WRITING THE ESSAY II: FREEDOM, CUT ME LOOSE. In this writing and research seminar, we will begin by analyzing multi-genre texts to, first, adequately define “freedom,” its historical antecedents, and the contemporary conditions required to sustain it. We will determine who is “free” and at what (or whose) expense, and, ultimately, come to understand that one’s physical identity -- ethnic, racial, sexual, gendered, disabled or miscegenated -- designates different degrees of freedom or a lack thereof, that external identity often becomes one’s fate. We will explore how formerly marginalized peoples -- of both native and immigrant populations -- diverged from their fate to gain more “freedom,” achieved it, or, more likely, found themselves lodged in the in-between as exiles in their own home. We will discuss how numerous economies rely on the oversimplified labels of identity politics in order to maintain a profit-driven status quo and their consequent implications on one’s physical, mental and spiritual personhood. Finally, we will work on crafting a path for healing/retribution through the self-narration of internal and intersectional experience, collective imagination as well as structural change for, if not “freedom,” actualization, and independence from an archaic system of thought. As a scholarly community, we’ll welcome merging personal questions with individual research projects to locate new ways of viewing the old, to challenge convention, and place our experiences amongst contexts outside of our own. In order to do so, we will begin by actively listening to others. Only after demonstrating our understanding of what has been said, will we be rightfully motivated to find our own voice in scholarly conversation.Readings may include works by André Aciman, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, James Baldwin, Judith Butler, Patrick Chamoiseau, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Jack Halberstam, Cheryl Harris, Cathy Park Hong, Audre Lorde, Richard Rodriguez, Vershawn Ashanti Young, Beyoncé, and others.

WRITING THE ESSAY II: ENVIRONMENT AND LOSS. Much of contemporary environmental journalism focuses on dramatic “disasters,” but what happens after the television cameras and reporters have long gone? The term “solastalgia” was coined a decade ago by the environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht to describe the inability to derive comfort from one’s surroundings due to negative environmental change. In short, it’s a kind of homesickness felt at home. This psychological impact teaches us that environmental writing must be as much about the lived experience of people in their environment as it is about the physical space that surrounds them. Through a wide range of environmental narratives including, but not limited to, personal essays, magazine features, nonfiction books, podcasts and documentaries, in this writing-intensive course we will examine how other writers approach the world around them, as well as exploring our own relationships to the environment (whether it be an area of devastation or simply your own neighborhood) as both personal and political space. We will also discuss the different lenses through which environmental stories might be experienced, as well as considering who “gets” to tell these stories and why. Readings will include texts by Rachel Carson, Elizabeth Kolbert, John McPhee, Lauret Savoy and Jason Ward.

WRITING THE ESSAY II: BEING YOUNG. This course will examine the social, psychological and political concept of youth, as constructed by and reflected in a variety of texts by writers such as Mark Greif, James Baldwin, Arthur Rimbaud, William and Dorothy Wordsworth, Eileen Myles, M.K. Gandhi and many more. We'll read poetry, fiction, letters and essays for, by and about the young--lyric celebrations of youth, nostalgic reflections on past youth, stories of formation as well as texts in which youth is the culmination of life. Each student will work on one extended research-based writing project that pertains to this topic.

WRITING THE ESSAY II: RETURN OF THE QUEER PAGE. In this first-year seminar we will read, discuss, and respond in writing to a multiplicity of queer texts, from foundational works of queer theory to contemporary fiction, essays and poetry. This course will consider the relationship between body and text, and we will practice close reading a wide range of LGBTQIA textual bodies; queer pages that work to counter hegemonic norms. This course will be a practice in how to incorporate ourselves into our research, and we will explore the intersections of personal essay and scholarly research. This course views research as a conversation and an act of community and solidarity. We will practice responsible and rigorous engagement in the intersections of our own experiences and the (written) experiences of others, learning how to place ourselves among them. We will practice how to speak with, and not for. We will read queerly, and define what that means for us as we go along. Texts may include work by: Sara Ahmed, Judith Butler, Samuel Delaney, Audre Lorde, E. Patrick Johnson, José Esteban Muñoz, Dean Spade, Candace Williams, and Monique Wittig.

WRITING THE ESSAY II: RACE IN THE REAL AMERICA. ‘Re-Claiming and Re-Seeing Race in the Real America’ offers students the opportunity to engage with the interdisciplinary field of critical race and ethnicity studies. Using the methods of cultural studies, we will analyze race and ethnicity as products of culture that infiltrate and shape all other experiences of identity and of daily life in the United States. To that end, we’ll read theory, study real-world cases studies, and explore artistic (literature, film, art) expressions and representations of what Toni Morrison called the “wholly racialized society that is the United States.” This first-year research seminar asks students to explore the ways in which the United States has wrestled with race since its inception and during this unprecedented time in history. Students will have the opportunity to engage with this practice by writing, conducting research, and workshopping and revising their own writing. Readings may include works by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ibram Kendi, Michelle Alexander, Robin DiAngelo, Saidiya Hartman, Audre Lorde, Kimberly Crenshaw, Claudia Rankine, Edwidge Danticat, Natalie Diaz, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, and others.