WRIT Courses for Spring 2024
Please click on the course title for more information.
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WRIT 107 02 - ARTH 100 The Power of Images: An Introduction to Art and its Histories
Course: |
WRIT 107 - 02 |
Title: |
ARTH 100 The Power of Images: An Introduction to Art and its Histories |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Why does art matter? Because images, sculptures and buildings shape our ways of understanding our world and ourselves. Learning how to look closely and analyze what you see, therefore, is fundamental to a liberal arts education. Within a global frame, this course provides an introduction to art and its histories through a series of case studies, from Egypt's Queen Nefertiti to Jean-Michel Basquiat's raw street art. Meeting three times weekly, each section will draw on the case studies to explore concepts of gender and race, nature and landscape, culture and power, repatriation, and other issues. Assignments focus on developing analytical and expressive writing skills and will engage with the rich resources of Wellesley College and of Boston's art museums. The course fulfills both the Writing requirement and the ARTH 100 requirement for art history, architecture, and studio majors. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
This course satisfies the First-Year Writing requirement and counts as a unit toward the major in Art History, Architecture, or Studio Art. Includes a third session each week. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing
Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video |
Instructors: |
Barbara Lynn-Davis |
Meeting Time(s): |
Davis Museum 212 Seminar Room - TF 3:35 PM - 4:50 PM
Davis Museum 212 Seminar Room - W 3:30 PM - 4:20 PM |
|
WRIT 107 01 - ARTH 100 The Power of Images: An Introduction to Art and its Histories
Course: |
WRIT 107 - 01 |
Title: |
ARTH 100 The Power of Images: An Introduction to Art and its Histories |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Why does art matter? Because images, sculptures and buildings shape our ways of understanding our world and ourselves. Learning how to look closely and analyze what you see, therefore, is fundamental to a liberal arts education. Within a global frame, this course provides an introduction to art and its histories through a series of case studies, from Egypt's Queen Nefertiti to Jean-Michel Basquiat's raw street art. Meeting three times weekly, each section will draw on the case studies to explore concepts of gender and race, nature and landscape, culture and power, repatriation, and other issues. Assignments focus on developing analytical and expressive writing skills and will engage with the rich resources of Wellesley College and of Boston's art museums. The course fulfills both the Writing requirement and the ARTH 100 requirement for art history, architecture, and studio majors. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
This course satisfies the First-Year Writing requirement and counts as a unit toward the major in Art History, Architecture, or Studio Art. Includes a third session each week. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing
Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video |
Instructors: |
Barbara Lynn-Davis |
Meeting Time(s): |
Davis Museum 212 Seminar Room - TF 2:10 PM - 3:25 PM
Davis Museum 212 Seminar Room - W 2:30 PM - 3:20 PM |
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WRIT 115 01 - ARTS 115 Word and Image Studio
Course: |
WRIT 115 - 01 |
Title: |
ARTS 115 Word and Image Studio |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This studio art course centers on the interplay of word and image. While pursuing a range of studio projects in graphic media (drawing, book arts, and print), we will examine the role of text and visible language in the work of various contemporary artists. Our studio activities and discussions will explore fundamental visual concepts while cultivating an increased awareness of visual rhetoric and typographic design. Throughout the semester, considerable attention will be placed on developing more effective written commentary, critical thinking, and oral presentation skills relevant to visual investigation. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open only to first-year students. |
Notes: |
This course satisfies the First-Year Writing requirement and counts as a unit toward a major in Studio Art or Art History or Media Arts and Sciences. Two double sessions each week. Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing
Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video |
Instructors: |
Katherine McCanless Ruffin |
Meeting Time(s): |
Green Hall 153A Book Arts Lab - TF 9:55 AM - 12:35 PM |
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WRIT 120 01 - Critical Interpretation
Course: |
WRIT 120 - 01 |
Title: |
Critical Interpretation |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course introduces students to a level of interpretative sophistication and techniques of analysis essential not just in literary study but in all courses that demand advanced engagement with language. In active discussions, students perform detailed readings of poetry drawn from a range of historical periods, with the aim of developing an understanding of the richness and complexity of poetic language and of connections between form and content, text, and cultural and historical context. The reading varies from section to section, but all sections involve learning to read closely and to write persuasively and elegantly. WRIT 120 satisfies both the First-Year Writing requirement and the Critical Interpretation requirement of the English major. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
