This course is designed to help students to develop further their skills in reading, writing, speaking, and researching. Students will study and produce various forms of communication while strengthening their skills in argumentation. They will learn to recognize and use various rhetorical strategies in order to produce a program-specific major assignment.
After successful completion of a BXE course, students will be able to do the following:
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| 603-BXE-DW |
"More Human Than Human": Exploring Blade Runner |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
“More Human than Human” is the slogan of the Tyrell Corporation, manufacturer of the bioengineered “replicants” in the film Blade Runner. The phrase is a marketing tool to convey the ability of the company’s products to perfectly mimic human beings in appearance and to surpass them in mental and physical qualities. The film suggests another meaning of the phrase: these “machines” may also surpass us in their moral qualities. While such machines cannot yet exist, Blade Runner raises questions that seem very relevant today. Recent developments in artificial intelligence are quickly changing how we live and how we work. Inevitably, AI will also affect how we think about ourselves, i.e., about what it means to be human. This course will explore the film Blade Runner, as well as its source novel and other literary influences, to consider the practical, philosophical, and ethical consequences of this emerging technology. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Careers and Callings |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course we will read and write about what people do for a living, how they feel about it, and why they do it. Our exploration will include short stories, literary nonfiction, oral histories, and more. Analyzing these texts will provide you with ideas and give you an opportunity to frame your own experience, discover what inspires you, and explore your aspirations. Class activities include short lectures, discussion, group work and oral presentations in small groups. For the final project you will write about the challenges and work opportunities in a field related to your program of study. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Creative Nonfiction |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
At its best, creative nonfiction is both perceptive and precise in its descriptions, seeking to capture a surprising truth about a particular person, experience, issue, or phenomenon. We will read a number of models, from genres that include memoir, feature articles, and profiles. Ultimately, you will write your own work of creative nonfiction. Over the term, you will do a series of exercises towards a revised piece of 1500 to 2000 words — from brainstorming to narrowing your focus, research, an exploratory draft, a full draft, and a revised work. The topic is up to you. The requirement is to produce a work that: 1) is related to your program of study, even if tangentially; 2) indicates significant research; 3) uses a range of creative formal strategies (sensory detail, dialogue, etc.) to engage a general reader; 4) (not least!) interests YOU. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Creativity |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This cross-disciplinary course will provide the opportunity to explore what creativity means to you, as well as in your chosen field of practice. You will begin waking up your imagination via exercises designed by the visionary artist Alex Grey. You will record your explorations in a journal along with drawings, doodles, etc., as your creative process unfolds. At the heart of this hands-on, experiential course lies your own project; it can range from making a piece of art, to writing an academic essay, to drafting a work-place, problem-solving report. You will take your project through these stages—wishing, choosing, starting, working, completing, and showing.You will learn strategies from psychotherapist Eric Maisel for overcoming such blocks as hungry mind, confused mind, chaotic mind, or shy mind anxiety. By semester’s end, you will do an oral presentation and a written report on your “work-in-progress,” describing what you have learned about sustaining your own creative practice. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Critical Reading of Digital Culture |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course, students will examine a number of the forces shaping society in the post-millennial cultural landscape, particularly the Internet and how it is affecting our notions of literacy, identity, knowledge, and our common cultural experience. The approach will be to examine how new forms of digital media are changing the way that we deliver, receive, create and experience text. Emphasis will be on social networking, blogging, and other forms of user-generated content, as well as journalism, advertising, privacy and copyright issues. Each student will do a research project that will ultimately be developed into an oral presentation and final paper and which will allow the student to explore how her or his specific discipline intersects with some of the main themes of the course. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Culture and Rhetoric |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course examines rhetorical strategies in contemporary culture over three units: 1. Reading images and consumer culture. What rhetorical strategies can we identify in ads and public service announcements? How should we conceptualize the position of the individual within consumer culture? Students will write a rhetorical analysis of an ad/brand or PSA. 2. Conspiracy theories and moral panics. What are conspiracy theories and moral panics and how do they spread? How can we promote media literacy and limit their impact? Students will write an essay refuting a text/news story/podcast/viral video promoting a false idea. 3. Personality and the individual. What insights can be gained from personality testing and psychoanalysis? How can we read films as rhetoric about the development of the individual? Students will write an essay about their personality, their experience in their program, a goal and a film. