Mathematics Through Literature

Daniel King
Fridays, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
September 12 – December 19

Mathematics and literature are often perceived as disciplines residing on opposite extremes of the intellectual (if not artistic) spectrum. Nevertheless, examples abound of accurate, insightful, and highly creative representations of mathematical ideas in fiction. This seminar will study concepts deeply rooted in the foundations of mathematics — logic, statistics, probability, set theory, geometry of space-time, and infinity — through cross-genre readings of novels, short stories, plays, and poems. Through close readings and in-depth discussions, we will uncover mathematical structures, images, and themes embedded in the writings of authors like Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, Lewis Carroll, Tom Stoppard, and Yevgeny Zamyatin (among others). In addition, a portion of each seminar will be run in workshop mode where the focus will be on strengthening students’ basic skills in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. Individual conference projects will be designed to further strengthen students’ mathematical skills and confidence. This course is open to all students enrolled at the Center for Continuing Education regardless of mathematical background.

Creating Theatre Imperatives (one credit)

Ernest Hawkins Abuba
Wednesdays, 1 – 3 p.m.
November 5 – December 17

This course offers an opportunity to explore, experiment, and apply visual concepts, movements, and music to create an original, cohesive theatre text and performance. The use of research and textual analysis is stressed. Topics covered are adaptations, problem solving, the rehearsal process, and the use of space. This course will culminate in the presentation of a completed project.

Narrative Design

Carol Zoref
Wednesdays, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
September 10 – December 17

This writing workshop originates from the belief that every writer is first and always a reader. Class discussions will focus on close readings of 19th, 20th, and 21st century stories, novels, and essays as seen through the lens of narrative design. This involves the exploration and consideration of the choices made by the authors, such as the order of experience, point-of-view, subtext, central questions, and final meaning(s). Dovetailing with this will be conference work dedicated to student writing. The initial emphasis will be on analytical writing. Opportunities for creative work will be introduced as students achieve fluency in the elements of narrative craft. Tools for understanding will be close and careful readings of texts, highly participatory class discussions, weekly study groups with other students, weekly writing assignments, a series of longer papers, and mandatory revisions. Readings will be chosen from the work of such authors as James Baldwin, Charles Dickens, Edward P. Jones, Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Flannery O’Connor, Cynthia Ozick, Susan Sontag, Mark Twain, Eudora Welty, and Virginia Woolf. A very intensive writing course.

The Political Economy of the State: The Welfare State and Prisons

Jamee Moudud
Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
September 9 – December 16

This course will have as its foundation a discussion of rival perspectives on the nature of the state. That is, we will seek to investigate the following questions: is the state in a democratic political order neutral so that it acts in the interests of all citizens, or is it institutionally and structurally regulated by the interests of the dominant social classes? This central question will then be used to study two types of state activities that have achieved some degree of prominence in the last 70 years. We will first study the welfare state. In the United States as well as other countries, there has been a heated debate for several decades over the purpose and extent of the welfare state. Economists have entered this debate with differing views over the degree to which the government should intervene in the economy in order to provide a social safety net and improve macroeconomic performance. We will analyze these issues by considering a number of different theoretical and political perspectives. We will then proceed to deal with the dramatic increase in incarceration rates in the United States, and the rise of what has come to be known as the “prison-industrial complex,” and seek to examine both conservative and radical explanations of this type of state policy. It is envisaged that students will develop a rigorous theoretical understanding of the variations in these two types of social policies and be able to relate these variations to the long waves of economic activity. The goal of this course is to ensure that students understand the analytical content and economic basis of every policy perspective and also be exposed to some of the sociology/public/political science literature on the state and these two types of social policies.

Dostoevsky and the West

Melissa Frazier
Tuesdays, 6 – 8 p.m.
September 9 – December 16

While Dostoevsky is often considered the most Russian of writers, he was in fact deeply influenced by his reading of contemporary Western European literature; among Russian writers he is also remarkable for the extent of his influence outside of Russia. In this course, we will read Dostoevsky’s major novels in the context of the non-Russian works that preceded and followed them. Our reading of Crime and Punishment, for example, will begin with Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Balzac, and finish with Nabokov and Robert Bresson. While we will focus on literature from Western Europe and the United States, we will also consider the work of at least two readers of Dostoevsky who claimed him from other parts of the globe: J.M. Coetzee and Akira Kurosawa. Other texts will include works by Rousseau, Benjamin Constant, Stendhal, Dickens, Ralph Ellison, and Walker Percy.