Poetry, Politics & Place: Exploring Mutuality & Difference
In this course, we will consider the relation between the ancient Greek words for poetry: poesis, which means “to make,” and politics: politeia, which translates to “the conditions and rights of citizens.” When poesis & politeia are placed in conversation, a series of fundamental questions emerge:
How do we make a world we can live in? How do we build a mind we can live with? What governing bodies determine the conditions and rights of citizens—and in what ways can we meaningfully intervene when those conditions are denigrated and those rights oppressed? How do we create flourishing communities grounded in compassion, empathy, and care? What roles do art and politics play in imagining a more liveable, sustainable, and just future? How can thinking with each other collectively and creatively lend itself to new understandings of place and identity? How do we meaningfully respond to injustices that are unevenly distributed across human and more than human worlds?
In this seminar, students will engage with questions of belonging and difference. While embracing divergent experiences and perspectives, students will situate themselves in the midst of exchange.
Through a decolonial lens, we will challenge each other to contemplate the function of borders and barriers as they appear in art, politics, and society. We will examine the intersections of space and the body, race and region, and gender, sexuality, and class. In so doing, we will aim to dismantle binary thinking that generates the constructs of self // other, civilization // wilderness, political // apolitical, and true//false. In its wake, we will build expansive and multicultural worldviews firmly rooted in radical attention, action, and care.
We will use the power of politics and poetry to deepen our sense of place and belonging. Through both creative and critical lenses, we will draw from our own stories and relevant media and texts to challenge our assumptions, generate empathy, and create community in a beautiful and precarious world.