This course satisfies both the First-Year Writing requirement and the Critical Interpretation requirement of the English major. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
James Noggle |
Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 317 Classroom - MR 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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WRIT 131 01 - The Politics of Private Property
Course: |
WRIT 131 - 01 |
Title: |
The Politics of Private Property |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
What do we rightfully own as individuals, and what do we owe to the common good? Who should pay for education, healthcare, childcare, and stewardship of the environment? As current debate about the accumulation and concentration of private wealth heats up, it seems more important than ever to try to answer these questions. In this course, we’ll start by studying the political implications of taxing private capital. Does raising income taxes punish ambitious people, or does it correct for systemic inequalities in capitalism? We’ll then study some foundational political and philosophical theories about how to distribute resources fairly within a capitalist system. We will also use these ideas to evaluate pressing questions in US policy regarding which goods and resources should be considered private and which should be publicly owned, funded, or managed. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Elizabeth Krontiris |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center Hub 103 Classroom - MR 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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WRIT 133 01 - Having it All? The Problem of Women and Work
Course: |
WRIT 133 - 01 |
Title: |
Having it All? The Problem of Women and Work |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
American women often hear messages that they can "have it all"--a meaningful career, a loving family, and a fulfilling personal life. Yet popular culture is also filled with images of working mothers as stressed-out and miserable. In this course we will examine the highly varied aspirations, opportunities, and experiences of American women as they relate to work. We will consider some of the advice high-powered professional women have given to college graduates looking to advance their careers and "balance" that ambition with family life. We will read memoirs of low-wage earners, including many single mothers, about the particular challenges they face, and the limits that discrimination and systemic inequities place on their personal and professional goals. We will also explore what social scientists have to say about how cultural norms and economic markets generate the opportunities and constraints that women face. Finally, we will analyze how public policy at the local and national level influences the choices women and families face, and how those choices affect society more broadly. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Ann Velenchik |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center L Wing 047 Classroom - MR 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM |
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WRIT 134 01 - A Nation of Immigrants? American Migration Myths and the Politics of Exclusion
Course: |
WRIT 134 - 01 |
Title: |
A Nation of Immigrants? American Migration Myths and the Politics of Exclusion |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
The United States has defined itself as an exceptional “nation of immigrants” whose easy access to citizenship and democratic pluralism sets it apart from the rest of the world. But is this really true? How do the history of slavery, colonization, nativism, and the militarization of the border complicate this narrative of inclusion? How do migrants who are not European, white, and Christian tell different kinds of stories about their encounters with America? Students will analyze fiction, memoir, museum exhibits, policy briefs, and scholarly histories to understand how American immigration narratives have influenced public policy, social attitudes, and the meaning of “America” today. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Erin Mary Royston Battat |
Meeting Time(s): |
Gray Lot Modular M205 Seminar Room - TF 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
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WRIT 144 01 - What’s in A Name? Investigating What We Call People, Places, and Things
Course: |
WRIT 144 - 01 |
Title: |
What’s in A Name? Investigating What We Call People, Places, and Things |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Behind every name there is a story. In this course, we will explore those stories, learning the history and meaning of the labels that we affix to people, places, and things. We will pay particular attention to the power, responsibility, and consequences that come with naming, re-naming, name-erasing, and name-calling. We will examine current controversies on college campuses involving the names of departments, buildings, monuments, mascots, dictionaries, and other works. We will also study how the producers of all kinds of things–from poems to consumer products–use metaphor and neologism to refresh our understanding of the familiar, introduce us to the unfamiliar, and name the unnameable. In addition, we will explore how names and name changes can frame political discourse, sway opinion, influence behavior, and alter history. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Jeannine Johnson |
