Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”)

University of Pennsylvania via Coursera

Go to class Write review

Details

Go to class

Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Free Online Course (Audit)
Languages

English
Duration & workload

10 weeks long, 93 hours worth of material
Sessions
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

Arabic, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, English, Spanish

A Best Course of All Time

Found in

Overview

Class Central Tips

ModPo is a FREE (no fee, no charge) fast-paced introduction to modern and contemporary U.S. poetry, with an emphasis on experimental verse, from Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to the present. Participants (who need no prior experience with poetry) will learn how to read poems that are supposedly "difficult." We encounter and discuss the poems one at a time. It's much easier than it seems! Join us and try it!

ModPo is open all year, so you can enroll now, or any time, and join us. Each year we host a lively, interactive 10-week session, in which we move together through the ten-week syllabus. The next live 10-week session of ModPo will begin on September 3, 2022, and will conclude on November 14, 2022. Al Filreis will be in touch with you by email before the September 3 start of the course with all the information you'll need to participate. If you have questions, you can email the ModPo team any time at [email protected] Much more information about ModPo can be found at modpo.org.

During the 10 weeks of the course, you will be guided through poems, video discussions of each poem, and community discussions of each poem. And (unique among open online courses) we offer weekly, interactive live webcasts. Our famed TAs also offer office hours throughout the week. We help arrange meet-ups and in-site study groups.

If you are curious about the ModPo team, type "ModPo YouTube introduction" into Google or your favorite search engine, and watch the 20-minute introductory video. You will get an overview of the course and will meet the brilliant TAs, who will be encountering the poems with you all the way to the end.

If you use Facebook, join the always-thriving ModPo group: from inside Facebook, search for "Modern & Contemporary American Poetry" and then request to be added as a member. If you have any questions about ModPo, you can post a question to the FB group and you'll receive an almost instant reply.

Much more information about ModPo can be found at modpo.org .

We tweet all year long at @ModPoPenn and you can also find ModPo colleagues using the hashtag #ModPoLive.

ModPo is hosted by—and is housed at—the Kelly Writers House at 3805 Locust Walk on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia USA. All ModPo'ers are welcome to visit the Writers House when they are in our area. Our discussions are filmed there. Our live webcasts take place in the famed "Arts Cafe" of the House. To find out what's going on at the Writers House any time, just dial 215-746-POEM.

Syllabus

chapter 1.1 (week 1)—Whitman & Dickinson, two proto-modernists

Week 1 of ModPo 2022 runs from Sunday, September 4 at 9 AM through Sunday, September 11 at 9 AM. For those doing ModPo on their own or in small groups, the week 1 materials are open and available all year.
In this first week of our course, we'll encounter two 19th-century American poets whose quite different approaches to verse similarly challenged the official verse culture of the time. As a matter of form (but also of content), Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were radicals. What sort of radicalism is this? In a way, this course is all about exploring expressions of that radicalism from Whitman and Dickinson to the present day. Such challenges to official verse culture (and often U.S. culture at large) present us with a lineage of ideas about art and expression, a tradition that can be outlined, mostly followed, somewhat traced. In this course, we follow, to the best of our ability — and given the limits of time — that tradition and try to make overall sense of it. We will read Divya Victor's "W Is for Walt Whitman's Soul" toward the end of week 1 in anticipation of other later responses to Whitman and Dickinson encountered in week 2.
You will find that we do this one poem at a time. Here in week 1, we will explore Dickinson first, Whitman second, and then begin to sketch out the major differences between them, which, some say, amount to two opposite ends of the spectrum of poetic experimentalism and dissent in the nineteenth century. Which is to say: on the spectrum of traditional-to-experimental poetry, these two poets are on the same end (experimental); on the spectrum of experimentalism, their approaches can put them on opposite ends. In short, they offer us alternative poetic radicalisms, and their influences down the line (which we will explore in week 2) are both powerful but are also largely distinct. One question you'll be prepared to ask by the end of the course: Is the Dickinsonian or the Whitmanian tradition more ascendant and apt in today's experimental poetry?
ASSIGNMENTS: During this week, there are two quizzes due (see below); there are no writing assignments or peer reviews due. There is a live webcast on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 3PM (Philadelphia time).

