58217 Experiments in Culture

Students have the opportunity to study and write within one of the following forms: non-linear and interactive writing, poetry, critical and theoretical writing, or screenwriting for innovative film and image. This subject challenges students to create situations or events in which forms of culture are composed in such a way as to propel them into new situations, for instance to find new audiences. During the subject examples are given of how, in various other times and places, artistic and intellectual movements have gathered impetus and evolved as historical cultural forms. Students work in different workshops within these forms over the semester, sharing key readings and references. An emphasis is placed throughout the semester on original and innovative subject matter, on the capacity of the student to become familiar with and expert in the technical range of the chosen form of writing and to research its recent and longer term history.