Meeting Time(s): |
Gray Lot Modular M206 Seminar Room - MR 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM |
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WRIT 146 01 - Alternative Worlds
Course: |
WRIT 146 - 01 |
Title: |
Alternative Worlds |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
We will read a diverse range of modern science fiction stories with an aim toward understanding how these texts represent, critique, and imagine alternatives to existing social, political, economic, and environmental conditions. Through stories by writers such as Ray Bradbury, Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, Nnedi Okorafor, and Ted Chiang, we will explore how science fiction reimagines and challenges traditional ideas about ourselves, complicating easy distinctions between mind and body, human and machine, alien and native, self and other. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Anne Brubaker |
Meeting Time(s): |
Green Hall 136A Seminar Classroom - TF 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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WRIT 152 01 - Revolution and Revision: The Political Impact of Walt Whitman Through the Years
Course: |
WRIT 152 - 01 |
Title: |
Revolution and Revision: The Political Impact of Walt Whitman Through the Years |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
In his most celebrated poem, Walt Whitman writes: “Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.)” Whitman was a queer, avant-garde poet committed to social justice. But he was also a white man whose privilege has led to his widespread reputation today as the “poet of democracy.” Perhaps both because and in spite of his contradictory multitudes, he has signified much to an extraordinarily diverse group of artists. We will trace Whitman’s message of social justice, beginning with the era of slavery in the U.S. and its Civil War, and examine how that message was embraced and necessarily revised by later writers. We will study how Whitman influenced César Vallejo, who combatted twentieth-century fascism and the Spanish Civil War. Afterward, we’ll turn to others who promoted and confronted Whitman’s legacy, including Langston Hughes and García Lorca, as they contended with discrimination based on race, sexuality, and economic inequality. Finally, we’ll explore how Whitman is refracted through the visions of contemporary, women-identified poets such as Diane di Prima, June Jordan, Sharon Olds, and Yesenia Montilla. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Christopher Eldrett |
Meeting Time(s): |
Green Hall 136C Classroom - TF 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
|
WRIT 155 01 - The Selfie in American Life
Course: |
WRIT 155 - 01 |
Title: |
The Selfie in American Life |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course will examine how the rapid-fire pace of technology is changing the way we see ourselves, the way we present ourselves to the world, and our fundamental understanding of our relation to the world around us. Through the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Vine, Pinterest, Yik Yak, Tinder, Hinge, Instagram, and Tumblr, to name just a few, we are all constantly forming and reforming our identities, thereby changing the nature of human experience. By altering the course of our lives, we are reformulating the age-old questions: How do we discover who we are? How do we show the world who we are? We will read a series of books, traditional and untraditional, by discovered and undiscovered authors, to analyze the way this seismic shift is being documented and portrayed in fiction and non-fiction. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Ann E. Maurer '51 Speaking Intensive Course. Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Heather Bryant |
Meeting Time(s): |
Jewett Art Center 452 Seminar Room - TF 2:10 PM - 3:25 PM |
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WRIT 160 01 - The Magic of Everyday Life: Stories About Our Culture
Course: |
WRIT 160 - 01 |
Title: |
The Magic of Everyday Life: Stories About Our Culture |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Fascinating cultural practices are found not only in far-off places but are also embedded in the stories of our everyday lives. From our families and friends to taxi drivers and grocery clerks, everyone's personal history has something to teach us. Written accounts of culture (called ethnographies) are created from these narratives of how people live their lives. What extraordinary stories of culture are hidden in local, everyday places? What does it mean to write someone else's story? Or our own? What can we learn about culture by translating oral histories into words? With the understanding that some of the most interesting stories about human culture are told in our own backyards, we will approach writing through ethnographic storytelling, using our life experiences as our subject. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Ann E. Maurer '51 Speaking Intensive Course. Wendy Judge Paulson '69 Ecology of Place Living Laboratory course. This course does not satisfy the Natural and Physical Sciences Laboratory requirement. Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Justin Armstrong |
Meeting Time(s): |
Pendleton East 349 Seminar Room - MR 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM |
|
