Janice Moore Fuller serves as an
English Professor and Writer-in-Residence at Catawba College.
Below are sample syllabi:
THE BIOGEOGRAPHY AND LITERATURE OF ISLANDS
BIOL 2110H
ENGL 3360H
HON 2901H
INSTRUCTORS: Dr. Steve Coggin
Office: 204 Shuford Science Building
Hours: MWF 10-11
Phone: 704- 637-4110
e-mail: scoggin@catawba.edu
Dr. Janice Fuller
Office: 217 Administration Building
Hours: MWF 10-12
Phone: 704-637-4351
e-mail: jfuller@catawba.edu
OBJECTIVE: To explore the parallels between literary themes and biological issues regarding islands.
GOALS: Students taking this class will
- Examine the differences in the ways two disciples approach islands,
- Explore the ways islands are handled in literature and discover some common themes, including negative and positive attitudes toward primitivism; views of nature as malevolent or benevolent; alienation and solitude; transformation and regeneration; insularity and incest; the diaspora and islands; islands and orality; and post-colonialism, hybridity, and cultural "authenticity,"
- Explore the biological issues associated with islands, including islands and their role in evolutionary theory; the mechanics and consequences of life on islands; islands and conservation,
- Allow students to experience islands first-hand from a literary and biological perspective. (This goal will be achieved through a one-week stay during Spring Break at a biological station on the island of Jamaica.)
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Hughes, R. A High Wind in Jamaica
Melville, H. Billy Budd, Sailor and other Stories
Proulx, A. The Shipping News
Shakespeare, W. The Tempest.
Quammen, D. The Song of the Dodo.
Walcott, D. Omeros.
ATTENDANCE: Attendance is expected and highly recommended.
GRADING:
- Short written responses to readings - 4 x 2 page papers. 20%.
- Take home questions on scientific content. 20%.
- Journal and paper on field trip - Including personal reflections and connections with larger patterns from island biogeography and literary themes. 25%.
- Major paper on The Shipping News and implications of island biogeography. Due final exam day, 3-5 pages. 15%
- Class participation and engagement. 20%
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES:
Jan 12 Why islands? Island quotations
Jan 17 Why islands? Islands and literary themes
Jan 19 Biogeography & Evolution - MacArthur and Wilson pp 3-18, Quammen pp 11-13, 128-141
Jan 24 The Tempest – Paper due – Which literary themes?
Jan 26 The Tempest – Which features of biogeography? Assign islands for exercise
Jan 31 Biogeography & Evolution - Quammen pp 385-436
Feb 2 Biogeography & Evolution - Take-home exam due
Feb 7 Galapagos – Darwin - Quammen pp 217-234,
Feb 9 Galapagos – Melville - Encantadas - Sketches 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, Galapagos film (paper due)
Feb 14 Galapagos - Dillard "Life on the Rocks"
Feb 16 Caribbean Poetry – Post colonialism – Islands as sites of conquest
Feb 21 Caribbean Poetry
Feb 23 Expectations for trip
Feb 28 A High Wind in Jamaica – Paper due
Mar 2 A High Wind in Jamaica
Mar 4-11Trip to Jamaica
Mar 14 Madagascar – Quammen – lemurs pp 501-545
Mar 16 Madagascar – Effect of humans
Mar 21 Madagascar – Oral tradition, story-telling
Mar 23 Madagascar – Angano-angano - Jamaica paper due
Mar 28 Extinction – Quammen - Dodo pp 261-275
Mar 30 Extinction – Quammen - Lovejoy pp 464-487
Apr 4 Extinction - Tasmanians pp 353-381
Apr 6 Omeros - Books 1 and 2
Apr 11 Omeros - Book 3, summaries Books 4 and 5, pp 174-182, 213-219,
Book 6
Apr 13 Lawn species-area field experience
Apr 18 Omeros – Book 7 - Paper due
Apr 20 The Shipping News
Apr 25 The Shipping News
Apr 27 The Shipping News
May 8 3:00-6:00 pm - Take-home exam on The Shipping News and Biogeography due and discussion
Please note: This syllabus is subject to change.
TRAVEL AND TRAVEL WRITING
SPRING 2007
ENGL 3360H
HON 2901H
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving.”
--Lao-Tzu
"Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves.”
--Chinua Achebe
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Janice Fuller
Office: 217 Administration Building
Hours: MW 12-2; TTh 11-1:30
Phone: 704-637-4351
E-mail: jfuller26@carolina.rr.com
OBJECTIVE: To explore strategies for reading and creating travel writing.