Taught by

Al Filreis

Charts

#1 in Subjects / Humanities
#1 in Subjects / Humanities / Literature
#1 in Subjects / Literature / Poetry

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 189 Class Central reviews

4.9 rating at Coursera based on 485 ratings

Start your review of Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”)

Jan Wenk Cedras

Jan Wenk Cedras completed this course.

This is by far the best class that I have taken in many years, both online or in person. Al Filreis is a superb teacher who has boundless enthusiasm, energy and insight. He is generous and thoughtful, inclusive and yet demanding in a positive thought...

This is by far the best class that I have taken in many years, both online or in person. Al Filreis is a superb teacher who has boundless enthusiasm, energy and insight. He is generous and thoughtful, inclusive and yet demanding in a positive thought provoking way. And the best part is that his love of the poems and the poets we study not only encourages all of us to draw new conclusions about material that we may have been familiar with for years, but he shows us that he also continuously stays open to new ideas that are sparked by not only his TAs but many of the participants as well. Furthermore, in a class of 36,000 students, he makes it his job to not only start threads in the vast array of discussions in the forums, but also to come in and comment frequently. He's everywhere. I hope he gets some sleep when ModPo ends. But wait, no it doesn't end. Because the site and video discussions and forum discussions continue to stay operational all the way up to next fall, when I know that I will definitely sign up again. This is my first year in ModPo, since although I signed up last fall, I was in the process of moving across country and had limited time. So I hope to receive a certificate for this year, but I plan to come back to audit next year and the fact that I will not need to complete the compulsory coursework, I will be able to take full advantage of the discussions. I am also looking forward to Julia Bloch, poet, professor and lead TA lead a close reading through Bernadette Mayer's poem "Midwinter Day" next month. Another lovely extension of the ModPo experience is a group in the forums that is doing a close reading of Tender Buttons. And I will be able to continue to stay in contact with the ModPo community in the forums all the way to September '14. I am a poet and a lifelong learner. I definitely recommend this course for all levels as it is very inclusive and you can take what you can and participate at your (comfort) level. You can just audit it, or you can receive a certificate. There are all levels welcome, all ages and more than half of the participants live outside the US. Insomnia has its rewards. There is always someone awake and cogent in the middle of my night somewhere in this global class. A beautiful surprise is that some of the poets that we study are very accessible and participate in live webcasts. One in particular participated in a discussion thread on one of his poems. How incredible is that?
Christie Williamson

Christie Williamson completed this course, spending 8 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be hard.

I started this course having loved poetry my whole life, written it, translated it, devoured books of it, spent as much of my life in and around it as I possibly could. Indeed I love it so much that I've never trusted a university with it. I've seen...

I started this course having loved poetry my whole life, written it, translated it, devoured books of it, spent as much of my life in and around it as I possibly could. Indeed I love it so much that I've never trusted a university with it. I've seen the best minds of my generation fucked up by their alma mater, and believe me I was on the watch and straight out at the first glimmer of that happening.

The first time I took this course I got as far whatever week Stein was, and got frightened off. Not by Stein, but by the analysis. I think reading Stein is analytically challenging, and I enjoyed it, but I guess was kind of sated for analysis. I think it was a cultural thing, and there was a lot of sheer circumstance involved. And some things take some time to sink in. Poetry certainly does.

Revisiting the course two years later, the previously covered ground bings fresh rewards. And when I get to Stein, I relish the analysis.

To 'do' the full ten weeks of ModPo - which includes four essays, at least four peer reviews of each essay, weekly discussion forum posts is a lot. And boy is it wort that lot.

As a poet, my biggest fears in sharing critical and analytical reading techniques were 1) that saying what I thought wouldn't be enough, and that I'd have to try to sound like somebody I'm not and 2) that the well would choke dry.

