Fall Words Sections

Morning Section

MWF 11:30am-12:30pm

Magalí Rabasa, Assoc Prof of Hispanic Studies & Director of Ethnic Studies

• Core 120-01 – MWF 11:30a-12:30pm

The Art of Solidarity

In recent years, the concept of solidarity has become a staple of our collective political vocabulary as we confront diverse challenges affecting all facets of life. In its most basic definition, solidarity is an expression of unity and mutual support between groups, communities, or individuals. In practice, solidarity means taking sides to support a struggle. In this course, we will examine the art of solidarity in two senses. First, we will explore what solidarity looks like, which is to say, its aesthetics. How is solidarity expressed visually, artistically, expressively, and materially? Second, we will explore how solidarity works by examining its praxis (theory + practice). How is solidarity practiced and what are the theories and ideas that propel it? The course will examine a diversity of case studies of twentieth and twenty-first century political struggles and social movements from different parts of the world, and will focus on the diverse media produced through practices of solidarity, including books, zines, poster art, music, film, video, graffiti, fashion, public protest, social media, and performance art.

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MWF 1:50-2:50pm Sections

(Main time)

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Dave Campion, Assoc Prof of History

• Core 120-11 – MWF 1:50-2:50pm

Orwell: The Conscience of the Twentieth Century

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
— George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), known to the world as George Orwell, was an essayist, novelist, poet, journalist, broadcaster, dishwasher, colonial policeman, volunteer soldier, political activist, social critic, and prophet (of a sort).

In this course we will immerse ourselves in the tumultuous history of the 20th century through the life and writing of this unheroic hero, trenchant observer, uncertain participant, and fearless and provocative critic. Our journey will take us from England’s most exclusive boarding school, to the villages and jails of colonial Burma, the hotel kitchens and flophouses of Europe’s capitals, the working-class towns of England’s industrial North, the battlefields of Spain, and finally into a dystopian future. Ever relevant and always honest, Orwell forces us to examine the strength of our convictions and our place amid structures of power in a changing world. In the process, we must reckon with such enduring concerns as the challenges and discipline of writing, class and poverty, the legacies of imperialism, the dynamics and consequences of ideological conflict, individual privacy and the rise of the surveillance state, and the dangers and attractions of authoritarianism.

Course texts include Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), Burmese Days (1934), “Shooting an Elephant” (1936), The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), Homage to Catalonia (1938), Animal Farm (1945), “Politics and the English Language” (1945), “Why I Write” (1946), and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

Note: Orwell is not for the faint of heart. The course readings will regularly include blunt and graphic descriptions of poverty, racism, sexual exploitation, and violence. Students concerned about the content of this course may email or speak with the instructor in advance.

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Keith Dede, Prof of Chinese

• Core 120-03 – MWF 1:50-2:50pm

This American Language

From the texts, emails, and essays we read and write to the lunch chats, lectures and dorm-room deep-dives we participate in, we spend our days awash in language. What patterns can be discerned in this ocean of communication, and what do those patterns say about our country, our community and ourselves? In this class we will turn a scientific eye to language itself, asking such questions as, “What influences our language choices?”, “What judgments do we make about language use?”, and, “Why do my parents put … in their texts?!”. We will discuss such issues as linguistic diversity, linguistic discrimination, language on the internet, and language revitalization. Through essays (such as Rosina Lippi-Green’s “Language Ideology and Language Prejudice”), films (such as, “Talking Black”), novels (“James”), and podcasts (“Vocal Fry”), we will explore the rich diversity of language in North America with the aim of understanding some of the many issues with which it is entangled.

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Kristin Fujie, Assoc Prof of English

• Core 12-05– MWF 1:50-2:50pm

The Stories That Bind Us

Society is held together by our need; we bind it together with legend, myth, coercion, fearing that without it we will be hurled into that void, within which, like the earth before the Word was spoken, the foundations of society are hidden. ~James Baldwin

They say a song can be a bridge, Ma. But I say it’s also the ground we stand on. And maybe we sing to keep ourselves from falling. Maybe we sing to keep ourselves. ~Ocean Vuong

In this course we will immerse ourselves in works of literature (novels, short stories, personal essays) that explore how stories bind us. In its most literal sense, to bind means to tie up, but also to tie together (e.g. binding a book); it can furthermore mean to bandage a wound or place under obligation. That stories can restrain and imprison but also connect, unite, and heal creates a paradox that lies at the heart of this class and the texts we’ll encounter. I think you’ll find our writers at once captivating and highly self-reflexive; they compel us to get caught up in their stories, but also to step back and reflect on how those stories work—how the narratives that their characters tell about themselves and each other bind them (and us!) in conflicted, transformative, and sometimes heart-breaking ways. Longer works include Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous , Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go , and/or Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me . We will also read shorter works by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, James Baldwin, Leslie Marmon Silko, Maxine Hong Kingston, and/or Jhumpa Lahiri. I want students to know in advance that course readings could include difficult material related to domestic violence, sexual assault, racism, mental illness, and addiction. You are warmly encouraged to reach out to me with questions.

