How to Teach English Literature through the Independent Seminar Class in the Doctoral Program

This paper discusses the independent seminar as one of the appropriate courses, in particular, for the students who study English literature in the doctoral program. Those who take the Ph.D. program in English literature are considered as future scholars or teachers. In taking the coursework, they not only delve into the knowledge of literature, but also begin to establish broader and deeper senses of research ability. The independent seminar class helps them build such senses through the way in which they experience to the development of the syllabus by themselves. Furthermore, in contrast to a regular class, in which a group of students learn in a classroom, the independent seminar gives each student intensive interactions with his/her professor through the out-of-classroom circumstances, since the seminar is based upon one-on-one study between the student and the professor.