What Constitutes a Family?

Catalog description

All of us experience family?the families we are born into, brought into, discover, or create--but our experiences may not be alike. The nuclear family, the extended family, the blended family, the adoptive family?these and others are configurations of family that we are familiar with today. In this course we will discuss novels, poetry, plays, and films that showcase the family in its many manifestations and complexities. Course texts include: Barbara Kingsolver?s The Bean Trees, Wes Anderson?s Moonrise Kingdom, Jane Austen?s Pride and Prejudice, Emma Donoghue?s Akin, Lionel Bart?s Oliver!. Course requirements: active class participation, response papers, individual and group presentations, and several short analytical papers.