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Back to Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”)

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”) by University of Pennsylvania

4.9
stars
548 ratings

About the Course

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 2, 2023, and will conclude on November 13, 2023. 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 modpo@writing.upenn.edu. 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....

Top reviews

MM

Nov 14, 2022

This was a wonderful course. I learned more about stylistic devices, close readings of poems, and was introduced to some very fine poet's!

JW

Dec 4, 2022

This is a great course. The course is very interactive with great discussions and unique insights.

John

John Wang, PhD CRE MBB

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26 - 50 of 209 Reviews for Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”)

By James A

Nov 23, 2016

Modern and Contemporary American Poetry is an amazing ten week course which I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in poetry. Al and his team of TA's create a vibrant and fun environment which helped me to develop a greater understanding of poetry.

The discussion forums, the interaction between fellow students and Al and the TA's, and the occasional guest Poet really gives a personal touch to the proceedings.

The weekly broadcasts were engaging and insightful and I really appreciated the fact that the times of each webcast was staggered to suit the 'ModPo' community worldwide. A really nice touch guys, so thank you from Europe, (does that still include the UK?!) In Ireland we are five hours ahead of Philly time.

This is my second year to take the course and I look forward to taking it again.

By Leona K B

Nov 22, 2016

My daytime hours are devoted to being a nanny granny to two beloved pre-school grandchildren. (We do alot with nursery rhymes!) Basically, I audited this course - no time nor energy in the evenings to complete assignments. Nevertheless, the course was absolutely wonderful. I've loved poetry my entire life but once I left university reading poems became a solitary, sometimes lonely pleasure. This course took away the loneliness plus introducing me to modern poets whose work I didn't know. I've loved Emily Dickinson and Wallace Stevens since the 1970s so it was wonderful to get to spend some time with them too.

By Hansha

Jan 8, 2021

I highly recommend this course - it will change the way you think about poetry. I liked the way the course is organized - introduces you to Dickinson and Whitman, and walks you through various 'schools' of poetry, right up to poets who are now writing poems with great creativity to question, reflect, or to make us, the readers, think about the way things have been, and how they need to change (to create a better society).

By Bonnie S

Apr 18, 2021

The professor, Mr. Filreis and the TAs brought much knowledge and compassion in their work which, in return, brought me, as a student of ModPo, an appreciation and love for a variety of poetry through the work of many new poets and to continue on the journey to explore more beautiful works of these talented artists. Thank you to the Awesome staff of ModPo!!!

By Linda B

Dec 9, 2020

The course is comprehensive and introduces me to new forms of poetry that I never explored. The TAs did an exceptional job of analyzing the poems, and they were articulate and engaging. This is a wonderful class and i would highly recommend it to others.

By Emily B

Nov 10, 2023

Thank you to all who are involved in this extensive catalogue and learning. The ModPo world is large and wonderful.

By William P

Jan 20, 2021

This course was really useful. It was very informative.

By Sumarta B

Jun 3, 2022

Provide certificate for completing this course.

By Jon R

Aug 27, 2022

I question the concept of "close reading" itself. I believe a good piece of writing -- prose or poetry -- speaks for itself with a minimum of interpretation. I finally grew so dissatisfied with the rather chaotic videos and off-the-cuff interpretations by students and instructor alike that I withdrew from the course. The poetry courses I took at university (1958-1962) were much more instructive and thought-provoking than these discussions. I acknowledge the amount of effort and thought that has gone into this now sprawling enterprise, but I think it all ultimately misses the mark -- if a mark even exists. Poetry speaks for itself.

By Ann V

Oct 30, 2023

This is an exceptional course. I feel like I know all the TAs and Al, the main instructor, who taught me how to do a close, but not too close, reading of a poem. I got a well-rounded exposure to innovators who came after Emily Dickenson and Walt Whitman. I had never heard of most of the poets, excluding Robert Frost, William Carlos William, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg. Have you ever heard of Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhovenson? Neither had I. But the performance artists was so important to the Dada movement, an inspiration to others in the arts. Each of these artists, like Hanif Abdurraqib, Frank O'Hara, and Rosmarie Waldrop, have a direct line to Emily and Walt. And they went so far in their own right. Take this class. If you're someone who appreciates small things with great meaning, then you will delight in all the poetic lines that you will carry with you throughout your waking days and sleeping nights.

