Search results: 54

Show all 54

Fall 2023 - Literary Publishing - 01

To the average reader, the field of publishing can seem somewhat opaque. How does a novel go from scribbled notes to finished paperback? What goes into editing, printing, and marketing a short story collection? This course will aim to shed light on this exciting field through a combination of readings, talks with local publishing professionals, in-class discussion, and hands-on work. We will learn about publishing by tracing the literary work from the hands of the author, through the processes of acquisition, editing, production, marketing, and distribution, and into the hands of the reader. Additional topics will include recent trends in technology, magazine and book editing, and the roles of the literary agent, the independent publisher, and the book reviewer. We will take advantage of the extraordinary publishing resources in the Twin Cities through guest speakers and field trips. Assignments will include writing brief book reviews, presenting publisher profiles, editing projects, and writing a final paper on publishing issues. This course is designed for readers who want to know how the magazine or book they’re holding got into their hands, for writers who want to know what happens when they send their works to publishers, and for those interested in publishing as a future career.

Fall 2023 - Major British Writers - 01

Medieval mysteries and magic abound in historical British literature. What creature really kidnapped the infant son of Queen Rhiannon? What was Margery Kempe’s greatest, shameful secret? Did Shakespeare really write his plays? Social questions arise too: how did magical legends affect the development of the “normative” Anglo-American society we see today?

We will investigate these questions and more as we read poetry, stories, and plays from British history. One of our main tools will be etymology—the study of words and how they developed over time. By investigating the history of words like “man” and “wife”, we will trace meaning and change in both literature and society.

Along the way, we will pay special attention to tracing the footsteps of individuals who were prohibited from participating in mainstream literary society: low-income workers, women, LGBTQ* folk, and BIPOC groups. Literary investigation and etymology will help us learn from our cultural ancestors who lived on the margins of their societies.

Fall 2023 - Movie Medievalisms - F1

Since the invention of film, audiences have been fascinated by fantastic depictions of the Middle Ages on screen. Audiences love escaping into mysterious worlds of adventure with kings, warriors, and princesses. But how much do these movies really have to do with the historical Middle Ages? Do they illuminate truths or manufacture lies? Was this time period really as exciting, romantic, and dangerous as we imagine? In this class, we will dive into medieval movies and use actual historical sources to see how “accurate” the movies are. In the end, we will find out what modern movies say not just about medieval societies, but how they are actually a mirror for modern-day viewers.

As a First-Year Course, this class will familiarize you with college-level materials and methods, including seminar discussions and written analysis. The class will also introduce you to various resources on campus, from health services to tech rentals.

Learning Outcomes:
Develop analytical skills and critical vocabulary using film and text
Generate profound ideas using community knowledge-weaving
Learn how the Middle Ages get translated for modern audiences
Demonstrate understanding in analytic writing and creative film-making

Fall 2023 - Politics of Memory in Lat Amer - F1

Course Description:

This course examines and critically analyzes various approaches to the study of how different individuals and communities in particular historical and cultural scenarios in contemporary Latin America create meanings about their past experience with political violence. The course addresses questions related to the tension between remembering and forgetting, the presence of conflicting memories and truths and how these are negotiated or not through distinct forms of representation. The cultural analysis of different means of representation: human rights and truth commissions’ reports, testimonials, film, art and memorials will be the basis for class discussions on different notions of truth and different forms of truth-telling. A close examination of these forms of representation will reveal the extent to which they can conflict with each other while at the same time feed on each other, creating “effects of truth” and leaving room for secrecy as a mode of truth-telling. Finally, the course will also compel students to think about what the consequences the politics of memory have for the future in Latin America.

The content and discussion in this course will necessarily engage with historical contexts and personal testimonies of violence that include arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, sexual violence, genocide, massacres, extrajudicial execution and disappearances. Much of the material will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will do our best to flag especially graphic or intense content that discusses or represents violence and will do our best to make this classroom a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically and thoughtfully with difficult content every week.

Fall 2023 - Psych and/of Climate Change - 01

Climate change is no longer a distant, hypothetical threat. Yet, though more than half of Americans are “concerned” or “alarmed” about global warming, few are taking significant personal action in response, and only a small minority are involved in civic action to address the issue.
This course will take a broad psychological perspective on the questions, “Why are we not doing enough to address global climate change?” and "What will catalyze the social movement necessary to address the issue?" The class will explore psychological theories and studies that help explain why people respond to the climate crisis in the ways they do, and what psychological research tells us about how to shift that response.

Fall 2023 - Reading Plays - 01

Reading Plays guides students in close readings of dramatic literature, in particular of plays that are typically left out of the traditional theatrical canon.
Students will learn about the socio-historical context of each play, and in-
class exercises will introduce them to the foundation of script analysis: they will
examine the play's given circumstances, dialogue, dramatic action, characters, and style. Students will read a new play every week; assignments include weekly in- class writing exercises and short critical papers. This course introduces students to contemporary Indigenous theatre and performance (writ large) produced and performed in what is now known as Canada and the United States, and to the theoretical frames provided by Indigenous scholars and artists to engage with these works. While in no way exhaustive, this broad survey includes theatre, dance, film, and music and begins in the 1960’s and ends with current productions.

Fall 2023 - Self Defense - 01

Self-defense is, by its simplest definition, the act of keeping oneself safe. Our curriculum covers a continuum of scenarios and actions, from a no-contact interaction to a full-blown physical attack. We will discuss body language, awareness, and using one’s voice assertively. We will also explore physical resistance options and how to create the maximum amount of force possible in any given scenario. Warmups are included in all but the first class. Classes, except for the first class, will be conducted in bare feet unless other accommodations are made.

Fall 2023 - Shakespeare - 01

Our class website is here: https://sites.google.com/macalester.edu/engl115-shakespeare/home

Fall 2023 - Software Design/Devpt - ALL

Fall 2023 - World Religions/Discourse - 01

Description
This course has been an ongoing experiment. Students have often asked why our department does not offer a basic course on the religions of the world. They have sought a kind of classic survey, to give them a certain cultural literacy in the world’s major religions (on “literacy,” cf. S. Prothero, Religious Literacy. Also look at https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/what-we-do/our-approach/what-religious-literacy and https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/what-we-do/our-approach/core-principles as well as the Pew survey http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/). At the same time, several critics have raised questions about the whole project of defining, locating, and comparing the major religious traditions, often accusing the authors of world religions textbooks of western biases and masked theological agendas. Meanwhile, a revised version of Huston Smith’s 1958 book Religions of Man is continually reprinted and continually outsells far more sophisticated textbooks. When reading a world religions textbook, one should ask if the author is trying to make a particular religion look good, or, more likely, trying to make certain versions of all religions look good.
Our goal will be to try to comprehend just what cultural literacy would mean when studying the major religious traditions of the world, while at the same time developing an appreciation for some of the blind spots and problems in this enterprise. To a large extent, we will do some serious construction before we feel ready for de-construction. Most weeks, we will cover one of five major areas (South Asia, East Asia, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and students will read a different authors’ treatment of this material. We will have a general discussion of the material covered in the variety of books we are considering, to get a sense of the different authors’ choices and to shake our confidence in the idea that there are simple facts that any objective observer would record. At the end of each area, we will have a short quiz on some of the agreed upon “facts.”
The final paper will be the student’s critical reading of their chosen textbook, in light of the issues raised throughout the semester and the questions raised by theorists in the study of religion (e.g.,Masuzawa, Nongbri, Laine et al. …and take a look at Religion for Breakfast: https://religionforbreakfast.com/ .
Show all 54