First-Year Studies: World Literature and Writing

One stream of this first-year studies class is an introduction to aspects of world literature: The Arabian Nights, ancient Indian and Middle Eastern love poetry, a graphic novel from Iran and one from Malaysia, a contemporary novel from Zimbabwe, two story collections from the Caribbean, and so on. We will use these readings as inspiration for our writing, a source of knowledge and wisdom about story form and life, and a source of assignments. The other stream will be a continuous journal of the student’s own life and work, discussed in small groups in the second class meeting and kept for the year, with assignments as the year goes on increasingly given by members of the group.