Making It Personal: Life Experience in Nontraditional Literature Seminars

Books@Work is a nonprofit based in Cleveland, Ohio. We bring professor-led literature seminars to workplace and community settings to allow participants to see each other more completely as human beings, connect with each other more fully, and value differences of perspective. We are, quite literally, "teaching community"—we are creating shared experiences wherein groups of people learn to interact differently together. In exit interviews, professors often tell me that they enjoy leading Books@Work seminars because working with adults in an informal setting allows them to make the learning experience more personal, both for themselves and for the participants. Indeed, making it personal appears to be the linchpin of our intervention into participants' workplaces, communities, and self-understanding. That teaching experience gives professors a new context for understanding their college teaching and demonstrates to them how effective a personal connection to the material is, both for them and for their students.