SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND Sct Department of Religion (chs Teaching Observation for Ms. Emma Brodeur | have had one opportunity to observe Ms. Brodeur in her teaching; | believe her dissertation advisor and our FPP Director worked closely with her on syllabus preparation. The class | observed was about week 4 of a 100- level Introduction to Religion class in which Ms. Brodeur was guiding students though the second half of Mircea Eliade'’s classic text, The Sacred and the Profane. ‘The first of Ms. Brodeur’s talents that impressed me is the quiet and easy rapport she has with her students, She arrives early in class and quietly makes herself available to return papers and answer questions as she readies herself for class. She takes roll, and her voice is very soft, but students quiet down to match her tonality and that allows her to inject some gentle banter into the banal roll-call. (On the day | observed, Oprah was visiting campus, and she lightly acknowledged the celebrity presence and brouhaha that was skittering about outside.) I quickly became absorbed in class. Why? Because Ms. Brodeur has a graceful, effortless manner of both soliciting insights and commentary fram students and also deftly guiding conversation. She extended the power and value of student comments by recording them on the board and linking them either to other parts of Eliade’s text or to the film they had screened, Field of Dreams. Just as | was about to recall that | was there to observe and not simply be immersed, Ms. Brodeur broke rhythm and divided the class into groups. She gave the students a clear task and a clear time frame—take ten minutes to examine one of the four elements (Earth, Sky, Water, Fire) that Eliade charts—and then she carefully navigated each group's reporting and sharing. As with all group tasks that I've observed, the students widely diverged in participation, preparation, and intelligence. The overall effect, however, is successful in shaking up the classroom space (making it horizontal and multi-dialogic instead of vertical tete-a-tetes between teacher and sequential students) and in allowing students to (re}engage the material at hand in their own way and at a different pace than a large classroom discussion allows. If | had to point to places for improvement, these would be classroom dynamics that take years of experience to handle expertly. Once, for instance, a student lost her question and asked for a moment to recover her place in the text and in the conversation; Ms. Brodeur forgot, | think, to return to this student, in part because two other men in the class tended to dominate discussion. This slight wobble comes more from Emma's sensitivity and patience and care for her students, and especially for the one speaking now, at this moment. Ms. Brodeur ended her class a bit early to allow students time to approach her individually to ask questions about the paper tat was due the next class period, M. Gail Hamner Professor, Director of Graduate Studies 501 Hall of Languages / Syracuse, NY 19244-1170 / 315-443-8861 / Pax; 315-443-3958 /hitp/religion syr.edu