The Blank Syllabus

The “blank syllabus” is not totally blank; it just leaves some items blank—typically a certain number of course readings—and invites students to fill them in. This talk highlights a variety of ways to do this in a range of courses. Whatever form it takes, the blank syllabus approach deepens students’ engagement with the subject matter, with each other, and with their own educations by involving them in the semester’s most important project: creating the class.

Interested in exploring other teaching and technology strategies?

For pedagogical guidance and consultation, email ctl@bu.edu. For technology support and consultation, email askedtech@bu.edu.

Contributor

Chris Walsh

cwalsh@bu.edu

Since joining the Writing Program in 2002, Chris Walsh has taught a variety of WR courses, including “Africa and the West,” “Rotten English: the Vernacular in World Literature,” and “The Theater Now.” This year he’s teaching “Living the American Revolution” using the intellectually intensive role-playing…Read More

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Chris Walsh

cwalsh@bu.edu

Since joining the Writing Program in 2002, Chris Walsh has taught a variety of WR courses, including “Africa and the West,” “Rotten English: the Vernacular in World Literature,” and “The Theater Now.” This year he’s teaching “Living the American Revolution” using the intellectually intensive role-playing pedagogy known as Reacting to the Past. He has also taught writing and literature courses at Emerson College, Harvard University, and as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. His writing about American, English, and African Literature as well as about West Africa, where he lived for several years, has appeared in Agni, Artsfuse.org, Civil War History, Essays in Criticism, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Raritan, Salon, and the Yale Review.