TOPIC: SELF-DISCOVERY AND CULTURAL MODELS OF IDENTITY	
		


Lecture Section: 
	
2033    08:00a-08:50a MW    WH 101   	EAKIN

Discussion Section: 
	
2034    09:05a-09:55a MW 
	  	
2035  09:05a-09:55a  MW   

2036    10:10a-11:00a MW  
		
2037  11:15a-12:05p  MW    

2038    11:15a-12:05p MW    	   
	
2039  12:20p-01:10p   MW   


In this section of L141 we will be concerned with the theme of
self-discovery, particularly in connection with models of identity in
situations of cultural conflict.  Some of the books we read will be
autobiographies, and some will be works of fiction.  All of the
readings deal in one way or another with the process of
self-definition.  As I see it, we are all inevitably involved
ourselves in some version of this process, and stand to gain insight
into the shape of our own lives from a heightened awareness of the
forms this process takes in the lives of others, real or imaginary,
from our own or from other cultures.  To what extent are we free to
shape our selves and our lives as we wish?  To what extent is the
nature of a person's sense of self determined by culture and its
institutions?  These are some of the larger issues that we will
explore during the course of the semester.


The reading list will include most or all of the following titles:
Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X; Lucy Grealy, The
Autobiography of a Face; Kate Chopin, The Awakening; Chinua
Achebe, Things Fall Apart; Nadine Gordimer, July's
People; and Thomas Keneally, The Chant of Jimmie
Blacksmith.  One additional work will be read in the last three
weeks in each discussion group (to be announced at the beginning of
the semester).