MALS 70000: Introduction to Liberal Studies
INVENTING THE SELF
Professor Jason Tougaw

Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:30
Room 7395

Office Hours
Wednesdays 4:00 – 5:00 (or by appointment)
Office: 4406.08 (through the English Program lounge, toward the back corner)

Contact
jason.tougaw@qc.cuny.edu
718-997-4873
Note: Email is usually the quickest way to reach me.

Texts to Purchase
(All other readings listed on the calendar can be found on our “Readings” page, as links or PDFs.)

Maud Casey, The Man Who Walked Away (Bloomsbury)
Antonio Damasio, Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain (Pantheon 2010)
Siri Hustvedt, The Shaking Woman, or a History of My Nerves (Picador 2010)
Siri Hustvedt, The Blazing World (Simon & Schuster)
Antjie Krog, Nosisi Mpolweni, and Kopano Ratele, There Was This Goat: Investigating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Testimony of Notrose Nobomvu Konile (University Of KwaZulu-Natal Press)
Daniel Lieberman, Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect (Broadway Books)
Alva Noë, Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness  (Hill and Wang 2010)
Matias Viegener, 2500 Random Things about Me Too (Les Figues 2012)

Learning Goals

• To become familiar with theories and representations of the self from a variety of disciplines and genres, with emphasis on how various methodologies shape the kinds of questions asked and the kinds of knowledge produced in those disciplines and genres

• To gain familiarity with the major research resources in liberal studies

• To practice facilitating class discussion by crafting discussion questions about the seminar reading material, and to practice engaging with the questions posed by your classmates

• To complete original research in a topic related to the course theme, and to write a full-length seminar paper on the theme

Blogging Assignments
Reading Reflections on Even Weeks: Dag, Liz, David, Amber, Andrew, Jeff, Justin
Reading Reflections on Odd Weeks: Jen, Berni, Mari, Yael, Julia, Cheryl, Venita

Note: You should post responses to two of your classmates’ reading responses on the weeks you are not assigned to post responses of your own.

Writing Groups
TBA