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WR 120 Topics

Topic Title Topic Description Course Instructor
American Short Stories How has the American short story genre evolved? What can short stories teach us about ourselves? In this class, we explore American short stories chronologically, from their origins in the nineteenth century, and focus on the diverse voices of recent decades. For the alternative genre project, students compose their own short stories. WR 120 Steinberg
Boston Brutalism Now This course explores the architectural style of Brutalism that came to prominence during the 1950s and 1960s. Brutalist architecture—buildings composed of blocky concrete shapes—is often described as “ugly,” “inhumane,” or “prison-like.” We will explore case studies of Brutalist architecture in greater Boston and beyond to think and write about Brutalism in today’s built environment. We will engage with primary and secondary literature such as newspaper articles, criticism, and architecture history scholarship to make sense of Brutalism and its rise in popularity during the postwar period. Types of written genres we will explore include visual narrative and review/op-ed. WR 120 Horowitz
Communicating Science Have you ever wondered how information evolves as it is communicated to different audiences and through different media? In this course we focus on how highly specialized scientific information is presented to and interpreted by a general audience that does not have technical knowledge. By examining press releases, news articles, government guidelines, advertising, and social media, we explore how scientific information is disseminated to the U.S. public and uncover what it takes to be scientifically literate in a twenty-first-century world. Course texts include a variety of traditional and multimodal sources, such as blogs, podcasts, and even pop songs. WR 120 Calandra
Ethical AI & Creativity This course focuses on the ethical dimensions of AI in content creation. We explore the historical context, technical foundations, and ethical considerations surrounding AI technologies. Through hands-on projects, we use a wide range of video production and AI tools to create digital content. The course emphasizes critical thinking and ethical analysis, examining the evolution and future implications of generative AI. We gain essential skills in AI literacy and ethical decision-making, preparing us to navigate the digital landscape responsibly. WR 120 Fassihi
Ethics in America Today In this course, we explore the philosophical underpinnings of key ethical issues in contemporary American discourse. Module topics include political misinformation, economic inequality, gender oppression, and bodily autonomy. The course addresses these issues as subjects of both philosophical inquiry and interdisciplinary research and includes a survey of some of the major figures (e.g. Kant, Singer, Nussbaum, Haslanger) and theories (e.g. relativism, consequentialism, deontology) of the philosophical tradition. Our goal is to develop a critical skill set that enables us to identify the ethical implications of contemporary issues, analyze and assess competing arguments, and engage the discourse with original argumentation. WR 120 Hammond
Food and Cultural Identity We investigate the role of food in culture, expression, and identity. WR 120 Drepanos
Global Documentary We study documentary film from a global perspective, examining how Western filmmakers represent foreign cultures and how international filmmakers represent their country’s social and historical moments. We analyze the filmmakers’ aesthetic, political, and ethical choices to consider how such choices shape their documentary practices and reflect their subject positions. WR 120 Milanese
Hollywood Contradicts Itself In 1915, Hollywood produced the white supremacist film The Birth of a Nation. A century later, Black Panther (2018). What motivated this supposedly radical change? How are these films different, artistically or politically? Are they similar? What do we mean by “Hollywood,” given its many artistic, technological, and institutional changes? Through diligent research we reveal the competing tensions that animate Hollywood: Art versus entertainment, inclusion v. exclusion, innovation v. stasis, conservative anxieties v. liberal affirmations, and the national v. the international. Other films inform our discussions. WR 120 Vanaria
Improvisation Now! We study the role of improvisation in the creation of different types of art, including live comedy. WR 120 Barents
Japanese Anime:Reality/Fantasy Delving into the realm of Japanese anime, a medium that masterfully intertwines elements of ‘reality’ and ‘fantasy’, we take an analytical journey through a select number of influential anime films. Our objective is to understand how this globally popular medium addresses profound societal issues through narratives that often transcend the confines of reality. We will consider the strategies and techniques employed by a select number of renowned Japanese directors to articulate complex themes such as environmental sustainability, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the exploration of fundamental human emotions like love, animosity, and friendship. WR 120 Dalia
Metaphor & Advertising Metaphor is employed in advertising to promote consumerism in both subtle and not so subtle ways. Indeed, a picture is worth more than a thousand words because there is so little text. After establishing a working understanding of metaphor, we examine advertisements from a variety of genres to explore how brands, products and services create messages that persuade consumers metaphorically. We apply classical rhetoric to examine not only how these messages influence emotions, reasoning and need for trustworthiness, but also how metaphor is used to connect products/brands/services to the fulfillment of deeper human needs. WR 120 O’Mara
Perspectives on Gender This course explores the role of women and men in short stories and how the writer’s observations, critique, and voice provide diverse ways to question readers’ beliefs and understanding of different gender roles in society. We read stories written in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by a diverse range of writers (such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Kate Chopin, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Willa Cather, Kate Chopin, and Sarah Orne Jewett, among others) and discuss their themes, commonalities, and differences. WR 120 Simpson
Philosophy & Science Fiction Our class utilizes Science Fiction writings, movies, and other media to examine questions key to the eventual arrival of the Singularity. Topics such as Consciousness, Mind (natural, artificial, hybrid, superintelligence), Simulated Existence, Space and Time, Intelligence (artificial, natural, alien), Free Will, Cyborgs, Ethical and Political considerations, all guide our investigation into the validity of the arrival of the Singularity. We see how thinkers have dealt with difficult and sometimes terrifying subjects within technology, from the ancient Greeks to Hollywood, and consider our own dependence on modern technology, its impact on us, on those around us, and on the planet. WR 120 Morazzini
Queer Little Love: Gay Stories What makes a story gay? Unlike older queer novels, the gay short story does not have time to be suggestive; instead, it must come out quickly, focusing on gay characters boldly and openly. Since Allan Gurganus’s ‘Minor Heroism’ in 1973, when the first gay character entered the New Yorker fiction section, the short story has only gotten gayer. We will look at some of first popular gay stories ever published as case studies of the changing attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people over time. How does such a short form capture the unique lives of characters far removed from our heteronormative world? WR 120 Culler
Rap: Race Identity, Injustice At a grassroots level, rap music is an accessible form of self-expression, originally critical of crime and drugs, addressing themes of race, social injustice and politics. Over the decades, rap music consistently evolved, taking roots in different pockets around the world. In this course, students examine these pockets and ask: Given the current challenges society faces today, why isn’t rap music taken more seriously? What are the roots of the flawed perceptions? Do rap artists have a responsibility in exploring themes of race, and social injustice? What role is the feminist movement playing in the evolution of rap? WR 120 Shuckra
The Graphic Self This seminar focuses on representations of identity in autobiographical comics. Through our study of a variety of long- and short-form personal graphic narratives, we engage in important academic debates about the power of the comics medium to communicate personal experience and bear witness to past events, the blurry boundary between fiction and nonfiction, and the act of self-reflection as a means to personal growth and healing.
