Recently, I’ve been participating in a massive online open course by the name of ModPo – short for Modern and Contemporary American Poetry. This course is the holy grail for all avid poetry lovers around the world who want to learn from none other than Professor Al Filreis of the University of Pennsylvania, the brilliant teaching assistants and hundreds of fellow course readers. During the 10-week live symposium mode beginning from September 2nd 2023, there have been a series of live interactive webcasts, where Filreis and his panel of TAs discuss the poems for the week, and invite learners to call in and voice their thoughts. Like this, week by week, we have made our way from the likes of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman all the way to the Beat poets. Al Filreis and his TAs really do show that this is the future of literary study: intellectually collaborative, deeply inclusive and technological. Suffice to say, ModPo is exceptional: the kind of digital humanities x poetry lovechild that only existed in my dreams (until now).
The beauty of it
I have been awed by the impact that ModPo has on people’s lives. It is a community. It is a place where everyone’s creativity is welcomed, regardless of their age, nationality, occupation or any other identification. This means that the course attracts people who want to get into learning again, having been out of touch for whatever reason – worlds apart from the ivory tower of the modern-day university. I love that Al tells people to hang on even when they feel the poetry is getting too ‘difficult’ or that there is too much to get through – just do a little bit, he says, stay with us. That’s the mantra that’s kept me going even in the busy weeks.One thing I’ve always loved about literature is that people in different times and places can be in conversation. A poet in the present day responds to a poet of the 90s who responds to a poet of the 70s and all the way back. The ModPo course takes us through notable figures chronologically and those in influence of one another, recreating the nature of literature in the first place. We can see the full evolution of American poetry as we know it today.
One of my favourite essay assignments in the whole curriculum far was on Dickinson and her poem ‘Another Loneliness’. Here is a brief quote from my essay:
We are thrown in media res into a conversation about various lonelinesses. Dickinson makes a contrarian entry to the debate: ‘There is another loneliness’. To further mystify matters, the speaker constructs this version of loneliness via negativa. It is rare, ‘many die without’; it is not caused by any of the usual suspects, ‘want’, and ironically, a ‘friend’ themselves. In this disorientation about what it means to be secluded, and the whys and wherefores of it, it becomes clear that our desired definition is not external to the speaker. It is not ‘circumstances’ or ‘Lot’. From the vortex of external influences that we usually associate with loneliness, there emerges ‘another Loneliness’: one that is not a curse, but an inarticulable blessing.
– Shreya Manna, ModPo Essay Assignment #1
A critical lens
Of course, I am prone to being dreamy / eulogistic about anything I enjoy and it is worth taking a more critical view of the enterprise too. For one, I wonder whether the mating of close reading with the conventions of digital media just results in more meaninglessness. Everyone has their two cents to offer: this has the great benefit of being radically inclusive, and of bringing down the ivory tower belief that poetry is the preserve of the privileged few. But…how is one to meaningfully navigate the thousands of opinions being amassed on the daily by course participants? This also brings with it the risk of misinformation – no peer review authority on the free-for-all discussion forums – and potential spam. It is a serious challenge to manage learning and collaboration on such a scale.
There is also some difficulty I experienced with the choice of poets: Gertrude Stein, deeply experimental New York School and Language poetry. While I enjoy the close readings that break into the hull of am otherwise opaque poem, the traditionalist in me longs for Emily Dickinson, Joy Harjo; people whose poetic tongue is simple and strong. Sometimes, I don’t want to be immersed in dizzying motley of interpretations, but simply to experience a poem, and carry it with me, and hold its wisdom for days to come.
Why ModPo matters to me
One thing I’ve always loved about literature is that people in different times and places can be in conversation. A poet in the present day responds to a poet of the 90s who responds to a poet of the 70s and all the way back. The ModPo course takes us through notable figures chronologically and those in influence of one another, recreating the nature of literature in the first place. We can see the full evolution of American poetry as we know it today.
ModPo has been valuable to me not only as a critic but also as a poet. The poets of ModPo have taught me how to express the deepest loneliness, the shock of cold blooded murder, injustice, you name it — to borrow the title of one of the poems, ModPo gives you ‘Thirteen Different Ways of Looking at a Blackbird’. I am so deeply grateful to the University of Pennsylvania and the Kelly Writer’s House for running this incredible initiative. Needless to say, I am going to miss it dearly when the live course ends at the end of November.
Where next? I am a little bit disheartened that ModPo is one of a kind, that there aren’t more MOOCs, administered by universities across the world, that encourage close reading and discussion of poetry. I want to see equivalent MOOCs for postcolonial poetry, ecopoetry, British poetry, all the flavours of the rainbow! I suppose it must be a challenge of securing funding and teaching staff as much as anything. Curious to see how the MOOC poetry universe unfolds…
Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas for collaborative poetry discussion ventures!
Paradise Prose 