Cool Classes for Curious Collegiates!

by Chloë Moore ’24

As we start wrapping up this semester (eek!), we’re all starting to think about what courses we’ll be taking in the spring. To give our readers some food for thought during hibernation, The Words is highlighting some new and exciting courses being offered next semester. Even if you’ve already registered, it’s great to have options in mind for Add/Drop. We have an exciting range of topics coming up in the Department; read on to learn more and check out the descriptions of all the courses here!

Parties with Emma Törzs

Emma loves parties! Honestly, what more do you need to know?! Well, in case you still need convincing, Professor Emma Törzs will be teaching Parties in the spring, a course which will take the setting of a party as an opportunity for all sorts of world-building, character development, and more. And don’t worry, it’s a hands-on learning experience, so you will be attending at least one party!

Shakespeare’s History Plays with Penelope Geng

Professor Penelope Geng will be teaching a version of her well-loved course, this time focused on the history plays of William Shakespeare. History plays are named as such because they are Shakespeare’s imaginings of real historical figures for the stage. Apart from the opportunity to delve into the literary, theatrical, and political history of Shakespearean drama, students will also have the opportunity to see all four plays on stage at the Guthrie Theater! This is a phenomenal blend of in-class and off-campus learning that no one should pass up! Professor Geng told the Words, “One of my book chapters is on Henry IV, Part 2 (in Communal Justice) but I’ve never had an opportunity to teach it, so I’m excited to get into the lesser read plays with the students.” Be there!

Three Chords and the Truth: Introduction to Songwriting with Kerry Alexander

Do you sing in the shower and imagine that you’re Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour? Is your phone full of notes app lyrics and half-finished voice memo recordings of you playing guitar in your dorm? Do you just really like the Bad Bad Hats? You’re in luck! Macalester alum and Bad Bad Hats co-founder Kerry Alexander is returning to her old stomping grounds (in two senses, as she was an English major!) to teach Introduction to Songwriting this spring. About the course, she told the Words,

I am very excited to return to Macalester, where Bad Bad Hats began, to share what I’ve learned about songwriting and the music industry over the last decade. The class is set up to be accessible to students of varying musical abilities. When I started, I only knew a few guitar chords, but I could carry a tune and had a lot to say about the high school crush who broke my heart. And that’s really all you need at the beginning! We’re going to listen to a lot of music, we’re going to play a lot of music, and we’re going to write some hits of our own.

We’re so excited to welcome Professor Alexander back to the department, and to see where our next band of bards goes!

Literature and the Arts of Empire: Early Modern China and England with Penelope Geng and Rivi Handler-Spitz

Professor Geng’s second and equally exciting course for the spring, on the literature and arts of Early Modern China and England, will be co-taught with Professor Rivi Handler-Spitz of the Asian Languages and Cultures department. This class will take a literary and comparativist approach to the study of empires, both those nearing their decline (Ming China) and those beginning their imperial projects (Stuart-Tudor England). Apart from that, Professor Geng told the Words, “Rivi Handler-Spitz is one of the most inspiring scholar-teachers I know (I’m lucky to call her a dear friend) and I can’t wait to co-teach with her.”

Literary City with Ben Voigt

Professor Ben Voigt has designed a brand new class for this spring, which he was kind enough to detail to the Words as follows: 

I’m really excited about this class because it’s set up a little different than most other English classes. We’re essentially making an issue of a magazine together. Students will get to concentrate on a piece from conception to composition to revisions and edits (with lots of help from their classmates and me.) I’m hoping everyone will finish something they’re really proud of. I’m also excited to help students learn more about the literary ecosystem of the Twin Cities. To this end, I’m planning to bring in special guests—writers and poets for sure, but also hopefully publishers and booksellers. One visitor I’m already particularly excited about: novelist, poet, teacher, Macalester alum and literary luminary Charles Baxter. He’ll talk to us about his work and Minneapolis literary history. 

Thank you to Ben for the great description, and we look forward to hearing about the great things accomplished by the soon-to-be denizens of these literary cities!

Crafts of Writing: Poetry and Play with Aurora Masum-Javed

Aurora Masum-Javed will return to the department to help us *spring* into worlds of delight through poetry! This class will shift towards play as a practice of poetry. From the course description, students can expect that, “Our goals will be to experiment and get messy, to build a creative practice rooted in love and delight. We’ll write poems, of course, but how we get there will be through collage, clay, wandering, studying creatures, watching films, and so much more.” As this Words writer knows, there are few things more magical than making poems in Aurora’s class as winter becomes spring, so you would be lucky to take it!

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The Words thanks our faculty members for offering comments beyond the course descriptions, which can be found here, and as always, for imagining such creative, delightful, and stimulating classes for our students.