2) is hilarious, laughable from here - having completed this, only the second mooc that's ever held me through its entire syllabus. Poetry has been oozing from me - a lot of it very directly flavoured by the material in the course but by no means all, and none of it without some me at the core, and discovering how to say what I think, and discovering that there are people out there who give a flying jacks ass what I think is pretty sweet medicine indeed.

Finally, it has made me broaden my reading horizons, and made me write about poetics. What more could a poet ask for?
S.e. Ingraham

S.e. Ingraham completed this course, spending 7 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.

I believe I did review this course when I first completed it in 2013. I am delighted to review it again after having completed it in 2014, and also in 2015 - although this year I helped out as a Community TA, which meant I did more peer reviewing and...

I believe I did review this course when I first completed it in 2013. I am delighted to review it again after having completed it in 2014, and also in 2015 - although this year I helped out as a Community TA, which meant I did more peer reviewing and discussing - and didn't write any assignments or quizzes. Since I earned a certificate of achievement in the first two years, this worked well for me and I was honored to be able to give something back to this very worthwhile course.

ModPo continues to draw students from all over the world - many of them, like me, "repeat offenders" - we joke about being addicted to this class, but it really is an experience like no other. I have taken a handful of other MOOC's now, so have some with which to compare this class - and while they all seem to be developing nicely - this one still continues to shine. Maybe it's the intimacy created by such a caring professor and his indefatigable TA's (if I'm not mistaken, they are the same ones he began the course with back in 2012). Prof Al Filreis and his group seem to get to know all 30,000+ of us, hear our needs, and somehow make sure every one of us is addressed.

In addition to imparting a great deal of knowledge about Modern and Post-modern American poets and poetry during these few months, I can attest first hand to the warmth that spills over the airwaves during the webcasts, and in the forums. When Filreis invites everyone to the Kelly Writers House on the University of Pennsylvania campus, he is being sincere. I had the opportunity to visit there this past October and was invited to sit in on a panel and discuss Gertrude Stein. Who am I to do such a thing? No-one really. Just another ModPo student, fortunate enough to take this class. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Even if you're not sure you like poetry, this is the place to explore the notion, discuss it, meet some intriguing people - you might be surprised. I know I was.
S.E.Ingraham
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

ModPo is a superb course in every respect. The video discussions model collaborative close readings, which I think is a real strength of the approach, and the forums are rich with every kind of discussion. The professor, Al Filreis, and TA staff are extraordinarily...

ModPo is a superb course in every respect. The video discussions model collaborative close readings, which I think is a real strength of the approach, and the forums are rich with every kind of discussion. The professor, Al Filreis, and TA staff are extraordinarily active, not just technically, but substantively, in the forums and in the Facebook group, and indeed, we communicate with them directly by name and they know an extraordinary number of our names, too. The attitude is one of co-learning from all sides--an Al Filreis mantra is "the wisdom is in the room." There are numerous live webcasts in which anyone can bring up anything they want about the week's subject matter (and they do!), the resource materials provided are enormous and generously available (they're available free to anyone inside or outside the course on an unlimited basis), and the effort among the staff to build and maintain a worldwide community of people excited about poetry is phenomenal. After the course ended "officially," the staff kept the entire coursera site open until the next iteration of the course started a year later. Discussions continued and friendships were made; many people, including from places as far away as Wales, made the pilgrimage to UPenn to participate "live" on webcast days. Absolutely anything you want to find out is there to dig in to in depth. It's an extraordinarily rich course--the single best educational experience I've had in my life.
pomo58

pomo58 completed this course.

I was an English major in school decades ago and leaned toward prose and theory, so I didn't give poetry any more time or effort than necessary. As a result, I was ignorant of a great deal of what it takes to appreciate poetry beyond the very basic, straightforward...