Regular drawing and self-writing exercises provide opportunities to further understand and develop your own “graphic self.” No experience with comics or drawing is necessary!		 WR 120 Yoder
Translation and Adaptation Which was better—the film or the book? What do hygge and treppenwitz mean anyway? In this course, we explore what happens when we convert an original source into another language or genre, through translation or adaptation. What’s lost? What’s gained? Does a successful transformation require literal fidelity or a more nuanced touch? Students investigate these questions across various genres and linguistic experiences. After establishing some theoretical groundwork, we critique several adaptations and translations of texts and students have the opportunity to create their own as well. WR 120 Hanselman
Writing the University What kinds of experiences—social, moral, intellectual—make up the major life event that we refer to as “going to college”? In this class, we answer that question by looking at a group of texts that represent different versions of the college experience. We think through the ways in which knowledge gets made at a college, but also the ways that other forms of life work here, from going to parties to Greek life to signing up for a first campus email. Through the course, we develop strategies as writers, and develop ideas as members of the university community. WR 120 Schratz

WR 151, WR 152, and WR 153 Topics

Topic Title Topic Description Course Instructor
1968–1969: Hope and Horror This course examines the social and political upheavals that rocked American society in 1968-1969: protests against the Vietnam War, struggles for gender equality and sexual freedom, and powerful movements for racial justice, framed by the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. in March 1968 and Fred Hampton in December 1969. The first half of the course immerses you in the role of a delegate, protestor, or journalist at the Chicago Democratic National Convention in August 1968. In the second half of our course, we shift our gaze westward and to 1969, tracing the countercultural revolution in California. WR 151 McDonough
2008 Financial Crisis This class examines the causes and consequences of the 2008 financial crisis. WR 152 Benke
A Community of Poets In Teaching Community, bell hooks argues that the classroom can be “a place that is life-sustaining and mind-expanding, a place of liberating mutuality where teacher and student together work in partnership.” How can poetry create this type of community, and how can our BU classroom transform into a place of “liberating mutuality”? In this seminar, we create a sustained community of poets through creative and critical writing, studying and researching contemporary poetry, and designing original poetry projects, while interrogating how the traditional institutionalized writing classroom can promote or inhibit creativity. WR 153 Bennett
African American Art History Since the eighteenth century, African American and Black artists have explored themes of identity, beauty, and justice through both personal and societal lenses, utilizing a variety of mediums from painting and photography to sculpture and ceramics. Considering shifts in representations of race and gender across American history, we research how and why artists of marginalized identities have responded to their lived experiences and greater cultural shifts brought by Emancipation, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights movement, Second Wave Feminism, and contemporary identity politics. Students of all backgrounds are welcome in this course. WR 152 Bewley
Agency in Nature and Culture What does it mean to act in the modern world? Should we act when our impact on history, the environment, and other people is often harmful? How might we recognize agency in a world that denies it? Here, we research agency through personal identity and environmentalism, exploring tensions between individuals, society, and nature. Our philosophical/literary considerations of agency inform perceived divides between nature and culture. Students then research complicated realities of acting in our modern world in research addressing moral perplexities of social conflict and environmental policy, drawing upon multimodal sources of film, literature, scholarship, podcasts, and more. WR 152 Norberg
AI and the Future of Learning We explore the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on generative AI and its impact on academia and on our lives. As we examine AI’s role in shaping writing and research practices, we discuss the implications of AI on academic integrity, the challenges of AI bias, privacy concerns, and the ethical questions surrounding AI in society. We also conduct research on AI and its role in shaping education and the world more broadly, with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of AI’s role in society and its implications for the future. WR 151 Kasztalska
AI Philosophy and Ethics Given recent advances in generative AI software like ChatGPT and machine learning algorithms embedded in medical, financial, and media ecosystems, this course considers the philosophical implications of AI. How will AI change the nature of information? How will AI reshape attitudes about relationships and free will? How will AI change the global economy? How will AI redefine what it means to be human? What new ethical dilemmas await us? We pursue independent research projects to explore the implications of AI for our intended majors, learn engineering skills, and get practical training on the use of generative AI in our projects. WR 152 McVey
AI-Infused Creations We examine the historical context, technical foundations, and ethical issues surrounding AI in content creation. Through research and hands-on projects, we use AI tools and Adobe products to create digital content. Key topics include the evolution and future implications of generative AI, providing essential skills for navigating the digital landscape. WR 152 Fassihi
All Poetry Is Political Poet Amanda Gorman asserts that “all art is political.” It might be argued that the content of a poem is also political, whether that poem is about nature or war. This course explores the work of contemporary poets who directly engage the current moment and draw attention to such issues as citizenship, gender inequality, gun violence, mass incarceration, and racial injustice. Students learn and practice strategies for creativity, explore and analyze a variety of sources and models, and develop a substantial research-based poetry project about a social or political issue of their choice. WR 153 Bozek