By Debbie A W

Nov 11, 2023

This course has taken me on an adventurous, conceptualist, flarfist journey where I have learned the meaning of "Make It New," the underpinning of the entire course. Al, the staff, and the phenom TA's are brilliant, engaging, motivating pilots lighting the way along the path to a deeper, broader understanding of Modern & Contemporary Poetry. At first, I was astounded that people continue to repeat this course over and over, however, here at the end of ten weeks all I can think about is continuing to be involved with ModPo Plus, Slo-Po, and any other offerings that will keep me connected to this vast, and continually expanding poetry community! Of course, I will sign up again next Fall! How could I miss the new videos shot in Scotland this year? Al, thank you from the heart for living what you teach & always making it new!

By Cydney D

Nov 24, 2020

ModPo was the first course I took on Coursera, and after this I feel every course can only be easier but less fun! That's not to say ModPo was difficult; sure, it demands some deep and contemplative thought on the pieces presented (but without that requirement, writing would be nothing) but ultimately the only cause for even an ounce of any struggle I ever had was entirely a case of me biting off more than I could chew!

Al does a beautiful job of balancing entertaining and relatable discussion to deeply thought-provoking themes in the poetry introduced in this course. All materials are very clearly presented, and assistance, if required, is so beautifully accessible!

Overall, my time spent taking ModPo in the spring was the highlight of quarantine for sure, and the lessons its taught me have stuck with me months later.

By Junia D

Aug 3, 2021

I really, really enjoyed this course. It is not something you can complete in a day or two. You have to do the work and you learn a lot! I found it really inspirational to listen to these smart people analysing poems and now, I feel more confident in expressing my own thoughts about them. This course introduced me to Emily Dickinson (such a shame that I had not read her work before) and she is now one of my favourite writers. I also really liked that the poems, read in the course, came from a diverse group of poets, which gives me the feeling of having gotten a true overview of Modern American Poetry. Even though, of course, there are still so many poems that are worth reading, that weren´t covered. The course really sparked my interest and now, I´m going to continue reading, please, excuse me...

By Marcus L

Jul 15, 2021

This was an exceptional experience in numerous ways, and I could not recommend it more. Not only did I broaden my knowledge of poetry, but I was able to watch the type of discussions and analyses that I strive to facilitate in my own classroom as a high school English teacher—and also received extensive feedback from course mentors and the professor himself! This course will invest in much as you are willing to invest in it, and it truly is a life-changing experience for me in seeing how language can work. I'm a better teacher for having taken this as well as a reader/student, and I cannot give a higher recommendation for others to dive in!

By Lorraine W

Sep 25, 2022

This is a fantastic course! I can totally understand why people stay with the course year after year. I am doing it for the second time, this year concentrating on some of the work in ModPo plus -- I can already imagine (due to personal time constraints) how each year I will concentrate on another aspect of the course (the essays, conversation strings, livestreams, office hours, etc). And also get back to the videos of the main syllabus! There is so much this course has to offer, and constantly it maintains its newness, its freshness. Absolutely wonderful! I am glad I found this course and so happy to be part of this international community.

By Wes F

Nov 15, 2019

ModPo is a brilliantly-designed course with a deep bag of resources and a welcoming community of instructors and students. It makes modern poetry accessible without sacrificing the rigor of academic discourse. ModPo not only delivers high-level analyses of complex poetry to its students, it makes the tools for that kind of analysis available to them, too. Many of my fellow students in this course were returning students who re-take this class every year! And who wouldn’t want to spend 10 weeks re-encountering dozens of attractive, engaging poems that demand your consideration? This course is a real experience.