I was an English major in school decades ago and leaned toward prose and theory, so I didn't give poetry any more time or effort than necessary. As a result, I was ignorant of a great deal of what it takes to appreciate poetry beyond the very basic, straightforward poem. This course has not only helped me to appreciate the poetry we studied, but given me the confidence to approach poetry not covered by this course. The approach is accessible to all regardless of background, yet is still rigorous. While the professor's views are certainly expressed, they are not put forward as "THE" way to read a poem, but as A way to read a particular poem. Everyone from the TAs in the videos to every single student is encouraged to find his/her own way into each poem. I say every single student because, in addition to the forums where there are ongoing discussions (often including the TAs and the professor) but the staff also have virtual office hours so you can exchange ideas or ask questions and get an immediate response. Of the MOOCs I have taken in the Humanities, this combination of pedagogical approach and structure is by far the most conducive to teaching and encouraging. And in many MOOCs, it is the encouragement that is lacking.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I was not an active participant this time, but I have been an active participant and have finished twice in the past. No amount of praise would be sufficient to give Al and his program. There are at least two reasons why this course succeeds at the...

I was not an active participant this time, but I have been an active participant and have finished twice in the past. No amount of praise would be sufficient to give Al and his program. There are at least two reasons why this course succeeds at the highest level. Number one, a very difficult and challenging body of work is addressed. The material ('Modern & Contemporary American Poetry') is approached through a team effort. What at first might seem resistant to human logic, intelligence and explication will eventually become manifest. Why is that important? Because some may argue that poetry is the highest and most important form of human communication. It reveals the most, and is, consequently, the most important form of communication. Secondly, this course helps to train one in being attentive to language. In our new era of 'fake news', Orwellian pronouncements, and so on, this course - if made universally available, at to those with something resembling a brain - would help everyone to see throught the morass of evil that is currently being promulgated day after day after day.

So, what more can I say? A wonderful - and necessary course.
Bob Zahniser

Bob Zahniser completed this course, spending 10 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.

This course is GREAT! I was in the last session in 2016. If you're going for the certificate you have to write 4 essays of at least 500 words, and review 4 essays every time you submit an essay. There are online text forums for each poem covered and...

This course is GREAT! I was in the last session in 2016.

If you're going for the certificate you have to write 4 essays of at least 500 words, and review 4 essays every time you submit an essay. There are online text forums for each poem covered and you need to interact in at least one of the week's forums for each week of the class if you want to get the certificate. In the last few days of the class a bunch of comments started popping up in older forums as people raced to meet the requirement. The forums were quite lively and fun to participate in. There were weekly video sessions where the Professor and Teaching Assistants discussed the weeks poem's, and they took questions via phone, Facebook and on their website and responded to them. Watching them was always fun and engaging.

The class was a lot of work but well worth it. I learned a lot and enjoyed the experience.

I didn't answer the question about what level (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced) the class was appropriate for because it is appropriate for ALL levels.

Great class and I highly recommend it.
Anthony Watkins

Anthony Watkins completed this course.

There is a story in the New Testament of the Christian Bible where Jesus takes the disciples up to a mountain top, and there they spend the day with the long dead patriarchs of the Jewish faith, and as the day winds down, Peter asks Jesus if maybe they...

There is a story in the New Testament of the Christian Bible where Jesus takes the disciples up to a mountain top, and there they spend the day with the long dead patriarchs of the Jewish faith, and as the day winds down, Peter asks Jesus if maybe they could build temples for these ghostly patriarchs to live in so they could come and visit forever. In that story, there is some sort of moral I never quite got, but I am reminded of the story every time I watch a video, or a podcast of Al and his TAs gathered at Kelly Writers House to discuss some old well worn beloved verse from Emily or WCW, or "Uncle Walt", or to introduce us to a somewhat more obscure but interesting poet from the 1960s or even today.
I wish we could all abide in that beautiful cottage on the campus of UPenn and talk and listen to each other about poetry. This class is probably as close to that fantasy as one can have with 30,000+ close friends! Yes, I will most likely be taking this course every year for the rest of my life, not to mention participating in the 42 auxillary SloPo classes from December through August!
Nicole

Nicole completed this course, spending 10 hours a week on it and found the course difficulty to be medium.

I cannot get over how wonderful this class was. The class has changed my life and given me a sense of hope, I was not expecting that--I just expected to learn more about poetry, it was much more meaningful than I ever imagined. I learned a lot and have...

