Students in this senior seminar, English 391W: Brain Narratives, will:

1. Gain an overview of a tradition of twentieth- and twenty-first-century autobiographies and novels that use narrative to investigate neurological difference.

2. Recognize major arguments and debates in the contemporary neurodiversity movement.

3. Become adept at recognizing and analyzing formal features of literary experiments in representing neurological difference.

4. Practice close reading and analysis of works of literature, scientific theory, philosophy of the mind, and social activism.

5. Practice writing in stages and gain understanding of their own writing process, through informal writing (in class and on course blogs), drafting, responding to feedback from peers and the instructor, and revision.

6. Conduct research on a self-defined topic relevant to course readings and discussion–including the critical evaluation of online sources, the use of research databases and library resources, and participation in scholarly and intellectual “conversations” at play in various texts: literary works, scholarly articles, journalism, and popular writing.