Mainstream cultural studies, it seems, is unwilling to take art of any kind seriously, whether popular or classic. Richard Posner is not far wrong in suggesting that the aim of cultural studies "is to knock literature off its pedestal and find vehicles easier than literary works for making political points." To respond fully to literature and art…

Thomas Hebert and Matthew T. McBee's (2007) recent study of gifted university students examines how an honors program can function as a community for social, intellectual, and psychological growth. In particular, they find that honors programs offer advantageous support for gifted students in navigating social isolation, in questioning traditional…

This article reports the findings of a study that investigated the role of graphic novels in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to International Baccalaureate students (aged 15-16) in TED Ankara College Foundation Private High School. Two intact 10th grade classes were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups who studied…

In the writing of "Frankenstein", Mary Shelley was able to change the course of women's learning, forever. Her life started from an elite standpoint as the child of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. As such, she was destined to grow to be a major influence in the world. Mary Shelley's formative years were spent with her father and his many…

This article highlights a project that encourages students to connect reading and mathematics instruction by using a data analysis approach. Students analyze sonnets from statistical, literary, and historical points of view in an effort to uncover the true identity of William Shakespeare. (Contains 10 figures.)

As technology is being integrated into educational processes, teachers are searching for new ways to enhance student motivation and learning. Through shared experiences and the results of empirical research, educators can ease social networking sites into instructional usage. "The Social Classroom: Integrating Social Network Use in…

"Oedipus Rex" dramatizes a collision of past, present, and future. Once Oedipus recognizes the connection between the past and his horrific present, he stabs out his eyes, ashamed at what he has wrought and unwilling to look upon his future. The 21st-century English language arts classroom is in the midst of a collision as well. Coming into…

Charles Dickens is arguably the greatest storyteller in English Literature and his novels have been loved and respected for nearly two hundred years. As accurate reflections of Victorian society they are unparalleled. Vivid characters and realistic settings are created in the mind of the reader, all laced with Dickens inimitable humour, wit and…

This volume includes four sections of the 2020 NORDSCI international conference proceedings: (1) Education and Educational Research; (2) Language and Linguistics; (3) Philosophy; and (4) Sociology and Healthcare. Education and Educational Research includes 15 papers covering the full spectrum of education, including history, sociology and economy…

In the last twenty years, the teaching of reading in Britain has moved away from an interest in how children take delight in, and make meaning of, their literature to a preoccupation with a mechanistic approach to literacy which breaks down texts into bite-sized chunks and fragments reading into a series of isolated skills. Although an expensive,…

This study examined the effects of an intervention in writing with digital interactive books. To improve the writing skills of seventh- and eighth-grade students with a learning disability in reading, we conducted a quasi-experimental study in which the students read interactive digital books (i-books), took notes, wrote summaries, and acted as…

In this article the author shares his thoughts on how perceptions can be distorted by blinders people impose on themselves which brings him back to one of his literary and intellectual loadstones--"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." He learned that the English department at the school where he taught has changed the American literature syllabus.…

The author is an enthusiastic supporter of using young adult literature in the classroom with gifted learners--so much, that he has been accused of being "against" the classics. Not so, but he does ask about and challenges teachers to tell him if their classroom use of the classics is appropriate. Do the classics provide the kind of interaction…

The author has written about his journey to Inner Mongolia, where he helped university students mount a production of a Shakespeare play, which led him to reflect on an earlier, perhaps even more improbable journey. He then describes his growth from a student with dyslexia into a teacher, and principal as the result of guidance and encouragement…

The debate over the best delivery of general education, whether through a canon of Great Books, a core curriculum of specific courses and course sequences, or a distribution requirement of course types providing for greater student choice, has existed for generations. Today, the debate plays out in practice across the top-rated colleges and…