FRS 002Y — Sec. 001
— (2 units) — CRN 65551 — T/R 4:10-5:30pm —
1102 Hart
Creativity in the Digital Age: Reading and Writing Poetry with
Computers
Instructor: Andy Jones, Department of English, College of
Letters and
Science
Description: Albert Einstein once said that
"The intuitive
mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created
a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." I propose
to teach a Freshman Seminar that guides students through a series
of take-home
and in-class writing assignments that remind them of their gifts of
intuition,
individuality and creativity, topics rarely discussed in the large
lecture courses
frequented by UC Davis freshmen. Using excerpts from Creativity -
Flow and the
Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
and The Practice
of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach (edited by Behn
and Twitchell),
I will challenge students to better understand their own creative
impulses and
to write ambitious and honest poems. I will teach participants how to avoid
cliches, surprise and delight the reader, and reveal the fresh and
stimulating
observations and reflections of a creative thinker. Students will
meet and write
in a computer classroom so that we can take full advantage of the
myriad anthologies
available on the web, including most of the poems found in the
Norton Anthology
of Poetry. As most creative professionals showcase their work on the web, we
will also virtually tour museums, architectural marvels and concert
halls. Guest
speakers will include a faculty member from the Technocultural
Studies Program,
an advanced graduate student from the Creative Writing Program, and an active
Sacramento poet.
Format: The seminar will meet at 1102 Hart Hall on Tuesdays
from 4-5:30 and Thursdays from 4-5:00 for eight weeks. In addition
to attending
all class meetings, carefully reading assigned poems and critical texts, and
completing the weekly writing assignments, during week seven of the quarter
students will also read a poem of their own composition and discuss
their research
for the class with the instructor on the radio. Finally, students will write
a 1000 word essay that comments meaningfully on a trend or topic in
creativity
or contemporary poetry. Grading: In-Class
Writing Exercises,
20%; Quality and Completeness of the Poetry Portfolio, 40%; Oral Exam, 10%;
Final Paper (about five pages), 30%.
About the Instructor: Andy Jones has taught for the UC Davis Department of English since 1990. In addition to teaching classes on poetry, film theory, science fiction, literary criticism, and writing in the professions, Andy has also taught English 100P, the English Department's advanced poetry workshop. Always interested in cross-disciplinary thinking and studies, Andy interviews many authors, performers and pundits as host of "Doctor Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour" on radio station KDVS.