ENGL 55.12 Dartmouth Fictions
This is a course about the campus novel and literary representations of Dartmouth College. Dartmouth, as both a setting and object of analysis, has appeared in numerous cultural objects as alumni, students, and those looking in from the outside have reflected on the intellectual and social life of the College. Many major cultural works—from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Literary Ethics” to August Wilson’s King Hedley II—were written or first performed at Dartmouth. But the College’s campus and its students have also inspired countless fictional and autobiographical works. Throughout the term, we’ll examine the myriad ways in which Dartmouth has been represented by reading a selection of novels and memoirs set on our campus. We will also read a selection of poetry and examine digital productions depicting Dartmouth and Dartmouth students, including memes and textual forms of social media. Finally, we will visit Rauner’s special collections to examine primary materials, including artifacts and texts from the College’s past, to produce a research paper that locates a text within its historical context.
Instructor
Not being offered in 2022-23
Department-Specific Course Categories
No course group assignment.