SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS Colorado State University, Academic Partner Voyage: Spring 2018 Discipline: English Course Number and Title: E 238 20 th -Century Fiction Division: Lower Faculty Name: Joonok Huh Semester Credit Hours: 3 Prerequisites: None COURSE DESCRIPTION Literature does not exist in a vacuum. Fiction, in particular, because of its ability to mirror life, contains much about ourselves, the people in our lives, and the places we inhabit. Fiction reflects society and social change, both in content and literary manner. Nowhere is change seen more dramatically than in the 20 th century. This class will explore sociopolitical and ideological upheavals of the 20 th century along with modern and postmodern reflections of them. Following the SAS voyage and its spirit, the selected readings will help students examine ethnic, global, and cultural change, crucially pertinent to our time in general, and especially to the places SAS visits. We will be reading works by writers from America, Japan, India, Nigeria, as well as Chinese American and Indian American ethnic groups. As we read these writers from widely different backgrounds, we will examine major sociopolitical and cultural factors, violent at times, presented in literature: national and international conflicts, gender and racial tensions, ethnic diversity, globalization issues, colonial and postcolonial impact, among others. We will also investigate uniquely local issues against/within global settings. For students, the SAS experience in different ports and the readings will complement each other. Our course starts with Edith Wharton s presentation of the early 20 th century perspective of the innocent America in the 1870s and ends with Jhumpa Lahiri s position articulated in 1997 of returning from where we came with a different understanding of life. LEARNING OBJECTIVES --To read and think critically and insightfully about diaspora and globalization. --To understand literary modernism and postmodernism. --To recognize the importance of modernism and postmodernism as 20 th century literary forms. To study the attributes of modern and postmodern writings. --To deepen our understanding of how social, cultural, religious, historical, linguistic circumstances shape the 20 th century environment. --To examine colonial and postcolonial writing. --To investigate cultural character and human experience pertinent to the 20 th century in specific literary forms.
--To see globalization (a system of production and exchange that does away with borders) and its implications beyond Wal-Mart to an understanding of cultural appropriation. --To experience narratives of identity in personal, social, and national terms. --To share our experience of community and communities. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence PUBLISHER: Scribner s ISBN #: 0-684-71925-8 Yasunari Kawabata Snow Country PUBLISHER: Vintage ISBN #: 0-679-76104-7 Chang-rae Lee PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books ISBN #: 1-57322-146-5 Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club PUBLISHER: Ivy Books ISBN #: 0-8041-0630-4 PUBLISHER: ISBN #: DATE/EDITION: Jessica Hagedorn Dogeaters Penguin Books 0 14 01.4904 x (pb) Any Arundhati Roy God of Small Things PUBLISHER: Harper Perennial ISBN #: 0-06-097749-3 PUBLISHER: Buchi Emecheta Kehinde Heinemann
ISBN #: 0435 90985 1 Jhumpa Lahiri Unaccustomed Earth PUBLISHER: Knopf ISBN #: 978-0-307-26573-9 TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE Depart Ensenada, Mexico January 5 B1 January 8: B2 January 10: Introduction The Age of Innocence The Age of Innocence Honolulu, Hawaii January 12 B3 January 13: B4 January 15: The Age of Innocence Snow Country January 16 International Date Line crossing (Lost Day) B5 January 18: Snow Country Study Day January 19 B6 January 21: B7 January 23: Snow Country The Joy Luck Club Kobe, Japan January 24-28 B8 January 30: The Joy Luck Club *Field Project Presentations Shanghai, China January 31 - February 1 In-Transit February 2-3 Hong Kong, SAR February 4-5 B9 February 7: The Joy Luck Club *Field Project Presentations *Field Project Paper Due
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam February 8-13 B10 February 15: God of Small Things Study Day February 16 B11 February 18: God of Small Things Yangon, Myanmar February 19-23 B12 February 25: God of Small Things B13 February 27: Dogeaters Cochin, India February 28 March 5 Study Day March 7 B14 March 8: B15 March 10: Dogeaters Dogeaters Port Louis, Mauritius March 11 B16 March 13: B17 March 15: B18 March 17: Kehinde Kehinde Kehinde Cape Town, South Africa March 18-23 B19 March 25: B20 March 27: B21 March 29: Tema, Ghana March 30 - April 1 Takoradi, Ghana April 2-3 B22 April 5: B23 April 7: The Unaccustomed Earth Study Day April 8 B24 April 10: The Unaccustomed Earth *Final Paper Due
Casablanca, Morocco April 11-14 B25 April 16: Review and Final Thoughts *Independent Field Assignment Due Arrive Bremerhaven, Germany April 19 *Reading Response Assignments Due Dates: See Assignments FIELD WORK Semester at Sea field experiences allow for an unparalleled opportunity to compare, contrast, and synthesize the different cultures and countries encountered over the course of the voyage. In addition to the one field class, students will complete independent field assignments that span multiple countries. Field Class attendance is mandatory for all students enrolled in this course. Do not book individual travel plans or a Semester at Sea sponsored trip on the day of your field class. Field Classes constitute at least 20% of the contact hours for each course. The Field Class for this course will take place on Thursday, 25 January, in Kobe, Japan. Field Class Title: Tea Ceremony and Kyoto Field Class Description: Yasunari Kawabata s Snow Country presents a relationship between a middle-class scholarly man and a geisha within a strict social system and accepted cultural practices. As such, the book is a fascinating study of sublime human emotions against social norms and beliefs. How do social, cultural norms maneuver feelings, if they do? How is it that the same human nature that created social practices should now feel their constraint? Ritual unites nature and social constraint. The famous haiku, Drinking a cup of green tea, I stopped the war, articulates the coalescence of artistic ritual and rough nature. The Japanese tea ceremony, with its prescribed setting, its meticulous movements, and aura of mindfulness seeks to take you to a different level of understanding. After we observe the tea ceremony, we will visit Kyoto, the most quintessential of Japanese cities so that we can have a glimpse of the traditions and the past of the country against the fast-tempo of contemporary Japan. Field Class Learning Objectives: --What did you learn about the foundation of Japanese beliefs and social practices? --What did you like about what you saw, and why? What did you not like, and why not?
