This course highlights the literary production, cultural
strategies, and diverse histories of women in the Americas. While the
course foregrounds the voices of Pacific Islander, Indigenous, and U.S. women
of color in the last half century, our inquiry crosses boundaries of nation and
genre as we examine the intersections of ethnicity, race, and class; slavery,
colonialism, and migration; and sexuality and gender that have shaped women’s
experiences, identities, and forms of expression.
We will explore a range
of genres–fiction, testimonio, short stories, film, comedy, theater, spoken
word, and dance-as modes of self-invention, community creation, political
resistance, and historical narration.
Our texts include women’s prison
writing in Hawai‘i (Hulihua IV); documentaries on Asian American women’s
poetry and Filipina migration; essays and poetry by Mitsuye Yamada, Audre
Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa, Brandy Nālani McDougall, and Haunani-Kay Trask; science
fiction by Octavia Butler (Kindred); short stories by Sarah Lau (“Long
Way Home”) and Fae Myenne Ng (“A Red Sweater”); fiction by Jamaica Kincaid (Annie
John) and Linda Hogan (Power: A Novel); and testimony by I
Rigoberta Menchu and Joy Kogawa,Obasan.
Note: This course receives
Writing Focus credit.
Assignments:
- Weekly short written assignments
(reading responses, seminar questions, quizzes, or “pearls” (25%)
- Two analytical essays (30%)
- Final written project (30%) including; creative writing assignment (short
story, series of poems, creative non-fiction, or autobiographical reflection)
and final presentation
- Seminar participation (15%)