Hi everybody. You submitted some great questions today–and I’m sure many of them are on other people’s minds, so I’ll answer them here.
Q: Can aspects of the material we’ve been introduced so far be used in our research projects?
A: Definitely–if they’re relevant. A lot of our readings speak to each other, so if you see connections, you should feel free to use anything we’ve read as a source.
Q: When reading a work that is nonfiction, but so subjective and particular to one person’s experience, how do I take this work as anything other than a matter of fact?
A: It’s interesting to think about first-person nonfiction as a representation of the facts of one person’s life. That is certainly the case, but most of our readings also explore ways in which one person’s experience represents ideas, questions, or issues that affect other people. In that sense, there is always a tension between the particular and the general. One way to approach these texts is to think about what the writer hopes to help readers understand–and why. Another way to think about them is to consider how they are involved in conversations with other texts or writers.
Q: I am interested to see how our research projects will fit into the reading schedule. Can we bring some of our sources into conversation in class?
A: This will probably happen to some degree, especially in your writing groups. But much of your research will also be independent. We won’t have time to discuss all your sources in class, but ideally the texts we read together will help you work with the sources you collect for your projects.
Q: How will we find time to write and research for our essays if there are all these readings and posts that are (not entirely) unrelated to our projects. It just keeps going until the last two weeks of class.
A: Your observation is correct and valid. Part of the answer is that this is how senior seminars are designed. Your research projects are largely independent. That said, I will do my best to devote some class time to your projects, and some of your posts are devoted to the projects. That said, it will also be up to you to manage the time. I can tell you from experience that students manage it, even if it seems daunting now.
Will we be exploring neurodiversity in different genres–i.e., fiction, film, etc.?
We will read three novels in the next several weeks. You can see them on the calendar: Maud Casey’s The Man Who Walked Away, Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn, and Richard Powers’s The Echo Maker. We’ll also read two more graphic narratives: David B.’s Epileptic and Ellen Forney’s Marbles. Unfortunately, we won’t have time for film (though some of you may explore film in your research projects).
Q: How does neurodiversity relate to the English major? In other words, why is this a subject for a senior seminar?
Great question. There are many answers. Literature encompasses pretty much all aspects of human experience. In contemporary literature, neurodiversity has become an increasingly common theme. It’s certainly a theme in literature of other periods, but it’s become more common during our era, partly because neuroscience has so much influence on culture and partly because neurodiversity is becoming a strong social movement. In general, literature deals with social issues, and neurodiversity is an urgent social issue, so that’s another answer.
