What are you doing this summer? Avoid the boring internship or ice cream parlor job and travel to Italy for a poetry workshop instead! Professor Jane Shore will be teaching a poetry workshop this summer at Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival. The workshop runs from July 18-25 in Vietri sul Mare, Italy! You can learn more here and register here.
Medieval Drama in Early England
(ENG 172.60)
The course examines early English drama through the lens of cultural adaptation and will culminate with a trip to York, England to watch a modern production of medieval mystery plays.
Most of us have had some encounter with early English drama through the works of Shakespeare. Medieval drama, in comparison, is relatively unknown, rarely adapted or performed on contemporary stages. Part of this has to do with theater history: until very recently, the history of early English drama could be summarized as an attempt to explain the emergence of Shakespeare and his stage. Recent scholarship, however, argues that the very thing that previously made these texts seem so challenging and unformed is that which makes them so fascinating: the cultures that produced them, the places where they were staged, even the language they are written in are all in the process of becoming…something new. These are texts in formation. As such, they reveal surprising knowledge about the cultures that produced them and those that seek to adapt them. Our course will culminate with a short trip abroad to explore one such production: the 2010 York mystery cycle.
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The 2010 York mystery cycle thus offers a rare opportunity for students to examine medieval play texts within a modern performance venue; during our week abroad, we will examine medieval religion and theater history in a variety of settings, including the streets of York. We will fly into Edinburgh, Scotland for two days, spend two days touring abbeys and moors of North England (Whitby Abbey & Rieveleux Abbey), and then spend three days in York, exploring the medieval city, meeting with a guild that is modernizing one of the plays, attending a conference on them, and watching the production. As we shall see, medieval dramatic adaptation has much to teach us about the relationship between plays and playing, both then and now.
Informational meetings: Wednesday, January 27th and Thursday, February 25th
Application Deadline: March 1, 2010
On Campus Dates: May 17-June 26 (Tues & Thurs, 6:10-8:20pm)
Overseas Dates: July 3-13
For more information, visit http://studyabroad.gwu.edu/index.cfm
Or contact: Holly Dugan (hdugan@gwu.edu), Assistant Professor of English at GWU
The GW English Department congratulates alumnus Jason Filardi on the premiere of his new film 17 Again.
Jason is currently teaching a screenwriting course for 15 lucky GW undergraduates. He is also an incredibly nice guy who happens to be a natural in the classroom.
Good luck with the film, Jason!
Each year under the rubric of “Studies in Contemporary Literature,” the English Department brings you the chance to study for a time with a visiting international scholar or writer. The course is typically structured around a kind of “book club” format, with readings in four works (usually novels) over four nights. Students compose a reflection paper at the end and receive one credit. Past versions of this course have been offered by Nadeem Aslam, Suhayl Saadi, and Edward P. Jones.
In fall 2009 we are please to offer a “Studies in Contemporary Literature” focused upon literature in English composed in India. The course will be taught by Dr.v Navneet Sethi, a visiting Fulbright professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. There are no prerequisites and all are welcome. The course description is below.
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In this course we will read four works of fiction in English by writers of Indian origin. Through these novels, we will explore and examine the idea of “nation” and “nationalism” as it impinges upon the experience of being an Indian. Working with Benedict Anderson’s definition of ‘nations’ as “imagined communities,” the readings will move within the theoretical framework of the Postcolonial critical terrain. From Kanthapura by Raja Rao (1938) that unequivocally defines nation as a real community guided by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, to the uncharted mazes of money and murder as the only brand of ‘nationalism’ for our times in The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (2008), we will, in between these two works, explore the creation of two nations in Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh (1956) and the gift of a life and a dilemma at the very moment of the birth of a nation in Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981).
This one credit course meets: 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, and 10/20.
We are fortunate to have a renowned scholar of theory, performance studies and Latino literature join us in the fall semester. José Muñoz is our second Wang Visiting Professor in Contemporary English Literature in GW’s Department of English. He will be teaching two courses, both open to all qualified undergraduates. Professor Muñoz is a charismatic teacher and a field-defining writer. Don’t miss this chance to study with him!
Performing Race, Sex and Gender (English 172.14, TR 11:10AM – 12:25PM)
This course looks at the pivotal role played by performance in popular culture, art, literature and everyday life. The class offers an introduction to Performance Studies, a field that looks at not only how actual theatrical performances are staged but also at the concept of performativity, allowing us to consider the ways in which words and even objects do things. Our critical lens will be brought to bear on the ways in which race, gender and sexuality are performed in North American culture. This course will examine performance and installation art, popular genres like stand-up comedy, contemporary literature and film.
