Course in Comp Lit: Personal Essay at UNM-Taos

To potential students, traditional and untraditional:

The University of New Mexico Bachelor and Graduate program is offering Comparative Literature 330 this fall. Taught by Bill Whaley, the course is a survey of world literature, using the personal essay as guide.

We will discuss theme and style during the first two thirds of the seminar each evening. Then, after the break, we shall discuss student and personal writing vis-à-vis what we can learn from the masters of the genre—especially regarding revision.

The personal essay has all the strengths and weaknesses of any literary form, including poetry and novel. But, it has the virtue of being accessible whether to students, letter writers, non-fiction writers, essayists, etc. Further, the essay is as short as it timeless, both useful and artful. By writing down what we think, we often and unknowingly convert experience into thoughtful and artistic expression, becoming more conscious and self-conscious.

Comp Lit 330 needs a few more students.

Due to an increasingly tough economic environment, UNM has asked that students register by AUGUST 8th: LIVE courses require a minimum of 13 enrollments. Any full term courses with low enrollments (less than 6) will be canceled on Wednesday, August 8th. A second review of enrollments will take place on Wednesday, August 15.

FALL 2012 PAYMENT DEADLINE.

A student’s current account balance, less awarded financial aid, is due by 11:59 p.m. August 10, 2012.

Brief synopsis of the syllabus for Comp Lit 330 below.

Instructor: William (Bill) Whaley Email: bwhaley@newmex.com
Office: TBA Office Phone: 770-4150
Office Hours: TBA Course Credits: 3
Class Meeting Days: Mon. Class Time: 5—7:45 PM
Class Location/Room: 246-B, Ledoux St. Term/semester: Fall 2012

Topics in Comparative and World: Comp Lit. 330. Topic: The Art of Self Consciousness. How philosophy, education, and experience meet in the world’s most accessible artform: the personal essay. The course will focus on this enduring art form with worldwide and historic roots in language and literature, a form the travels down through the centuries and across continents.

(Students will discover much that is relevant to creative thinking and creative reading in the course.)

Course Objectives. In Comparative and World Literature the instructor and students will focus on the foundations and practice of the personal essay as exemplary of experience and education. Representative figures from the past and present are found in Greece, Rome, Europe, Asia, and America. The course aims at the challenge of coming to terms with the most accessible form of literature as an aid in forming a practical identity—despite and because of cultural influences. In effect, the course focuses on the comparative dialectics of the universal human condition.

Textbooks and Supplies.

The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present, Selected and with an introduction by Phillip Lopate. (Anchor Books/Doubleday, New York, 1994). The instructor will make a few other essays available as handouts.

Course Requirements. Students will be required to read and respond to assigned literature. Readings, responses, quizzes and class participation will count for 80% of grade. A final paper, counting for 20% of the grade, will be required.

Assignment: TBA—Readings will reflect class interest, discussion and experience.

From Coordinator Mary Lutz:

Dear Students and Faculty:

The UNM-Taos Bachelor and Graduate Programs office is located at 246-B
Ledoux Street. We are in the historic district, adjacent to the west side of the UNM

Harwood Museum, about 1.5 blocks southwest of the Plaza.

Parking: Ledoux Street is a small one-way street. Free curb parking is
available on this street, if there is a space.

The best free option is at the corner of Ranchitos and Salazar, in the former “Now and Again” consignment shop
lot. Taos BGP has free spaces under the tree that faces Ranchitos Rd and the east side of the lot with the wooden fence.

The UNM-Harwood Museum is a private lot, do not park at the Harwood Museum lot, you may be towed.

The Renaissance Fine Art Gallery is our adjacent neighbor. DO NOT park in his two spaces at 246 Ledoux, the area
near our building signage.

If you have limitations and cannot park at the free lot at the corner of Ranchitos and Salazar, please contact Mary or Allison at (575) 758-2828.

Thank you,
Mary