Amy England

How can attending to sensual detail make writing more vivid and grounded? How does this enhance the imagining of other points of view, both human and animal? How do the limits of the senses limit our understanding? How does the experience of sensual input accord with our scientific understanding of how the senses work? In service of these discussions, we will look at how sensual observation shapes memory in Proust's Swann's Way, and how the rhythm of jazz shapes Nathaniel Mackey's poetic prose in The Bedouin Hornbook. We will look at Michel Pastoureau's memoir of colors, and Jen Bervin's poetic meditation on the subject position of silkworms. Ross Gay's poems on basketball will give us insights into proprioception, and the Japanese incense game will help us develop a vocabulary of scent. We will alternate between readings and creative workshops.

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.