Literature of Lies
What are our expectations for truth in memoirs and fake news? And how do we feel about unreliable narrators, lies within the story world, tall-tales, and satire? We will ask how lies are constructed narratively, and what we lose and gain when and if we stop trusting our stories. As we consider various types of narrative untruth, we’ll dive into some cognitive psychology to learn about the trustworthiness of memory (and how forgetting creates gaps that false information can fill) as well as our susceptibility to fake news. Together the class will allow us to ask what is “true” in our post-truth world.
This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading, analytical writing, and project design.
Zero to Hero: The Hero’s Journey to Character
Heroes aren't born—they're made. What drives individuals to face impossible challenges, push beyond their limits, build themselves up, and confront the unknown? This course explores stories of adventure and growth of fictional and real-life heroes, focusing on how adversity shapes character, values, and moral strength. Using Joseph Campbell’s framework of The Hero’s Journey, students will examine how trials of courage, sacrifice, and perseverance cultivate resilience and leadership. Through literature, history, and film, students will analyze the psychological and ethical dimensions of heroism, considering whether true greatness lies in bold action or quiet integrity. By studying a diverse slate of texts students will reflect on how cultural ideals of heroism evolve and what it means to live with purpose. Through literary analysis, creative writing, and research, this course challenges students to not only explore heroic narratives but to consider how they can define and embody these values in their own lives.
This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading, analytical writing, and project design.
Madness to Mental Health
Who you callin’ crazy? How do we respond to those whose mental states diverge from the norm, and how do we tell stories about them? Starting with Greek tragedy, working our way through Shakespeare, and ending with student-chosen modern texts, we’ll explore the history of mental illness in Western literature. We’ll examine the language used to talk about mental health, how it has evolved, and how depictions differ across time and culture. Projects will involve options ranging from creative writing to psychology research, giving students opportunities to explore topics of interest to them within mental health narratives.
This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading, analytical writing, and creative writing.
Crime Literature
Starting with the birth of detective fiction, one of the most popular literary genres, and moving to creative nonfiction, we will consider the appeal of stories about grisly murders and trace an arc from a more comfortable belief in the nature of justice to suspicion about police powers. Coinciding with this increased suspicion is a movement away from white detectives and white victims, to crimes targeting people of color, who were legally barred from giving testimony (and thus seeking legal redress) for much of the country’s history. Do stories give us cathartic release when a bad guy is punished? Is there some sort of poetic justice in exposing the inequities of the past even if the murderers have gone free? And what does crime fiction’s popularity suggest about our relationship to our criminal justice system, about our perception of its workings, and about the larger American tenet of equality before the law?
This class will have a particular focus on the skills of reading and creative writing.