http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34005 Special Programs (SP) http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49812 21W.742J / SP.575J / WGS.575J Writing About Race, Spring 2003 Faery, Rebecca Blevins The issue of race and racial identity have preoccupied many writers throughout the history of the U.S. In this subject, students read Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Louise Erdrich, William Faulkner, Maxine Hong Kingston, Sandra Cisneros, and Judson Mitcham, among others, as we consider the story of race in its peculiarly American dimensions. The reading, along with the writing of members of the class, is the focus of class discussions. Oral presentations on subjects of individual interest are also part of the class activities. Students explore race and ethnicity in personal essays, pieces of cultural criticism or analysis, or (with permission of instructor) fiction. All written work is read and responded to in class workshops and subsequently revised. From the course home page: Course Description In The Souls of Black Folk (1903), the great cultural critic W. E. B. Du Bois wrote that "…the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line." A century after Du Bois penned those words, most Americans would agree that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the color line remains one of our most pressing social issues. In this course, we will explore the terrain of race in America by reading the works of writers of color and others concerned with the issue of race, by viewing films that address racial issues, and by writing to explore how the fictions and facts of race condition all our lives, social and civic, private and public. We will consider the complex question of racial identity, test the givens of history by uncovering histories that have been more elusive or more thoroughly suppressed, and explore how writing and reading can both reflect and challenge racial categories, hierarchies, and perceptions. The reading is at once wonderful and disturbing, and the writing you will do will open up arenas of increased understanding for both you and your readers. Thu, 29 May 2003 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46342 21W.745 / SP.576J / WGS.576J Advanced Essay Workshop, Spring 2005 Faery, Rebecca Blevins For students with experience in writing nonfictional prose. Advanced study of rhetorical strategies and techniques of prose style. Considerable writing and revision required. In addition to analyzing the work of class members, students read and discuss the work of distinguished essayists chosen to represent a range of prose styles, subjects, and biographical patterns. From the course home page: Course Description This course is a workshop for advanced students with some experience in writing essays, nonfiction prose. Our focus will be negotiating and representing identities grounded in gender, race, class, nationality, sexuality, and other categories of identity, either our own or other's, in prose that is expository, exploratory, investigative, persuasive, lyrical, or incantatory. We will read nonfiction prose works by a wide array of writers who have used language to negotiate and represent aspects of identity and the ways the different determinants of identity intersect, compete, and cooperate. Sun, 29 May 2005 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45584 17.007J / 17.006 / 24.237 / SP.601J / WGS.601J Feminist Political Thought, Spring 2006 Surkan, Kim This course is designed as a focused survey of feminist political thought and theory, exploring the various and often competing ways feminists have framed discussions about sex, gender, and oppression. Beginning with a consideration of key terms (sex, gender, oppression) and the meaning of social construction, we will move on to study three central feminist approaches to political thought (humanist, gynocentric, and dominance). The primary goal of this course is to familiarize students with key issues, questions and debates in feminist theory, both historical and contemporary. This semester you will become acquainted with many of the critical questions and concepts feminist scholars have developed as tools for thinking about gendered experience. In addition to the presentation of theoretical ideas, we will consider examples of practical political application of those concepts. The concluding weeks of the course address the many tensions between generalized theoretical approaches and localized political efforts, particularly as they relate to identity politics and issues of diversity within feminist groups and movements. Finally, we will consider the connections, commonalities, and differences between feminist political thought and other theoretical approaches to political movements, such as queer theory, postcolonial theory, and global and human rights organizing. Mon, 29 May 2006 22:58:59 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45570 21M.670 / SP.472 / WGS.472 Traditions in American Concert Dance: Gender and Autobiography, Spring 2003 DeFrantz, Thomas This course explores the forms, contents, and contexts of world traditions in dance that played a crucial role in shaping American concert dance. For example, we will identify dances from an African American vernacular tradition that were transferred from the social space to the concert stage. We will explore the artistic lives of such American dance artists as Katherine Dunham, and Alvin Ailey along with Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Merce Cunningham as American dance innovators. Of particular importance to our investigation will be the construction of gender and autobiography which lie at the heart of concert dance practice, and the ways in which these qualities have been choreographed by American artists. Thu, 29 May 2003 22:58:59 GMT