The Conversation: This Course Uses Crime Novels to Teach Critical Thinking

As part of The Conversation's Uncommon Courses series, Sally Harris, Distinguished Lecturer of English, discusses her course Whodunit?: Detective Stories.

What prompted the idea for the course? I had just finished reading one of Dorothy Sayers' novels - "Gaudy Night," which in my opinion is one of the best of her detective novels featuring Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey. A colleague and I were discussing Harriet's ability to delve into the secrets of a women's college at Oxford when it occurred to me that I would have loved a detective fiction class as an undergraduate.

Although professors throughout my studies enjoyed talking about detective stories, I had never heard of any class devoted exclusively to studying them. So when the English department where I teach asked for proposals for new courses, I submitted one. It also seemed like a good way to connect with students. They could become literary detectives - reading closely, finding clues, forming theories. It also gave me the chance to research and teach stories I've enjoyed for years.

Read the full article at The Conversation.

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