American Environmental History American Environmental History examines the complex and interdisciplinary interplay of cultural assumptions about the natural world and then the responses from the nature to us during the last 400 years of North American history. We investigate “natural disasters,” issues of water supply and quality, global warming, and the environmental challenges in the stormy, arid, earthquake and wildfire-prone West, among other topics. We end the course creating a multimodal website about each student’s choice of a challenging and contestable environmental controversy. WR 152 Fitts
American Misfits Do you consider yourself a misfit? Someone who falls outside the mainstream of American culture? If so, this may be the class for you. Over the centuries, some of our most important literary figures and social philosophers have focused their stories on those Americans who challenge conventional norms or push beyond traditional categories. This interdisciplinary seminar engages a variety of media to explore such figures who have rejected more traditional ways of thinking or who were somehow out of step with their times. WR 151 Hodin
American Oratory In difficult, confusing times, we expect speakers to offer inspiration and hope.  In this course, historical speeches from America’s past provide models of how leaders worked to unify audiences, to propel movements for equality and freedom, and to confront injustice. We also examine contemporary means of public speaking (TedTalks, podcasts, protest rallies, debates, etc.) to investigate how language unites and, at times, divides us. To demonstrate the power of rhetoric, we create podcasts based on our research projects. WR 151 Shawn
American Poetry In this seminar, we study the major figures of modern and contemporary American poetry. Questions that guide our study include: how has American poetry been informed by the historical, cultural, and political contexts in which it was written? What European poetic traditions do twentieth-century American poets embrace or reject? We  learn about various movements and schools of poetry, including the Harlem Renaissance, the Beat generation, and the Confessionals. WR 153 Tandon
American Sports and Society We discuss the relationship between sports and society in the United States. We attend BU sporting events and reflect on our experiences. Readings explore the history of athletes and political protest and contemporary cultural commentary. WR 151 White
Ancient Ideas/Modern Dilemmas In this course, we examine how philosophies from different cultural contexts have addressed the question of the purpose of life and our relationship with the cosmos. Beginning with an introduction to the concept of the “Axial Age,” we proceed by comparing two relatively recent works of scholarship that each seek to promote philosophies from the ancient world as capable of solving the problems of the present. We use these works as models for your own research, as you bring thinkers from the ancient world into conversation with twenty-first century perspectives. WR 152 Levine
Anthropology Through SF We examine the interaction of the familiar and strange through science fiction films and texts. WR 151 Pasto
Art and Justice in Boston In this course, we visit and examine artworks, museums, installations, and public works located in our city. We consider the larger conversations surrounding these objects and look at how they generate social impact within Boston and beyond. Research projects start with questions about art’s interrogation of power, access, and inclusion. Navigating different areas of Boston, we explore how artworks, monuments, and exhibitions communicate with local communities. In our research we also consider ways the art impacts our personal and collective sense of place and self. Our projects consider connections and intersections between contemporary art, social justice, reform, and advocacy. WR 152 Dalton
Art for Environmental Inquiry Both art and science apply creative thinking to better understand the world. But how do these disciplines actually work together to spark innovation? We examine uses of this art-science synergy in environmental research, considering how creative practices are essential in every step of the scientific process. Then, we implement these creative practices in our own scientific research by observing our local environment, devising an original research question, collecting data, visualizing and interpreting our results, and communicating our findings. Possible methodologies include drawing, painting, photography, audio recording, and writing. No experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to get outside! WR 153 Tigges
Boston Community Art Visual art, and specifically street art, has a long history of engaging with social issues through its universal, image-based language. Boston Community Art takes a rigorous look at key historical and contemporary social issues and how art pushes back against them. Together, we develop a framework to research, understand, and evaluate local communities from the perspective of artists, activists, and organizations within the greater Boston area. In student-designed projects, we research the sociopolitical climates of those communities and converse with the artists and activists there. Finally, we collaborate on multimodal projects designed to reflect our experiences in those neighborhoods. WR 152 DiPaolo
Boston’s Natural History Now This course explores Boston’s greener places, where we can read the evidence of its emergence from the hills and marshes of the past and witness the conversation it maintains between human inhabitants and nature. How do the built and natural environments interact? Does wilderness still exist within the cityscape? Along with addressing these questions, we engage with Boston’s landscape with outside-the-classroom adventures on campus and beyond. WR 152 Blyler
Breaking the Class Ceiling This course is a study of multimedia texts that (re)define class consciousness. We generate intersectional questions about race, gender, region, and sexuality to study how these subject positions collide with and complicate notions of class hierarchies. Studying various scholarly agendas aid in the design and execution of individual research projects that elucidate some aspect of class identity or class culture, with the goal of producing informed, ethical, anti-classist research. Research projects offer new insights into contemporary notions of class cohesion and division using various digital multi-modal/non-linguistic forms (e.g., podcasts, short films, social media content). WR 152 Miller