GOALS: Students taking this class will
- Consider the various reasons humans travel and write about their travels,
- Reflect on the differences between travel and tourism,
- Explore the ways that various factors concerning an individual—gender, race, nationality, religious experience, class, professional training, disciplinary background, prior experiences—can affect the way he or she travels, his or her travel destinations, and the features of the resulting travel writing (including its style, structure, and focus),
- Develop and test theories concerning travel writing, including theories about subgenres and theories about the way cultural bias and background shape a piece of writing,
- Examine the stages of travel writing and practice a range of strategies involved in the process of travel writing, including research, note-taking, drafting, critiquing, and revising. (This goal will be achieved, in part, through a trip to the south of France during Spring Break.)
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Holland and Huggan. Tourists with Typewriters. (University of Michigan Press)
Best American Travel Writing 2001. (Ed. Paul Theroux and Jason Wilson)
Wheeler, Sara. Travels in a Thin Country. (Modern Library)
Chatwin, Bruce. The Songlines (Penguin)
Morris, Jan. The World: Life and Travel, 1950-2000 (Norton)
Garrett, Martin. Provence: A Cultural History. (Oxford)
Berlitz French Phrase Book
A travel guide to Provence (student’s choice)
ATTENDANCE:
Attendance is expected and highly recommended.
GRADING:
Short written responses to readings and short travel pieces (2 pages each) – 20%
Travel notebook – 10%
research notes prior to trip, notes and journaling during trip, photographs, drawings, audio recordings, collections of objects, and other aids to memory
Travel writing about trip to Ireland (10-15 pages) – 25%
Individual project – 15%
Paper (5-10 pages) and presentation analyzing a work by a travel writer, chosen for connection with personal interest or major
Take-home final exam (8-10 pages) – 10%
Explanation and illustration of a theory about travel writing developed and tested during the course of the semester and another reflection essay
Participation – 20%
Attendance, class discussion, responses to presentations, critiques of peer writing
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES:
(NOTE: This schedule is subject to change.)
Jan. 11 Introduction to course and its goals. Why do people travel? Why do people write about their travels? Guiding questions about travel and travel writing; reading questions for travel writing
Jan. 16 Preface and introduction in Tourists with Typewriters (vii-25); essays from Best American
Jan. 18 “Countertravel Writing and Postcoloniality,” Tourists with Typewriters (47-65). Essays from Best American; a short travel piece from memory, using an essay from Best American as a model
Jan. 23 Gender and travel writing—Tourists with Typewriters, chapter three (111-55); Essays by females from Best American and gay travel writers
Jan. 25 Part of Travels in a Thin Country
Jan. 30 Remainder of Travels in a Thin Country
Feb. 1 Tourists with Typewriters (27-47 and (167-70); Part of The Songlines
Feb. 6 Remainder of The Songlines
Feb. 8 Tourists with Typewriters (118-21): essays from The World
Feb. 13 Essays from The World; readings on Provence
Feb. 15 Readings and/or lecture on Provence
Feb. 20 Readings and/or lecture on Provence
Feb. 22 Readings and/or lecture on Provence
Feb. 27 Readings and/or lecture on Provence
March 1 Readings and/or lecture on Provence
March 3-10 Trip to Provence
March 13 Deprogramming; sharing of notes, photographs, notebooks; selecting models for travel writing pieces
March 15 essays from Best American; developing theories of travel writing
March 20 Style; essays from Best American; developing theories of travel writing; discussion of individual projects
March 22 Drafts of travel pieces due; discussion of individual projects
March 27 Critiques of four travel pieces
March 29 No regular class; Gish Jen craft talk, 2:00, Hedrick Theatre (required)
Extra credit: Gish Jen lecture, 11:00 Keppel Auditorium
April 3 Critiques of four travel pieces; final drafts of travel pieces critiqued last class due
April 5 Critiques of four travel pieces; final drafts of travel pieces critiqued last class due
April 10 Final drafts of travel pieces critiqued last class due; no regular class
Poetry reading, including travel poetry (Mary Kay Rummel, Janice Moore Fuller) 7:30, Tom Smith Auditorium (required)
April 12 Presentations of individual projects; papers due from those presenting
April 17 Presentations of individual projects; papers due from those presenting
April 19 Presentations of individual projects; papers due from those presenting
April 24 Evening celebration/public presentation of pieces?? Discussion of possible theories of travel writing; reviewing controversial essays as evidence
April 26 Additional discussion of possible theories of travel writing
May 4 (3:00-6:00) Take-home exams due; oral presentations of theories
TBA: Additional evening opportunites for Provence lectures, films, etc.
