How to Progress from Second-Language Acquisition to Critical Literary Interpretation and Cultural Analysis
Kelly Comfort (Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, UC-Davis, 2005) is Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech. Prof. Comfort will outline effective approaches to using literature in the foreign-language classroom. Her talk will address how to choose appropriate literary texts and how to use those texts to hone language skills, foster literary analysis, promote critical thinking, raise cross-cultural awareness, promote personal reflection, and encourage creative engagement. Comfort’s presentation will include both theoretical considerations on the use of literary texts in foreign language pedagogy as well as practical applications and sample materials and assignments.
Kelly Comfort will explain her comprehensive and unique approach to teaching literature in the foreign-language classroom. Her talk will address the following topics:
- How to choose appropriate literary texts for foreign language classes: lexical complexity, language level; genre, length, thematic relevance, overall accessibility.
- How to teach language skills through literary texts: activities to hone reading, speaking, listening, and writing; approaches to improving vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and structure.
- How to teach literary analysis through literary texts: the basics of plot, characters, setting, and narration; close-reading strategies; literary interpretation strategies; engagement with literary criticism; comparative literature approaches.
- How to teach cultural studies through literary texts: text as cultural artifact; text as springboard for cultural comparison and reflection.
- How (and why) to promote personal reflection and creative engagement through literary texts: sample questions, assignments, and projects.
❖ Thursday, Oct 13, 4:15-5:45p pm | Griffin 4
Kelly Comfort (Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, UC-Davis, 2005) is Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech. A specialist in Latin American literature, Comfort’s Cien años de identidad: Introducción a la literatura latinoamericana del siglo XX (Georgetown UP, 2018) received the 2019 “Most Promising New Textbook Award” from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association. An expert in transatlantic modernisms, she published the monograph European Aestheticism and Spanish American Modernismo (Palgrave, 2011) and the edited volume Art and Life in Aestheticism(Palgrave, 2008). Her contributions to the fields of urban studies and flânerie studies include two co-edited volumes: Twenty-First Century Flânerie: From Social Distance to Social Justice (South Atlantic Review, 2022) and New Directions in Flânerie: Global Perspectives for the Twenty-First Century (Routledge, 2021). She is currently working on a second textbook on Teaching the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: A Global Humanities Approach. Comfort has received fifteen teaching awards.