International Young Adult Lit & Film: This course is inspired by Coming of Age Around the World, a multicultural anthology edited by the instructor that charts the global quest for identity, asking whether coming of age is a Western-or universal-concept. We will examine works of contemporary fiction, memoir, and feature and documentary film that are diverse both in origin (e.g., region/religion, gender/orientation, race/ethnicity, class/caste) and in form (e.g., novel-in-verse, manga, testimonio, memoir, pidgin/ patois, animated documentary). Focusing on the popular genre known as Young Adult (YA) allows us to explore the distinction between stories about youth and stories for youth (including some written by youth). As one of the goals of YA literature is to give the reader a better understanding of self and the world, we will consider the global events and social issues that impact youth. Each unit (Africa, Asia, the Muslim World, the Americas) will involve inventorying images of popular culture and analyzing the films for context, setting and sensory data. For the final, students may use their own art practice to research a text, topic or region of personal interest.

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