WRIT 170 02 - The Value and Meaning of Work
Course: |
WRIT 170 - 02 |
Title: |
The Value and Meaning of Work |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
In this course, we will examine the role that work plays in contemporary life and investigate how the value and experience of working get shaped by modern capitalism. We’ll start by reflecting on the character of the 21st century “gig” economy: Does working now mean something fundamentally different than it did for previous generations? Are we really working harder for less reward, as some argue? Is the recommendation to “pursue your passion” good advice? Next, we’ll examine theoretical perspectives on work, looking at how capitalism shapes the relationship between people and their work, how it structures our relationship to time and leisure, and how it codes certain forms of work as gendered labor. Last, we’ll take up questions about workers’ rights, worker power, and the extent to which we have a responsibility, as a society, to ensure stable and fulfilling work for all. This course asks students to think about the problem of work in both personal and structural terms, considering how it features in their own lives and how it reflects the larger social structures within which our lives play out. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Elizabeth Krontiris |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center Hub 303 Classroom - MR 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM |
|
WRIT 170 01 - The Value and Meaning of Work
Course: |
WRIT 170 - 01 |
Title: |
The Value and Meaning of Work |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
In this course, we will examine the role that work plays in contemporary life and investigate how the value and experience of working get shaped by modern capitalism. We’ll start by reflecting on the character of the 21st century “gig” economy: Does working now mean something fundamentally different than it did for previous generations? Are we really working harder for less reward, as some argue? Is the recommendation to “pursue your passion” good advice? Next, we’ll examine theoretical perspectives on work, looking at how capitalism shapes the relationship between people and their work, how it structures our relationship to time and leisure, and how it codes certain forms of work as gendered labor. Last, we’ll take up questions about workers’ rights, worker power, and the extent to which we have a responsibility, as a society, to ensure stable and fulfilling work for all. This course asks students to think about the problem of work in both personal and structural terms, considering how it features in their own lives and how it reflects the larger social structures within which our lives play out. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Elizabeth Krontiris |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center Hub 303 Classroom - MR 2:20 PM - 3:35 PM |
|
WRIT 172 01 - The Medieval Body: An Examination
Course: |
WRIT 172 - 01 |
Title: |
The Medieval Body: An Examination |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
In this seminar, we will explore how the human body was represented in medieval writing. We will also investigate how medieval authors considered the human body metaphorically as its own kind of text, or as the medium within which society’s codes and values are written. Together we will trace enduring themes associated with the body, such as: the relationship between the soul and the flesh; food and self-image; the tensions of the sexed body (gender, power, and sexuality); the political meaning of fashion and clothing; rituals connected to illness and death; and the link between human and the divine. The authors we will read include poets and philosophers, lawyers and monks, mystics and wanderers. By studying their work, we will trace how perceptions of the body shifted throughout medieval societies, and learn how medieval understandings of the body have shaped our own modern perceptions of it. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
|
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Stephen Surh |
Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 126 Classroom - MR 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
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WRIT 174 01 - The Personal is Political: Celebrating the “I” in Politics
Course: |
WRIT 174 - 01 |
Title: |
The Personal is Political: Celebrating the “I” in Politics |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
“The personal is political” is a feminist rallying cry. It affirms, among other things, that we act and write out of our subjectivity, and that identity and politics are inseparable. In this course, we will explore our own relationships to sociopolitical matters such as reproductive rights, immigration and migration, prison abolition, environmental justice, and citizenship. We will also investigate the power structures that influence these areas and that make them resistant to meaningful change. Using This Bridge Called My Back: Writings from Radical Women of Color as our inspiration and guide, we will develop the critical thinking and writing skills needed to transform sociopolitical systems and to assert the value of our lives in them. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
No Letter Grades given (Fall); Mandatory Credit/Non Credit (Spring) |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Fiona Maurissette |
Meeting Time(s): |
Gray Lot Modular M206 Seminar Room - MR 2:20 PM - 3:35 PM |
|
WRIT 175 02 - What is a Gift?