BU and the Culture of College Colleges and universities have been crucial to the development of nations. Recently, however, higher education has been in crisis, as stakeholders from parents to politicians have questioned the goals, strategies, and value of a traditional four-year experience. This course invites you, the principal stakeholder, to learn more about this system and to conduct original social science research on any aspect that interests you, from how you study, to who your friends are, to what you eat. Readings include journalism and research articles. Methods include online and library searches, as well as your own original surveys, interviews, and observations. WR 152 Prentice
Burning Questions Students complete a semester-long research project on a topic of their choosing. WR 151 Myers
Case Studies in Fairy Tales We study the history and scholarship of fairy tales, reading folktales, short stories, and poetry along with multimedia retellings and scholarly criticism from diverse viewpoints. What is the significance of the continual, multimodal revisioning of familiar tales and motifs? Each of us researches and writes an in-depth case study of a tale of our choice and creates a multimedia final project that combines research, creative interpretation, and critical analysis. We focus on the fundamentals of writing clear, persuasive prose, developing awareness of the conventions of multiple genres and their overlap. WR 152 Bennett-Zendzian
China’s Rise in Global Affairs In this course, we learn to develop our research skills and how to structure and write a research paper focused on China’s international presence. We examine different factors that impact China’s investment and cooperation around the world. We build on works by Lampton and others to examine the outcomes of specific Belt and Road investment projects (BRI). We complete research papers on a BRI project of our choosing or on China’s relationship with a country of our choosing. WR 151 Sklar
Claiming Our Class(room) This course investigates the ways socioeconomic status influences access to education, student experiences, and institutional power structures and hierarchies. Using various digital tools and methods, we analyze multimedia texts and create digital projects that illuminate and amplify the voices and stories of first-generation college students. Together, we hone our anti-classist critical thinking and advocacy skills, empowering us to challenge classism in our own academic journeys and beyond. **This course is for first-generation college students only.** WR 152 Miller
Controversial Shakespeare Shakespeare’s enduring popularity has occasionally tended to sanitize discomforting and divisive issues in his plays. This seminar explores the complexities of Shakespearean language and stagecraft while attending to representations of controversial topics such as class conflict, religious intolerance, political oppression, and Renaissance debates about race, gender, and sexuality. Likely readings include The Tempest, Measure for Measure, and Coriolanus. Our goal is to contextualize the plays in their original historical moment in order to understand their social impacts, so we also research other primary texts from the English Renaissance—anything from sermons to songs, pamphlets to paintings, depending on your interests. WR 151 Meyer
Creating Environmental Justice What makes people vulnerable to environmental harm? Who benefits from that vulnerability? What future will we choose? Literature and other arts raise these critical questions and offer thoughtful answers. They also provide much-needed vision and hope. Written, audio, and film texts ground our research about the people most impacted by environmental abuses. We also ask: How can each of us participate in creating environmental justice? Can developing our own writing contribute? We investigate the ways writers mobilize sentiment and action for their texts’ social justice aims and use what we learn to create our own texts. WR 153 Tall
Creative Nonfiction A deep dive into rebellious, genre-bending American journalists of the 1960s and 70s. WR 152 Sarkisian
Deception Across Disciplines Study of deception across three disciplines WR 153 Panszczyk
Demystify Disciplinary Writing As an advanced undergraduate, have you ever felt anxious when asked to complete a wide variety of writing tasks in your major, especially when the tasks became progressively more demanding? This course helps undergraduate students debunk the myths of discipline-specific writing. We examine writing in the social sciences, the humanities, and STEM and explore how effective writing in these disciplines is achieved. We interview experienced writers (e.g., a more advanced undergraduate student or faculty member) in our academic discourse communities, we identify and research one common task/issue/problem in our chosen disciplines, and we share our research findings with our peers. WR 151 Zhao
Dickinson, Bishop, Plath We study, research, and write about the lives and work of three Massachusetts poets:  Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop, and Sylvia Plath. Through watching films and television shows, reading their poems, letters, and journals, and listening to podcasts about our poets, we come to a greater understanding of the difficulties all three artists encountered in their respective times as women in a vocation mostly inhabited by men, and we gain a deeper appreciation of their unique and brilliant art. We also write poems, learn and practice different poetry forms, and meet poets and scholars whose works center around these three poets. WR 153 Barents
Drama on the Boston Common In this course, we play historical games to learn about the Boston Common as a site of controversy, punishment and protest and thus gain insight into the political culture of the city and state we live in. Game topics may include the 1721 smallpox epidemic, the Boston Tea Party, the 1915 women’s suffrage parade, and the ramifications of the 1921 capital trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, among others. The class is highly participatory as we research deeply, write in a variety of genres corresponding to the occasions demanded by the games chosen, and argue both passionately and with scholarly detachment. WR 151 Gapotchenko
Education and Social Issues We explore education as a liberatory practice and site of political and cultural resistance and the ways in which our own educational experiences normalize some behaviors and values at the expense of others. We explore fictional and non-fictional written and audiovisual representations of schools and universities, students and teachers, and consider the social and cultural obligations of higher education institutions. We pay particular attention to standardized testing, meritocracy, and economics of higher education. WR 152 White
