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University of Pennsylvania

Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”)

University of Pennsylvania via Coursera

Overview

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 [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.

Taught by

Al Filreis

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 189 Class Central reviews

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 though…
  • Profile image for Christie Williamson
    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 se…
  • 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 an…
  • 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…
  • Profile image for Apkaptn
    Apkaptn
    its looks much more informative. "ModPo" is widely regarded as a comprehensive and accessible introduction to modern and contemporary American poetry. The course covers a diverse range of poets and styles, including the Beats, the Black Arts movement, and postmodernism, providing a broad overview of the developments in American poetry in the 20th and 21st centuries. The course materials, including lectures and reading materials, are well-organized and engaging, making the material both informative and enjoyable to study. Overall, "ModPo" is highly recommended for anyone interested in exploring modern American poetry.

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  • 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,…
  • 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 th…
  • 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 a…
  • 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 t…
  • 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…
  • 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, ins…
  • 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 prepa…
  • 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…
  • 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,…
  • 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 poe…
  • 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 looki…
  • 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…
  • 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…
  • 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 attor…
  • 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…

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