ENGL 55.09 Hope? How Feelings Shape American Culture

Barack Obama defined hope as a culturally transformative feeling that required “audacity.” Yet scholars have questioned hope’s ability to bring about change, leading Lauren Berlant to speak of “Cruel Optimism.” Hope, Optimism, Audacity, Cruelty: how does affect impact American culture? We will develop frames for thinking historically and analytically about feeling’s influence on class, gender and ethnicity. Students will develop final projects that integrate imagination into an analysis of the questions hope raises.

Instructor

Not being offered in 2022-23

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:TMV; WCult:W

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

No course group assignment.