Works to be studied will include essays and books by contemporary educators and cultural theorists. Written assignments and class discussion will focus on teaching and curriculum development, with particular attention to the integration of reading and writing. This course is an advanced introduction to contemporary theories and practices of culture as defined by the major institutions of Cultural Studies in Britain and America. We will be analyzing the role of culture as an ensemble of concrete, material practices which shape identity through the interlocking categories of class, race, gender and sexuality, among others. Contemporary methods for the analysis of literature, film, philosophy and music will be considered.
Active participation is necessary.
This course will provide an introduction to the emergent genre of testimonial literature. Combined with an ongoing analysis of the ways in which testimonial constitutes a distinct genre of authorial expression, we will examine the ways in which women's experiences of identity, community building, and the survival of state-sponsored abuse are figured through the writings of various authors. Using readings that address gender, feminism, and national identities, we will build a theoretical frame through which to understand narratives that arise from experiences including the Holocaust, state terror in Latin America, and genocide in the former Yugoslavia. Specifically, this course is concerned with issues of genre, representation, and memory and the pressures brought to bear by violence upon these categories. Our readings will include works such as Sara Nomberg-Przytyk's Auschwitz , Alicia Partnoy's The Little School , and Slavenka Drakulic's The Balkan Express .