When you think about a class, you might think of a typical set up—you come to class, take notes, discuss readings, write papers, and take tests. All of this will mostly take place in the same class room with the same people every day, but one of my classes at Transy this semester is challenging tradition.My 20th century American Literature class examines American literature after 1945 while considering the historical and cultural context. We spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be an American presently and throughout the time period. To help us consider this more deeply, our class has paired with the Photography 1 class in the art department to do a creative project, which will define America.
Now I know what you must be thinking—it’s exactly what I thought when I heard about the project: “Why on earth would an English class work with a photography class, and how is that going to help us better understand the literature we’re reading.” The answer is that it inspires collaborative thinking, something that many classrooms don’t allow for. Having the perspective of the art students helps us better explore the meaning of America, which gives insight into the texts we read.
We just completed our first collaborative project yesterday. We had to spend 5 hours with our partner, getting to know him or her in order to produce a photographic and narrative portrait of one another. Honestly, I was dreading it at first. I barely have enough time to spend 5 extra hours with myself, let alone with someone else. In the end, though, it was an incredibly cool project. I got to learn about the values, priorities and history of someone I didn’t know very well before hand, and as it turns out, we’re pretty similar.

The portrait my partner took of me! Supposed to revel something about me you couldn't gather from a short conversation.

Our photographs turned out really well, and the narratives we wrote accurately portrayed us both.
Even in my senior year, I’m still constantly surprised by the ability of Transy professors to come up with new ways to approach education. It keeps me engaged and fuels the passion I already have for learning. Not to mention, the chance to be creative is super refreshing in the midst of strictly academic research.