Liberal Arts Courses

Autobiographical Narratives

Course No. LLC 207W  Credits: 3.0

This course consists of six first-person accounts, which highlight the socio-historical and psychological significance of the autobiographical narrative in the black experience. The autobiographical mode is one of the predominant forms of literary expression in black literature, dating back to the "slave narrative" of the eighteenth century, just as it is in the hands of African artists a prominent literary form that is characterized by its predominantly collective and communal narrative voice. The course will focus on the interface between individual life-story and collective (social) history. It will also consider in the postmodernist sense the thin line between fiction and history (art and life), while exploring individual consciousness as an art of rhetorical self-definition and subjectivity. The last two books include two generational responses to womanist issues; and both of them problematize the autobiographical art-form. There are six videos primarily to provide socio-historical background to the course. The videos, as visual texts, are also meant to create a critical interface with the 6 literary socio-constructs, with a view to stimulating your deep insights into the course. Fulfills Humanities/Cultural Studies distribution requirement. Creative Writing Concentration course.

Science Fiction + Fantasy

Course No. LLC 210W  Credits: 3.0

The genre (or sub-genre) of science fiction may, on one level, be seen as a variety of Romanticism, as an extended collective response to features of modernity, specifically scientific discoveries and innovations, as well as elements of the Industrial and technological revolutions. Science fiction, in its astonishing number of permutations, has filled a vast canvas of imaginative possibility, discovering a range of responses and forms that range from the dystopian, pessimistic, even nihilistic, to the utopian. We hear and see, in the voices and imaginations of different science fiction writers and artists, warnings and celebrations, but at the bottom, questionings of what it means to be human and of what kinds of possibilities may lay before us. Science fiction is also a remarkably popular genre; it’s vitally manifested in books, television shows, films, toys, games. In this class we will investigate some of the space(s), both literal and metaphorical, that science fiction (and popular ideas of science) offer to the imagination. The course’s center, however, is the students’ own writing and their own ideas, and will be conducted in workshop format, with relatively brief lectures by the instructor presenting relevant literary, historical, theoretical and biographical backgrounds and contexts. During the semester, students will present two to three original works-in-progress (either creative or critical) to the class, distributing photocopies of their work a week in advance to the members of the class and to the instructor.

Poetry Writing Workshop

Course No. LLC 211W  Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s) Writing + Inquiry I: Basic Composition + Contemporary Ideas | Writing + Inquiry I: Basic Composition + Contemporary Ideas | Writing + Inquiry II: Research + Intellectual Traditions | Writing + Inquiry II: Research + Intellectual Traditions

This class will focus on the creation, revision, oral and visual presentation of poems. Because good writing requires deep reading, we’ll also be reading and responding to poems from an anthology throughout the semester. Students will be required to keep a journal that responds to anthology poems in the form of imitation poems, commentary, letters to the poets, or illustrations. Class time will be spent doing writing and revision exercises, small-group work, discussing poems from the anthology, playing with various aspects of poetry, and workshopping poems written in class. The final project will entail creating a chapbook of poems written during the semester. Fulfills Humanities/Cultural Studies distribution requirement. Creative Writing Concentration course. Writing-intensive course. Writing-intensive course. Prerequisites: LLC 101 and LLC 102.

Writing about Material Culture

Course No. LLC 212W  Credits: 3.0

How is the material world understood in human culture? What do “things” mean — and why? Students will investigate various disciplinary approaches to material culture, through Freudian, semiotic, sociological, Marxist, and archaeological studies. Interdisciplinary approaches will be emphasized. In addition, the course will illuminate our personal attachments, the hidden history of things, our experience of material consciousness (as artists and designers), and the scholarly “packaging” of objects in support of cultural/art history.

Writing for the Sciences

Course No. LLC 213W  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Mary Assad
Prerequisite(s) Writing + Inquiry I: Basic Composition + Contemporary Ideas | Writing + Inquiry I: Basic Composition + Contemporary Ideas | Writing + Inquiry II: Research + Intellectual Traditions | Writing + Inquiry II: Research + Intellectual Traditions

This course introduces the basic written discourse forms of the sciences. It gives an overview and rationale of scientific reports describing the results of original research. It provides students with an opportunity to develop competency in the discourse model that has evolved over centuries of scientific practice. Students will learn the specific lexical, grammatical, and stylistic conventions that comprise the accepted written format, in addition to the components of a scientific report; i.e., the Introduction (including the Literature Review), the Methods, the Results (including their display and documentation), the Discussion, and the References. The term project for each student will be focused on the preparation of a full written report of that student’s individual inquiry into an area of scientific research relevant to their particular studio work and/or interests. Class meetings will center on discussion of readings, research, and on class critique of written drafts that students prepare as they work toward the final versions of their reports. Offered yearly. Open only to LSI seniors; juniors may request written permission from instructor. Fulfills writing intensive requirement. Prerequisites: LLC 101 and LLC 102.

Spies

Course No. LLC 309X  Credits: 3.0

In this seminar we will discuss spying in its many manifestations including the reasons and justifications offered for spying; the different types of spying; the means by which spying is conducted; and whether or not spying is a necessary evil. We will use a variety of texts in the class, non-fiction historical works as well as fictional works. Through a variety of media including film, hypertext, popular culture essays, fiction, and radio programs, we will explore the fascination with spies and what spies represent culturally and historically. Our object is that by the end of the semester we will be better readers of texts and more knowledgeable about issues of identity, deception, and information gathering. Fulfills Humanities/Cultural Studies distribution requirement. Creative Writing Concentration course.

Screenwriting

Course No. LLC 318  Credits: 3.0
Faculty Scott Lax
Prerequisite(s) Writing + Inquiry I: Basic Composition + Contemporary Ideas | Writing + Inquiry I: Basic Composition + Contemporary Ideas | Writing + Inquiry II: Research + Intellectual Traditions | Writing + Inquiry II: Research + Intellectual Traditions

What is a spec script, a slugline, a smash cut? What's the difference between montage and a series of shots, and why does the screenwriter need to know? One script page averages how many minutes of onscreen film time? In addition to the demands of just plain good storytelling, writing for film entails expressing everything about the story visually, which gives visual artists an advantage in adapting to the demands of the form. It is the screenwriter's job to put all of the sights, sounds and speeches on the page, while still leaving room for interpretation by the filmmakers. In this course we will discuss the elements of good storytelling, study the screenplays of Pulp Fiction and Chocolat, and write a short screenplay formatted to conform to industry standards. Fulfills Humanities/Cultural Studies distribution requirement. Creative Writing Concentration course. Prerequisites: LLC 101 and LLC 102.

Multimodal Composition: Text + Image

Course No. LLC 351  Credits: 3.0

This course will allow students to develop the skills and understanding necessary for literacy in our information-saturated times. Facilitated by growth in electronic technologies, more and more types of written texts, in both print and online media, have fused with images and other graphics. Literature produces and consumers of these emerging hybrid texts will need awareness of and competence in the complex communicative strategies that they engage. While this course offers valuable knowledge to any developing artist, it is particularly suitable for students studying in the visual communications majors; i.e., Graphic Design, Illustration, Life Sciences Illustration, Photography, Video + Digital Cinema, Digital Arts. Formerly On the Same Page; LLC 351 X.