Whitworth University Honors Program - The Honors Experience

The Honors Experience: EL 115H

Charles "Casey" Andrews
EL 115H: Reading in Action: Book Lovers Unite!

The focus of this introductory-level honors course is a critical investigation of literary reading in theory and in practice. The cluster of course texts that students encounter all deal with the varieties of ways that people read, asking students to evaluate their own love of literature and the usefulness of that literacy.

Reading in Action is a great class (even though the name makes it sound like a class about remedial sentence structures). I have really enjoyed being in a group where everyone feels open to bounce ideas back and forth. I hate being the only one who is willing to talk in a class, but with the honors program, we have classes where everyone is eager to learn and everyone participates. Casey does a great job choosing interesting pieces and keeping us all engaged. Finally, a class where I can say, "Stoppard is my new homeboy" and not be laughed at!

Haley Baxley, '16

Whether it's nuns pushing actresses off bell towers, the poetry of John Donne, or shirtless Slovenian philosophers, we always seem to find something entertaining to discuss in Reading in Action.

Honestly, this course is one of the best English classes I've ever taken. With topics ranging from the spheres of reading to who we would cast in a modern version of Twelfth Night, every day we have something new to discuss. The small class size accommodates these conversations, and each student has a chance to voice his or her opinion on a given work.

Credit must be given to Professor Casey Andrews, who designed the course and chose the reading material that goes along with it. Over the past few months we've read so many great works, none of which has been dull. Each piece is challenging and thought-provoking, and allows us as a class to examine a number of complex ideas.

Reading in Action is the most amusing and educational course you'll ever take. I don't know if I'll find a class like it again in my time at Whitworth. For that matter, I doubt you'll find a course like it at any other university.

Nicholas Avery, '16

Danny Cossey, '16, listens to 101-year-old Irene Kinnier, a resident of Rockwood at Hawthorne. "There are so many stories and perspectives on history and life that will soon be forgotten," Cossey says. "Writing them down is the best way to make what people achieved, felt, thought and experienced mean something to the generations after them."