132WINTER ACADEMICS CLASSMATEYS Associate professor of English Russell Keck guides students in a study of pirates. THE EARLY MODERN Studies course was offered to upperlevel undergraduate students in fall semesters every other year. The theme of the course was determined by its instructor. For the fall 2021 semester, associate professor of English Russell Keck chose the theme of Renaissance to Enlightenment with a focus on pirates, a subject he was relatively unfamiliar with. Previous themes of this course included faith and doubt of religious texts related to the Reformation and a study on tyranny. “This time around I was thinking of something different that I don’t know as much about but wanted to know more about, and that was pirates,” Keck said. “The idea behind it is that I am working alongside the students. There is one big project; all the little assignments combine to this big research project. I am writing the paper alongside them.” Keck divided the course into three main sections starting off with Sir Francis Drake, who set the precedent of piracy. The students then studied the Golden Age of piracy, and lastly, South American and Mediterranean piracy with a geographical focus. “I’m looking forward to learning about Blackbeard and Sir Francis Drake,” senior Audrey Kernodle said. “I feel like Blackbeard is the pirate everyone thinks of, other than Captain Hook, when they think of pirates. Sir Francis Drake was a privateer for Queen Elizabeth, who we got to read a tiny bit about in British Literature. I’m excited to learn what parts of their stories are real and which are myths.” Keck hoped students could use the research project as an undergraduate presentation, submission to an undergraduate journal or a graduate program project. “I am most looking forward to the paper presentation in the class; everyone will take something from the class that grabbed them and develop a presentation with deeper info than we went into the class,” senior Isaac Swindle said. “The best part about this class is that Dr. Keck treats us all like scholarly peers. He does just as much research and work as we do. We are all learning and discussing side by side.” WRITTEN BY KAYLEIGH TRITSCHLER
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