Site-Wide Activity

Course Description:

The Medusa figure, the cyborg, the nomadic subject are complex images in feminist theory.  Some figures represent the ways in which women have been othered over the centuries, and others […]

Course Description/Overview:

While discussions of and writings about utopia have permeated every culture on earth for millennia, both the history and the culture of the United States have been full of efforts […]

Nature/Goals of the Course:

The primary goal of the course is to offer a chronological introduction to various forms of expressing American utopian ideals.   (For a definition of a literary utopia, see below.  […]

Nature of the Course, Goals (outcomes), and Means:

“Build Your Own Utopia” is an interdisciplinary course designed to help students to clarify and evaluate their ideals as they improve reading, writing, and […]

Course Description:

This course focuses on the reading and writing of expressive, expository, and persuasive essays.  Attention is given to effective expression, clear structure, adequate development, […]

Course Description:

Science fiction envisions “what ifs,” and that speculation is what makes it a superb site for consideration of gender alternatives.  In engaging with techno-science, science fiction […]

Course Description:

We examine, to the extent time permits, a trajectory of utopian literature from Plato’s Republic to the present.  We read these texts through the lens of classic philosophic speculations, […]

Course Content:

The course offers an introduction to the genre and history of literary utopias and related forms of utopian thinking.  The
participants are invited to close reading and discussion of some of […]

Description:

How does vicariously experiencing radically better (or worse) imaginary worlds change our perceptions of the past, present, and future?  The seminar will address this question with a highly […]

Nature and Goals of the Course:

Shapes of Utopia examines relationships between concepts of radically better (or worse) imaginary worlds and forms of expression.  “Very Selective Exploratory Investigations” […]

Course Description:

Because utopian literature expresses what an author desires, what the author feels is lacking in his or her own society, it is inherently a political and social critique.  This course […]

Course Rationale:

This course is a broad survey of the many types of utopias and dystopias in Western literature, from ancient times to the early 20th century, and a thorough exploration of the nature, […]

Nature and Goals of the Course:

This is a particular type of selective survey of utopian literature.  It begins in a rather traditional way, posing questions about how concepts of “utopia” and “utopian […]

Syllabus:

Utopianism, social dreaming, can be both a fundamental component and a critical way of understanding the complex totality of economic, cultural, political, social, and personal life. As it projects or […]