Pamela Ralston prepares meticulous syllabi for her courses. She sets clear course goals and then develops sequences of writing assignments to steadily draw students deeper into the literature they're reading. Inside the classroom, she excels at drawing students into energetic and challenging discussions. Teaching assistants in comparative literature often teach in a number of different departments.
Discovery fuels the process.
Ralston helps students understand what a given work of literature has to say to its readers, and she helps them discover that they have something to say in response. She sets a high standard for respectful, spirited and thoughtful discourse, and she holds students accountable for maintaining those standards. Her expectations for written work are equally high. Students write regularly and often in Ralston's classes. In his teaching and by personal example, David Shapiro contradicts the notion that philosophy lives only in the ivory tower.