New York City College of Technology
The City University of New York
ENG 2000: Perspectives in Literature: Transnationalism, Globalization,
Homesickness, and Identity
Spring 2015
Course: ENG2000, section E220
Day/Time: Tuesday 6:00 – 8:30 pm
Instructor: Professor Sean Scanlan
Office: Namm 520
Office Hours: Mon 3-4, Tues 4-5, and by appointment
Email: sscanlan@citytech.cuny.edu
Phone: 718-261-5123
Course Website: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/scanlan-eng2000-transnationallit-s2015/
General Introduction to the Course:
From the City Tech Course Catalog: In this course, we will read, discuss, and critique readings in and writings about literature across genres, eras and locales. Some themes will include family and home, the individual and society, good and evil, gender, faith, globalization, and “the human heart in conflict with itself.” Essays and exams will be based on readings.
Specific introduction:
In “Transnationalism, Globalization, Homesickness, and Identity,” we will examine the fascinating and yet confusing concept of globalization, especially its relation to literature. The central question that we will ask in this class is: what does globalization feel like? The novels, short stories, and non-fiction essays that we will read will help us answer this question, for literature is very good at revealing and performing feelings.
We will begin the semester with an examination of the terms globalization and transnationalism. The global or transnational writer is often without a stable home, or perhaps between homes, or even displaced from home. For these reasons we will examine the idea of homesickness as it bound up with the problems of globalization. Indeed, anybody who has moved from one home to another, from one country to another, might have encountered homesickness too. Homesickness can bring us closer to others who share a lost home or homeland, but homesickness can also divide those who have not experienced the same loss. Homesickness, and its common synonym nostalgia, can reflect the desire for a home or homeland that never was; and it can also convey the mourning of actual displacement due to war, genocide, or economic disaster. In this course we will ask who is homesick, what are they homesick for, and is there an ethical adjustment within the process of homesickness?
Besides learning about the histories and theories of globalization and homesickness, we will also examine the highly contested field of postcolonial studies. The transnational writer is often from a country that was once a colony of a more powerful nation. Understanding the history of colonialism and postcolonialism will help illuminate the diverse geography covered in our literary texts, and it will reveal the anxieties of both the colonizer and the colonized. This background will also help us to contend with the topics of slavery, anti-colonial resistance, immigration, cosmopolitanism, industrial capitalism, and liquid modernity.
I encourage each student to patiently engage with new ideas that may conflict with their worldview. Why? Two reasons. First, transnational writing style is often “upside down.” And second, I believe that the legacy of colonialism and the ongoing force of globalization will affect each one of you on a personal level in the coming years—in fact, you may have already been affected.
Required Books:
- The Interpreter of Maladies (Mariner 1999)
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
ISBN-13: 978-0395927205
Price: 14.95
- The Complete Persepolis(Pantheon 2007)
Author: Marjane Satrapi
ISBN-13: 978-0375714832
Price: $24.95
- Globalization: A Very Short Introduction(Oxford UP 2013, third edition)
Author: Manfred Steger
ISBN-13: 978-0199662661
Price: $11.95
**All books are available at the City Tech Book Store: 259 Adams St. in the General Building.
Other Materials:
Bring to class one sturdy notebook with paper for notes and at least one folder with pockets for handouts/assignments. Both spiral-bound or 3-ring are acceptable. You must devise a system to record, store, and organize the course materials. It is very important that you save all of your work for this class. Devise a filing system that allows you to maintain prior drafts and final copies of all major assignments, as well as your research notes, outlines, and written evaluations. In addition to keeping a copy of your work on the hard drive of your computer, save all final drafts of assignments on a stable format such as a flash drive or on a remote hard drive/server such as iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Docs. Never throw away or delete drafts or notes until after you have received your final grade. Computer/Printer malfunctions are not viable excuses for late or lost work.
Grading:
Journals (7): 15% — weekly 1 page reflections on course readings
Quizzes (2): 10%
Midterm Paper: 25% — a 3-4 page critical analysis paper
Final Paper: 25% — a 3-4 page critical comparison paper
Final Exam: 10%
Participation: 15%
————————————
100%
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Attendance: Attendance is mandatory in this discussion-based course. Arriving late or leaving early will count as a partial absence. City Tech’s policy states that three or more absences will result in a WU grade—see page 49 in the Student Handbook. I will not grant excused absences since two absences are permitted without penalty. Being absent is not an excuse for missing or late work: you must get notes from a classmate and keep up with the assignments.
- Drafts and Typing: The essays require organization, honesty, and clarity. Essays must be typed, correctly formatted, and proofread. Essays will require organization, honesty, and clarity. In order to practice the process of writing, the essays will require drafts. If you have word processing questions, please ask me. If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, you can use Google Docs for free(https://docs.google.com/) or Open Office for free (www.openoffice.org/).
- Late Papers: For each day that an assignment is late, one full letter grade will be deducted.
- Plagiarism: Is the unauthorized use of another person’s ideas, language, or research as your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally. City Tech does not tolerate plagiarism. Using proper documentation and textual analysis will help you avoid plagiarism. If you have any questions about plagiarism, please ask me. Any cases of plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade and appropriate administrative measures. Please familiarize yourself with City Tech’s policies on academic honesty in the Student Handbook (89-92), or at:http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/files/students/handbook.pdf (pp. 76-79)
- Be on time: tardiness disrupts the entire class. Come prepared: turn off/silence all gadgets, please.
- The Atrium Learning Center: This is an excellent resource. ATRIUM LEARNING CENTER: Atrium Building G-18.