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Dante and Milton |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This paired Humanities and English course introduces students to two of history's most influential poets: Dante Alighieri and John Milton. The Humanities portion of this paired course will begin by examining utilitarianism and virtue ethics. The majority of the Humanities course will then be devoted to a close study of Dante's masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. The English portion of the course will focus on the life and poetry of John Milton, arguably, the greatest poet in the English language (more revered even than Shakespeare!). In the first part of the course, we will read a selection of Milton’s lyric poems, including “L’Allegro”, “Il Penseroso,” and “Lycidas” in the context of 17th-century writing, politics, and religion. The second half of the class will be devoted to reading Milton’s magnum opus, Paradise Lost. Throughout the semester, connections will be made between the Humanities and English portions of the paired course. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Dystopian Fictions |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
A “dystopia” is an imaginary place or state in which things are unpleasant or bad, as from some form of deprivation, oppression, or terror. Keith Booker defines dystopian fiction as “any imaginative view of a society that is oriented toward highlighting in a critical way negative or problematic features of that society’s vision of the ideal.” Our focus will be on the critical element of Booker’s definition—in novels like 1984 and The Hunger Games, short stories like “Harrison Bergeron” and “Caught in the Organ Draft,” films like V for Vendetta and Gattaca—and thus on extracting and analyzing the principal themes and sub-themes of these dystopian fictions: justice, freedom, individuality, morality, ethical behaviour, cognitive estrangement, power, surveillance, time, betrayal, the integrity of mind and body, children, the public and private, sexuality, religion, language, and history." |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Ecological Literacy |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Arguments about the relationship of the environment, society and economy are everywhere in the news. Climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, drought, and wildfires - these are complex problems that defy simple solutions. In Ecological Literacy, we learn about strategies of analysis and argumentation, and we put these concepts to work in pursuit of feasible solutions to today’s ecological challenges. You’ll read and discuss contemporary articles about the environment; participate in dynamic classes in an active learning classroom; hear from guest speakers on special topics; take part in co-curricular activities for the Environment and Sustainability Certificate; and publish your writing on a unique course blog. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Food for Thought |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
There are many reasons we choose the food we eat: nutritional, cultural, religious, and aesthetic, to name a few. In this course we will be looking at some important texts about food, what writers from different periods and places have had to say about food and the implications of diet for humans and the planet. Readings will vary from short stories to essays to historical analyses; they will include selections from Montaigne, T.C. Boyle, Margaret Visser, M. F. K. Fisher, Frances Moore Lappe, Anna Lappe, Michael Pollan, and Anthony Bourdain, among others. We will be looking at rhetorical strategies used by these writers and at ways to improve reading, writing and presentation skills. Student responses will include a personal essay, a restaurant review, a presentation, an analytical essay, culminating in a research essay of 1000 words related to your program. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Food for Thought: From Farm to Table |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course, we are going to look at many aspects of food ― the good, the bad, and the ugly ― and read some important contemporary texts about the implications of diet for humans and the planet. Readings will vary from short stories, essays, articles and to longer works; they will include selections from Lolis Eric Elie, Anthony Bourdain, Michael Pollan, T.C. Boyle, various chefs, Anna Lappe, Adam Gopnik, Sonia Faruqi, and Sarah Elton, the latter three being Canadian. Some of the issues covered will be food choices, fast food vs. slow food, factory farms vs. the organic alternative, animal welfare, the local food movement, and food waste, amongst others. We will be looking at rhetorical strategies used by these writers and at ways to improve reading, writing and presentation skills. Student responses will include a personal essay, restaurant and film reviews, letters, an analytical essay, a presentation, and culminating in a research essay of 1000 words related to your program. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Humans, Animals and the Environment |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course students examine different manifestations of the human relationship with the natural world, both animate and inanimate, from the more obvious stories about humans surviving in the face of harsh weather or predatory animals to more subtle interrogations of humanity’s place within or separate from the natural world. The geographical focus will be on works from North America, and the class will study a broad range of works produced since the landing of Europeans in the Americas. The goal of the course is to introduce students to a range of ideas concerning the place of human beings in the context of other animals and the environment. Final projects in this course will be related to students’ programs of study and will explore some environmental issue in that context. