit: due July 31 in both printed and electronic form. Fellows follow Institute instructions for word processing, illustration, and use of any copyrighted material. A written evaluation of the Institute program and any requests to order classroom materials are due by August 15. Honoraria checks are mailed after all required submissions have been reviewed and accepted, but not before August 20.

Discussion on Curriculum Unit Development: from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. on March 18. The session presents Institute unit guidelines to first-time participants and explores returning Fellows' approaches to writing a curriculum unit.

Individual Fellow-Faculty Meetings: Fellows are expected to meet individually with their seminar leader at least twice, once while deciding on a final unit topic and reading list, and again while writing the unit, usually after the first draft is returned with the seminar leader's comments. Fellows are encouraged to discuss the development and teaching of their units with other Fellows and Institute faculty members throughout the seminar period.

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