Posts Tagged ‘contemporary literature’
A Hypercontemporary Literature Syllabus! And More!
The first week is already over and I realized I never got around to putting up my syllabi. I’m teaching two classes this semester, an all-Zoom revision of my Tolkien class and an all-Zoom survey of 21st Century Literature that I decided to focus on texts from more or less the last two years. (I also have an independent study on Gender and Sexuality in New Wave SF that’s been terrific; no formal syllabus for that one but we’re reading Le Guin, Russ, Delany, Tiptree, Lem, the Tarkovskys, all your faves.)
Thanks so much to everyone on Facebook and Twitter who flooded me with suggestions for the 21st Century course. In the end I was so overwhelmed by the possibilities I solicited suggestions directly from the students, which allowed me to craft a syllabus that was both inside and outside my usual wheelhouse, hopefully in ways that will be fun for both my students and myself. And we still get to be surely the first class in the world to study Ishiguro’s new book.
The syllabus doesn’t list the films they picked, but our class vote landed on Parasite and Soul for the last two weeks of class, an intriguing dialectic arraying the full possibilities of the human experience…
synch | M | 1/25 | FIRST DAY OF CLASS |
synch | W | 1/27 | Among Us game and thinkpieces [D2L] |
asynch | F | 1/29 | Giorgio Agamben, “What Is the Contemporary?” [D2L] |
synch | M | 2/1 | PLAY/MOVIE: Heidi Schreck, What the Constitution Means to Me (including bonus material) [Amazon Prime] |
synch | W | 2/3 | What the Constitution Means to Me discussion continues |
asynch | F | 2/5 | POEM: Andrea Gorman, “The Hill We Climb” [D2L] and online reactions |
synch | M | 2/8 | SHORT STORY: N.K. Jemisin, “Emergency Skin” [Amazon Kindle] |
synch | W | 2/10 | SHORT STORY: Ted Chiang, “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom” [online] |
asynch | F | 2/12 | Jemisin and Chiang sandbox assignment |
synch | M | 2/15 | COMIC: Chris Ware, Rusty Brown, Vol. 1, part one |
synch | W | 2/17 | COMIC: Chris Ware, Rusty Brown, Vol. 1, part two |
asynch | F | 2/19 | COMIC: Chris Ware, Rusty Brown, Vol. 1, part three sandbox assignment |
synch | M | 2/22 | COMIC: Chris Ware, Rusty Brown, Vol. 1, part three discussion |
synch | W | 2/24 | COMIC: Chris Ware, Rusty Brown, Vol. 1, part four |
asynch | F | 2/26 | Haruki Murakami, “Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey” [D2L]optional: Haruki Murakami, “A Shinagawa Monkey” [D2L] |
synch | M | 3/1 | Haruki Murakami, “Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey” discussion |
synch | W | 3/3 | Hades [Steam or Nintendo Switch] |
asynch | F | 3/5 | Hades sandbox assignment |
synch | M | 3/8 | Hades discussion continues |
W | 3/10 | UNIVERSITY MENTAL HEALTH DAY—NO CLASS | |
asynch | F | 3/12 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future, chapters 1-16 CLOSE READING DUE |
synch | M | 3/15 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future, chapters 17-30 |
synch | W | 3/17 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future, chapters 31-45 |
asynch | F | 3/19 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future, chapters 46-60 |
synch | M | 3/22 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future, chapters 61-74 |
synch | W | 3/24 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future, chapters 75-90 |
asynch | F | 3/26 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future, whole book |
synch | M | 3/29 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future and responses |
synch | W | 3/31 | Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future and responses |
F | 4/2 | GOOD FRIDAY—NO CLASS | |
synch | M | 4/5 | Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun (page range TBD) |
synch | W | 4/7 | Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun (page range TBD) |
asynch | F | 4/9 | Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun (page range TBD) |
synch | M | 4/12 | Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun (page range TBD) |
synch | W | 4/14 | Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun (page range TBD) |
asynch | F | 4/16 | Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun (page range TBD) MINISTRY RESPONSE DUE |
synch | M | 4/19 | CREATIVE NONFICTION: Zadie Smith, Intimations (first half) |
synch | W | 4/21 | CREATIVE NONFICTION: Zadie Smith, Intimations (second half) |
asynch | F | 4/23 | MOVIE or TV SHOW TBD |
synch | M | 4/26 | MOVIE or TV SHOW TBD |
synch | W | 4/28 | MOVIE or TV SHOW TBD |
asynch | F | 4/30 | MOVIE or TV SHOW TDB |
synch | M | 5/3 | MOVIE or TV SHOW TBD |
W | 5/5 | UNIVERSITY MENTAL HEALTH DAY—NO CLASS | |
synch | F | 5/7 | LAST DAY OF CLASS INTIMATION DUE |
Spring 2021 Course Descriptions on Tolkien and Contemporary Literature!
ENGLISH 4612/5612: J.R.R. TOLKIEN
DISCOVERY TIER: INDIVIDUALS & COMMUNITIES
ENGLISH PERIODIZATION REQ: POST-1900
MODALITY: FULLY ONLINE
The last decade has seen the hundredth anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s earliest writings on Middle-Earth (The Book of Lost Tales, begun in 1917) alongside the completion of Peter Jackson’s career-defining twenty-year project to adapt The Lord of the Rings for film (1995-2015). This course asks the question: Who is J.R.R. Tolkien, looking backward from the perspective of the twenty-first century? Why have his works, and the genre of heroic fantasy which he remade so completely in his image, remained so intensely popular, even as the world has transformed around them? Our study will primarily trace the history, development, and reception of Tolkien’s incredible magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings (written 1937-1949, published 1954-1956)—but we will also take up Tolkien’s contested place in the literary canon of the twentieth century, the uses and abuses of Tolkien in Jackson’s blockbuster films, the special appeal of Tolkien in politically troubled times, and the ongoing critical interests and investments of Tolkien fandom today. As Tolkien scholars we will also have the privilege of drawing upon the remarkable J.R.R. Tolkien Collection at Raynor Library, which contains the original manuscripts for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Farmer Giles of Ham.
Note: No prior knowledge of Tolkien is required. The course is designed for a mix of first-time readers, frequent re-readers, and people who are returning to the books for the first time as adults after many years away.
Readings: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and selected additional readings
Assignments: final critical paper or creative project; weekly sandbox posts on D2L; two “thinkpiece”-style mini-papers; enthusiastic and informed class participation
ENGLISH 4563/5363: LITERATURES OF THE 21st CENTURY
THEMATIC TITLE: CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
DISCOVERY TIER: none
ENGLISH PERIODIZATION REQ: POST-1900
MODALITY: FULLY ONLINE
Giorgio Agamben writes: “The poet—the contemporary—must firmly hold his gaze on his own time. But what does he who sees his time actually see? What is this demented grin on the face of his century? … The contemporary is he who firmly holds his gaze on his own time so as to perceive not its light but rather its darkness.” This course takes up major literary and mass-media works of the twenty-first century, including short stories, comics, novels, films, music videos, and games, with an eye towards understanding Agamben’s future-facing call “to perceive, in the darkness of the present, this light that strives to reach us but cannot.” The book list is still in flux (and suggestions are welcome!) but focuses on works published in the last ten years; major texts will likely include Chris Ware’s Rusty Brown, Vol. 1 (2019), Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (2014), N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season (2015), and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021).
Assignments: final critical paper or creative project; weekly sandbox posts on D2L; two “thinkpiece”-style mini-papers; enthusiastic and informed class participation