The New Media Group in English at George
Mason University has also done non-new media work. Last semester, through
the effort of Deborah Kaplan working with Oakton High School teacher Erica
Jacobs -- GMU English faculty held a session on contemporary novels for
Oakton High high school students. Hans Bergmann, David Kaufmann, and Marilyn
McKenzie made presentations on Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses,
Gish Jen's Mona in the Promised Land, and Toni Morrison's Beloved,
and then Deborah Kaplan and Devon Hodges joined them to go out into individual
Oakton classrooms to discuss the novels directly with the students.
[With permission from the Oakton Outlook,
sections of following text were excerpted
from an article by Jeremy Stahl.]
Dr. Levi Folly, Dr. Erica Jacobs, and members of George
Mason University's New Media Group in English recently convened a panel
of GMU Faculty to discuss three highly acclaimed modern novels with Oakton
students. The theme of the panel was "Growing Up American."
The forum was the result of months of planning and preparation by a team
of Oakton and Mason professors and administrators, who started the program
in the hopes of creating an alliance between the two Fairfax-based schools.
Dr. Don Humbertson, the head of language arts for Fairfax County, was
also involved in bringing the two schools together.
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Listen
to Panelist Professor Marilyn McKenzie Listen to Panelist Professor Hans Bergmann Listen to Panelist Professor David Kaufmann Read a Student Response to the Panel |
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| Oakton High School seniors chat with GMU Professor Zofia Burr |
The discussion panel was an afternoon special regarding three books that high school students would not normally read. The books included Toni Morrison's Beloved, Gish Jen's Mona in the Promised Land, and Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses. The format was designed to replicate college level courses and discussion groups.
There were questions regarding inappropriate material in Beloved and Mona and the Promised Land, so the students and their parents were given choices about which of the books the students would read. "I would be reluctant to require that everyone read these two books, but I think giving students the choice and knowledge on the two books was a good idea," commented Jacobs on the concern that these titles had "adult content." "I'm glad that we let the decision rest with them." All the Pretty Horses is more like a PG rated book," she added, and it has in fact been turned into a movie staring Matt Damon.
Jacobs thanked Principal Charles Ostlund for his support and also said that the group was fortunate to have the help of George Mason University CAS Dean's Office which helped purchase the 125 copies of the books that the students used, as these were books not previously offered at Oakton.
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Professors
David Kaufman (left) and Marilyn McKenzie (right) discuss the panel
with an Oakton Senior.
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