When you’re involved in both the planning and the operation of a program like Osher, lots of things happen at the same time. Today, I’ll be part of a panel of instructors leading a class called “We Want You . . . To Teach for Osher.” Almost 30 potential new instructors are registered for this class, and I’m hopeful that we’ll get a dozen or more people who follow through on proposing and teaching a course.
The first thing potential instructors have to do is fill out an Intention to Teach (ITT) form. This form asks for some basic information – the instructor’s contact information, a brief description of the course she’s thinking about teaching, and a bit of information about the instructor’s background and credentials. When the Osher office receives the ITT, they forward it to the Subject Area Coordinator (SAC) who serves on the Curriculum Committee. The SAC then contacts the potential new instructor and chats informally about what the instructor plans to do. If this discussion doesn’t raise any red flags everything seems normal (which is almost always the case), the SAC tells the Osher office to put the instructor on the list of people who will be sent a Request For Proposals (RFP) the next time they go out. The RFP asks for much more detailed information about the proposes course and thus takes more time to prepare. I’m the SAC for American History, so I receive the ITTs for this category..
The timeline for this is a little tight right now. We have two terms coming up – a Summer term (during the month of June) and the Fall term (from September -November).
The Requests for Proposals for the Summer (June) term will be sent out on March 1; proposals are due on April 7.
The Requests for Proposals for the Fall session (beginning in September) will be sent out on April 3; proposals are due on May 5.
Current instructors have to juggle the conflicting obligations to teach this semester’s classes while looking ahead to the next sessions. Here’s how this looks for me. I’m teaching a class that runs from February 20-March 6. This overlaps with the Summer RFP schedule. If any of the new instructors generated by today’s class submit ITTs that fall into the American History category, I’ll need to respond to them within a week or two so they can be put on the list to receive an RFP.
I’m teaching another class that runs from March 20-April 6. I expect I will continue to receive ITTs from instructors who didn’t submit one in time to teach in the June session. I will need to communicate with these instructors and make sure they get on the list to receive an RFP on April 3. In addition, If I want to teach a class in the June term, I will have to submit my proposal (which is very detailed) while I’m teaching this class.
This is all busy, but I also enjoy it (or I wouldn’t do it). It’s fun to talk to people who want to teach in the Osher program. Many of them are fairly new to Williamsburg, so it’s enjoyable to hear their enthusiasm about their new community. In addition, people who want to teach in this program are always interesting. They are passionate enough about a topic to plan and teach a course FOR FREE. (Our instructors aren’t paid.) They are energetic and gregarious folks. They almost always have interesting career and personal backgrounds. Some of them are retired teachers or professors (as you would expect), but many of them decide to teach after a career of doing something else. They often propose classes that are not connected to their backgrounds or experiences. We have tax lawyers who teach American History, physicians who teach Art History, and city planners who teach gardening. They often say that this is their chance to indulge their passions without being burdened by the need to make money.
I don’t plan to teach in the June session, but I do plan to teach two courses in the Fall. Neither of them will be a new course, so they won’t require as much work over the summer to get them in shape to teach. I plan to reprise two courses that I enjoyed planning and teaching and that were well received by members of the class.
One is called “Go West, Young Man: Westward Expansion in American History Mythology,” focusing on the movement west in the 17th-19th centuries. This movement both drove and reflected the domestic and foreign policy of the United States for over 200 years, and is mirrored in our political ethos and popular culture.
The second is called “The Building Years: The United States in the Federalist Era (1789-1800).” I developed this class because I felt that this time period is overlooked in most survey courses on American history. Survey classes seem to jump from war to war, so students often get the impression that not much happened between the American Revolution and the War of 1812. This course demonstrates that this is not true.
When I say that this is “busy,” recognize that I mean “busy for someone who is retired.” I don’t have to set my alarm most mornings – although if I’m teaching at 9:30 I set my alarm for 7:00 out of an abundance of caution and a need to do the NYT Crossword Puzzle before I start my day. I have time to research and write about things not connected to the Osher program, as the regular readers of this newsletter know. I can almost always fit in lunch with friends and I’m home most evenings to binge-watch some Netflix or Amazon Prime series with Tim. Our recent faves have been The Americans, Downton Abbey, Outlander, and Ozark. We’re currently alternative between How to Get Away With Murder and Breaking Bad. I know, we were late to the party for several of these, but they’re still good.
Thanks, Karen.