Teaching the Transatlantic Eighteenth Century

Book excerpt: The central axiom of Teaching the Transatlantic Eighteenth Century is that the classroom functions as a site for research and collaboration: not only as a space that reflects the research of individual teacher-scholars, but as a generative site to put ideas, theories, and methodologies into play. Whereas transatlanticism has transformed research practices over the last decade, the present collection is concerned with exploring what this transformation looks like in the classroom, and how the classroom continues to shape research practices in the field. Contributors address issues such as how the traffic in ideas, people, and commodities between Europe, Africa, and the New World are considered in classroom settings; how inter- and intra-departmental collaborations reshape our approaches to teaching the eighteenth century; how and why Transatlantic Studies can function as an introduction to college study; and how it can help more advanced students to revise their notions of nation, place, and identity. By now, there are a number of anthologies available to help instructors determine what transatlantic material to teach, but none that engage why and how to teach it, or what teaching it can do for us, our students, and our profession. Rather than simply providing reading lists or a collection of anecdotes about lesson plans, Teaching the Transatlantic Eighteenth Century emphasizes theorizing critical engagements with, interdisciplinary focus on, and the transformative potential of Transatlantic Studies. The primary market for Teaching the Transatlantic Eighteenth Century is university, college, and community college professors, researchers, and students, with three specific subgroups: 1. Teachers new to Transatlantic Studies Teachers coming to Transatlantic Studies for the first time will find both suggestions for materials or topical units to be integrated into existing courses (e.g., a unit on transatlantic exchange that could figure in an eighteenth-century literature survey course) and ideas for developing new courses altogether. 2. Teachers already teaching and/or researching in the field of Transatlantic Studies Such scholars will find material to broaden their approach to familiar courses and subjects: inter- or cross-disciplinary focus, new texts, successful clusterings of texts or themes or approaches, and ideas for team-teaching or linking courses with other faculty. 3. Teachers involved in Transatlantic Studies programs, especially those that focus on contemporary/Post WWII context (e.g., at the University of Dundee, the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and the University of Birmingham) Teaching the Transatlantic Eighteenth Century will provide historical context for current geopolitical studies: perspective on the dynamics and historical and political forces occurring in the eighteenth century and contributing to 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century politics, nations, and paradigms.