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Imagining Futures |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Inquiry-Based Writing |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will focus on the concept of inquiry-based writing, which is to say in order to be an informed speaker on a given issue or topic, you will need to inquire deeply into the issue. Only from a position of understanding can we stake a claim to a position and argue for that position. As a consequence, our focus will be on not only understanding a text from its rhetorical position, but also focus on asking questions of the text as well as ourselves. In addition, there are issues of information, credibility, and authority that must be considered and questioned. Ultimately, inquiry-based writing will ask you to ask questions of yourself and to seek information. A healthy dose of skepticism will also be needed — we cannot simply accept what has been said simply because it has been said. In the end, we want to be authoritative, informed individuals. From that position, we can write with confidence, confidence that will be evident to a reader. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Investigating Story Values |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Individuals and groups across cultures and throughout history have long recognized that storytelling is a form of power. But what gives stories their power? Who gets to tell them? Who is impacted by them? And how are new technologies, such as social media and Artificial Intelligence, affecting the flow of stories of all kinds in our society? This paired course will explore the territories of both personal and public discourse across the disciplines and will consider the moral implications of the stories we tell. Students will discover how these territories are marked by good-faith discussion, argument and research as well as by censorship, propaganda and “fake news”, and how so much of our discourse is organized by a common device as old as the human species itself: story. Completion of the Investigating Story Value(s) paired course fulfills the foundational knowledge component of the SPACE: Arts and Sciences Certificate. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Jordan Peterson's Rules for Life |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course will introduce students to the ideas of Jordan Peterson, a Canadian psychologist and internationally known author whose work combines self-help, psychology and cultural history (currently, the one course text will be Peterson’s We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine). Peterson offers fascinating insights into life issues grounded in a bibliography referencing contemporary scholarship and great books of the past. As a public intellectual, Peterson has generated significant controversy for challenging what he sees as the left-wing bias within universities and the general culture. I hope that considering the book in the context of some of Peterson’s other public statements and the reaction that his thinking has generated—pro, con, and in between—will make for an exciting interdisciplinary course, in which students will complete a project linking some of Peterson’s themes to their program of study. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Literary Nonfiction and Social Critique |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course students read various literary nonfiction essays by contemporary writers who use their individual experiences to address broader social concerns. Using these essays as examples, along with instructional readings on the craft of personal essay writing, students then draw from their own experiences to engage in social critique by exploring forms of institutionalized violence—linguistic, economic, and gendered, for example. Students write essays intended for a non-specialized audience with the intent to enter real-world discourse. Final essays weave together personal experience and research to address a present-day problem related to students’ particular disciplines. Ultimately, the course encourages students to recognize that their decisions can foster social justice. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Literature and Ethics |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course will aim to develop students' reading and writing skills through the investigation of works of literature, with a particular focus on ethical issues that are presented in these works. The two central texts of the course are Cormac McCarthy’s 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Road, and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s celebrated graphic novel Watchmen. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Literature and Peace |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will look at various European texts in English translation to trace a well-known theme in literature, that of the hero's transformative quest for a transcendent goal after having left his or her community of origin and undergone a difficult initiation. Different quests will be examined, and the quest pattern will become the template for analysis. The class format will consist of brief lectures, followed by work done in class. The goal of the course will be to develop student analytical autonomy. Films will occasionally be shown. Throughout the semester, a great deal of emphasis will be placed on the writing of sound and intelligent essays and on proper citation rules. Strong note-taking skills are vital to this class. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Literature and Trauma |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Literature of Migration and Exile |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
