Classes Fall 2009

Katie D.

October 12, 2009 - 5:18 PM

It's the beginning of my senior year, and it has started with accustomed energy. I have fabulous classes this term, including two comparative literature classes, and one Spanish class about Chilean literature. It will be a busy, busy term due to the difficulty of my coursework and the other activities I've undertaken for the year. To enable all this activity, I have adjusted my credit load from four classes a term to three. So we'll see how that works in the end.

Now to a description of my classes:

COLT 301 "Approaches to Comparative Literature" with Professor Katy Brundan

This course is an introduction to literary theory and comparative literature. We will be reading a wide range of theory, from psychoanalysis to feminism and postcolonial studies. The idea of the course, and of literary theory in general, is to take works of literature (which Comparative Literature extends beyond written works and into "texts" that include film, song, visual art, and more) and to set them in a larger political/cultural/linguistic context in order to tease out their true meanings and significance.

Although I have done coursework in these subjects before, I am excited about this course as it will give me a wider base in theoretical study and the canonical texts of comparative literature. So far the class has been quite discussion based, and my classmates are generally engaged and excited about the texts. All this makes for a very interesting course.

COLT 415 "Capstone Seminar" with Professor Kenneth Calhoon

This seminar is designed to be a culmination of our studies in comparative literature. If we are writing an honors thesis in comparative literature (which I am tempted by, believe me, but will not will not will not have time), this class is a sort of prospectus opportunity to focus our study and writing. If we are not writing a thesis, then we will have the opportunity to read some fabulous works based on ideas of mechanization and re-imaginings of the human body, and to write a self-directed research paper for the end of the term.

As a seminar, this is a tiny class of extremely engaged and dynamic students. The reading materials are interesting and complicated, with lots of creepy Germen texts like Kafka's "In the Penal Colony," Hoffmann's "The Sandman," and (of course) Freud's "The Uncanny." The class meets just once a week, and I think each class is going to be a fabulous opportunity to do some real literary analysis and to put to use the studies I'll be doing in COLT 301.

SPAN 490 "Chilean Literature in the Twentieth Century" with Professor Pedro Garcia-Caro

In this course, we will be examining the changing images of the relation between the individual and the State in Chilean literature from the 1900's. This was a time of serious upheaval in the Chilean social and political structures, including the emergence of strong worker's movements, Socialist parties, human rights movements, a Socialist President, and the military coup that killed President Salvadore Allende and placed Pinochet as dictator for many years. Issues of repression and cultural formation are central in this time period. We will be reading several famous writers, like Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, and Isabelle Allende. But we will also be exploring some less well-known works, trying to get to the heart of individual identity, social movements, and images of "la patria," or the homeland, in modern Chilean literature.

I'm sure you all can tell that this subject is close to my heart. Chilean language, history, and culture are all very dear to me after my time studying there. But I also see Chile as essential in understanding Latin America: as the most developed and stable country in Latin America it is a leader in many ways, but also contains some of the difficult elements of a repressive government never fully called upon to account for the repression and deaths of so many. I already know and love some of the authors we are studying in this course, and cannot wait to read and discuss both these favorites and the new works I will soon be introduced to.

As always, I promise to keep you all posted on the trajectory of the term. I think it will be quite the year: in coursework alone, Fall term is shaping up to be a real adventure.