Public Feelings (English 701.10, Tuesday 3:30PM – 6:00PM)
How do we know and describe feeling? Is there a particularly American way of feeling? How does African American culture tell a story of black feelings? Can contemporary Latino literature and performance instruct us in what its like to feel Brown? What are queer feeling and who has them? This course looks at a range of public feelings that include hope and hopelessness, depression and ecstasy, joy and sadness. We will inquire into the role of politics in public feelings and emotions in popular culture. Readings will include work in the emerging field of affect studies. This course is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Read the official press release:
GW ALUMNUS AND TRUSTEE DAVID BRUCE SMITH FUNDS NEW COURSE ON CONTEMPORARY JEWISH AMERICAN LITERATURE TO CREATE A “UNIQUELY GW EXPERIENCE”
WASHINGTON – A new course on contemporary Jewish American works of literature has debuted at The George Washington University this spring thanks to a significant gift from David Bruce Smith, B.A. ‘79, a member of the University’s Board of Trustees. The gift is funding “Literature Live,” a unique class within the Department of English that allows students to study and interact with prominent Jewish American authors. Renowned writer and GW professor Faye Moskowitz teaches the course.
“David Bruce Smith’s generosity is enabling the English department to deepen its strengths in Jewish American literature, a vibrant field that we would like to see grow at GW,” said Jeffrey J. Cohen, chair of the GW Department of English. “The students in Faye Moskowitz’s course have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As department chair, I am happy to see this course become a reality. We are doing something at GW unparalleled at any other university in the United States.”
Award-winning authors and novels to be studied throughout “Literature Live” include Away by Amy Bloom; The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon; Moskowitz’s A Leak in the Heart; The Family Diamond by Edward Schwarszchild; The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer; Maus by Art Spiegelman; The Far Euphrates by Aryeh lev Stollman; and Petropolis by Anya Ulinich. While on campus, several authors will give readings open to the entire GW community. Ulinich will read on March 5; Chabon, who will be introduced by GW’s Wang Visiting Professor in Contemporary English Edward P. Jones, will present on March 23; and Spiegelman will read on April 2.
“It is my hope that this gift will help grow Jewish literature teachings at The George Washington University,” said Smith. “‘Literature Live’ will be a uniquely GW experience for students.”
David Bruce Smith and his family are longtime benefactors to GW. He has established two scholarship funds for undergraduate students at the University and provided support for other GW initiatives such as the Cancer Institute and the President’s Fund for Excellence. Last year, the Robert H. Smith and Charles E. Smith Family Foundations and Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod committed $10 million to GW for the renovation of the Charles E. Smith Center. At the time of the announcement, the gift was the largest single philanthropic commitment in GW’s history. David Bruce Smith sits on the board of the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation. Robert H. Smith and Charles E. Smith are David Bruce Smith’s father and grandfather, respectively, and he is the nephew of Robert and Arlene Kogod.
Moskowitz said, “Thanks to the generosity of David Bruce Smith, some fortunate GW students — and their equally lucky professor — will encounter the work of established, as well as emerging, Jewish American writers and then have an opportunity for face-to-face dialogue with those writers.”
GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English also recently received a significant gift by Albert Wang and his family. The gift includes support for the Wang Visiting Professorship in Contemporary English Literature and the Wang Endowed Fund in English Literature and Literary Studies, which will fund an annual series of lectures by prominent authors and scholars. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward P. Jones was named as the first Wang Visiting Professor and currently is in residence for the spring 2009 semester. Renowned scholar of literature, Latino studies, and performance theory Jose Munoz was named as the second Wang Visiting Professor and will be in residence during the 2009 fall semester.
The Department of English is an active research community of scholars and creative writers who prize excellence in teaching, publication, and service. The department has about 300 undergraduate majors and an award-winning faculty of more than 30 professors. It is nationally recognized for its strengths in both literature and creative writing. Long known for its expertise in African American literature, the department also is renowned for its research and publication in early modern and medieval studies; ethnic literature, including Asian American and Jewish texts; 19th-century literature; and creative writing.
Located in the heart of the nation’s capital, The George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in Washington, D.C. The University offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study, as well as degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business, and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 130 countries.
The English Department is pleased to announced that Edward P. Jones will be teaching a special one credit course for a small number of GW students.