Every Life, A Story The topic of this course is the art of memoir and draws from author Brenda Euland’s assertion that ‘Everyone is talented, original, and has something important to say.’ Unlike a novelist, the writer of memoir casts herself as both character and narrator, finding in her own life situations, stories that express common and uncommon truths about human experience. We read with an eye to the situations that launch authors’ stories and the wisdom they mine from their own lives. Our reading inspires a personal essay- a mini-memoir -conveying an authentic and compelling story that can be told by you alone. WR 153 Smith
Family Snaps and Stories Family photography in three modes: student home archives, photojournalism, and art photography. WR 152 Martinez
Fiercely Queer Movies In some ways, LGBTQIA+ political life in the 20th and 21st centuries has been a struggle between the impulse to be accepted as “normal” and the belief that, in the face of homophobia, LGBTQIA+ people have figured out a better way of living and should reject the standards of the straight world. Starting in the 90s, filmmakers started making movies reflecting this confrontational version of queer politics. They have continued to do so. In this course, we view, analyze, and conduct research on films that reflect a fierce, anti-“normal” queer viewpoint. WR 152 Desilets
Films of the Coen Brothers From their first film, Blood Simple, the Coen brothers secured their cult status, but Fargo would establish the duo as iconic auteurs, peculiarly American, pushing the limits of classic film genres, riding up just to the edge of the grotesque. Through period-driven works of the 90s to raw adaptations of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men and Charles Portis’ satirical western, True Grit, we repeatedly view Coens’ films in close detail. We contextualize them through readings in genre studies, historical texts, and adapted novels. Note: films include R-rated content including graphic violence, sexual content, sexual assault, and explicit language. WR 152 Degener
Frankenstein and Adaptations Everyone “knows” Frankenstein—the 8ft creature created out of mismatched body parts that stumbles along with outstretched arms, terrorizing innocent villagers. But Frankenstein wasn’t the creature, he was Dr. Frankenstein, the creator, and that’s one of the myths about this iconic story we examine. In this course, we explore various adaptations of the story, from Mary Shelley’s original text through its retellings in various formats, to explore how it has permeated cultures around the world. Students have the opportunity to create their own interpretations of the novel to conclude the semester. WR 153 Hanselman
Fugitive Pedagogies Generations ago, the United Daughters of the Confederacy created and promoted widely-used educational texts that taught various racist falsehoods, including that slavery benefitted the enslaved, and the Civil War was not about slavery. Meanwhile, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) created educational materials, often banned, that challenged these narratives and highlighted Black excellence. We examine these and other cases of miseducation as oppression and ways that Black, Indigenous, immigrant, and other educators, students, and communities have and continue to resist through the use of fugitive pedagogies. We conduct research and create educational materials that uplift critical counternarratives. WR 153 Reyes
Future of Video Game Studies Are video games art—or addiction? Our class readings explore evolving global views on video games. WR 152 Stevens
Gender and Narrative This course explores the relationship between gender and narrative, focusing on how storytelling techniques—such as narrative voice, plot structure, and form—interact with and reflect gendered experiences. Through critical readings and creative writing exercises, students will analyze how writers challenge traditional forms and power dynamics, with special attention to narrative ethics. By examining a diverse range of texts, students will develop analytical and argumentation skills, deepening their understanding of how narratives shape and are shaped by gender. WR 151 Lehofer
Gender, Sex, & Gothic Lit For centuries, Gothic tales have terrified and intrigued readers. In this course, we read classic Gothic texts that center on questions of gender and power. Through stories of madwomen locked in haunted rooms and imperiled heroines outwitting lascivious villains, we investigate how the Gothic can both imprison and empower women. We also explore Gothic texts that give voice to queer sexualities and identities in the years before these experiences could be depicted explicitly. With this knowledge, we then consider how classic Gothic motifs creep into contemporary media, and how historical anxieties around gender and sexuality continue to haunt our present. WR 151 Barrett
Global Literature We read global literature in translation, analyze these texts, and write literature of our own. WR 153 Mattingly
Greening Boston Now Our outside-the-classroom adventures exploring BU and Boston spark ideas for making our campus and city greener. How can we build on the work of BU’s Campus Climate Lab to transform our university?  What strategies can we use to (re)design Boston greenspaces and buildings for humans and other species while avoiding gentrification? How can diverse communities work together to implement sustainable greening initiatives involving Boston’s natural and built environments?  We use our observations from class and individual visits to Boston sites and multidisciplinary research to re-imagine our university and our city. WR 153 Schaaf
Hamilton versus Jefferson Many of today’s heated political debates can be traced all the way back to the formation of the United States. Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson served together in George Washington’s first Cabinet, yet they had diametrically opposed visions of what America could or should be. We examine each man’s biography, political philosophy, and influence on the country’s development. Readings cover primary and secondary sources including correspondence, journalism, government documents, biography, and scholarly accounts from the eighteenth-twenty-first centuries. WR 151 Oller
I Want to Believe We closely study the mythologies and the research about Bigfoot and UFOs across disciplines, including religious, historical, anthropological, scientific, and cultural texts, as well as contemporary journalism in prominent publications. WR 151 Giraldi
Identity and Image How are various elements of identity (race, gender, ability, profession, origin) shaped and contested in the public discourse and across media? How much agency do we have in defining how we are perceived, and why do we care about it? We ask these questions as we explore how humans create their visual and social image to affirm themselves and wield power. Through analyzing and creating documentaries, podcasts, op-eds, and other types of digital media content, we interrogate the aesthetic and political tools at work in forging one’s identity. WR 152 Sembe
