WRIT 020: CULTURAL STUDIES & CRITICISM
Spring 2022 Courses
WRIT 020 301
MW 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM
Paeth
The Art of Persuasion
Fulfills the Writing Requirement
We will begin by reading and analyzing Richard Toye's A Very Short Introduction to Rhetoric to learn about the art of informing and persuading others, an art that is at the very heart of all civil society and every walk of life, as Toye's examples underscore, from the rhetoric of modern cinema and Churchill's wartime speeches to Islamic preaching. This introduction to rhetoric will be followed by students' own explorations of rhetoric in a topic of their own choosing, which might include the rhetoric engineers use to explain a failed bridge; a fashion designer uses to promote a new collection; or politicians and marketing consultants use to convince us to subscribe to their views. Teachers, doctors, and bill collectors use rhetoric, and so too lovers. Visual rhetoric - the ability of images to wordlessly persuade and explain - can be the most powerful of all. In this course, students will learn to be artful producers and discriminating recipients of rhetoric.
WRIT 020 302
TR 10:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Walker
Shaping Food Taste
Fulfills the Writing Requirement
Few of us stop to consider how we learned to fulfill our very basic need for food. In this class, we will explore what the research indicates on how and why we eat what we do, as well as why our tastes dispose us towards certain foods rather than others. Sweet, salty, spicy - how do we learn to appreciate certain flavors, and why do we reject others? Everything from picky childhood eaters (chicken nuggets, anyone?) to the cultural differences that distinguish "Mediterranean" from "Asian" or "Southern" cuisine will be open to investigation. This class focuses on a topic of relevance to us all and touches on research from several different academic disciplines. After reading our course text, students will develop research projects and use their findings to write a research-based White Paper and an Op-Ed. Other shorter assignments will include logical reasoning exercises, academic reading and research, and professional peer review.
WRIT 020 303
TR 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM
Starner
Thinking Playfully
Fulfills the Writing Requirement
What do performance art, computer games, and sporting events have in common? They all rely on and activate the human capacity to think creatively and respond bodily to things that *aren't* real. And yet for all its playfulness, play is serious business. In Play Matters, game designer Miguel Sicart uncovers the hidden role that the impulse to play plays in thinking of many different kinds. Through a series of reading and writing assignments in a variety of "real world" genres, this course will introduce students to the work being done at the intersection of technology studies and the cross-disciplinary study of play.
WRIT 020 304
TR 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Dilodovico
Questions of Normalcy
Fulfills the Writing Requirement
What does it mean to be normal? When it comes to the human body and its needs, wants, and desires, the concept of normal is often unattainable. Yet, there is an enormous amount of value placed on one's capacity to look, be, sound, act... normal. So, is normal a question of ability, sexuality, health, size, or something else entirely? How are we as humans ever supposed to fit such a definition? Working from Alison Kafer's Feminist, Queer, Crip (2013), we will draw from disability studies and queer theory to consider the impacts such ideas of normalcy have on the body. Ultimately, we can question normalcy to understand how we are positioned as students, writers, and bodies that try to, but always exceed, being normal.
WRIT 020 307
TR 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Starner
Playfulness
Fulfills the Writing Requirement
What do performance art, computer games, and sporting events have in common? They all rely on and activate the human capacity to think creatively and respond bodily to things that *aren't* real. And yet for all its playfulness, play is serious business. In Play Matters, game designer Miguel Sicart uncovers the hidden role that the impulse to play plays in thinking of many different kinds. Through a series of reading and writing assignments in a variety of "real world" genres, this course will introduce students to the work being done at the intersection of technology studies and the cross-disciplinary study of play.