The Novel Today (Summer)
Section 1 on Wednesdays is the only in-person option - Thursday sections are online.
Discuss major new work by today’s top writers, including emerging novelists, award-winners, and established favorites, all of whom are central to today's cultural conversation We will investigate a variety of inventive narrative strategies, explore the psychology of numerous fascinating characters, and examine important topics within a context of changing times, changing lives and a changing world. Together we will explore: a cantankerous sage in the Allegheny mountains of Pennsylvania; reindeer, religion and reckless lovers in a mid-1800’s Arctic circle; rich girl and poor boy in modern Nigeria’s tense election season; a four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl who goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine; a family’s tragicomedy of errors in a changing and changed Ireland; an investigation into the relationship between genius and madness in the troubled lives of revolutionary 20th century scientists; life, death, love , art, politics and medicine through seven decades and three generations in a South Indian state shaped by water. Readings: Amanda Peters, The Berry Pickers; Benjamin Labatut, When We Cease to Understand the World; Hanna Pylväinen, The End of Drum-Time; Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water; Ayobami Adebayo, A Spell of Good Things; Paul Murray, The Bee Sting.
Students should read Ayobami Adebayo, A Spell of Good Things, for the first class.
You'll Walk Away with
- Increased cultural literacy, including intercultural knowledge and competence
- An understanding of current contemporary fiction, including its themes, meanings, and historical and cultural contexts
Ideal for
- The curious and creative
- Professionals who use critical thinking
2 sections
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Summer 2024
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Section
001 -
Semester
Summer 2024 -
Date
Jun 12 - Jul 24 -
Day
Wednesday -
Time
1:00PM-2:40PM -
Sessions
6 -
Faculty
Birns, Margaret Boe -
Location
Midtown Center
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Section
002 -
Semester
Summer 2024 -
Date
Jun 13 - Jul 25 -
Day
Thursday -
Time
1:00PM-2:40PM -
Sessions
6 -
Faculty
Birns, Margaret Boe -
Location
Instructor Led
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Section
3 -
Semester
Spring 2024 -
Date
Feb 21 - May 1 -
Day
Wednesday -
Time
1:00PM-2:40PM -
Sessions
10 -
Faculty
Birns, Margaret Boe -
Location
Midtown Center
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Section
4 -
Semester
Spring 2024 -
Date
Feb 22 - May 2 -
Day
Thursday -
Time
10:00AM-11:40AM -
Sessions
10 -
Faculty
Birns, Margaret Boe -
Location
Instructor Led
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Section
5 -
Semester
Spring 2024 -
Date
Feb 22 - May 2 -
Day
Thursday -
Time
1:00PM-2:40PM -
Sessions
10 -
Faculty
Birns, Margaret Boe -
Location
Instructor Led
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