“Mass migration,” according to Salmon Rushdie, is one of the “distinguishing feature[s] of our time.” Rushdie made this observation more than twenty years ago, but the large-scale movement of people (fleeing wars, seeking better economic opportunities, escaping the ravages of climate change, etc.) has in the years since become an even more pressing feature of human civilization. This course aims to gain a better understanding of this important subject by examining how it is taken up in works of literature. Our discussions will focus on specific historical and political contexts, and we will examine a wide range of literary texts, including a selection of essays and short fiction by pivotal figures such as Edward Said, Jamaica Kincaid, V.S. Naipaul, and Salmon Rushdie, as well as a contemporary novel that dramatizes the related experiences of migration and exile. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
New Narrative |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
What is a story? What is the best way to tell a story? How do we describe ourselves and our experiences? Which of us and what parts of each of us are left out of that description? Known for experimentation, its embrace of ‘kitsch,’ cultural and literary theory, the body, sexuality, gossip, political debate and pop culture, New Narrative first and foremost aims to present experience honestly, challenging the idea that a text can be absolutely objective or its meaning absolutely fluid. This makes for some fun, crazy writing… Along with reading and discussing a variety of New Narrative authors, students will produce their own story implementing New Narrative styles and conventions, related to their field. Students will also explore techniques like collaboration, scene-writing, gossip-collecting, freewriting, poem writing, film-watching, group discussion, and close reading to ultimately tell a story about their “self” in relation to a community and a broader socio-political landscape. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Non-Fiction Workshop |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Using Zinsser’s text as our guide, we will explore several areas of non-fiction: letters, writing about the arts, and travel writing. We will read some preeminent examples from each category, after which you will create your own. We will also use Zinsser’s book to improve your writing and reading skills to the point where you develop a fluency with the specialized vocabulary and conventions of non-fiction writing. Towards the end of the course, you will complete an oral presentation, and on the last day of classes, you will submit a major research paper that relates to your program of study. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Novel History |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In this course, we will examine novels, short stories, and films that represent historical events and experiences. Specifically, through our analysis of our course material, we will consider the ways in which fiction may represent and, in some cases, reimagine history and what implications these reimaginings deliver. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Place, Belonging, and Identity |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Postmodern Detective Fiction |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Mystery and crime novels are often dismissed as “pulp fiction” or “potboilers.” These novels are meant to be carried around in one’s back pocket, digested quickly, and then dismissed without much thought. They are, supposedly, not worthy of serious critical attention. Recent practitioners, though, have used this oft-maligned genre in surprising and innovative ways. The trope of the detective has figured as a stand-in for the reader – endlessly seeking truth and within the pages of the novel. For these postmodern authors, however, truth and order may forever just be out of reach. Through rigorous engagement with emblematic texts, students will learn to perform close readings and analysis of the formal qualities of those texts, and will form their own opinions and interpretations of the topics and issues discussed in class. By the end of the course, students will research, write, document, edit, and present a research paper that links their program of study to the course material. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Reading the Classic Horror Film |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course will pursue the idea of “classic” horror as a way to designate films that articulate an important set of historical, psychological, philosophical, and political concerns. Divided up into a range of subgenres and special issues, this course will introduce students to the special versatility of horror as we explore the genre’s ongoing relevance and adaptability. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Rhetoric |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course is designed to develop students' proficiency in producing well-structured texts and oral reports that will prepare them for the writing challenges they will encounter in their chosen careers. An important aim of the course is to show that academic writing, literary criticism, business writing, scientific reporting and journalism are not wholly distinct disciplines, but depend on the same criteria of clearly formulated purpose, awareness of audience, exactness and economy of expression, and internal cohesion that characterize all good writing. Consequently, the course will be divided between understanding argument through analysis and practising argument through composition. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Rhetorical Strategies |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Descriptions for Course: |
This course is designed to teach students how to employ various rhetorical strategies used in written communication. Through the analysis of various essays and formal rhetoric, students will learn how to write a variety of professional and academically orientated texts with presentation, audience and purpose in mind. This course will also focus on strategies for generating ideas, conducting research, planning, organizing, revising and editing texts. (Tracie Gemmel)