Imagining the South Pacific Focusing on the South Pacific Ocean and Oceania, this course examines indigenous and scientific perspectives on the ocean through poetry, film, artifacts, and articles. We explore the ocean as a nexus for cultural exchange, identity, and resilience, considering themes of ecological preservation and marine conservation. Through close reading and analysis, we investigate what the ocean signifies for different cultures and the efforts being made to protect it. This interdisciplinary approach connects blue humanities, marine biology, and indigeneity, equipping us with essential rhetorical skills to engage with works across multiple disciplines. WR 151 Flynn
Imitating Irish Writers We look closely at a selection of short pieces by Irish poets, novelists, playwrights, songwriters, and screenwriters, whose work will occasion our appreciation and provide perspectives on Irish history, politics, culture, and art. The distinct voices we study will also, on occasion, serve as models for our own (low-stakes and fun) creative exercises imitating tone, theme, and style. WR 153 Barents
It’s All Relative What is the relationship between language and thought? Do the languages we speak influence how we perceive the world? The contentious linguistic relativity hypothesis asserts our perception of reality is filtered through the particular language we speak. Since its introduction, the linguistic relativity hypothesis has been controversial within linguistics. Nevertheless, it continues to capture the public imagination. In this course, we will trace the history of the hypothesis, including different versions of it, and explore a range of evidence from across languages. Students will design and conduct pilot experiments and report their findings in realtion to larger philosophical linguistics questions. WR 151 Kohut
Kinds of Minds We classify our minds and other minds; our minds are also classified by others. What roles can experiments in psychology and neuroscience with many participants or stories of individual minds play in understanding thought? What are the effects of sorting minds in binary ways such as human/nonhuman or exploring a spectrum of different types of minds? What biological and cultural factors affect how we understand and express how we or others think? How can classifying minds be limiting or liberating to those being classified? What are the possibilities for conflict and collaboration between different kinds of minds? WR 153 Schaaf
Language and Technology We explore how the use and form of our language has changed because of technology. From the pen to the phone, to the Internet, our use of language has been influenced by the changes in technology around us. Through the production of verbal and non-verbal artifacts, we learn how to read various cultural texts and how to produce our own texts in response. The independent and collaborative work that we produce will contribute towards our understanding of the cultural and social importance of language and the impact the technology we use to communicate with each other has on our language. WR 152 Shetty
Literature of the Occult In this course, we look at the influence of the Western Esoteric Tradition (Hermetics, Alchemy, Astrology, Kabbalah, Ceremonial Magick), often called “the Occult,” on Horror Literature. The genre of Horror is filled with vivid examples of the Occult, and we consider the depth of where these traditions come from and how serious authors are about them. We ask why “Occult” practices appear so prominently in many works of Horror, but more so, how these arcane practices speak to the fear of technology, psychology, and globalization. In an age with cellphones and supercomputers, the Occult continues to be a driving force. WR 151 Morazzini
Literature on Film Why do we adapt books into movies? How does the experience of a story we first encounter as a text change when we see it on screen? Are filmmakers obligated to be “faithful” to their sources, or do they have artistic license to innovate? Is literature an inherently “higher” form of art than movies? In this course, we consider these and other questions about the nature of literature on film as we develop our skills as critical film readers and as proficient writers and communicators. Our goal is to produce well-researched, clear, and persuasive communication about the difference that form makes in our encounters with art. WR 151 Walsh
Marijuana in America In this course, students write about cannabis’ polarizing influence in recent American history. This course questions the role of race, science and morality in drug enforcement policy and evaluates the recent push for decriminalization during the counter cultural period after the 1950s and the backlash it created during the War on on Drugs as well as the legalization era after the 1980s. WR 153 Blumenthal
Medical Debates Medical advances and increased public health have often come at the price of deliberately inflicting harm. In this class, we examine some of the historical debates about when and whether intentional harm to animals, individuals, or groups outweighs the benefits of medical progress. Vivisection exposes the issue of cruelty versus advances in medical research; vaccination weighs the relative risks and benefits of dangerous medical procedures to a particular individual; and the case of Typhoid Mary is representative of the problem of personal liberty versus public health. WR 152 Kinraide
Narrating the End of the World In her poem “The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes on,” Franny Choi reimagines apocalypse as continuous, and even mundane: for Choi, the end of the world has happened before, and will happen again. Reading across twentieth and twenty-first century U.S. literature, this class examines representations of the climate crisis that reject apocalyptic scenarios. With a focus on marginalized writers and perspectives, we consider how various communities are already inhabiting – and adapting to – climate catastrophe. Examining poetry, fiction, non-fiction and short film, we consider what the end of the world looks like when we keep on living in it. WR 152 Hopkinson
Object Lessons Our lives are made up of mountains of stuff, from disposable coke cans to treasured family heirlooms. In this class, we will think about all of the ways we can think about these objects—from the raw materials mined to produce them to the their eventual disposal in landfills. By using critical lenses from art history, material culture studies, history, and environmental studies, this class will give you the analytical skills to write about a vast array of objects. Then, you will have the opportunity to research, write, and produce short videos on an object of your choosing—anything from your toothbrush to your grandmother’s false teeth. WR 152 Clee
