Sandy Alexandre, Professor of Literature
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This course explores Beyoncé’s songs, music videos, and photographs as a way to reflect on issues of black feminism, womanism, and intersectionality. What do those terms even mean? How exactly does race and feminism intersect, and why is that particular intersection important, especially in the case of this singer? How successful or forced are efforts to view Beyoncé as a paragon of black feminism? What does a practice of womanism in action actually look like, and how might a performance of it on a music video, for example, invite someone to emulate it (or tailor it for feasible, productive, and pleasurable use) in the real world? How can we use popular entertainment as a foray into deeper examinations of race, gender, class, and sexuality? Is palatable, and entertaining black feminism any different from—a diluted version of—the black feminism we read about in scholarly books? This course will include in-class discussions of Black Feminist Thought (1990) by Patricia Hill Collins, along with supplemental essays, which we will read over the course of one week.
Sponsor(s): Literature, Women's and Gender Studies
Contact: Sandy Alexandre, 14N-422, 617-253-4450, alexandy@mit.edu
Jan/20 | Tue | 02:30PM-04:30PM | 14E-304 | |
Jan/21 | Wed | 02:30PM-04:30PM | 14E-304 | |
Jan/22 | Thu | 02:30PM-04:30PM | 14E-304 | |
Jan/23 | Fri | 02:30PM-04:00PM | 14E-304 |
Sandy Alexandre - Professor of Literature
David Thorburn, Professor
Jan/15 | Thu | 02:30PM-04:00PM | 14E-304 |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Award-winning poet Kevin Pilkington will read from his forthcoming book, Where You Want To Be.
Kevin Pilkington teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College and is the author of six books of poetry, including Spare Change (La Jolla Poets Press National Book Award winner), Ready to Eat the Sky (Independent Publishers Books Award finalist) and In the Eyes of a Dog (2011 New York Book Festival Award winner). His poems and reviews have appeared in many magazines including The Harvard Review, Boston Review, and North American Review. His first novel, Summer Shares, was published in 2012.
Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: David Thorburn, 14N-335, 617-253-6950, thorburn@mit.edu
Diana Henderson, Professor
Jan/28 | Wed | 09:00AM-11:00AM | 14E-304 | |
Jan/28 | Wed | 11:00AM-02:30PM | Spofford Room | |
Jan/28 | Wed | 02:30PM-04:00PM | Stella Room | |
Jan/28 | Wed | 04:00PM-05:00PM | TBD |
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Once upon a time there was an IAP event in which members and friends of the MIT community took turns reading selections aloud from The Arabian Nights over the course of an entire day. Hard copies of the selections were aplenty and made available to those in attendance. They traveled far and wide to various locations on the MIT campus to simulate the different settings where the many stories of that text occur. Some trudged. Some even skipped (to my Lou, but also skipped some of the venues altogether, since everyone was welcome but not obligated to stay the whole day)! But I digress. During the first few minutes at the first venue, a wonderfully charming and eloquent professor placed the text in historical and cultural context while also debunking some myths about the stories popularly--yet incorrectly--associated with and allegedly included in The Arabian Nights. After the brief lesson, everyone in the room clapped with delight and appreciation. They were all the wiser for listening. Overall, the event was a tremendous success, and when they reached their final destination of the day, they were all happily surprised to discover that…
Don't let the suspense kill you! Let it keep you wanting more! Join us to hear and to make how the story ends!
When: Wednesday, 28 January 2015; 10am-5pm
Where: See above times and places.
How: Come! Bring a friend!
Tweet as you participate: #TheArabianNights
Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Sandy Alexandre, 14N-422, 617-253-4450, alexandy@mit.edu
Eugenie Brinkema, Literature Professor
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Examines works of film, television or other screen-based media, with emphasis on texts that are related by genre, time period, style, or director. Listeners are welcome to attend individual sessions.
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We will explore various elements of cinematic texts to determine what makes a film an instance or version of a film of a particular kind, members of which all offer versions of the same underlying story. Discerning its kind (or genre) is implicit in understanding any film narrative--why the action makes sense and what it means in relation to lived experience. Genres to be examined will include: Westerns, Detective Films, Musicals, Screwball Comedies, Fantasy, Vampires, Gangster movies, Samurai movies, and a nameless genre: films about the relation of the medium to reality. In addition to viewing sixteen films, we will also read some literary or dramatic texts or portions thereof to compare the treatment of similar narrative patterns in two different media.
Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Eugenie Brinkema, 14N-408, 617-253-3068, brinkema@mit.edu
Jan/05 | Mon | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/06 | Tue | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/07 | Wed | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/08 | Thu | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/12 | Mon | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/13 | Tue | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/14 | Wed | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/15 | Thu | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/20 | Tue | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/21 | Wed | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/22 | Thu | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/26 | Mon | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/27 | Tue | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 1-390 |
Jan/28 | Wed | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
Jan/29 | Thu | 03:00PM-05:00PM | 3-270 |
David Thorburn
Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This popular activity –- which aims to reach all lovers of poetry -- has been offered every IAP for the last fifteen years. Each one-hour session is devoted to a single poet, usually a single poem. The goal is discussion and shared pleasure. No lectures or professorial arrogance allowed. Some participants attend every session, but many others attend only once or twice to read and discuss a favorite poet or poem. The roster of poets is always immensely diverse: from ancient Chinese masters to contemporary American poets laureate, from such famous Greats as Shakespeare, Keats and Auden to Dr. Seuss and Bob Dylan. Discussion and collaborative close reading are the aim and ideal of each hour. A packet of all the chosen texts will be posted online (lit.mit.edu) and will be available in hardcopy from the Literature Office.
Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: David Thorburn, 14N-335, 3-6950, thorburn@mit.edu
Each session a moderator will discuss poem(s) from a poet. Packets of poems and a schedule will be available on-line at http://lit.mit.edu/ or in Literature HQ. Copies of poems will be brought to each session.
David Thorburn
Contact Information
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