By Pearl K P

Dec 11, 2019

ModPo is/was a wonderful course that I plan to complete. Unfortunately, my mother’s health rapidly deteriorated and she passed away as the course was in the final weeks

Al Fieres and faculty are excellent and coursework is without parallel - in fact superior to coursework taken in a traditional university setting

Cannot speak highly enough about ModPo in all aspects : coursework, faculty, feedback, interaction with other learners ..... A fast paced and profoundly intensely personal experience . In my opinion ModPo sets a gold standard for all that online learning can be!

Sincerely

Dr Pearl Ketover Prilik

By Oindrilla M S

Jun 27, 2020

ModPo imparts a vision both wide and deep. It has unfurled before me an inexhaustible and a quintessential world of the human imagination, of surprises and subtleties. The teaching method of ModPo, so pragmatic and dynamic that it transforms the participant completely, in terms of re-imagining the world of literature and the fine arts. So privileged to be a part of this marvelous program. I am indebted to Prof. Al Filreis and his entire team of the TA's. ModPo has become my second home and I shall keep coming back as often as I can. Thank you so much!

By Dorothy S

Nov 12, 2023

As an English Literature major in college studying well before these poets were creating, I found this course very exciting to learn new trends in poetry. I also took the Coursera course on modern art, which also presented many new challenging ideas. There are many parallel concepts between the two studies. I feel the course might have had more depth if there was some thought to drawing trends from both areas. Also, a brief mention of the cultural, social and historical background on which these art forms have evolved.

By Charles G

Dec 14, 2016

This has been the most educational and well-run course possible. I've played with MOOC's before, but no-one could possibly run a better course than Al Filreis, with his remarkable knowledge, academic bent, passion for the material and passion for teaching and his students. He is remarkable and the energy is palpable and contagious.

Coursera is a 5-Star platform. My hats off to them. I've never seen such a good course platform, and I can't imagine any better. Truly modular, mobile and bug-free.

5 Stars all the way!!

By Jessica B

Sep 14, 2016

This is the 5th year that I have been involved in ModPo. Why do I keep coming back? Because the discussions, the poetry, and the class participation are so refreshing that I learn something new everytime. It is like getting together with old friends. If you have never been involved in a poetry class or you know nothing about modern poetry, this class is for you. If you are a veteran to Modern poetry, this class is for you. ModPo is one big family, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in modern poetry.

By William L W

Nov 19, 2016

In this course, I see the future of education. It is light years ahead of any other course I've taken on Cousera or EdX, as the instructor has developed a web pedagogy that gives the course the feel of seminar -based instruction at a top-tier brick and mortar institution of higher education. In this course, students become members of a lively learning community that is always on.

(Please attribute any typos herein to the fact that I'm typing on a smartphone while riding in a subway car.)

By William M

Aug 21, 2023

A grounding foundation of contemporary 20th and 21st century American Poetry superbly presented in the MOOC format. Their is a solid didactic and Socratic architecture in place that will require expansion. That need might require a blog or small classroom (office hours format) setting where a TA could lead similar round table discussions and assignments. A buddy system of 2-4 learners could thereafter share feedback critiques and dig deeper into shared sub-topics. William H Mollohan

By Susan E

Nov 22, 2016

This course was an eye opener for me. As a person more immediately drawn to quantitative disciplines, i had always felt sort of guilty about poetry. This course ends that sort of thinking! There is a lot of work if one wishes to complete all the assignments, but then, one need not, actually. Although the course is active only briefly, the materials are available all year. It's so great to know that I can visit all year long. Many thanks to Al, the team and the many participants.

By alanwd40

Nov 23, 2016

ModPo should be the standard that all moocs follow. It has the feel of a real college experience with its live interactivity between the instructor, TAs, mentors and community TAs-- not to mention fellow students!

More than that ModPo is a gathering of poetry lovers from around the world in a thoughtful discussion and close reading of poems that is mind expanding in so many ways.

I'm so happy to be a small part of this community, and I strongly recommend it!