Philosophy and Horror In this course, we study disturbing stories and try to make sense of them. Why are “rough” or immoral heroes so compelling? What makes “immoral” stories, where bad things happen to good people, so gripping? Throughout the course, we study related topics in the philosophy of art such as catharsis, censorship, the definitions of art and of beauty, and the role of art in our everyday lives. We independently research disturbing stories in any genre or artform that interests us, such as film, literature, comedy, and drama. WR 151 Snyder
Playing for Keeps Why do we love games so much? The game designer Sid Meier said that a game is “a series of interesting choices”; in this course, we develop writing skills through a consideration of these choices, whether they take place on a chessboard, a soccer pitch, or an intense game of rock-paper-scissors. We think about the ways in which a game can be defined–and then we develop board games and research papers based on issues we care about. We explore the creative process behind thinking like a board game designer and inform this exploration through researched argument. WR 153 Schratz
Public Health Humanities What does it mean to be human in the context of public health? What is illness? How do we engage in ethical public health practices? Together we explore these questions through humanist scholarship on illness, biomedicine, and ethics; the history of public health in the United States; and literature and poetry about illness experiences. We examine archival items and engage in original research to explore what these items tells us about public health from a humanistic perspective. Additionally, we write poetry to make research accessible outside of the scholarly genre. WR 153 Fuller
Queer Little Love: Gay Stories What makes a story gay? Unlike older queer novels, the gay short story does not have time to be suggestive; instead, it must come out quickly, focusing on gay characters boldly and openly. Since Allan Gurganus’s ‘Minor Heroism’ in 1973, when the first gay character entered the New Yorker fiction section, the short story has only gotten gayer. We will look at some of first popular gay stories ever published as case studies of the changing attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people over time. How does such a short form capture the unique lives of characters far removed from our heteronormative world? WR 153 Culler
Race, Gender & Science Fiction In this course, we research how technology is racialized and gendered in science fiction through fears of and fascination with the robot, machine, and cyborg. Interrogating the border between the man and machine reveals the latent narratives about the human, inhuman, and superhuman—the racial and gendered categories which structure our world. We examine how race functions as an ongoing speculative project. From the “post”-racial utopia to the Asian invasion, technology marks the faultlines of racial unrest in visions of the world to come. In other words, who owns the future and why? WR 151 Sparks Lin
Rats Rats! We see them in T stations, or the alley behind the dorms. Scientists use them in medical research, authors vilify them in literature and film, and cities spend increasing amounts of money to control them. In this class, we discuss rat czars, rat birth control, rat symbolism, and rat poetry, while we read scientific articles, journalism, fiction, poetry, and more. WR 151 Michaud
Reproduction in American Lit Together, we explore a variety of representations of reproduction in American literature and culture across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Some questions we explore include: How has reproduction been represented in various genres? How do we talk about reproduction and its impact on our lives? How does the language we use both shape and reflect our opinions and thoughts? How has our understanding of reproduction–and the way we talk about it–changed over time? WR 151 DiMaggio
Revolutionary Literature Walt Whitman has signified much to an extraordinarily diverse group of artists. We trace his message of social justice, beginning with the U.S. Civil War, and examine how that message was embraced by later writers who combatted twentieth-century fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Afterward, we turn to others who promoted and confronted Whitman’s legacy, including Langston Hughes and García Lorca, as they contended with discrimination based on race, sexuality, and economic inequality. Finally, we explore how Whitman is refracted through the visions of contemporary poets such as Diane di Prima, June Jordan, Sharon Olds, and Yesenia Montilla. WR 151 Eldrett
Sociology of Code Switching In this course, we explore sociological perspectives on racism, classism, and code-switching in various contexts. WR 151 Bowman
Television and Identity Television has an intimate relationship with our everyday lives, offering stories that shape our understanding of ourselves and one another. This course explores how television represents cultural identities, from social categories of race, gender, sexuality, and class to dis/ability, age, and body size. We draw from cultural studies, television studies, feminist theory, and critical race theory to address questions about the ways this medium depicts identity in American culture. By analyzing television programs and placing them into their socio-historical context, we gain a deeper understanding of television’s cultural, industrial, and political role in creating and contesting identity. WR 152 Odinak
The Atomic Age We consider how humanity has—or has not—come to terms with apocalyptic annihilation. WR 151 Gutierrez
The Development of Writing Interested in languages, history, or sound recording? In this class, we explore the history of writing, how different writing systems developed throughout the world, and the linguistic principles guiding those systems. Our purpose is not only to write in different writing systems but also to write about the different linguistic mechanisms at play. With these new skills, we design our own writing systems for English and use them to tell an epic tale. WR 153 Kotiuga
