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HNR 208x SYLLABUS Contemporary Literature, Media, & the State Fall 2010
Professor: Dr. Linda Kauffman Office: TWS 3232 Office Hours: MW 11:00 -noon & by appt. 301
405-3776 kauffman@umd.edu Class Meetings: MW 12-1:15 TWS 3132
Course Description: This course examines the relationship between the individual & the State at
specific moments of global upheaval, from post-World War II radicalism to the present. It addresses global
issues of citizenship & sovereignty, ideology & spectacle. We shall discuss competing representations of
History in fiction & visual media. We shall explore the bitter divisions (race, gender, religion, nationality,
and class) that have brought us to a stage of permanent war. State terror, environmental degradation, and
apocalypse are portrayed in the theoretical texts, as well as in fiction and film. I combine formal lectures
with specific assignments that involve intensive collaboration with your classmates. In most sessions, you
shall prepare oral answers to a specific study question on each text, some of which appear verbatim on the
oral exams. These study questions will be posted on Elms/Blackboard.
Course Goals: 1) to become more sophisticated analysts of both literature & visual culture. 2) to
enhance your understanding of ideology, history, & language. 3) to enhance your written skills by intensive
work on research & revision. 4) to enhance your oral communication & teamwork skills through oral
examinations.
Grading:
Grading scale: see undergrad.catalog
10% for editing & participation in class
(includes attendance & preparedness
in responding to specific assignments, etc.)
20% first research paper
30% 2nd research paper
20% midterm
20% final exam (cumulative)
Course materials: DeLillo, Scribner, Falling Man 978-1-4-1656207-1
DeLillo, Point Omega Scribner 9781439169957
Coetzee, Diary of a Bad Year Viking 978-0-1-4311448-2
Dissent from the Homeland,ed.Hauerwas & Lentrricia Duke 978-0-8-22365489-5
LeCarre A Most Wanted Man Scribner 978-1-4-1659489-5
Simpson 9/11 & the Culture of Commemoration 978-0-2-2675939-5
Buruma, Murder in Amsterdam Penguin 978-1-4-4062005-5
Recommended: Kaplan, Trauma Culture Indiana UP,978-0-8-1353591-3
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, ed.Gibaldi MLA, 978-1-6-0329024-1
Texts are on McKeldin reserve & avail.@ Umd. Bookstore. Items marked w/ x are on
Elms/Blackboard or reserve. The films are available via Netflix (you can sign up for a trial membership &
get them streamed directly to your computer),or see them via Hornbake Nonprint Media (on reserve under
HNR208x). They are:
l. “The Baader-Meinhof Compex” Udi Edel’s 2009 film (clips on YouTube)
2. 11.09.01 eleven 9-minute films from directors around the globe; we focus on Alejandro
Innarritu &Ken Loach (clips on Youtube)
3. Ari Folman, Waltz with Bashir Recommended but not required: The Hurt Locker, In the Valley
of Elah.
Week 1: Mon. 30 Aug. Introduction. Via Netflix or in Hornbake Nonprint Media:
watch Udi Edel’s 2009 film,“Baader-Meinhof,” to be discussed in class on Sept. 1st*
Wed. 1 Sept. From German 1970s Radicalism to Islamic fundamentalist
terrorism: DeLillo’s “In Ruins of Future”-x & DeLillo short story, “Baader-Meinhof”-x ;
*discuss Edel’s film “Baader-Meinhof”
Week 2: Mon. 6 Labor Day
Wed. 8 DeLillo, Falling Man.
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Week 3: Mon. 13 Lentricchia, “The writer as Bad Citizen”-x & DeCurtis, “An Outsider
in this Society”-x; & Kauffman, “Wake of Terror” in Mod.Fiction Studies-x(e-reserve)
Wed. 15 Conscience & Consciousness: DeLillo, Point Omega
Week 4: Mon. 20 DeLillo, Point Omega
Wed. 22 Assignment#1: Writing workshop: bring 22 copies of your
introduction to disseminate: I can only critique yours if you make 22
copies.Assignment#2 : select an editing partner
Week 5: Mon. 27 In-class edit: Attendance mandatory- see #4 under Protocols.
Wed. 29 Ideology & Spectacle: in Dissent from Homeland: Jameson 297-304,
Baudrillard, 403-16; Zizek 385-89
Week 6: Mon. 4 Oct. Midterm review: compile all the issues you have questions about
regarding material covered to date. I will hand out the test at end of the period, at which
time study groups will be formed. From that point forward, I cannot answer any further
questions.
