Fall classes for hurricane students in full force
By Reva Brant

On Oct. 8, students who transferred to the University of Missouri from the Gulf states following Hurricane Katrina joined other MU students on the first day of late-registration classes. The classes, including courses in religious studies, Spanish, math, philosophy, and a Freshman Interest Group, are all full.

“There has been nothing but positive feedback about the courses,” said Ted Tarkow, associate dean of Arts & Sciences.

One of the courses offered is a brand new class created by Patricia Okker. She created an English 2309 class, “Topics in American Literature 1890-Present: New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in Literature and Film.”

“The students are engaged with the material,” Okker said. “It is a challenging course. There are three different teachers running the course, which creates a challenge for the students. They have to create their own threads. Usually the teacher does but now it’s up to the students.”

In the aftermath of Katrina, the University asked each department to think about a new course to add. Okker, who wasn’t sure of the exact age or grade level of these students, at first thought to add a general English literature course. Upon further thought, she realized that these students all had something in common, whether they were from New Orleans or the Gulf area. This English course focuses on literature from these areas.

“This is the real interesting course Patricia created,” Tarkow said. “There are two different types of students on this campus who were affected by this. One is the students who were studying in New Orleans, and second are the MU students who were from the Gulf area of their family was.”

In this course, students are required to keep up on their reading assignments.

“With 11 students in the class, discussion is a big part of the grade,” Okker said. “Some of the stories address issues on the river, class and race.”

The course mainly focuses on 20th century literature from the area, mostly non-fiction. They get to watch two films from the area. The first was “A Street Car Named Desire,” and later in the semester, “Jesabelle,” from the 1930s. Apart from the literature covered in class, students are required to complete one semester-long project, one midterm, and a final.

“At the end of the course, we will barely scratch the surface. Literature in the area is so rich, it is never complete,” Okker said.

Tarkow described all of the other things MU has done for approximately 30 students who transferred here from the Gulf.

“The Athletic Department gave them free all sports passes; and they can sign up for group counseling to get professional intervention. They have really done a lot,” he said.

> Back to Corner Post Home