The Ethical Imagination The Ethical Imagination is a historical survey of the development of world ethics. While its main focus is on Western Philosophy, it includes several comparative studies of Middle and Far-Eastern ethical theories. The contemporary short stories and essays we read emphasize the role the imagination plays in determining the moral compass of the world; and ultimately, the role art plays in raising questions about equity, freedom, diversity, justice, war, hatred, abuse, and intolerance in general. Writing assignments, whether non-fiction or fiction, focus on both analytical and creative skills. WR 153 Allenberg
The Global Arms Bazaar Throughout this course we will explore the causes and consequences of the international arms trade. Drawing upon the literature of political science, we examine how scholars conduct research and utilize a wide range of sources such as government documents, speeches, news reports, and archival records to make and support their arguments. In addition, we explore how scholars, successfully or unsuccessfully, translate arguments and findings for consumption by non-academic audiences. In doing so we work with different digital/multimedia genres such as podcasts and videos. WR 152 Bodamer
The Graphic Memoir Graphic Memoirs are nonfiction graphic narratives that tell the true stories of their author’s lives through a combination of text and image. In styles ranging from cartoons to fine art, graphic memoirs tackle a wide range of serious subjects. We ask questions about how memoirists grapple with time and memory, how visual and linguistic styles affect meaning, and what the graphic genre can teach us about academic writing. At the end of the semester, we showcase all we have learned by creating graphic memoirs of our own. WR 153 Kent
The Poetics of Hip Hop and Rap How can we describe the evolution of lyricism in hip hop and rap? Can we critically engage hip hop and rap lyrics as literary objects? In this class, we apply methods of literary analysis (methods often reserved for poetry, e.g. scansion, rhyme, imagery, affect etc.) to articulate the ways in which rappers, lyricists, convey meaning through their words. From the earliest MCs of 1970s/1980s NYC like Run-D.M.C., and Slick Rick to contemporary MCs among the likes of Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Nicki Minaj, we aim to more fully understand the depth of lyricism in rap and hip hop music. WR 151 Henry
Theater Now We read, write, and talk about topics related to live theatrical productions that we attend as a class, applying individual research to both scholarly and creative projects. This course is unique each spring. Recent semesters have focused on jukebox musicals and civil rights, on adaptations of Frankenstein and Canterbury Tales, and on dystopian environmental parables. WR 153 Barents, Cordner, and Kotiuga
Transformative Visual Media From the printing press to social media reels, we explore how innovative tech disrupts mass media. WR 152 Sarkisian
Twenty-First Century Terrors In the 60s and 70s, Vietnam and civil unrest gave birth to a golden age of horror movies. In our new century, we have been forced to confront tragedy on an even greater level. This course examines the horror genre in both film and television as a powerful meditation on the fears of a new and uncertain century, including terrorism, chemical and biological warfare, pandemic, authoritarianism, and nuclear Armageddon. Attention is given to works made in the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia to consider the genre in a global, cross-cultural context. WR 152 Vahamikos
Visual Storytelling How do images speak with, without, or against words? This course surveys different forms of picture-based narratives both fictional and nonfictional, from comics and graphic novels to film and animation. We discuss and write about how pictures in sequence work expressively, persuasively, and philosophically–taking a widescreen view of these mediums’ aesthetic reaches. Of course, writing about pictures can only go so far. We use these explorations to inform individualized creative research projects with their own unique visual forms: comics, video essays, short films, or other media that incorporate images. WR 153 Kane
When the Body Becomes Property This course brings together those that identity as women of color in a writing-praxis-healing curriculum that is taught through a decolonizing feminist global lens. Research projects will be developed through embodied writing. WR 153 Mehta
Witches, Wizards and Magic In this course, we explore the enduring appeal of witches, wizards and magic, as well as the fear and prejudice they continue to inspire. Works covered include Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch, as well as short stories, film, comics and art focusing on subjects from the Salem Trials and the myth of Merlin to contemporary representations of witchcraft. WR 153 Hansen
Writing Boston Museums Who are museums really for? How can the writing found there invite people in—or keep them out? And why do these conversations matter right now? From labels to exhibition catalogues, podcasts to websites, Instagram posts to donor solicitations, this course examines writing used in, around, and by museums. These institutions were previously presumed the final word in interpreting objects. More recently, this assumption has come under fire as more diverse constituencies (re)claim these spaces. We engage in a semester-long inquiry into a Boston museum you select to critically examine how it presents history, objects, and more. WR 152 Foran
Writing Childhood Identity This course studies how authors of children’s literature challenge readers to explore their own identity and those of others. How have writers for children defined and redefined identities in their work? How can the practice of writing change childhood identity? Drawing upon children’s literature in a range of genres as our case study in the first unit, students will then conduct individual research on authors of children’s stories—from a community important to them—to serve as inspiration for producing a creative work in one of the genres studied, and in an element of identity they want to explore. WR 153 Cordner
Writing for Design Are there certain spaces you’re drawn to? Are there places you avoid but you don’t know why? Have you ever wondered what drove the Brutalist architecture trend, or why hotels use bold contrasting colors, or how the layout of a hospital is vital to the patients’ health? In this class, you explore the connection between space, design, and well-being. You visit three architectural styles: Tudor-Revival, Brutalist, and Contemporary, and you explore how academic research works in the university and beyond as you study the effect design choices have on our emotions, habits, and physical and mental health. WR 152 Robertson

Note that course topics that end in “Now”  are part of our Boston Now initiative, which involves experiential learning and outside-the-classroom fieldwork.<