--Do your observations reinforce your perception of Japan or the Japanese? Why or why not? Use specific examples. --Does the field project help you understand the book better? If so, in what sense? --Select one specific observation from your visit and compare it with the equivalent in America. --Feel free to add your own questions. Evaluation: This field class will be evaluated in two ways, a presentation and a twopage paper. Independent Field Assignments You will write about your experience in each port/country about the theme of this course outside familiarity and learning about others and about yourself. In each port, get engaged in conversations with local members, take pictures or film videos, share common interests, etc. After return to the ship, write a one-page summary/report. After the final port, Casablanca, you will read all reports and write an analysis of your experience throughout all voyages, three pages. --From all the reports, has anything emerged? If so, what is it? --What is your most memorable experience and why? --What have your learned about the other? Has this journey changed your perspective of the other? --Has this helped you understand who you are or who we are in America? If so, how? (Those are some questions for the last comprehensive analysis.) METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING SCALE GRADING SCALE The following Grading Scale is utilized for student evaluation. Pass/Fail is not an option for Semester at Sea coursework. Note that C-, D+ and D- grades are also not assigned on Semester at Sea in accordance with the grading system at Colorado State University (the SAS partner institution). Pluses and minuses are awarded as follows on a 100% scale: Excellent Good Satisfactory/Poor Failing 97-100%: A+ 93-96%: A 90-92%: A- 87-89%: B+ 83-86%: B 80-82%: B- 77-79%: C+ 70-76%: C 60-69%: D Less than 60%: Assignments Your final grade will be averaged for the following assignments: 1. Two Reading Response Papers (2-3 pages): 20% (10% each)
The response papers may focus on any aspect of the text that interests you as long as it is relevant to 20 th -century fiction. They should be well-focused and developed, almost mini-papers. Mediocre response papers will merely repeat things already covered in class discussion; good response papers will move beyond class coverage and try to engage the texts more deeply; better response papers will raise insightful questions and attempt to answer them; excellent response papers will begin to formulate a personal theory about the chaotic, tumultuous, miraculous nature of 20 ttth century fiction. Choose two books from the semester. The response paper is due on the last class-discussion day assigned to the book you chose. For instance, if you decide to write a response paper on Kehinde, it is due on Mar 17. 2. Final Paper (7-8 pages): 30% Your final paper will focus on an aspect of 20 th -century fiction in a text or texts you select from our readings this semester. Anticipate that content and form are contiguous---for example, women's struggle (content) is contiguous with postmodernism (form). Choose your own specific topic and approach; however, I do encourage you to discuss your topic with me. Oftentimes, while speaking about your topic, you are able to articulate a clearer process for your paper. 3. Field Project Presentation: 10% A five-minute presentation on observations and insights from the field trip. 4. Field Project Paper: 10% (See Field Project Assignments) 5. Independent Field Assignment: 10% (See Independent Field Assignments) 6. Class Attendance and Participation: 20% ATTENDANCE/ENGAGEMENT IN THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM Attendance in all Semester at Sea classes, including the Field Class, is mandatory. Students must inform their instructors prior to any unanticipated absence and take the initiative to make up missed work in a timely fashion. Instructors must make reasonable efforts to enable students to make up work which must be accomplished under the instructor s supervision (e.g., examinations, laboratories). In the event of a conflict in regard to this policy, individuals may appeal using established CSU procedures. LEARNING ACCOMMODATIONS Semester at Sea provides academic accommodations for students with diagnosed learning disabilities, in accordance with ADA guidelines. Students who will need
accommodations in a class, should contact ISE to discuss their individual needs. Any accommodation must be discussed in a timely manner prior to implementation. A letter from the student s home institution verifying the accommodations received on their home campus (dated within the last three years) is required before any accommodation is provided on the ship. Students must submit this verification of accommodations to academic@isevoyages.org as soon as possible, but no later than two months prior to the voyage. STUDENT CONDUCT CODE The foundation of a university is truth and knowledge, each of which relies in a fundamental manner upon academic integrity and is diminished significantly by academic misconduct. Academic integrity is conceptualized as doing and taking credit for one s own work. A pervasive attitude promoting academic integrity enhances the sense of community and adds value to the educational process. All within the University are affected by the cooperative commitment to academic integrity. All Semester at Sea courses adhere to this Academic Integrity Policy and Student Conduct Code. Depending on the nature of the assignment or exam, the faculty member may require a written declaration of the following honor pledge: I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance on this exam/assignment. RESERVE BOOKS FOR THE LIBRARY None at present FILM REQUEST: Film: The Joy Luck Cub Distributor: Hollywood Pictures ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS None at present ADDITIONAL RESOURCES None