I cannot get over how wonderful this class was. The class has changed my life and given me a sense of hope, I was not expecting that--I just expected to learn more about poetry, it was much more meaningful than I ever imagined. I learned a lot and have so much more to learn--it will be for me a lifelong process, of staying with this course and continuing--the course was incredibly intellectually and artistically stimulating. It was very well organized and thoughtful and holistic and engaging and inclusive. Al is the most incredible instructor---he deserves every teaching award that he receives and then some. The atmosphere is kind and human, something I do not generally expect to experience in higher education, ironically--I have been in academia for many years and this class reminded me of the reasons why I loved learning in the first place. I really cannot say enough good things about the course and I have been telling others about the course pedagogy as well as the course content---I give this class an A+! I could go on and on. Thank you for this amazing opportunity.
Shirley Collins

Shirley Collins completed this course.

Being in this class is a rewarding, enjoyable, and challenging learning adventure led by a well-organized team. Al Filreis, teaching assistants, community teaching assistants, other staff, and students (national and international) are dedicated, insightful,...

Being in this class is a rewarding, enjoyable, and challenging learning adventure led by a well-organized team. Al Filreis, teaching assistants, community teaching assistants, other staff, and students (national and international) are dedicated, insightful, and knowledgeable. Not only do Mr. Filreis and the TAs provide quick and frequent feedback, they hold office hours! Besides the syllabus, discussion videos (including transcripts), and discussion forums, the course features webcasts, invitations to Kelly Writers House as well as communication with living poets via the forums and webcasts. Additionally, discussion videos and webcasts are available on YouTube. Students must participate in the discussion sub-forums, complete several quizzes and a few essays (that are peer-reviewed). Those who know a lot about poetry and those who hardly know anything about it are comfortable in this class. The unbalanced camaraderie makes it an all-the-more pleasurable learning experience. Nothing is graded. Nothing is forced. Nothing is taken for granted.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

I have been a student of one kind or other for nearly seventy years, many of those at top universities. I can honestly say that ModPo is probably the best course I have ever had the pleasure of taking. Al Filreis and his TAs are extremely well prepared,...

I have been a student of one kind or other for nearly seventy years, many of those at top universities. I can honestly say that ModPo is probably the best course I have ever had the pleasure of taking. Al Filreis and his TAs are extremely well prepared, well organized, and embracing of all who come to the course. Best of all, they manage to communicate information and joy in poetry and language without reliance on the lecture format. I feel as if I'm part of a small seminar where ideas are freely exchanged, yet I have the advantage of having access also to the thousands of interesting people who are taking the course, via the forums and weekly webcasts. I look forward to the writing assignments because I always learn something from doing them and from the peer assessments that follow them. ModPo has become an important part of my life, and I will follow the lead of many others and take it again in 2014 because I want to build on what I've learned this year, and because I want to continue to be part of the amazing community that is ModPo.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

Modern and Contemporary American Poetry (ModPo) was the most engaging community of scholars and students actively in any online course I’ve ever taken. ModPo involves a “community" through the course materials, discussions, live television and radio shows,...

Modern and Contemporary American Poetry (ModPo) was the most engaging community of scholars and students actively in any online course I’ve ever taken. ModPo involves a “community" through the course materials, discussions, live television and radio shows, office hours, and mostly delving into the task of looking closely at poets and poetry in depth. A true community of learners has been ignited by Professors Al Filreis, Julia Bloch, and the entire staff who make this truly a worldwide community of engaged, interactive, and exciting learning. I can’t imagine anything better than ModPo is offered anywhere online or on campus (unless at Penn)! The Kelly Writer’s House on the Penn campus becomes home to all of us who participate wherever we are. I give my highest recommendation for this course. It is highly lively and intense for those who want to dig into an entirely new world for a few months. Others may pursue the material on a more leisurely schedule if desired and still receive a great deal of knowledge.
Agnes Vojta

Agnes Vojta completed this course.

