[文學/英語教學] 英美文學課/愛/The Theory of Everything: Introduction to Love

愛的萬物論 “The Theory of Everything”: Introduction to Love

Season: Summer Quarter

Time: Monday 18:30-20:30

Instructor: Shelly Shih

Institution: Taipei Media School

Introduction:

各位同學好，我是Shelly。

很開心又於夏季與同學見面。撰寫課綱的此時，正於春夏之際，而我不禁想起文豪艾略特在荒原寫下的：「四月是最殘酷的季節（April is the Cruelest Month）。」

對於青少年而言，什麼最為殘酷呢？我尋思許久，答案便是：「愛而不可得。」

渴愛乃為人性。但是，當青少年苦於愛、愁於愛，卻鮮少有人願意確實回答：什麼是愛？為何而愛？愛會不會有不同形式？愛這個概念於理論、定義上的有機變化為何？得到愛之後又會遇到什麼挑戰？有哪些關於愛的當代文化現象？

因而，此番靈感讓我寫下這次的課綱，愛的萬物論。

十週課程內，我們將透過詩歌、短文、劇場製作、劇本、歌曲、攝影、自媒體與報導，包含四大象限（形式、情緒危機、療癒與再定義、自愛）與十個主題，討論愛，這個我們一生無法逃避、也確實時而使人無能為力，卻也時時刻刻讓人掛心、推敲的難題。

每周均有課堂討論，請同學每週閱讀完文本，自由發表心得與思路。

期待與各位五月見面。

Classroom Rule: 

Equality and inclusiveness are the two fundamental principles in this classroom.

This is a safe environment for anyone to express their experience, testimony, or/and research on various issues with our weekly reading material. Personal information should be confidential among the participants. Respect everyone’s remarks although intense, constructive discussion is more than welcomed. Step up/step back policy is also important for every individual to have a chance to voice out. 

Reading before the class and bringing your text to the class are required.

Syllabus

Week1: Introduction: Why love?

Poem: Maya Angelou - Touched by an Angel

[First section: Forms]

Week2: Love as a duel & duo

Theater: Dimitris Papaioannou -2  (Time code: 41:47- 46:13)

https://vimeo.com/76409048

Poem: A.S.J. Tessimond - Black Monday Lovesong

Week3: Lust, romance and open relationship

Poem: William Blake - The Sick Rose & John Donne - The Flea

New Media: Would You Have an Open Relationship? | Keep It 100 | Cut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHyAxnXncNk

[Second section: Emotional Crisis]

Week4: Love entangled with death 

Short story: William Faulkner - A Rose for Emily

Distribution of Final Project Guidelines

Week 5: Ghosting/Cloaking/Online Dating

New Media: Buzzfeed News | Lam Thuy Vo- How Do You Calculate The Emotional Cost Of Ghosting Someone?

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lamvo/ghosting-dating-tinder-bumble-emotional-debt

Pop song: Joanna Wang - Sabrina Don't Get Married Again! (official music video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoC7fXzt8nM

[Third section: Recovery and Redefinition]

Week6: Love is not Enough

Poem (Excerpt): T. S. Eliot - The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Script (Excerpt): August Strindberg - Miss Julie 

Week 7: Love under the Pandemic

Coverage & Photography: Keeping Love Close: What does love look like in a time of hate? Asian and Asian-American photographers respond.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/08/arts/asian-american-photos-love.html

[Fourth section: All you Need is Within]

Week 8: Self-Love

Essay (Excerpt): Alice Walker - Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self

Indie music: Stars - Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It

Week 9 Office Hour

The deadline for your submission of the final creative project is on Sunday (23:59).

Video showing in the class: Why do we love? A philosophical inquiry - Skye C. Cleary | Ted Talk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJSiUm6jvI0

Week 10 Final presentation

Grading Policy: 

Attendance 20% 

Two excused absences are allowed before the class by email to the instructor or by post on Google Classroom. One unexcused absence or another excused absence deducts 10% of your attendance point. Three unexcused absences leads to an F. 

However, if there's a personal/family emergency, please don’t hesitate to let me know and we can definitely accommodate individualized deadlines and requirements.

Participation 40%

Participation in class is highly appreciated and crucial to build a community with genuine and interactive communication, and prepare yourself as a future opinion leader of your generation for some uphill challenges.

Final project presentation 40% 

Please send a digital copy of your proposal or final production to the instructor's email. Negotiation after the deadline is dismissed. Please submit your work in time to give all parties enough time to work on the administrative task.

Reminder and Warning:

What is the application of things you have learnt from the class to deal with love? Include at least one text we have studied. The form for this project could be verbal, written, or multimedia. Combination, adaption, or reproduction of the texts we learned are encouraged. Group work on a proposal of a plan is also highly recommended. 

If you are writing an individual paper, please give proper citation if you are using someone else’s idea in the project. 

Any kind of plagiarism is prohibited in this class and leads to an automatic F. Respect and giving credit to the original idea are a must.