Matthew Goulish

If we define the ordinary as that which can be overlooked, or that which we value most when it is absent -- how can we consider such ordinariness in language or image a generative, creative foundation? This course examines selected examples of writing and art formulated and structured according to principles of the ordinary. Case studies of writing from and through the ordinary include works by Charles Olson, Amina Cain, Remedios Varo (tr. by Margaret Carson), Jay Wright, Robert Creeley, and George Perec (tr. by Marc Lowenthal). Each student will present their own work twice through the semester, for respectful response from the classroom community. Students will participate in several in-class writing activities through the semester. Students will take a mid-term vocabulary test of key words that present themselves in lectures and conversations in the first half of the semester.

This course examines writing formulated and structured according to systems of thought and expression. The nine trans-disciplinary system types presented in the class derive from various modes and technologies of language and presentation: abecedarium, collection, calendar, dialectic, experiment, lipogram, palimpsest, substitution, transposition. Case studies of system-based writing include works by Richard Powers, Andrea Rexilius, Gertrude Stein, Cesar Vallejo (tr. Joseph Mulligan), Renee Gladman, Arkadii Dragomoshchenko (tr. Ana Lucic and Shushan Avagyan), and Jay Wright. Further references include Jen Bervin, Ann Hamilton, Viktor Shklovsky, and Kenzaburo Oe. Each student will make two presentations during the semester: a primary presentation of work; a response (the following week) to the primary presentation of another; or a response to one of the readings. All presentations last a maximum 15 minutes, happen in the room, and involve language and the systems discourse in some way. Students also participate in three in-class writing sessions through the semester.

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.