BIS 490B (LN 11313)

Senior Seminar:

Toni Morrison's Beloved in Cultural Context 

Toni Morrison's masterpiece novel, Beloved, helped her win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Taking an American studies approach to the novel, we will analyze its prodigious aesthetic accomplishments as well as study it in its historical and cultural context. To provide that context, we will explore and analyze primary and secondary documents, discovering the ways in which those texts can deepen our understanding of the novel. Assembling those documents and our own analyses of them and their connections to the novel, we will produce a scholarly web site for other students and teachers of the novel. This senior seminar is thereby an opportunity to contribute to an academic publication--a valuable experience for graduating seniors applying for jobs or graduate school programs.

Be ready to read a lot, discuss a lot, write a lot, and learn a lot. Building on the thinking of others before us, we will individually and collectively produce our own knowledge about Toni Morrison, Beloved, and the historical and cultural worlds from which Beloved draws and upon which it comments.  

Coursework in history, literature, or both would be helpful preparation for this course. Experience with academic research techniques, such as are taught in BIS 300 and in most concentration core courses, is strongly recommended.

Learning goals:

• Ability to identify and articulate interesting questions and problems regarding the literary work of Toni Morrison
• Ability to analyze, with insight and complexity, disparate kinds of data pertaining to the historical and literary contexts of Toni Morrison's Beloved
• Ability to work collaboratively and independently on a scholarly research project
• Ability to reflect deeply on one's own work in this course and in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences program in its entirety

Course text (available in the UWB Bookstore [save your receipts for a patronage refund] and in library reserve/reference). Note: Click here <http://tinyurl.com/6pamk > and click on the "UW Bothell" link to order books online. Enter the course line number (shown at the top of this page) for "UW SLN Code" (leave other spaces blank) and hit 'enter.' All items have been ordered; contact the bookstore if some materials are not listed.

Grading: Your grade will be based on these assignments, which are described on separate pages online (links will be activated when ready):

Senior capstone portfolio (due in class at 5:45 p.m. on April 13; optional revision due in class at 5:45 p.m. on April 27)	5%
Article abstracts (due in Blackboard at 5:30 p.m. on April 22)	10%
Peer critiques (due in class at 5:45 p.m. on May 6)	10%
Research essay (due inBlackboard at 5:30 p.m. on April 29; revision due inBlackboard at 5:30 p.m. on May 13; final version due inBlackboard at 5:30 p.m. on May 27)	40%
Reflective paper (due inBlackboard by 5:30 p.m. on June 1)	5%
Contribution	30%
TOTAL	100%

Nota bene: Students must earn a 2.5 or higher in this course in order to meet the Senior Seminar requirement, although anything higher than 0.7 is a passing grade and will earn elective credit. See <http://www.uwb.edu/IAS/undergrad/gradreqs.xhtml> for details.

For other important information regarding grades, see <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Grades.html>.

Schedule (readings listed by author; names in bold refer to the required textbook listed above; author names followed by an asterisk are listed below under "Reserves List"):

*Reserves list (in "Course Documents" area of Blackboard except as noted):

• Goldstein, David. "Beloved ."  Toni Morrison's Secret Drive: How a Nobel Laureate Moves Her Readers  . Unpublished MS , 2007. 105-38.
• "Policy on Academic and Behavioral Conduct." Online <http://www.uwb.edu/academic/policies/Academic_Conduct.xhtml >.

This schedule is subject to change. The most current schedule will always be posted here <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/BIS490BSyl.html> for your reference, and changes will be announced in class, by e-mail, or both. This course has no final examination. Instead, final evaluation will be based principally on the body of work produced throughout the quarter and the quality of reflection upon that work.

About course policies:

Please carefully read the "Course Policies" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Policies.html>, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.

About class communication:

Please carefully read the "Class Communication" document at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Communication.html>, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.

About contribution:

Please carefully read the "Class Contribution" document at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Partic.html>, which I consider to be part of this syllabus.

This page last updated April 29, 2009.

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