Teaching Consilience: A Course Design Template

A question currently facing evolutionary literary study is how to implement consilient practices in the classroom. By definition, consilient study involves application of the scientific method to literary analysis and other interpretive fields that traditionally fall under the humanities umbrella. However, the training of literary scholars does not typically include scientific study or the application of scientific research to literary theory and explication. This article is therefore aimed at those unversed in choosing suitable scientific texts and applying them to literary exegesis in the classroom. It takes as its model a course I have developed called Children’s Literature in Evolutionary Perspective. Discussion emphasizes course design: level of instruction, selection and organization of course content, assessment methods, and teaching format.