Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity
Eligibility
Only Sophomores and First-Year Transfers who have fulfilled Writing 1 are eligible to apply for this Writing 2 Sophomore Seminar. If Spring is your PWR2 quarter, you still must submit your 7 PWR2 preferences at vcapwr.stanford.edu; entering this seminar as a choice in the IntroSems' VCA portal does not negate that step. If you are admitted for this WR-2 seminar, the course will be added to your study list. It will be considered your first choice PWR2 and with admission to this IntroSem, you will lose all other PWR2 section preferences.
Frosh should NOT choose WR-2 Sophomore Seminars in the IntroSems' VCA portal because they will not be admitted.
Prerequisites
Completion of PWR 1 or other WR-1 course.
Course Description
As social creatures, we may know "who" we "are." How does our sense of self shape our interactions with those around us? How does literature provide a particular medium not only for self-expression but also for meditations on the construction of the self? Don't we tell stories in response to the question, "Who are you?" We give our lives flesh and blood when telling how we process the world. A key part of understanding ethnicity is that it is relational, defined against another ethnicity, and that it never stands alone; it helps us diagnose larger social and historical issues. We will embark upon an inquiry into both the formal and aesthetic properties of literary works and their location in our social, political, cultural, and personal lives. We will read texts from Black, Palestinian, and Indigenous writers, and others. We will explore essays, short stories, a play, a fable, and science fiction.
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric Requirement (WRITE 2) and emphasizes oral and multimedia presentation.
Meet the Instructor: David Palumbo-Liu
"I have been teaching at Stanford for over 30 years, and came here from a very different kind of campus—Berkeley. I grew up in the late 60s and 70s and have an inordinate love for music of that era. In terms of scholarship I have published books on classical Chinese poetry, contemporary Asian/America, 'global' literature, and have recently published a book on political voice. In terms of 'public writing' I have written for the Washington Post, The Guardian, Jacobin, Al Jazeera, Truthout, and others. This is my website and my social media handle is @palumboliu."
Of related interest
The Science of Diverse Communities
California Dreaming
The Cultural Shaping of Emotion
AMSTUD 51Q
CSRE 51Q