Firstbridge courses are offered to degree seeking freshmen and registration is done via webform in pre-arrival checklist.
Professor(s)
Notes
In this class, we will read novels and short stories that engage with the city of Paris—its history, rhythms, and the rich array of cultural traditions that converge and coexist to compose it. Students will use readings as models for their own creative writing, which will also develop from excursions that move us out into the city to explore lesser-known neighborhoods, learn about the backgrounds of the people who live there, and discover the stories behind street names or monuments. We’ll study techniques for writing place in an affective, engaging way, and, at the same time, use our creative practice as a vector of curiosity, driving us to explore and encounter layers of literary culture in the city in which we live and write. We’ll read (or watch) works by Georges Perec, James Baldwin, Agnes Varda, Patrick Modiano, Maude Casey, Yoko Tawada, Leila Slimani, Charles Baudelaire, Mavis Gallant, and Edgar Allen Poe.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will comprehend how information is produced and valued in order to discover, evaluate, use, and create information and knowledge effectively and ethically. In FirstBridge, students will demonstrate the conversational nature of scholarship, and recognize their potential role and responsibilities as contributors to that conversation. For each discipline taught in FirstBridge, students will identify reference works, journals, databases and/or major works in history, in order to start effective research in the field. (FB LO1)
- Students will acquire the study skills, time management, and interpersonal skills needed to meet the demands of university-level academic work at a Liberal Arts College individually or as a team. Students will value the multiple meanings of place through experiential learning at AUP and beyond in the Parisian or global context. (FB LO2)
- Students will explore literary texts and other media from a range of cultural traditions that draw inspiration from the city of Paris.
- Students will recognize the power of place in its sensory, historical, and cultural dimensions as it influences literary form, subject, and style.
- Students will develop a creative writing practice modeled on their exploration of the city and the course readings. Student writing will be critiqued in a supportive workshop environment.
- Students will gain exposure to some French culture and history through our readings, reflective seminars (museum visits, city walks, and other activities), and a study trip to Bordeaux and Saint-Emilion (designed to reinforce elements taught in both FB courses).
- To complement the curriculum of "Autobiographical Writing" (CL1099FB14), which students in this course will take as well.
- Students will engage with artistic or creative objects (eg visual art, theatrical works, film) in different media and from a range of cultural traditions. (CCI LO2)
- Students will think critically about cultural and social difference. Students will identify and understand power structures that determine hierarchies and inequalities relating to race, ethnicity, gender, nationhood, religion or class. (CCI LO3)
Syllabus
Schedule
| Day | Start Time | End Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
Tuesday | 12:10 | 13:30 | SD-2 |
Friday | 12:10 | 13:30 | SD-2 |