Themes in Contemporary American Literature

April 21 - May 4, 1996

This workshop is intended mainly for literature teachers. An examination of literature representing feminist, ethnic, minority and majority views, that cluster around identification and recognition of diverse societal groups in twentieth century America will be made to present an objective view of the fabric of modern America. Using selected texts, participants will discuss the nature of themes represented, means of generalizing from textual contexts, and methods of using such texts in classes with non-American students interested in current American life. Participants will carry on Internet dialogue with counterparts around the world to open discussion on the subject with a wider audience. In other words, an additional dimension to the in-house workshop will be added through an electronic workshop dynamic. All participants will therefore develop familiarity with electronic conferencing as well as establishing new linkages and individual connections beyond the workshop group itself.

Participant Projects:

• Stella Borg Barthet, Gabriella Ferruggia, Hala Shalaby Identity and Fragmentation.
• Sammy Kirreh, Abraham P. A., Shreedhar Lohani Interdisciplinary American Studies.
• Lilamani De Silva, Rina Reiner More about Teaching/Reading Contemporary Multicultural Texts: An Interview with Shirley Geok-Lin Lim.
• Violeta Nikolova, Oleg Osovsky Pain and Laughter in African-American Short Fiction.
• Munira Al-Fadhel, Saloua Cherif, Antonieta Oliver Reading Minority Literatures in the Classroom: The Identity Politics in Chicano, Native-American and African-American Writing by Women.
• Dana Toma-Badulescu, Hana Ulmanova What America Is Not.
• Georgia Theodosiadou An Introduction to African American Women Writers: From Harriet Jacobs to Toni Morrison
• Didem Uslu Female Quest for Freedom Through Journey Into Past Heritage.
• Manju Jaidka, Zsuzsa Fulop Feminism and the Muse: Women's Poetry in the Twentieth Century.
• Srebren Dizdar Journey Without Maps: A Pre-Syllabus Project.
• Srdjan Vujica Tain't Necessarily So: A List of Frequestly Asked Questions, Along With Some Answers.
• Tamara Denisova The Contemporary as an Era.