Jeffrey Halprin

I focus my energy as a teacher on accomplishing two central goals:

First, I want students to receive a firm foundation in the skills, content and vocabulary of literature and writing.

Second, I intend that students will complete their course feeling that looking at literature is a valuable way to explore important questions and that writing is a valuable way to explore and express ideas worth communicating.

I feel my classes are a success if they help students develop the sense of their own ability to read, to analyze, and to write and to make those things a part of their real lives.

Much of my work outside the classroom is in the study of Teaching and Learning, which is all about improving teaching effectiveness.  I serve on the Board, and am Past-President, of the New England Faculty Development Consortium which brings together teachers from throughout the region to explore strategies for improving teaching.  I have delivered papers locally and nationally on effective and engaging teaching.

Additionally, in spite of the fact, or maybe because, I have one of the best jobs in the world, I am fascinated by looking at the role WORK plays in people's lives.  I am currently working on a manuscript evaluating the recent changes in the way people in the U.S. have though about the importance of work in defining who they are.

I also love to ski and to ride horses, and to build things, like my new deck.

I teach a variety of literature and writing courses. Most recently, I have taught American Literature, African American Literature, Introduction to the Novel, Modern Fiction, and World Literature IV (focusing on recent African, Asian, and Latin American Literature).  I also teach Expository Writing and advanced Non-Fiction Writing.  I created courses in Journalism and Athletes, Fans, & Society, though I haven't taught those lately.