This Tutorial will take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding some of the issues and controversies that surround childbearing and childrearing. At the same time, the Tutorial will help students to develop the skills and capacities needed for a successful college career.

All human beings tell stories, indeed some researchers argue that a narrative capacity is a critical and unique feature of human cognition. The great political philosopher, Hannah Arendt, claims that we tell stories because we need them to understand the intentions of human actors, and without them we cannot make sense of human speech and action. Stories not only help us to make sense of actions, they also motivate them.

This tutorial focuses on the literary and film representations of detectives and the generic conventions within which those characters operate. First, we will examine the conventions of detective fiction established by E.A. Poe and refined by the English tradition. Then we will examine the American hardboiled conventions in literature and film. Finally, we will concentrate on works that challenge, reshape, or parody such conventions.

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack in the United States, many people have proposed memorials to mark the site of the tragedy, especially at the World Trade Center. Why does the American public feel the need to commemorate sacrifice, and why is there a debate over the proper form of public memory? This tutorial will explore these questions and will put the current debate in the context of a long tradition of public memorials in America.

In the post-September 11 United States, public memory has taken on heightened social importance. Plans for several September 11 memorials are well under way, and the public recollection and commemoration of the events of September 11 have taken on a large role in American political discourse. Why does the American public feel the need to commemorate sacrifice, and why is there a debate over the proper form of public memory?

Using Gambia as the location, the author explores the question of whether it is possible for Human rights organizations to work with/alongside authoritarian regimes to benefit the people in the country.

Poem

How is a story constructed? Using a model derived from linguistics and applied to narrative, we will explore both this question and the art of narrative. For most of the semester, we will be the audience of stories from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Marguerite of Navarre's Heptameron, but, at the end of the semester, you will be a story-teller and a part of the audience for your fellow students' stories. This tutorial will especially develop your ability to take part in class discussions and to write arguments.

In this tutorial we will examine the cultural and political significance of food in literature and film. We will focus on the way national cultures and personal identities are described and defined through narratives of the preparation, consumption, and appreciation of food in twentieth-century Chinese and Chinese American literature and film. Additionally, the course will integrate samples from other cultures and periods as points of comparison. Extracurricular activities, such as a restaurant visit, will also be included to facilitate our understanding and analysis of the culture of food.

This semester we will journey to Paris through the eyes of Americans. From the founding fathers of the United States to the most recent winner of the Tour de France, from jazz musicians and painters to the most prominent writers of the century, Americans have influenced and been influenced by their encounters with Paris.