Course Schedule 

*This schedule is open to change at the instructor’s discretion.

Week 1 (September 11): Introduction+Syllabus

“Childhood and Poetry” by Pablo Neruda

“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin

On The Importance of Art Education

*Add/Drop ends September 15*

Unit One: Focusing on Form

Week 2 (September 18): Short Stories

Reading:

Excerpt from Art Objects by Jeanette Winterson

“Free Love” by Ali Smith (optional: “To The Cinema” by Ali Smith)

“A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D. Salinger (pages 3-9)

“The Thing in the Forest” by A.S. Byatt

Week 3 (TBD): Antigone

Reading:

Antigone *the Braun Translation (entire play)

Selections from Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

Week 4 (October 2): Antigone cont.

Reading:

Antigone *the Braun Translation (entire play)

Watch:

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni, 2024)

*Available to stream on HBO Max, YouTube, and Hulu

Unit Two: Sula and the Idea of the ‘Other’

Week 5 (October 9): I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017)

Watch:

I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017)

*Available to stream on Kanopy

Paper 1 Due In-Class

Week 6 (October 16): Sula

Reading:

Sula pages 1-79

Selections from Burn This Book by Toni Morrison (available on Canvas)

Week 7 (October 23): Sula cont. 

Reading:

Sula pages 79-174

Selections from Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde (available on Canvas)

~First Draft of Literature Statement Due~

Unit Three: The “Theory” Behind Fun Home

Week 8 (October 30): Fun Home

Reading:

Fun Home pages 1-54

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (available on Canvas)

“The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus (available on Canvas)

Watch (optional):

Introduction to Semiotics 

Week 9 (November 6): Fun Home cont. 

Reading:

Fun Home pages 54-150

Epistemology of the Closet by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick

“Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” by Adrianne Rich

Listen (optional): 

Alison Bechdel on the Gender Reveal podcast

Week 10 (November 13): Fun Home cont. 

Reading:

Fun Home pages 150-232

Listen:

Fun Home: A New Musical 

~Paper 2 Due November 15th~

Unit Four: Small Things and Safe (The Inhospitable Present)

Week 11 (November 20): Small Things Like These

Reading:

Small Things Like These chapters 1-6

Cruel Optimism by Lauren Berlant

~Second Draft of Literature Statement Due + In-Class Peer Review November 20th~ 

Week 12 (THANKSGIVING BREAK): Small Things Like These cont. 

Reading:

Finish Small Things Like These 

Watch (optional):

Small Things Like These (Mielants, 2024)

Week 13 (December 4): Small Things Like These cont.

Reading: 

“Create Dangerously” by Albert Camus

Week 14 (December 11): Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995)

Watch: 

Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995)

~Final Portfolio Due December 18th~