Assignment: 1st paper due, 6-8 pp. No late papers accepted.
Wed. 6 screen eleven short films about 9/11, esp. Ken Loach’s & Alejandro
Innarritu’s.
Week 7: Mon. 11 & Wed. 13 Oral midterm: no make-ups, no exceptions (see #3 under
Protocols) you must be present both days to get a grade on the midterm
Week 8: Mon. 18 Fractured Narratives: Coetzee,Diary of a Bad Year
Wed. 20 Coetzee, cont.
Week 9: Mon. 25 Simpson, 9/11 & Culture of Commemoration,1-53; 87-119
Wed. 27 Simpson,121-170; Lecture on Marxism,Psychoanalysis,Feminism
Week 10: Mon. 1 Nov. Spies & Refugees: Le Carre, A Most Wanted Man
Wed. 3 Le Carre, cont.; Eisenstein, “Feminisms after 9/11” –x
Week 11: Mon. 8 Screen Memories: Garrett Stewart’s essays -x & discuss Ari
Folman’s Waltz w/ Bashir
Wed. 10 Mitchell, “Cloning Terror”-x; Pease, “U.S. Imperialism: Global
dominance w/o Colonies”-x,
Week 12: Mon. 15. & Wed. 17: Dutch vs. Immigrants; Woman vs. Man: Buruma,
Murder in Amsterdam
Week 13: Mon. 22. Writing workshop: bring 22 copies of intro.
Wed. 24 t.b.a.(to be announced)
Week 14: Mon. 29 In-class edit—see #4 under Protocols.
Wed. 1 Dec. t.b.a
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Week 15: Mon. 6
Wed. 8
t.b.a.
2nd paper due, 10-12 pp. No late papers
Review & summary: exam handed out
Final oral exam: Friday Dec. 17 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Please arrive promptly.You
must be present for the entire exam to get a grade on the final.
Course Protocols & University Policies:
1. Communication with professor: I’m teaching a course overload this term, so please use email
sparingly & understand that a rapid reply is not humanly possible. I cannot respond via email to questions
about missed class discussions or about your essays; please come to my office instead, where I look
forward to welcoming you. I am only on campus MW and teach MW 2--6pm.
2. Participation, preparation, attendance & courtesy: Given the nature of the Honors Seminar,
please make a commitment to be present every class. IF you MUST be absent on a certain day, please email
me ahead of time & provide documentation at the next class. Please arrive on time & positively never
disrupt the class by leaving the room while we’re in session or w/ a ringing cell phone.
3. Oral exams: Given the unique nature of the testing system, there are absolutely no make-ups
for these exams. One week before the test, I’ll divide the class into approximately 2-3 groups. Each group
will be responsible for approximately 7-10 questions. Each member of the group should prepare answers to
ALL the questions, but on exam day, you’ll pick a number lottery-style and speak for 4 minutes on ONE of
the questions, using a 3x5 note card as prompter. You’re graded on how thoroughly you answer the
question in the time allotted. The aim of this exercise is to enhance your oral communication skills &
teamwork.
4. Editing: you will find a partner who is writing on a different topic and author and bring a
NEAR-PERFECT draft to class on the assigned day to exchange. F for absence or insufficient draft (I
check each one). You revise accordingly and turn in edited draft and revised copy on due date. You receive
2 grades: one for editing your partner’s paper, and one for writing your own. (The latter is weighted more
heavily than the former— the lst essay is 20% of your grade; the 2nd essay is 30%).
5. Plagiarism: means representing the ideas of others as your own, regardless of whether you
claim it is intentional or not. Full sanctions imposed. See the Code of Academic Integrity
(http://www.shc.umd.edu/code.html) which prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers,
submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, facilitating
academic dishonesty, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures. Plagiarism policy: all
quotations taken from other authors, including from the Internet, must be indicated by quotation marks and
referenced. Paraphrasing must be referenced as well. The following University of Maryland Honor Pledge,
approved by the University Senate, should be handwritten and signed on the front page of all papers,
projects or other academic assignments submitted for evaluation in this course: "I pledge on my honor that
I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination."
6. Students with disabilities should contact me at the beginning of the semester to discuss any
accommodation for this course; ditto religious observances.
7. The Libraries recently acquired new primary source digital
databases: http://lib.guides.umd.edu/primary_sources