This course introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing, and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors. What is love? How does society encourage or discourage it? Who gets to fall in love and why? For many years, the study of love seemed to belong to poets, painters, singers, and playwrights. Scholars in different fields like history and anthropology avoided studying love, claiming that it was too special—too personal, maybe too sacred—to be a topic of reflection and analysis. Yet love is all around us. What does it mean and do? This course explores films, case studies and more to explore how love conforms to and challenges the prevailing social order and becomes a force for change or continuity. We will analyze readings about how young people living in Africa, the USA, and Asia have described and experienced love as a vital emotion within or despite the expectations they face. Later in the semester, students will research a love-related issue of their choice and may choose from texts including written narratives, ethnographies, legal studies, films, works of art, and other mediums.
Martha Lagace