English 193 (Studies in Contemporary Literature) will meet four Monday evenings in February from 6-7:30. Students will read four novels and discuss them with Mr. Jones: David Anthony Durham, GABRIEL’S STORY; Mary Lavin, IN A CAFE; Chaim Potok, THE CHOSEN; and Richard Wright, UNCLE TOM’S CHILDREN. Only ten students will be admitted to the class.
If you would like to be considered for this once in a lifetime, only at GW experience, please send a one paragraph email stating why you would like to take the course to the department chair, Jeffrey Cohen (jjcohen@gwu.edu) as soon as possible — but no later than Thursday January 15.
Both these classes are taught by Professor Jennifer James.
185. 10 TR 12.45-2
Slavery, Memory and History in Black Women’s Writing
This course explores how black women’s literature of the 20th and 21st century recalls and revises the memory and history of slavery in the Carribean and the U.S. The readings will range from fiction and memoir to history and cultural studies, including Nell Irvin Painter, Sojourner Truth, A Life, A Symbol; Stephanie M. Camp, Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance; Toni Morrison, A Mercy and/or Beloved; Gayl Jones, Corrigedora; Sherley Anne Williams, Dessa Rose; Saidiya Hartman, Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route.We will give particular attention to the role literature plays in a nation’s “collective” memory of traumatic history.We will also study the relationship between slave women’s culture, such as quilting and song, to literary production.
EN184.10 TR 4.45-6
The Literature of Black America II
This course will examine some of the most influential writers, movements and trends in 20th century African American literature from the period popularly known as “Harlem Renaissance” to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960’s/70’s. Some writers will include Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Nella Larsen, James Baldwin, Lorainne Hansberry, Alice Walker and Amiri Baraka.
English 179.60 took the department’s global focus quite literally this month. Professor Robert McRuer and thirteen students—including English majors Reed Cooley, Erica Manoatl, Colby Katz-Lapides, Jon Mahoney, and Jessica Rawlins—traveled to Prague on November 5 to spend a week at Mezipatra: the 9th Annual International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. The class, “Transnational Film Studies and LGBTQ Cultures,” has been meeting weekly this semester at GW for screenings and discussion. The course is intended to introduce students to queer film studies, expand their vocabularies for approaching filmic representations—and cultural representations more broadly—in transnational contexts, and develop awareness of the social construction of sexual identity and community in specific locations. By the time they left for Prague, students had seen multiple films and read widely in queer and transnational theory (with some of the readings and screenings focusing specifically on gender, sexuality, and political economy in eastern Europe). Meanwhile, over in Prague, Professor Katerina Kolarova of the Gender Studies department at Charles University has been teaching a similar course with eleven students. During the week of the festival, the two classes combined and Czech and U.S. students attended seven films together and met daily to discuss them. The discussion of each film was led by a team of students drawn from each of the two classes. Students saw films in German, French, English, and Hebrew. Indeed, the politics of translation was a major discussion point, especially when confusion over the availability of English and Czech subtitles meant that students watched one 75-minute film—Rosa von Praunheim’s Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt—in German (class discussion the next day included a more pronounced emphasis on the visual aspects of the film and a critique of the expectations and entitlements that English speakers tend to carry with them). Other films addressed issues of sexuality and aging, HIV/AIDS, sex work, embodiment, transgender identity, family relations, and the urban/rural divide. Czech faculty and students were very gracious hosts, providing focused tours of the city and sharing numerous meals with the GW group. The film festival closed with a dance attended by all the students and the professors (and the students were more than a little amused to see Professors McRuer and Kolarova dancing together). The course was made possible through arrangement with the Office for Study Abroad, which sponsors several “short-term study abroad” courses every year. English 179.60 was one of the first courses in the humanities the office has sponsored.
If you are a current undergraduate and have not yet submitted your application for our special “Screenwriting” (Jason Filardi) or “Fiction” (Edward P. Jones) courses (English 182 for spring 2009), please do so immediately. We hope to announce decisions by the end of the week.
Due to a glitch, several people were allowed to register for both these courses already. If you were one of them, please drop the course right away. They are open only via departmentally vetted, competitive enrollment.
The GW English Blog will keep you up-to-date on news, events, and publications from the English Department of the George Washington University.
Your generosity directly supports the English Department's research, teaching, and public events. Contributions from alumni and friends have enabled us to sponsor workshops for our students, host esteemed lecturers, and hold public readings by creative writers. Faculty have used funds from department supporters to complete books and bring new research into the classroom. Click here to donate, and be sure to specify "English Department."
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