FRS 002H — Sec. 001 — (2 units) — CRN 52934 — W 6:10 – 8:00 pm — 205 Wellman
AIDS and Literature

Instructor: Dale Flynn, Department of English, College of Letters and Science

Description: In this class we will examine the ways in which the AIDS epidemic has been reflected in literature. First, we will read And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts. Beginning with a discussion of Susan Sontag’s essay “AIDS and its Metaphors,” we will look at how we use personal narratives and communal stories to examine broader social phenomena. We will read and discuss stories by both physicians and people suffering from AIDS. In addition we will have guest speakers from UCDMC who are involved in AIDS research.

Format: The seminar will meet for two hours each week for eight weeks. The time will be divided between informal lecture presentations, discussion, and student presentations. I will prepare a reader for the course. Students will write a short paper (5 to 7 pages) on a topic to be chosen in consultation with the instructor. Grading: Students will be given a letter grade based on the quality of their participation in discussion (25%), the quality of their oral presentations (25%), and the quality of their written work (50%).

About the Instructor: Dale Flynn has been a Lecturer at UC Davis for seventeen years in the interdisciplinary writing program, where she teaches advanced composition courses in, among other things, scientific writing and writing in the health science. She has published interviews with physician/writers Richard Selzer, Perri Klass, John Stone, Lawrence Schneiderman, Jonathan Miller, and Oliver Sacks. She has taught a course for Humanities on Humanities and Medicine, and she has previously taught a Freshman Seminar with Daniel Benson on Medicine, History, and Literature.