ANIMALS: THE CREATURES ALL AROUND (AND INSIDE) US
ENGL 3360H, HON 2501H / Fall 2009
DR. JANICE FULLER—OFFICE: 217 ADM.; PHONE 4351
HOURS: MWF 11-12, 1-2; TTH 11-1; EMAIL: jfuller26@carolina.rr.com
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Mahatma Ghandi
OBJECTIVE: to embark on a multidisciplinary investigation of religious, social/political, psychological, and scientific theories concerning the relationship between humans and animals, to examine the ethical implications of these theories in practical dealings with animals, and to analyze these theories as they manifest themselves in aesthetic presentations of animals and humans.
GOALS FOR COURSE:
Students in this course will be able to
- Articulate theories about the human-animal relationship in the following disciplines: religion and philosophy, ecology, animal science, sociology, and cognitive ethology.
- Articulate the major ethical issues involved in such practical situations as animals as pets, animals in zoos, animals as food, animals in sport, animals as test subjects, animals in shows.
- Develop an analysis of their own theory of the animal-human relationship, including the sources (personal experience, parental attitudes, reading, watching films, etc.)
- Analyze the ethical assumptions inherent in artistic representations of the animal-human relationship.
GUIDING QUESTIONS:
- What is the relationship between humans and animals?
- How has this relationship evolved during human history?
- Where do our assumptions about that relationship come from?
- What are the most influential models of that relationship—in religion, science, social sciences—that guide contemporary treatment of animals? Are these models based on differences or commonalities? Do they focus on the divide or the connection? They/Us? Symbiosis or mutualism? Are they hierarchical or egalitarian?
- What are the ethical implications of these systems?
- How do these models and ethical systems guide (or not guide) our behavior in particular human/animal intersections?
- How are these models and ethical systems reflected or challenged in artistic representations of the human/animal relationship?
TEXTS:
Waldau and Patton. A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science & Ethics. Columbia UP.
Grandin and Johnson. Animals in Translation. Harcourt.
Martel. Life of Pi. Harcourt.
Wroblewski. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. HarperCollins.
ATTENDANCE: Attendance is expected and highly recommended.
GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:
- Auto-ethnography (3-5 pages)—5%
- Short written responses to readings and films—20%.
- Group presentation of issue related to a contemporary controversy (animals as test subjects, animals in sports—greyhound racing, horse racing, dog fighting, bull fighting, fox hunting—service animals, circus animals, fur and ivory trade, dog shows) and an individual position paper growing out of group research (5-10 pages)—20%
- Analysis of literary/artistic treatment of animals in Edgar Sawtelle and one other work—Life of Pi, Birdy, or Equus, 7-10 pages—20%
- Final Take-Home Paper outlining your “theory” of the animal/human relationship, the sources of this theory, the ways your views have changed, and which of your positions on controversies have changed as a result. Due final exam day, 7-10 pages—20%
- Class participation and engagement—15%
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
Note: Because this is a new course, the schedule is especially subject to change.
Aug. 20 Introduction to course.
Aug. 25 Before class: write an autoethnography and read essays by John Berger (“Why Look at Animals?”) and Thomas Berry (ACOS 5-10).
In class: Why study animals?
Aug. 27 Before class: read essays by Patton (ACOS 27-39 ), Singer (ACOS 616-18), and McDaniel (ACOS 132-45)
In class: Animals in religion
Sept. 1 Before class: read essays by Harris (ACOS 207-17), Wiley (ACOS 250-55), Paper (ACOS 325-32)
In class: Animals in religion
Sept. 3 Before class: essays by Aldo Leopold (on reserve), Rockefeller (ACOS 621-28), Roberts (605-15)
In class: Animals in ecology and sociology
Sept. 8 Before class: essays by Marc Bekoff (ACOS 461-80) and Jane Goodall (ACOS 651-56)
In class: Animals in cognitive ethology
Sept. 10 Before class: excerpts from Animals in Translation
In class: Temple Grandin and animal science
Sept. 15 Before class: more excerpts from Animals in Translation
In class: Grandin
Sept. 17 Before class: part of Life of Pi; listen to NPR’s Here and Now
In class: Animals in zoos, a critique
Sept. 22 No class—Fuller reading in Charleston (Continue reading Life of Pi)
Sept. 24 Before class: Finish Life of Pi.