Course: |
WRIT 175 - 02 |
Title: |
What is a Gift? |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
We are supposed to offer gifts without expecting anything in return; we are urged to give our best effort for the good of ourselves and others; we are born with, develop, and use our gifts in a range of contexts. But what, exactly, is a gift? In this course, we will explore perspectives on gifts in literature, religious texts, economic theories, and cultural criticism. We will consider questions such as: Why do we give things away? Are we morally obligated to use our resources or natural talents for the greater good? How do we decide who is worthy of a gift with no strings attached, and who must earn a subsidy or repay a benefactor? How does America’s reliance on philanthropy reinforce structural inequities? How do norms of generosity and reciprocity persist in a culture defined by contracts and debts? Can we imagine a society without money and based instead on a principle of giving? |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Lukas Moe |
Meeting Time(s): |
Gray Lot Modular M206 Seminar Room - TF 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM |
|
WRIT 175 01 - What is a Gift?
Course: |
WRIT 175 - 01 |
Title: |
What is a Gift? |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
We are supposed to offer gifts without expecting anything in return; we are urged to give our best effort for the good of ourselves and others; we are born with, develop, and use our gifts in a range of contexts. But what, exactly, is a gift? In this course, we will explore perspectives on gifts in literature, religious texts, economic theories, and cultural criticism. We will consider questions such as: Why do we give things away? Are we morally obligated to use our resources or natural talents for the greater good? How do we decide who is worthy of a gift with no strings attached, and who must earn a subsidy or repay a benefactor? How does America’s reliance on philanthropy reinforce structural inequities? How do norms of generosity and reciprocity persist in a culture defined by contracts and debts? Can we imagine a society without money and based instead on a principle of giving? |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Lukas Moe |
Meeting Time(s): |
Gray Lot Modular M206 Seminar Room - TF 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
|
WRIT 176 01 - What's Old is New: Classics and Modern Social Movements
Course: |
WRIT 176 - 01 |
Title: |
What's Old is New: Classics and Modern Social Movements |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
Perhaps it seems improbable that the literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans would have much relevance to important social issues in our diverse society today. In recent years, however, many of these ancient materials have been adapted to help activists examine and advocate for modern causes. We will start by thinking about reception: How have ancient texts been received by later cultures and groups, and can a reception be “good” or “bad”? What is the difference between reception, adaptation, and appropriation? Then, focusing primarily on works by women and people of color, we will explore recent receptions of classical texts that address issues such as racial justice, feminism, and immigration. Among other works, we will consider Aristophanes’ Lysistrata alongside Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq, and Euripides’ Medea together with Luis Alfaro’s Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles. No knowledge of ancient Greece or Rome required. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non-Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Debra Freas |
Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 305 Seminar Room - MR 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
|
WRIT 178 02 - Black Feminism and the Future
Course: |
WRIT 178 - 02 |
Title: |
Black Feminism and the Future |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
In this course, we will examine Black feminist essays and speculative fiction as resources for thinking about the future of feminism and its impact on the broader culture. These texts are helping to shift paradigms of what is understood by the term “feminism”. They also contain critical information that students need not just to survive but thrive in the future. We will discuss how these works offer new ways to think about kinship, gender, reproductive rights, abolition, and representations of selfhood. In addition, they will provide a springboard for looking inward to our own lives and perspectives, as we explore how writing, reading, and action are influenced by the personal. Indeed, if the “personal is political,” as Audre Lorde aptly stated, then what we write from our own experience can shape and change our world. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open only to first-year students. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Fiona Maurissette |
Meeting Time(s): |
Gray Lot Modular M205 Seminar Room - MR 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
|
WRIT 178 01 - Black Feminism and the Future
Course: |
WRIT 178 - 01 |
Title: |
Black Feminism and the Future |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
