Literature Unplugged

Dec 16, 2011

lit For students in Dr. Dawn Duncan’s Global Literature and Human Experience course, literature came alive once they stopped reading the words on the page.
 
Students acted out a play, “The Fate of a Cockroach,” and for their final projects, they studied authors who are becoming responsibly engaged in the world – a nod to the acronym BREW that supports the college's mission.
 
Duncan helped create the course so students learn how to read and respond to different genres of literature from around the world.
 
“I firmly believe that poetry should be spoken aloud and heard, that drama should be enacted," Duncan says. "Otherwise the written words are not fully alive as they should be."
 
Emily Dziuk ’15, Stillwater, Minn., says that performing the play “The Fate of a Cockroach” helped her understand a much deeper meaning of the play.
 
“That gave it more meaning because we really had to put ourselves into the character roles,” Dziuk says.
 
Duncan loves to teach this course because the projects students complete and the things they learn embody the college's mission.
 
“Given the increased connectedness of human beings on our planet and across diverse cultures, we must learn to listen to the stories of others from around this globe,” Duncan says.
 
For the final project, each student studied an author who is responsibly engaged in the world. They then created a tri-fold including information about the author and a book they have written.
 
“It was a lot harder than a final paper, but more fun and we definitely learned a lot more,” says Kevin Frank ‘13, Wahpeton, N.D.
 


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