HNRS 138
Empire, Globalization, and Multiethnic Storytelling
Description: Seminar, four hours. Exploration of theoretical evolution of postcolonial and transnational studies through predominantly American multiethnic short story. How do our primary works in contemporary short fiction question literary conventions of allegedly mainstream, white Euro-American literature? What manifestations of empire, diasporic mobility, and generic mutability unite or separate our primary creative works? What meditations on identity do our fiction and creative non-fiction works offer as they intersect notions of race, class, caste, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and/or sexuality? What aesthetic or critical possibilities does the short story open up for future of postcolonial, diaspora, ethnic, and area studies? Could the muliethnic short story be the socio-politically subversive narrative genre par excellence? Close reading of short stories in comparative light with creative non-fiction and hybrid narrative forms in works by Aimé Céaire, Amitava Kumar, Jhumpa Lahiri, ZZ Packer, Roxane Gay, and Claire Vaye Watkins. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 0.0
Units: 0.0
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Most Helpful Review
Dr. Frank was one of the most dynamic and engaging teachers I have had in four years of UCLA. He explained the significance of what we were learning, not just random facts, and related them in a fun and often scary way to real life (descriptions of small pox made my skin crawl, no pun intended!!). Great teacher!! If you want to learn about diseases in history, take his class!!
Dr. Frank was one of the most dynamic and engaging teachers I have had in four years of UCLA. He explained the significance of what we were learning, not just random facts, and related them in a fun and often scary way to real life (descriptions of small pox made my skin crawl, no pun intended!!). Great teacher!! If you want to learn about diseases in history, take his class!!
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - Professor Poddar made every student feel like she really cared about them and their ideas. She definitely challenged each one of us in our writing skills, analytical skills, and understanding of ideas. Even for an honors class, the workload for reading was intense. Most of the students agreed that we could not even get through some of the readings because they were so long and dense. Take this class if you’re really passionate about the course concepts but be prepared for the workload! The class is mentally exhausting with the depth of analysis and the three-hour structure.
Fall 2025 - Professor Poddar made every student feel like she really cared about them and their ideas. She definitely challenged each one of us in our writing skills, analytical skills, and understanding of ideas. Even for an honors class, the workload for reading was intense. Most of the students agreed that we could not even get through some of the readings because they were so long and dense. Take this class if you’re really passionate about the course concepts but be prepared for the workload! The class is mentally exhausting with the depth of analysis and the three-hour structure.
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