As a chance to think about how "reading" and "poetry" and "reading poetry" change, this course will focus on the multisensory qualities of forms of poetry invented in the early 20th century through new technologies (like radio & cinema) and transformed cities (like Paris & Moscow). The innovations of metropolitan modernity will provide a vantage point from which to view the vast history of forms of poetry.

We will conclude the course by shopping for books of poetry and interacting with contemporary networks of poetry publication & distribution. Throughout the course, we will construct a vocabulary with which to describe the sound effects and visual effects of various instances of poetry and to track changes in the meanings of words like "poem" and "poet" and "poetry." As a "W" course, the required writing for the course includes two papers (of approximately 5 pages each & with the opportunity for revision).

4. Required Books:

-- Rasula & Conley, Burning City: Poems of Metropolitan Modernity,
Action Books, 2012, 9780983148029.

-- Wainwright, Poetry: The Basics, Routledge, 2011, 9780415566162.

-- A recently published book of poetry chosen individually by each
student, selected during the course from the Small Press Distribution
catalog (spdbooks.org).