Literature and Community Engagement.

Catalog description

This course examines a selection of readings about community engagement that highlight the importance of contact and shared community values. It raises deep questions about community and examines how individuals and various cultures have engaged with their communities. We will focus on stories highlighting the conflict between the individual and the community and the forces to be negotiated for solidarity and connection needed in order to meet the common good, both a space for connection as well as a space to exercise one’s own free will. The selections will help us to think more deeply about the beliefs and opinions that inform the activities not only of other cultures but those of our own as well. The purpose of this course is to consider the human experience through the practice and analysis of various genres of literature. The course will explore various literary texts representative of multiple cultures and ethnicities within the United States while allowing opportunities for community engagement via service-learning projects and connections to various social issues like systemic racism, immigration, and poverty among other topics. Fall and Spring.