Request for comments: Draft Syllabus

[rax]

For anyone who doesn't know, I'm teaching a class at MIT next semester on passing (especially race and gender) in (especially) American literature. I get to come up with my own syllabus, of which I am supposed to turn in a draft by November. After tons and tons of reading, and a whole lot of thinking and conversations, I've actually put together a draft syllabus; it doesn't have my notes for each class yet, but that's OK. I could wing it off of this but will write up some more in the next couple of weeks to give my supervisor a better idea of where I will be going with things, and to give myself something to fall back on if my brain is made of mush when I sit down to actually teach the course.

This is an undergraduate course open to all levels of experience, so I'm not expecting students to necessarily be literature or gender studies majors (especially since it's, well, MIT). I've put the draft syllabus up here and would love for you all to make comments on it. I'd also love comments on a couple of additional things: What should I call this class? My supervisor doesn't want me to put the word "pass" in the course title because she thinks people will think it's about death. I've come up with all sorts of ridiculous titles but nothing useful. "Re/Constructing Identities" ? Myegh. Also, do you have any recommendations of books, movies, &c. where people pass or try to pass and it's relevant? I want to offer students (and anyone else interested) a big annotated list, so anything's fair game; even if I've already heard of it, if you wanted to write up a description, I'd be happy to put that on the web and credit you. Or not credit you! Whatever you want!

And yes, blondestwolf , I did finally watch Some Like It Hot. :) It was research, you see!

Thanks for the help if you do get around to commenting, and I hope the syllabus/suggested readings are interesting. Expect me to keep posting about this until the course starts; if you want to point people who might be interested here, I'd be honored. If you're an MIT undergrad and this seems exciting, you should take my course. Please!

Comments

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

I disagree with your supervisor about the naming issue — I say tackle it head on, and call the class Passing for 'Normal'.

Admittedly, that title reflects my thinking about passing, which may not be yours. I think passing is something nearly everyone who is not inherently boring has tried to do. I, straight Anglo male though I am, have often used the phrase "passing for normal" to describe my own efforts to avoid social ostracism. And what is a Black or Asian or Native American trying to pass as White, or a gay person trying to pass as straight, really doing if not trying to blend into the anonymous crowd?

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

Since it probably doesn't go without saying, I should add that I do not mean by this to diminish the issues of someone from a discriminated-against minority the level of the anxieties of an ill-socialized geek. There's clearly a couple of orders of magnitude difference there. I merely suggest that they are experiences of the same genus, and that the one can provide insight into the other.

[rax.livejournal.com]

I'm totally with you on the "there are ordered of magnitude in the difference between these experiences, but they can provide insight into each other." That's the thing that got me started on this whole line of thought to begin with. :)

I disagree with my supervisor as well, but she's got veto power. I do like the idea of working "normal" into the title though. I'll work with that. Thank you!