Nat Holtzmann

The terms ¿self¿ and ¿portrait¿ are so ubiquitous that they often go underexamined. This class invites students to consider the ¿self¿ on a philosophical level, and to feel out the complex, blurry parameters distinguishing a portrait an artist makes of another from a self-portrait. The historical contexts within which various self-portraits in 20th century art and literature were produced will inform our inquiries into how society shapes the ways we think about/represent our 'selves' and vice versa. These will include artworks by Claude Cahun, Beauford Delaney, Catherine Opie, and Marisol, as well as texts by Joe Brainard, Michelle Tea, Edouard Levé, Nathalie Léger, and contemporary literary critics. Selections from diaries of artists and writers will also feed our interests, including those of Frida Kahlo, Eva Hesse, Franz Kafka, Audre Lorde, and David Wojnarowicz. Finally, we will interrogate the ethics and implications of self-portraiture today, in a culture glutted with them to an unprecedented degree. What does it say about our ability to register and respond to the present moment¿one shaped by large structures and forces¿that our art and literature often operate at the scale of the individual self? FYS I courses develop college-level writing skills and prepare students for FYS II and upper-level Liberal Arts courses. In this process-oriented class, students will build such skills through 15-20 pages of formal, revisable writing (two multi-draft essays) in addition to preparatory homework assignments and in-class writing. Work will be undertaken independently and collaboratively through self-assessment, guided workshops, and peer review.

In this course we will work to develop our capacities as critical writers and readers by engaging the question: ¿what is a voice?¿ To do this, we will move across the domains of politics (¿voice of the people¿), linguistics (¿spoken voice¿), psychology (¿individual voice¿), creativity (¿find your voice¿), sound (¿tone of voice¿), the body (¿vocal cords and voice box¿), technology (¿the recorded voice¿), and the sacred (¿voice of God¿). Ultimately, we will cultivate through writing and discussion a semester-long inquiry into the diverse meanings and identities attributed to the voice across a range of cultural and historical contexts. How do these diverse formulations resonate and speak with one another, and what might their connections reveal about how we understand ourselves and our world? Our course materials will include works by linguist Ferdinand de Saussure; composer Pauline Oliveros; poets Ovid and Ilya Kaminsky; sociologists Emile Durkheim and W.E.B Du Bois; filmmaker Sian Heder; philosopher Mladen Dolar; folk tales collected by the Brothers Grimm; the spiritual texts of Hazrat Inayat Khan; and the music of Ma Rainey and Billie Holiday, among many others. Thematically, we will consider the ways that the voice transgress borders of metaphor and material fact, shaping our sense of both the individual and the collective. Students will develop techniques for critical reading, writing, and listening as we discuss materials which present and theorize the identity and meaning of the voice. They will analyze, synthesize, and compare these multiple perspectives in weekly writing assignments and class discussions and develop strategies for mobilizing diverse forms of evidence in support of their original arguments. Throughout the semester we will workshop and revise writing through peer review, in-class exercises, individual consultation, and more. Our work will culminate in 20-25 pages of formal writing, leading to a substantial research paper devised in dialogue with our course themes and questions.

This is the first of two English language fluency courses for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students improve their academic English skills by reading and responding to art appreciation and art history texts. Texts are analyzed for formal as well as contextual information. Students learn how to integrate their own observations and knowledge with information gained from reading and lecture. Students also build competence and confidence in college-level writing. Topics include formal analyses and/or critical responses to works of art. Presentations and class discussions also give students practice communicating their knowledge through speaking.