In this course, we will examine Black feminist essays and speculative fiction as resources for thinking about the future of feminism and its impact on the broader culture. These texts are helping to shift paradigms of what is understood by the term “feminism”. They also contain critical information that students need not just to survive but thrive in the future. We will discuss how these works offer new ways to think about kinship, gender, reproductive rights, abolition, and representations of selfhood. In addition, they will provide a springboard for looking inward to our own lives and perspectives, as we explore how writing, reading, and action are influenced by the personal. Indeed, if the “personal is political,” as Audre Lorde aptly stated, then what we write from our own experience can shape and change our world. |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open only to first-year students. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit. |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Fiona Maurissette |
Meeting Time(s): |
Gray Lot Modular M205 Seminar Room - MR 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
|
WRIT 179 01 - Building a Better World
Course: |
WRIT 179 - 01 |
Title: |
Building a Better World |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
What makes a world? And what makes a world beautiful, sustainable, inclusive, or just? At a time when humanity faces myriad global challenges, we can seek insight in writing that reimagines the world and helps us change it for the better. Reading the work of activists, philosophers, fiction writers, and political theorists, we will examine how past worlds shape those of the present and future. In particular, we will investigate the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in these different visions of the world, asking questions such as: Who enjoys freedom, and when? What is a “human right,” and should those rights be the basis of social organization? In what ways has the nation-state been a force for emancipation, and in what ways a vehicle of empire? What would it look like to live in a world that was fully feminist in its design, or that was built on reparations for past injustices, or that prioritizes the health of the planet above all? What are the conditions necessary for individuals and societies to undergo transformation, improve, and thrive? |
Prerequisite(s): |
None. Open to First-Years only. |
Notes: |
No Letter Grades given (fall semester); Mandatory Credit/Non Credit (spring semester) |
Distribution(s): |
First Year Writing |
Instructors: |
Lukas Moe |
Meeting Time(s): |
Gray Lot Modular M206 Seminar Room - TF 3:35 PM - 4:50 PM |
|
WRIT 201 01 - Intensive Writing Workshop
Course: |
WRIT 201 - 01 |
Title: |
Intensive Writing Workshop |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
This course will help students become more confident and proficient in the writing that they do at Wellesley and beyond. Students will design an individualized syllabus around a topic of interest to them and focused on the areas of writing in which they most want to improve. Building on what they learned in their 100-level WRIT course, students will become more adept at working with sources, developing their thinking, and communicating their ideas clearly and purposefully. There will be two class meetings per week. In one, all students will meet as a group with the professor, engaging in writing workshops and discussing some short common readings. In the second meeting, students will meet individually with a TA to discuss readings on their own topic and to work on their writing. |
Prerequisite(s): |
Fulfillment of the First-Year Writing requirement. |
Notes: |
Mandatory Credit/Non Credit |
Distribution(s): |
Language and Literature |
Instructors: |
Heather Bryant |
Meeting Time(s): |
Jewett Art Center 452 Seminar Room - TF 3:35 PM - 4:50 PM |
|
WRIT 346 01 - Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing: Data for Humans
Course: |
WRIT 346 - 01 |
Title: |
Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing: Data for Humans |
Credit Hours: |
1 |
Description: |
The growing field of data humanism recognizes data as foundational to our economic, political, and social systems, while also seeking to recenter people in the process of its curation. In this course, we will explore the use of data through a humanistic lens, not only to better understand the critical role data plays in our lives, but also to discover how we can use data to become more humane. We will ask: if the word data comes from the Latin root for “the thing given,” by and to whom is it given? When exactly did data get “big”? What do we mean when we identify projects as “data-driven”? How can data intersect with social justice activism? And with art and storytelling? Students will engage these questions by drawing on the work of historians, cultural critics, journalists, social scientists, data analysts and designers, performing their own data tracking, and using their research to craft opinion pieces, reviews, reports, and other forms of public writing. |
Prerequisite(s): |
Open to juniors and seniors, or by permission of the instructor. |
Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Social and Behavioral Analysis |
Instructors: |
Anne Brubaker |
Meeting Time(s): |
Science Center L Wing 047 Classroom - W 1:30 PM - 4:10 PM |
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