テキストを通して文化を学ぶ: 千の燦めく陽光 (小説研究)

Literature, especially realistic fiction, has the ability to teach us so much about the world around us. Although the characters are not real, they portray real events and lives that people actually lead. More importantly, though, it gives us new perspectives and an appreciation for people that look or believe differently than we do. It also helps us build empathy and an understanding that we may not have had before. 

In this interdisciplinary class that combines world literature with cultural geography and history, students will learn through book club-style discussions. Students will need to read and annotate to prepare for each class (an annotation guide will be given to you upon enrollment), and then during class time, I will facilitate a discussion of the assigned material. Towards the end of the class time, I will fill in any gaps that the students may have left open in the discussion, as well as make final conclusions.

Here are the following chapters we will discuss each class meeting (NOTE: Each chapter is relatively short and most of my past students have had a hard time stopping at the end of the assigned sections):

Meeting #1 - Introduction to the Book
Meeting #2 - Chapters 1-15
Meeting #3 - Chapters 16-20
Meeting #4 - Chapters 21-26 
Meeting #5 - Chapters 27-34 
Meeting #6 - Chapters 35-42 
Meeting #7 - Chapters 43-51