Modern Poetry and Poetics

Abstract:: This course will ask what makes poetry 'modern?' The student will discuss the cultural and political history of the period as well as the major movements that comprise 'modern poetry,' stopping to become acquainted with its noteworthy practitioners and perform close-readings of their works. By the end of this course, the student will have critically explored the concept of modern poetry, identifying its characteristic techniques, concerns, and figures. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: describe Modernity/Modernism as both a historical period and a movement in art and literature; define and differentiate between the terms modern, modernism, and modernity; define Victorianism and explain its relationship to Modernism; describe the nature of turn-of-the-twentieth-century poetry in both England and France; define Symbolism, Dandyism, Aestheticism, and Decadence; provide accounts of the origins of the Great War, life in Edwardian England, and World War II; list, compare, and contrast the major authors of the early 1900s, of World War I, the Lost Generation, World War II, the Great Depression, the Holocaust, High Modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, and the post-WWII period. (English Literature 408)

Sensing Place: Photography as Inquiry, Spring 2006

Abstract:: Explores photography as a disciplined way of seeing, investigating landscapes, and expressing ideas. Readings, observations, and photographs form the basis of discussions on landscape, light, detail, place, poetics, and ways of seeing, among other issues. A rudimentary understanding of photography and access to a camera required.

Abstract:: Explores photography as a disciplined way of seeing, investigating landscapes, and expressing ideas. Readings, observations, and photographs form the basis of discussions on landscape, light, detail, place, poetics, and ways of seeing, among other issues. A rudimentary understanding of photography and access to a camera required.

Abstract:: The transition from high school and home to college and a new living environment can be a fascinating and interesting time, made all the more challenging and interesting by being at MIT. More than recording the first semester through a series of snapshots, this freshman seminar will attempt to teach photography as a method of seeing and a tool for better understanding new surroundings. Over the course of the semester, students will develop a body of work through a series of assignments, and then attempt to describe the conditions and emotions of their new environment in a cohesive final presentation.

Abstract:: The transition from high school and home to college and a new living environment can be a fascinating and interesting time, made all the more challenging and interesting by being at MIT. More than recording the first semester through a series of snapshots, this freshman seminar will attempt to teach photography as a method of seeing and a tool for better understanding new surroundings. Over the course of the semester, students will develop a body of work through a series of assignments, and then attempt to describe the conditions and emotions of their new environment in a cohesive final presentation.