The Writing I

Undergraduate / Graduate

How do personal and lived experiences shape our understanding of social and cultural phenomena? What is the role of the self in the practice of academic writing? In this course we will examine the self as a method through which we interpret the world and as a repository of knowledge. We will study different academic genres in which personal and lived experiences constitute an integral component of knowledge-making, such as autoethnography and autotheory, discussing their relation to feminist thought. We will also practice and share academic writing that engages the self as a method to understand, interpret and theorize the world around us. The readings will include Lauren Fournier, bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldúa, Shushan Avagyan, Stephanie D. Clare, Donna Haraway, among many others. There will also be workshops/talks by practitioners of autoethnography and autotheory.