COMP 242
Americans Abroad Spring 2014
Division I Writing Skills Exploring Diversity Initiative
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Class Details

This course will explore some of the many incarnations of American experiences abroad between the end of the 19th century and the present day. Readings will be drawn from novels, short stories, films, and nonfiction about Americans in Europe in times of war and peace. We will compare and contrast the experiences of novelists, soldiers, students, war correspondents, jazz musicians, and adventurers. What has drawn so many Americans to Europe? What is the difference between a tourist, an expat, and an émigré? What are the profound, and often comic, gaps between the traveler’s expectations and the reality of living in, say, Paris or a rural village in Spain? What are the misadventures and unexpected rewards of living, working, writing, or even falling in love in translation? Authors may include: Henry James, Langston Hughes, Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway, Elaine Dundy, Richard Wright, and Ben Lerner. Additional reading will be drawn from historical and critical works. All readings will be in English. This comparative course fulfills the EDI requirement because it is designed to highlight the challenges and benefits of cultural immersion abroad. It will focus on the linguistic, emotional, intellectual, and social adaptation skills that are required to understand others, and oneself, in new contexts.
The Class: Format: tutorial
Limit: 10
Expected: 10
Class#: 3919
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: Meetings between the instructor and each pair of students will take place once a week. Each student will write a 5- to 7-page paper every other week to which their partner will formally respond during our meeting.
Extra Info: One of these writing assignments will be a personal travel narrative based on the student's own experiences.
Extra Info 2: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis; not available for the Gaudino option
Prerequisites: any literature course at Williams or permission of the instructor
Enrollment Preferences: students interested in, or returning from, study abroad; and/or students studying abroad at Williams
Distributions: Division I Writing Skills Exploring Diversity Initiative

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