This course is designed to help students further strengthen their reading and writing skills. Through careful rhetorical analysis and regular writing practice, students will come to assess and appreciate different techniques, styles, and purposes of prose. Readings will be mostly — but not exclusively — recent non-fiction works addressing a variety of subjects relevant to contemporary concerns. (Topics to be covered could include the media, sports, internet, art, food, culture, environment, writing, gender, ethics, jobs, cities, advertising, etc.). Classroom discussion and activities will be linked through a major project to issues central to students’ programmes of study. (Sabine Leger) |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Robot Visions |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course will explore the concept of robots/automatons both in terms of the line between human/non-human categories, as well as a promise of future and present technological possibilities. A combination of fiction and non-fiction readings, this course aspires to have a broader, interdisciplinary appeal to students studying in different programs, and will offer the possibility to write a research paper (summative assessment) on AI technology, as it relates to their programs of study. Some essays & assignments will have a more literary scope & purpose. In our attempt to read both fiction & non-fiction related to robots, some of which spans over a hundred years of time, we will try to establish a broader historical context for thinking about a topic that is so provoking to our imagination today! |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Robot Visions in Fiction and Beyond |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course will explore the concept of robots/automatons both in terms of the line between human/non-human categories, as well as a promise of future and present technological possibilities. A combination of fiction and non-fiction readings, this course aspires to have a broader, interdisciplinary appeal to students studying in different programs, and will offer the possibility to write a research paper (summative assessment) on AI technology, as it relates to their programs of study. Some essays & assignments will have a more literary scope & purpose. In our attempt to read both fiction & non-fiction related to robots, some of which spans over a hundred years of time, we will try to establish a broader historical context for thinking about a topic that is so provoking to our imagination today! |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Sports Literature and Ethics |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In Sports Literature and Ethics, we will analyze several essays that explore the intersection of athletic endeavours and moral philosophy through the lens of literary works. These texts focus on a variety of sports/activities from a range of journals, periodicals, and magazines. This course examines ethical dilemmas faced by athletes, coaches, fans, organizations and institutions. From issues of fair play, doping, and corruption to questions of identity, loyalty, and the spirit of competition, students will analyze how literature reflects and critiques the moral complexities inherent in the world of sports. Through critical reading and discussion, we will uncover how sports narratives challenge our understanding of justice, integrity, and the human condition within the competitive arena. Class time will be devoted to discussions, writing workshops, group work and lectures, oral presentations, and various written compositions. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Sports Literature and Society |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
In ‘Sports Literature and Society’, we will analyze a number of essays. These texts focus on a variety of sports/activities from a range of journals, periodicals, and magazines. As we will see, the athletes and players featured in these readings often represent the Zeitgeist or the particular mood of 2020s society. Thus, we will examine a specific sport/activity in conjunction with themes that include but are not limited to, gender, racism, war, class, and politics. Students will be expected to relate the issues addressed in class to their own disciplines of study. Class time will be devoted to discussions, writing workshops, group work and lectures, oral presentations, and various written compositions. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Staging the Strange: Disorientation and Ethics in Immersive Performance |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Stranger Than Fiction: Memoir and Autobiography |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Students will read the memoirs of David Sedaris, Haven Kimmel, Amber Ruffin, and Catherine Gildiner, to name a few. The class will consist of lectures, class discussions, oral presentations, and the revision and editing of students’ work. Students will analyze and respond to recurring themes found within memoir and autobiography. They will investigate what these authors’ lives reveal about love, loss, relationships, childhood, identity, and why their stories need to be told. Students will engage in close readings and will respond in class discussions and in their written work. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Text and the City: Writing Montreal |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
This course focuses on the complex artistic, literary and cultural representations of life in Montreal. Among the aims of the proposed course is to demonstrate how a city as space informs culture and vice versa, and to investigate how literary representations of Montreal’s rich urban culture both construct and challenge how we imagine our city. In addition to studying musical texts, films, plays, and novels from a literary point of view as a map of urban space and life, we will also visit institutes and spaces that define our city and write about them. Students will be encouraged to write long research papers informed by their disciplinary specializations (regardless of whether nursing, literature, arts, social science, applied technologies, etc.). They will also experiment with different styles of rhetorical presentation of their arguments. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
