SEMINARS SPRING 2008
HONR 208W More Things in Heaven and Earth: Ghosts and Magicians
in Performance
Monday, 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Dr. David Schlossman, Lecturer in University Honors
Far from simple "scary stories," tales of ghosts and magic offer metaphors of memory and power. Embodied through performance, ghosts, witches, and magicians become physical manifestations of the most noble and the most base aspects of human experience: aspiration and defeat, resistance and persecution, honor and disgrace. Examining a selection of performances featuring supernatural elements provides a lens to view the diversity of human experience, from the sorrowful ghosts of Japanese Noh drama to contemporary meditations on the social pathology of witch-hunts. These performance texts speak to crucial social problems, from misogyny to racism to corrupt power. In addition, stories of ghosts, witches, and magic continue to raise unsettling questions, even in our technological age: What are the limits of human understanding? Are we really as rational–as in control of the world and our own emotions–as we believe? Are we willing to listen to the voices that speak to us from our past?
We will analyze a number of plays, and the course will use a broad definition of performance that also considers film, television, folklore, and storytelling. If possible, we will attend a performance, either of a play or of a "cultural performance."
Students will prepare and present a project that will consist of a written component (5-7 pages) and a class presentation. Each student will devise his or her own project within guidelines offered by the professor, but possibilities include: writing and presenting a work of original fiction; staging a scene from one of the readings or another work; collecting and reporting on folklore; or writing and presenting an essay.
In addition to the project, students will write two short (3-5 page) essays. From time to time, students may be asked to write brief (1 page) narrative notes on assigned readings in order to prepare for in-class discussion and for longer writing assignments. Attendance and participation in all class meetings constitutes an essential feature of the course. Students will be allowed to revise at least one of their papers to improve their grade; guidelines will be offered in the syllabus.
Tentative texts include:
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, The Tempest
Kan'ami Kiyotsugu (Japanese Noh drama), Matsukaze
Henrik Ibsen, Ghosts; The film The Sixth Sense
Freud's essay on The Uncanny; Ntozake Shange, Spell #7
Jan Harold Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends
and Their Meanings
Euripides, Medea; Arthur Miller, The Crucible; Caryl Churchill, Vinegar
Tom
CORE: Literature [HL]
