Margins and Centers: who's in, who's out, and why that matters for all of us”
This class focuses on literature that will help us think about how people categorize each other on the basis of various social and biological features, including gender, race, ethnicity, language, citizenship status, sexuality, and ability. In all societies around the globe, some are part of the Center--often with status and the power to make and enforce rules--and some are relegated to the Margin--often with less power and subject to the rules and regulations that the Center dictates. These dynamics play out in terms of international relations between countries on the world stage, as well as in our own seemingly smaller lives with family and friends. What's going on? Why does this keep happening? And what does this have to do with you and me? The novels we read this term will help us imagine people who might seem different from us, and provoke us to ask larger questions about identity, power, privilege, society and the role of culture in our lives.