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Masha Hristova, Assoc Prof of Russian

• Core 120-04 – MWF 1:50-2:50pm

Science Fiction and Utopia

“The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented” states Dennis Gabor, Nobel laureate and inventor of the holograph, in his 1963 book Inventing the Future. This quote encapsulates both science fiction and utopia – the two main topics of this course. We will be reading and studying the works of revolutionary thinkers who tried to imagine utopias, or ideal societies. This, in turn, will help us better understand our own world in its social, cultural, and historical context. But how does a utopia happen? What steps do we need to take to create a better world? How did these authors use literary, visual, and architectural spaces to imagine different versions of society? Are there particular configurations of space and community that match up with particular ideologies? By studying the works of the revolutionaries that came before us and attempting to answer these and similar questions, we will be inspired to imagine what a better future in our current moment and time must look like.

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Lance Inouye, Assoc Prof of Music

• Core 120-09 – MWF 1:50-2:50pm

The Symphony

This course is designed to aid students in understanding symphonic music through informed listening and written analysis. This course will introduce the fundamentals of Western symphonic music, the history of Western music, and the symphony as a musical form of expression. Students will acquire the vocabulary and knowledge necessary to speak and write about many kinds of music in this genre, and foster critical thinking and listening skills to form and express critical opinions about music. Students will listen to, discuss, and write about significant masterworks of Western music, and become familiar with music they might not otherwise have experienced.

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Todd Lochner, Dr. Robert B Pamplin, Jr Prof of Government

• Core 120-10—MWF 1:50-2:50pm

Conceptions of Justice: God, the State, and Outcasts

This course examines the concept of justice and its relationship to human affairs. Questions to be addressed include: Does justice flow from divine will? The state? Reason? Does it even exist? What is the relationship between society and justice? How do we balance the desire for justice with other values such as love or compassion—or are the latter an intrinsic element of the former? Is justice as a concept fixed, or does it change depending on time and culture? What do we owe people whose actions deeply offend our sense of justice, if anything? In order to explore these questions, we will examine a variety of challenging and sometimes controversial readings from the fields of literature, philosophy, and religion.

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Michael Mirabile, Asst Prof w/Term of English

• Core 120-06 – MWF 1:50-2:50pm

Suspense / Horror / Paranoia

This course will be devoted to examining varieties of fear from a number of distinct but related perspectives: cultural, psychological, historical, and social. Special attention is given to how these fears correspond to genre categories in literature and film: namely, the thriller, the Gothic or horror story, and the conspiratorial narrative (often cited as an example of a general “paranoid style”). Does the mechanism of suspense change over time? Do objects of horror also change? Why do collective expressions of suspicion and paranoia undergo periodic renewals, such as during the Cold War era in the United States? Our goal in this course will be to look closely at shifts in perspective and at the contexts within which are found powerful inducements to anxiety. Our primary materials for analysis and discussion will be twentieth-century films and works of literature. Authors may include Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, and Richard Matheson. Film directors may include David Cronenberg, Jordan Peele, Steven Spielberg, and Ridley Scott.

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(Ir)realities — {added May 31}

Matthieu Raillard, Assoc Prof of Hispanic Studies

• Core 120-12 - MWF 1:50-2:50pm

What is real? Is reality defined as something you can touch, see, or hear? Is it something that others confirm is real? Are you certain that there is a real world outside of your own perception? Are dreams any less real than the waking world? Are you sure that you exist?

In this course, we will grapple with these ageless, infuriating, perplexing, and fascinating questions through the works of various authors, artists and filmmakers who all shared the same doubts and wonder as to the nature of reality. Coming from a wide range of cultures, backgrounds, and ethnicities, these thinkers and visionaries took on the challenge of figuring out what is “real” in a similarly wide array of styles, genres, and media. We’ll dive into short stories, novels, plays, films and comics that engage with the nature of reality. What can we learn from them?

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Jessie Starling, Prof of Religious Studies

• Core 120-08 – MWF 1:50-2:50pm

Hope

We have all heard of the Greek myth about Pandora, who opened the container sent from Zeus only to let all manner of evils escape to plague humanity. And yet, she managed to close the lid before one last thing escaped: hope.

The question of whether and how to hope would seem to have a unique relevance today. In this class, we will explore the theme of hope from diverse perspectives and in diverse historical contexts. We will first read about the “problem of hope” in the Western intellectual tradition (Greek myths, Hebrew prophets, and thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, Ernst Bloch, and Richard Rorty). Then we will examine multiple perspectives on hope as it relates to the struggle for racial justice in the U.S. (Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and Ta-Nehisi Coates). Finally, we will explore arguments for hope in the face of climate change. Together we will reflect on what may, and what may not, happen next, and what reasons there are to be hopeful.