If you are wondering what an outstanding MOOC looks like, check out Coursera's Modern and Contemporary American Poetry (MODPO) from the University of Pennsylvania. A good mix of reading, audio, videos of the professor discussing with grad students, web...

If you are wondering what an outstanding MOOC looks like, check out Coursera's Modern and Contemporary American Poetry (MODPO) from the University of Pennsylvania. A good mix of reading, audio, videos of the professor discussing with grad students, web casts and discussion forums lets students engage with the material in a variety of ways . Aside from weekly quizzes there are four essay assignments and several peer reviews for each assignments. The course is available in an asynchronous way year round, or as a semi-synchronous version (symposium mode) once a year starting in September. Some people take it multiple times; there are many optional additional materials.

This was my first time with ModPo, and it was fantastic! It was the first time I ever took any online course, and I am impressed by the feeling of community you managed to create. I loved the video discussions, and after a while you all became familiar faces and I was looking forward to what each of you had to say. As a college professor who is also teaching online, I really appreciate how well this course is put together.

I am an immigrant and not very familiar with American poets, and this course introduced me to many poets I had never heard of. It also is responsible for a significant enlargement of the poetry section in my home library, because I kept ordering book after book to read more by my new favorites. How did I not know about the imagist poets? Their style is very dear to my heart, and being introduced to HD alone would have made the course worthwhile.

The ModPo course was like an all-you-cat eat buffet. There is so much material; I started greedily stuffing myself with poetry discussions, and then there were always more readings and videos and discussions - too much to take it all in and hold a day job on the side. And that's great, because now I am already looking forward to next year's session! I hope I can be more active in the discussion forums next time.

Thanks, Al, and all TAs, for a wonderful, educational, inspirational course. This is a shining beacon in the MOOC world.
Raymond Maxwell

Raymond Maxwell completed this course.

I am taking ModPo for the second time this year, as are many of my newly found ModPo friends. That is a strong indication of the excellent quality of this course. The course traces the leading trends and movements in the world of modern American poetry,...

I am taking ModPo for the second time this year, as are many of my newly found ModPo friends. That is a strong indication of the excellent quality of this course. The course traces the leading trends and movements in the world of modern American poetry, trends which, in many ways, presage social and political developments in larger society. The course itself is taught in a "flipped" way, with the onus of and responsibility for learning place squarely on the student. The students who complete the course achieve a precious goal, a priceless prize, which explains why so many come back for more. No doubt, next year's offering will have many repeat "offenders." Be brave, be courageous, take ModPo! As they say at my favorite buffalo wings restaurant in Tallahassee, "you know you want some!"

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

"When a hundred men stand together, each of them loses his mind and gets another one." - Friedrich Nietzsche Watching the introduction video, to what this class Promised to offer, I believed signing up would give me everything I was looking...

"When a hundred men stand together, each of them loses his mind and gets another one." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Watching the introduction video, to what this class Promised to offer, I believed signing up would give me everything I was looking for and more. Zero doubt.

At the time, I was writing poetry, again. This time as an adult, yet uneducated in reading and form. Intuitively called to read and learn, I had just begun my studies, when I discovered ModPo.

Now I am here, at the beginning of week 10. My time schedule allowed me to participate in about 45% of the course -- so far, as the accesses to these master teachings are available to me always.

In ModPo, I found myself is amongst free thinkers. Myself, I was inspired (and encouraged), to study and explore within the tremendous syllabus, and to investigate other sources of knowledge.

The promise was delivered and keeps on giving.
Jackie Lubeck

Jackie Lubeck completed this course.

The only mooc I have come across where the teacher and the tracing assistants are easily available, are part of the discussions, always active, and always open to all participants who ask. The focus on modern and contemporary America. poetry centers this...

