ENGL 282 H01 19292

EngLit, Humanities, AIU

Special topics in fiction from several countries and historical periods, illustrating the nature of the genre. May be repeated for credit. Content varies by title and semester. Prerequisite: ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 or equivalent. FS: 11/04/2015. CL: 2020.

Notes:

Attending school can be stressful for all of us, but according to a 2019 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, America's colleges are currently witnessing a "student mental health-crisis."  In the last decade, the number of students visiting campus counseling services for depression and anxiety has grown by forty percent.  What can fiction possibly teach us about mental health, and how might fiction help us achieve and maintain it?  In this course, we'll find out.  We'll read a variety of contemporary novels and short stories about anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism, and trauma and also consider fictions about healing, happiness, and wellness.  We'll probe the boundaries of what counts as fiction by reading clinical case histories and memoirs, and we'll investigate how fiction has operated in therapeutic practices such as Bibliotherapy, Psychoanalysis, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. We'll cover a wide range of approaches to interpreting and analyzing fiction and along the way learn about some basic concepts in mental health and wellness. Assessment will be by a variety of essays, short take home assignments, and a research project.  This class is not a substitute for attending counseling, but our emphasis will be on reading fiction in ways that are not only perceptive but also helpful and hopeful.