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.

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).

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!!!

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.

This course was really useful. It was very informative.

Provide certificate for completing this course.

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.

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...

T​his 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!

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.

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

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!

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!!

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.

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.)

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.

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!

This is not just a course, it’s an experience! The learning is truly in a community setting. Instructor Al Filreis is inspiring, and he is supported by an amazing team of teaching assistants, mentors and staff who all together make the learning experience so rich and fruitful. They are all so knowledgeable and so encouraging! Fellow students also encourage each other. I am a beginner to poetry, and I learned so much. I very highly recommend this course!

Es el mejor curso en que he participado. El trabajo constante de Al y su equipo, la interacción constante, a través de los foros, los hangouts, las asesorías semanales, es impresionante y demuestra la pasión y empeño que ponen en este curso. A tener en cuenta que el curso es bastante exigente y demanda mucha dedicación, muchas horas semanales para poder seguir el ritmo, más vale la pena el esfuerzo, se aprende muchísimo, genial, the best mood course.

Having very little to do with poetry since my schoolyears, I enjoyed this seminar-like MOOC, where Al and his enthusiastic assistents in their peer-like joint close reading sessions inspired me to open up to new poetry and try to close read myself poems and collaborate on the interpretation. This concept may inspire millions of "potential" readers to give poetry a significant place in our cultural and spiritual life. Thanks and reach out to the world.

Beautiful , just the all round 10/10 for this lovely course. It has taken me such a long time finishing up with this course and i can finally say that I HAVE DONE IT!!!! Thank you to the students , Professor Al Filreis and others that took their time to compose the video lectures.

I enjoyed each and every poem brought forth in this course and I would highly recommend this course to anyone that's interested in learning more on American poetry.

No matter your level of interest in or knowledge of poetry this is the most worthwhile class I have taken. ModPo is more than poetry, it's the distillation of our very essence. Learning how to close read instills valuable critical thinking skills. ModPo gives us a way to take a deeper look at poetry, ourselves and our community. I am looking forward to taking the course again. Thank you for all your hard work with bringing ModPo to us all.

Al Filreis is wonderfully enthusiastic and has created a unique community of people that love poetry and/or want to know and understand more about the magics and powers of language. It was a special experience to follow what is happening in the course, even though I only read and listened to a small part of what was happening. Now I feel that I am accepted as a part of the ModPo Community for days and semesters to come. Thank you!

An absolutely brilliant course, which I cannot praise enough. The content was very well thought out and excellently structured from beginning to end. The support and active participation by the lead Professor and his brilliant team of Teaching Assistants and Mentors was truly wonderful. Thanks also to Chris the techie for making sure that the live weekly events worked so well. And thanks to the poets who took part as well.

This is an amazing, admittedly just short of comprehensive journey through ModPo (no course could cover everybody), though there's definitely plenty here (especially when you venture into ModPo Plus), and the worldwide community of students, TAs, mentors, and poets adds to its stimulation and fellowship. Al Filreis and Laynie Browne and the rest of the gang keep everything running smoothly while keeping you thinking. Wow!