The only mooc I have come across where the teacher and the tracing assistants are easily available, are part of the discussions, always active, and always open to all participants who ask. The focus on modern and contemporary America. poetry centers this very large group of participants whi, in turn, bring a wealth of original, creative, thoughtful ideas in the very active forums. Lectures, webcasts, meet-ups, office hours, this is an online community where you find real friends in real life. And to bring this particular poetry to life in these days is a huge free gift to the intellect of all those who pass through the course. Imagine if the education systems could generate such a love of learning, discussion, debate. The credit goes to Professor Al Filreis who is the motor of the mooc. He, and his team, have made a growing source course of inspiration regardless of your profession or way of life or where you are in the world.
Dilip Bhatt

Dilip Bhatt completed this course.

Yes. I have completed the ModPo course hosted by the University of Pennsylvania through Coursera app. It is a great course and I would like to recommend it for all students of literature and poetry. It is not merely a course but a rich amalgamation of...

Yes. I have completed the ModPo course hosted by the University of Pennsylvania through Coursera app. It is a great course and I would like to recommend it for all students of literature and poetry. It is not merely a course but a rich amalgamation of audio, video and text materials. Allen Filreis and his team make a good effort to make the course interesting, appreciative and enlivening. The unique thing about the course is that it runs throughout the year. I could do it within 8 weeks and getting 100 out of 100 Grades. More than the achievement in terms of Marks and Grades, I have thoroughly enjoyed the MOOC experience at ModPo. I'm greatly indebted to Al Filreis and his team for ingraining, nurturing, fostering a genuine interest among all the learners. He's more than a teacher. You feel more confident and comfortable with all the mentors and teaching fraternity at the ModPo. I heartily congratulate the Team.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

at 62 this course changed my life when i took it last year and i am looking in still this year. i have health challenges but was able to enrich my life and jump start my brain from home. i am educated, former english and journalism teacher and attorney,...

at 62 this course changed my life when i took it last year and i am looking in still this year. i have health challenges but was able to enrich my life and jump start my brain from home. i am educated, former english and journalism teacher and attorney, but now feel cultured. Art, history, politics, etc. it helped my poetry writing but more-so my reading enabling appreciation of various periods of american poetry and better ability to critique others' poems in online workshop. i have my certificate framed and am very proud to have met the demands of this challenging course. Al and his TAs astound! They are intelligent and organized and somehow manage to stay in communication with the students on fb and the message boards. The diversity and sharing of knowledge and insight cannot be beat IMHO. Feeling a part of this class and Kelly Writer's house is a gift.
Anonymous

Anonymous completed this course.

Best class... if you're hesitating at all, just take it, Even if you never finish or get the certificate, I promise you will find something to take away from the experience. The professor and TA's are awesome, and all the videos feature them analyzing...

Best class... if you're hesitating at all, just take it, Even if you never finish or get the certificate, I promise you will find something to take away from the experience. The professor and TA's are awesome, and all the videos feature them analyzing a poem together in a discussion format. The TA's and Al are very accessible and always willing to respond to your ideas or questions on the poems you read. It is impressive that they have managed to create such a sense of community in such a large class. To be honest, I think they have created a tighter sense of community among thousands of students than the sense of community I get in some of my thirty person high school classes. This class has introduced me to so many new poets, poetry, and most importantly to a new outlook on how to approach the reading and analysis of poetry.
Radwa

Radwa completed this course.

I've read various reviews before I write mine and I almost agree with every review. I just feel inclined to add that the art of poetry is the real perseverance for any language in the world. I consider it stronger than corpus [ for those who are not aware...

I've read various reviews before I write mine and I almost agree with every review. I just feel inclined to add that the art of poetry is the real perseverance for any language in the world. I consider it stronger than corpus [ for those who are not aware of corpus; it is a tool used by linguists to preserve language]. In addition, although I love poetry, I mostly love hearing it rather than reading it. I've got this chance from the recordings of the poems on Modpo website. I also love discussing my thoughts when I read a poem. Thus, Modpo videos have given me the sense that I am in a good company. The presence of TAs hours around the clock that suits all regions of the world has made it easy for me to interact and ask my persistent questions. Influenced by Al, I like to say I ballyhoo AI and the whole Modpo team for this-

Go to class

Online Learning Deals: Coursera, edX, Codecademy, and more!

Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”)