INQ-300 | Headline Literature

Full Title: Contemporary Literature, Torn from the Headlines

Topic Description:

The course looks at contemporary issues through the lens of literature. It is not a literature course but a course that uses literature to talk about issues of immediate concern to all of us. While we use novels to help identify current issues, the approach in the course will be interdisciplinary, drawing on each student’s training and interests in culture, history, political affairs, science, psychology, and human relations. The reading list includes novels set in countries across the globe such as Cuba, Nigeria, Ukraine, Pakistan, China, and the U.S. Each book is a response to a set of specific social and political events, which we will explore. In so doing, we will see how history and current events shape lives in relation to family, social standing, community values, and traditions.

Counts as Global? No

Topic Approved: April 2011