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[above14th]

So I was invited to a campus interview at a CC for a history position.

There are two things that make me less than enthusiastic about the position: its location (technically the same metropolitan area but much more than I want to commute) and the pay (significantly less than I made as an adjunct, and probably half of what I am making as a VAP). Nonetheless, they have been upfront about these, and I do not want to turn down a job before being offered it, and in any case, I figure it could serve as a warm-up for interview season.

But that's not what this question is about. Instead, when the human resource manager told me the SC wanted me to come for an interview, he mentioned a 15-minute demo. Okay. The topic is something like: discuss the issue of gender in Dante's Inferno. I am not a specialist in  Italian history (it is about 700 years earlier and a continent away from my specialty), but Western Civ. is part of the job, and I have taught it before. But I was taken aback by the specificity of the assigned lecture. Oh, and they want me to do it this week.

Given my specialty, I cannot believe that they think I have a lecture prepared on this subject. (I have read the Inferno, but as an undergrad.) Nor have any of the places that I have taught Western Civ. actually assigned Dante. So basically what I am going to do is look it up on Wikipedia, and cobble together a lecture on a book I haven't read in ages to a class that presumably has not read the book at all. (The "class" is actually the SC, of which only one is actually a historian, and I cannot believe that the various people on the SC have recently read Dante either.) To expect somebody to read Dante in less than a week seems a bit unrealistic, too.

Am I unreasonable in thinking this is incredibly cynical and probably pointless? As the other threads have made clear, there are inherent limitations to teaching demos, no matter how they are arranged. But this seems designed to fail. I could "prepare" a lecture. I could prepare an interactive "Socratic method" class, but then I am afraid that either the SC "students" will sit there silently when I ask them specific questions about the text, or that they they will ask questions I can't answer.

Is this designed to see how well I can b.s.? I mean, all teaching has an element of this, but why make it so purely b.s.?  Or do they really not care that their instructors do not know what they are talking about?

Or am I missing something? Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate, indeed.

[totoro]

Maybe they already know who they want to hire?

[above14th]

That may be. But if it is, there is hopefully a level of hell for whoever came up with this exercise. It just adds cynicism on top of cynicism.

[secretweapon]

Maybe the trick is to pitch is quite low and make it very general, as if Dante is just a small case study in a western civ class.  Something like this:
10 minutes:  What was the Renaissance?  Big ideas - religion, humanism, etc
5 minutes:  Who was Dante?  Background to his life and times
10 minutes:  plot and big ideas in the Inferno
15 minutes: Gender in the Inferno - give examples, read some passages, show some of the artistic interpretations
5 minutes: conclusion - why does gender matter in studying renaissance thought?  What is the legacy of the Inferno, its impact on later thinkers?

[band4me]

SC may have chosen a topic that would put all candidates on an "even playing-field" (don't assume the worst).

[prytania3]

SC may have chosen a topic that would put all candidates on an "even playing-field" (don't assume the worst).

This would be my guess, as well.

[voxprincipalis]

a lecture on a book I haven't read in ages to a class that presumably has not read the book at all. (The "class" is actually the SC, of which only one is actually a historian, and I cannot believe that the various people on the SC have recently read Dante either.)

But this is, perhaps, exactly the point. It tests your teaching ability, not your research ability. Your goal is to leave the SC, especially the non-historians, feeling, "Huh. In 15 minutes, I learned something about that subject. It was clearly presented and in spite of the fact that I had no prior preparation, I learned something useful." At a CC, this is really important.

I would also not be shy about contacting the SC and asking the class context from which they imagine this example to have been plucked, so that you can say in your demo, "Before doing this class, we would have done ABC, and from here we would go on to do XYZ."

Also, I don't know the specifics of that position or the department, but when I taught at a CC I had to learn how to be a generalist and I regularly had to prep courses that weren't at all related to my specialty. This shows them whether or not you can do that. (My own interview had a similar kind of component.)

VP

[zuzu_]

I agree--don't assume the worst. Although this does seem a bit like one of those "challenges" on a reality show.

I recommend "interactive lecture." This is essentially a lecture, but you ask questions and seek easy shout-out answers from the "class." Follow this up with a hand out, with a clever assignment/activity you might use to engage students in a real class. Pass out the handout at the 15-minute mark, and say "Don't worry. I won't really make you all do this. This is just an example of the sort of thing I might follow up with in the real class."

And this will be way more helpful than Wikipedia: http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/inferno

You're welcome.

[shrimp]

I was also given a very specific topic for a teaching demo for a CC interview.
Fortunately, it was something covered in all intro courses for my field so I already had covered it many times in many courses, but it was quite specific and they wanted a different slant than I usually use, which was still easy to adjust.
So I don't know your field and whether the topic is common or if they really are being difficult, but wanted to add my experience.

[secretweapon]

I just realized that I read the OP's lecture as 45 minutes, not 15 minutes.

(I wonder what other stuff I've misread today?  Frightening thought.)

[wegie]

I just realized that I read the OP's lecture as 45 minutes, not 15 minutes.

Yeah, but using your model is be a great way to locate the chosen teaching demo within the context of teaching Plato to Nato. 

[dellaroux]

Be glad it's a specific topic.

General stuff is much harder to prepare.

[hstrytool]

I just wanted to chime in and say "wow!!"  I have never heard of giving such a topic, but as others wrote maybe it is a way to see how each candidate handles the subject and if they can successfully pull it off!

Good luck!!

[aandsdean]

15 minutes is NOTHING.  Find a kernel of what you want to talk about and run.  It's not that hard, especially if you figure out a way to do it interactively.

[giacomo]

Given my specialty, I cannot believe that they think I have a lecture prepared on this subject.

They have given this topic to all of the job candidates; they did not taken into consideration your specific speciality.

A CC search committee giving a specific topic teaching demonstration and asking for an interview within the week is not unusual. CC search committee members being from multiple disciplines is also common. Often, there is only one or two full-time history professors, so there are members from other disciplines. I don't know why they would choose a book that is not commonly taught in that course, but I would not assume the worst.