The Storytelling Animal |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Anthropologists tell us that storytelling is central to human existence and common to every known culture. Storytelling involves a symbiotic exchange between teller and listener — an exchange we learn to negotiate in infancy. This course studies the rich variety of stories we tell, and the ways we tell them. We will study some of the major genres of storytelling: epic, myth, tragedy, allegory, and romance in the realms of fiction, and non fiction and consider questions such as: What are the formal elements that make for a great story? How do character, theme, plot, perspective, and style contribute to our understanding of a story? What hopes and desires, needs and anxieties, does it answer to? How do the representations of gender, sexuality, race, and class inform the art and practice of story-telling? As well, we will practice our own creative storytelling skills in order to gain a deeper understanding of how writers tell stories, and to help us define our own narrative voice. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
The Unreliable Narrative |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
The Unreliable Narrator |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
The Unseen World: Literature and Magic |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
Not so long ago, humans lived in a world where substance was changeable, and the natural world was inhabited by unseen beings and spirits. They felt connected to that unseen world and believed that it could be manifested and even manipulated, if they only knew the way to do it. That way was magic. In this course, we will seek to understand the role that Magic has played (and continues to play) in the human journey, by looking at the history of magic and theories about its cultural functions. At the same time, we will explore the places where magic has always been kept alive: myth, fairy tales and fantasy, where the veil between the unseen world and the world of substance grows thin and transformation becomes possible--with a sprinkling of Starstuff, an incantation, a wave of a wand—or even a simple wish. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Women and Anger |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
While women's anger is not a new phenomenon, fiction and non-fiction books chronicling and channelling women's anger have been coming fast and furious in recent years. In Rage Becomes Her (2018), Soraya Chemaly notes that “It is easier to criticize angry women than to ask the questions ‘What is making you so angry?’ and ‘What can we do about it?’” This course will explore these questions through selected recent fiction and non-fiction. The non-fiction texts provide data and report many women's lived experiences; the fictional texts offer sometimes satiric social commentary and/or revenge fantasy, but also serious consideration of Chemaly's second question: what to do in the face of these conditions? Heads up: some course material includes violence against women and girls, including rape, and violence against men, including dismemberment. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
World War II's Long Shadow |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
|
| Description for Course: |
World War II changed not just the arts, but the very ways in which people think about the world. The focus of this course is charting out how this alteration in individual human perspectives and broad historical perspectives ran in tandem after the enormity of the war’s trauma. We will read a sampling of short first-hand accounts from the war along with short historical accounts of key events. Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus (1991) and Robert Harris’s alternate-history detective novel, Fatherland (1992), will serve as the basis of the course’s major work, including an individual discipline-specific project using various episodes and events from the war as a backdrop. |
|
| 603-BXE-DW |
Writing about Film |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
For this course, film will be considered as a broad category that includes the movies of classic and contemporary Hollywood cinema, scripted television comedies, documentary films, independent/art cinema, and world cinema. By screening various examples from these different areas, we will consider the general concerns of storytelling and argument in audiovisual media. Studying writing about film will also allow us to address the basics of argument in print and other verbal media. We will read and analyze various examples of nonfiction writing including film reviews, cultural journalism, scholarly film criticism, and scholarly writing in other academic fields. Readings will prepare each student for the major writing assignments for the course which will include critical essays on short and feature-length films as well as a rhetorical analysis of a scholarly article relevant to the student’s program of study. |
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| 603-BXE-DW |
Writing about the Novel |
2 - 2 - 2 |
60 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course is a survey of the novel. After discussing the rise of the genre in the eighteenth century and considering representative excerpts from authors such as Defoe, Richardson, and Fielding, we will study two nineteenth-century novels, two modernist works, and a novel by a contemporary author. Particular attention will be paid to the historical contexts of the books and the connections between the development of the novel form and social, historical, philosophical, and technological developments in Western society. |
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