In our third unit, we will read selections from Simon Schama s Landscape and Memory , a meditation on how ideas about natural and man-made landscapes have influenced the ways in which Westerners conceive of their own identities. Schama goes beyond environmental politics to assess a broad range of sources from art and literature. He uses these sources to examine why it is that we conceive of nature in the ways that we do. There will only be about five of us, which makes it possible for us to meet as a tutorial. The tutorial originated at Oxford and Cambridge, and is used at some American colleges, like Harvard.
Tutorial classes are limited to small groups, and meet once per week.
Students read extensively, then come to class prepared to present their ideas to the group. Ideas are presented in discussion, and also in short essays that are read aloud to the group. The tutorial method places significant responsibility on the students to prepare carefully. It rewards students richly, in giving them an opportunity master a field of study and to polish their presentation skills, all in a small, comfortable setting. Traditionally tutorials meet in the home of the tutor.