In class: Animals in zoos, a defense
Sept. 29 Before class: TBA
In class: Visit to NC Zoo
Oct. 1 Before class: readings about pets
In class: reflections on zoo; animals as pets
Oct. 6 Before class: Salisbury Post series on euthanasia in Rowan County
In class: Visit to Rowan County Animal Shelter
Oct. 8 Before class: readings about ethical issues—leash laws, spaying
In class: treatment of pets
Oct. 13 Before class: websites of no-kill shelters
In class: Visit to Davie County Humane Society
Oct. 15 Before class: essays by Fraser (ACOS 548—55), Fox (ACOS 556-67), Valen (ACOS 568-82)
In class: animals in factory farming; assignment of group topics
Oct. 20 Fall break
Oct. 22 Before class: essay by Carol Adams (ACOS 591-604), Alice Walker’s “Am I Blue,” and other readings about vegetarian-vegan position
In class: vegetarians and vegans
Oct. 27 Before class: excerpts from Animal, Vegetable, Mineral (reserve)
In class: guest speaker—Bread Riot
Oct. 29 Before class: Prepare for group presentations and paper
In class: presentations by three groups
Nov. 3 Before class: Prepare for group presentations and paper
In class: presentations by three groups
Nov. 5 Before class: Begin Edgar Sawtelle, INDIVIDUAL ESSAY ON GROUP TOPIC DUE
In class: Edgar Sawtelle and viewing of Birdy
Nov. 10 Before class: Continue reading Edgar Sawtelle
In class: viewing of Birdy
Nov. 12 Before class: Continue reading Edgar Sawtelle
In class: viewing of Birdy and Equus
Nov. 17 Before class: Continue reading Edgar Sawtelle
In class: viewing of Equus
Nov. 19 Before class: Finish Edgar Sawtelle
In class: Edgar Sawtelle
Nov. 24 Before class: read creative non-fiction essays ; LITERARY ESSAY DUE
In class: essays
Dec. 1 Before class: read creative non-fiction essays
In class: essays
Dec. 3 Before class: read creative non-fiction essays
In class: essays
FINAL EXAM (Monday, December 7, 3:00-6:00): Final paper due; discussion
IRELAND: MYTH AND REALITY
ENGL 3360H, HON 2901H / SPRING 2009
DR. JANICE FULLER—OFFICE: 217 ADM.; PHONE 4351
HOURS: MWF 11-12, 1-2; TTH 11-1; EMAIL: jfuller26@carolina.rr.com
Out of Ireland have we come, great hatred, little room, maimed us at the start. I carry from my mother's womb a fanatic heart. –William Butler Yeats
Why should Ireland be treated as a geographical fragment of England - Ireland is not a geographical fragment, but a nation. –Charles Stewart Parnell
The part which American friendship played in helping us to win the freedom we enjoy in this part of Ireland has been gratefully recognized and acknowledged by our people. –Eamon de Valera
For the great Gaels of Ireland /Are the men that God made mad, / For all their wars are merry, / And all their songs are sad. –G.K. Chesterton
Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow. –James Joyce
When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, 'Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?” –Quentin Crisp
This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever. –Sigmund Freud (speaking about the Irish)
Ireland is a peculiar society in the sense that it was a nineteenth century society up to about 1970 and then it almost bypassed the twentieth century. –John McGahern
OBJECTIVE: To examine Irish identity by testing myths about Ireland with evidence from a variety of academic disciplines, including history, political science, theater, literature, music and film and with evidence gained from travel.
GOALS FOR COURSE:
Students in this course will be able to
- Articulate dominant myths about Ireland,
- Use evidence from various 20th- and 21st-Century “texts” to support or challenge these myths,
- Use personal experience to support or challenge these myths, (This goal will be achieved, in part, through a trip to Ireland during Spring Break.)
- Develop an extended explanation of “real” Irish identity.
TEXTS:
Robert Kee, Ireland: A History, new edition, 2003
Irish Writing: An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939, ed. Stephen Regan,
Oxford UP, 2004 (including works by William Butler Yeats, Augusta Gregory, John Millington Synge, Patrick Kavanagh, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce)
Contemporary Irish Cinema, ed. James MacKillop, 1999
James Joyce, Dubliners
Ann Enright, The Gathering
P.J. Curtis, Notes from the Heart (on reserve)
A play by Marina Carr (on reserve)
Martin McDonagh, The Cripple of Inishmaan (on reserve)
ATTENDANCE: Attendance is expected and highly recommended.
GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:
- Short written responses to readings and films—15%.
- Travel Journal and Paper on Ireland Trip, including reflections on how experiences during the trip caused you to change your perception about various myths about Ireland (7-10 pages)—25%.
- Final Take-Home Paper explaining your perception of the “real Ireland” with evidence from written texts, music, film, lectures, poetry reading, personal experience on trip. Due final exam day, 7-10 pages—25%
- Public presentation about the Irish myths and realities—15%
- Class participation and engagement—20%
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
Jan. 15 Discussion of students’ myths and preconceptions; familiar songs and films; “Does the ‘Real’ Ireland Still Exist?”
Assignment before Quiet Man viewing: article
Jan. 19 Viewing of The Quiet Man (time and location TBA)
Assignment for Jan. 20: articles on the Quiet Man
Jan. 20 Discussion of myths perpetuated by The Quiet Man
Assignment for Jan. 22: pp. 15-101 from Ireland: A History; James Clarence Mangan’s poetry (pp. 140-51in Irish Writing)
Jan. 22 early history, famine images, Mangan’s poetry, role of women; Myth of Ireland as Woman
Assignment: pp. 103-73 from Ireland: A History
Jan. 27 Discussion of Irish history through 1916
Assignment: Background on J.M. Synge (TBA); Synge’s excerpt from the Aran Islands (IW, pp. 232-40) and play Riders to the Sea (IW, pp. 442-53).
Jan. 29 Irish literary renaissance; Synge; Myth of the West; Myth of the Islander; Myth of the Wake; Film Man of Aran (if time; otherwise on Sunday, Feb. 1)
Assignment: Background on W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory; play Cathleen ni Houlihan (IW, pp. 421-31); Yeats’s poems (IW, pp. 343-45 and others)
Feb. 3 Yeats, Lady Gregory, and the Irish Renaissance; the Myth of Mythology
Assignment: short political speeches by Maud Gonne, Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Constance Markiewicz (IW, pp. 183-92 and 199-202) and Yeats’s public and visionary poems (TBA)
Feb.5 Yeats and Easter 1916
Assignment: Ireland: A History, pp. 175-223; article on Michael Collins (CIC, pp. 22-28)
Feb. 8 Viewing of Michael Collins
Feb. 10 Discussion of film; Myth of Clear Good Guys and Bad Guys
Assignment: stories from James Joyce’s Dubliners
Feb. 12 Joyce
Assignment: read Joyce’s “The Dead” from Dubliners
Feb. 17 Joyce; the Myth of the West; the Myth of the Irish Woman
Assignment: read excerpt from Joyce’s Ulysses (IW, pp. 293-314); readings on Irish music/dance (TBA)
Feb. 19 Joyce, cont.; music/dance
Assignment: readings on Irish music/dance (TBA)
Feb. 24 music/dance—guest lecture by Dr. Steve Etters
Assignment: readings on Irish music/dance (TBA)
Feb. 26 music/dance
Assignment: play by Marina Carr (TBA)
Mar. 1 Viewing of The Commitments
Mar. 3 Guest lecture on Marina Carr’s plays—Amy Guenther
Mar. 5 Final preparation for trip
MARCH 6-15—TRIP TO IRELAND
Mar. 17 Decompressing from trip; preparation for paper on trip
Assignment: Patrick Kavanagh poetry (TBA)
Mar. 19 Patrick Kavanagh’s response to Yeats and the Myth of Mythology
Assignment: article on The Field (CIC, pp. 153-60)
Mar. 22 Viewing of The Field
Mar. 24 The Field and The Quiet Man: A Conversation
Assignment: Finish paper on trip
Mar. 26 Brady Author’s Symposium—no class; paper on trip due
Assignment: read material on contemporary history and the IRA (TBA); read article on The Crying Game (CIC, pp. 85-97)
Mar. 29 Viewing of The Crying Game
Mar. 31 The Crying Game; myths about gender; myths about the IRA
Assignment: Read The Gathering
Apr. 2 The Gathering
Apr. 7 The Gathering
Apr. 9 The Gathering
Apr. 14 McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan
Apr. 16 Presentations on contemporary music (pop and traditional)
Apr. 21 Presentations on contemporary music (pop and traditional)
Apr. 23 Preparation for final paper and public presentation
FINAL EXAM (Friday, May 1, 3:00-6:00): Final paper due; discussion
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