Self and Other Course Pairing
You, Me and Society: What's your story? (SC101CS)
We like to think of ourselves as unique beings, but are we? To what extent are we products of our society, shaped by our social class, race/ethnicity, gender? Stories about who we are lead to the creation of data which needs to be analyzed in order to be understood. So social research is about telling and interpreting stories. The pairing of this course with Writing provides students with the tools to understand patterns in people’s stories that illustrate the relationship between individuals and society.
Faculty Biography
Dr. Vann came to Loyola in 1987 after receiving a Ph.D. in Sociology from The University of Arizona. Included among her activities through the years are co-coordinating the Gender Studies minor, directing Loyola’s Summer Program in Prague, advising many students and serving as co-moderator of SPECTRUM. Her current research focuses on Czechs’ stories about experiences under communism and post-communism, and what these stories tell us about the impact of communism on identity.
Victims and Villains: Writing about Peace and Violence (WR101S)
This course asks you to consider the relationship between the stories we tell about violence and our ability to achieve peace. We will read published writing about a wide range of contemporary issues related to peace and violence, including cyber-bullying, violence in the NFL, anti-rape initiatives on college campuses, mass incarceration, and international terrorism. We will examine the strategies writers have used to change the conversations we have about these issues and the specific challenges these writers often face in bringing awareness to violence and inequality without reinforcing imbalances of power or sensationalizing trauma. You will learn to write effectively in multiple genres and for diverse audiences and purposes; and you will develop research skills and writing processes that will improve your writing during and beyond your time at Loyola.
Faculty Biography
Marian Crotty is an assistant professor in the Writing Department and regularly teaches Travel Writing, Effective Writing, and Nonfiction Writing. Her fiction and nonfiction writing has appeared in national literary journals such as The Gettysburg Review, Guernica, The New England Review, and The Southern Review; her writing awards include scholarships to The Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences and a Fulbright grant to The United Arab Emirates.
