LBR&WS 153
Stories of Struggle: Work, Class, and Narrative in Contemporary America
Description: Lecture, three hours. Overview of contemporary working narratives. Investigation of how working-class Americans from diverse backgrounds have narrated their struggles with poverty, education, work, parenthood, bodily suffering, and war. Inquiry into what readers can learn from these struggles as students, writers, and activists. Emphasis on 21st-century narratives. Analysis of variety of genres, including poetry, lyrics, short stories, journalism and reportage, novels, memoir, and autobiography, for how they portray working class people and what they offer working class movement culture. Consideration of class as intersectional category of experience along with race, gender, and sexuality. Students read narratives about class and work, and contribute to body of working class literature through memoir, fiction, poetry, or journalism. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - At a large research institution like UCLA, it's very easy to feel like just another number. Thus was not the case in Prof. Gaffney's course. She went above and beyond in every definition of the word to ensure that we were appropriately engaged with the material. Her syllabus was accurate and the corresponding lectures were both topical and enjoyable. However, perhaps my favorite part of the course and arguably most impactful was the feedback she gave in response to our essays. Never has a professor shown so much care and attention towards the work I submitted by creating a video detailing critiques/general commentary. Prof. Gaffney is indicative of what teaching and education ought to be and if I weren't graduating, I'd enroll in her courses every quarter if I could. She is the blueprint and the new standard I will measure my professors against.
Fall 2020 - At a large research institution like UCLA, it's very easy to feel like just another number. Thus was not the case in Prof. Gaffney's course. She went above and beyond in every definition of the word to ensure that we were appropriately engaged with the material. Her syllabus was accurate and the corresponding lectures were both topical and enjoyable. However, perhaps my favorite part of the course and arguably most impactful was the feedback she gave in response to our essays. Never has a professor shown so much care and attention towards the work I submitted by creating a video detailing critiques/general commentary. Prof. Gaffney is indicative of what teaching and education ought to be and if I weren't graduating, I'd enroll in her courses every quarter if I could. She is the blueprint and the new standard I will measure my professors against.
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