Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Spring 2024

Course Description

Whether real or imagined, “home” defines who we were, reflects who we are, and shapes who we aspire to be. In fact, our identities are curated by our everchanging relationship to home. This course explores narratives about home in world literature and cinema. Specifically, we will explore plays, essays, poetry, short stories, and films from across world to query:

  • What is the definition of “home”?
  • How does memory and the sensual world articulate our connection(s) to home?
  • In what ways does home define our sense of self/identity?
  • How can dislocation and exile alter our sense of home and belonging?

Can the dislocation caused by exile be both a disabling estrangement and liberating insight? Students will be required to generate close readings of literature and cinema using appropriate critical vocabulary and theoretical frameworks. Specifically, we will work as a learning community to develop and refine critical thinking, oral and written expression, and techniques of textual analysis through class discussion, weekly in-class writings, film notes, and article summary responses. Crosslisted as ENG 255/WLIT215/AFST 290B/FLME231.

Student Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Read and understand texts from a variety of literary and cinematic genres, time periods, cultures, and/or regions.

  2. Understand and use basic literary and cinematic critical terms.

  3. Articulate their own ideas about film and literature, both verbally and in writing.

  4. Understand and describe the shared characteristics of literature and cinema produced within a specific category (e.g., time period, nationality, race, gender, ethnicity, culture, language group, genre, etc.).

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