Paris Then and Now: Circles of Influence
CREA S4300
Dates: June 18 - July 13, 2012
Instructors: Amy Benson & Stacey D'Erasmo
Paris is a seminar, a post-graduate course in Everything.
-- James Thurber (1918)
Instructors: Amy Benson & Stacey D'Erasmo
Paris is a seminar, a post-graduate course in Everything.
-- James Thurber (1918)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Come write, study, and explore the literary life in Paris this summer. The Creative Writing Program at Columbia University School of the Arts is pleased to offer for a second time its summer course at Reid Hall, Paris Then and Now: Circles of Influence, June 18-July 13, 2012. During this intensive month-long program, creative writing students focus on the mutual influences among French and English-speaking writers from Modernism to the present moment while writing their own fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, inspired by this storied cultural capital and one of the most important literary traditions in history.
Led by Stacey D’Erasmo and Amy Benson, this special course consists of both a writing workshop and a cross-genre seminar exploring the extremely robust artistic traffic in and through Paris in the last century. In the seminar section of the course, we explore the moderns, the writers of Negritude, the groundbreaking nouveau romanistes, and some of the many writers who have used Paris as setting and inspiration. In the workshop section of the course, we discuss students’ fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and explore how individual work transforms under the Parisian influence.
In addition to the core seminar and workshop, we arrange special guest lectures by prominent writers and scholars; talks by French editors, agents, translators, and writers; study groups that discuss the influence of film, music, and visual media on literature; and a weekly writers salon.
COURSE COMPONENTS
Reading Seminar:
An intensive study of the mutual influences among French and English-speaking writers from modernism to the present day, focusing on Paris as the site for extraordinary literary exchanges. We examine the cross-pollination within and among four major groupings—modernists, negritude, the nouveau roman, and the use of Paris as setting and site.
Writing Workshop:
A weekly roundtable discussion of student fiction, nonfiction and poetry. For their final portfolios, students are required to produce creative work that makes use of the influences they’ve experienced during their time at Reid Hall.
Formal Study Group:
As complement to the seminar, the study group examines interdisciplinary artistic influence. Students are asked to create a literary work influenced by a different artistic medium.
Individual Student Conferences:
Benson and D’Erasmo meet with students to discuss their portfolios, their progress in their reading and any concerns they might have.
Guest Lectures:
Guest lectures focus on major currents in contemporary French literature. Writers, editors, artists, literary scholars and translators working in Paris now discuss their work.
Weekly Wrap-up:
An informal meeting of all students and professors to discuss connections between the speakers, readings and assignments for that week.
Literary Salon:
An open forum for reading and performance—students, faculty, and any visitor who cares to contribute may offer their work.
PROSPECTIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Monday:
10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Reading Seminar
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Guest Lectures & Readings
Tuesday:
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Formal Study Group
5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Guest Lectures & Readings
Wednesday:
10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Writing Workshop
4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Independent Student Conferences
Thursday:
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Formal Study Group
4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Weekly Wrap-up
Friday:
6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Reid Hall Salon
SAMPLE READINGS (subject to change)
Week 1: Moderns
Janet Flanner, Jacques Romain, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Langston Hughes
Week 2: Negritude
Tyler Stovall, Aime Cesaire, Paulette Nardall, Claude McKay
Week 3: Nouveau Romanistes
Marguerite Duras, Nathalie Sarraute, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Louise Aragon
Week 4: Where is Paris?
Abdourahman Waberi, Paul La Farge/Paul Poissel, Charles Baudelaire, Jacques Prevert, Calum Storrie, Julien Green
Note: Texts will either be in English or available in English translation.
HOUSING
Students stay in dorm-style accommodations in close proximity to Reid Hall, in Paris' Montparnasse neighborhood (14th or 15th arrondissements). Detailed information will be published in January.
Students stay in dorm-style accommodations in close proximity to Reid Hall, in Paris' Montparnasse neighborhood (14th or 15th arrondissements). Detailed information will be published in January.
REID HALL
The program is based at Reid Hall, Columbia University's campus in Paris. For over a century, its long and distinguished past of intellectual, artistic, and cultural exchange has earned it a significant place in the relationship between France and the United States. Currently, Reid Hall also serves as an educational center for many American universities and for scholars from around the world and it hosts hundreds of events annually including lectures, film screenings, art exhibits, concerts, and conferences.
The program is based at Reid Hall, Columbia University's campus in Paris. For over a century, its long and distinguished past of intellectual, artistic, and cultural exchange has earned it a significant place in the relationship between France and the United States. Currently, Reid Hall also serves as an educational center for many American universities and for scholars from around the world and it hosts hundreds of events annually including lectures, film screenings, art exhibits, concerts, and conferences.
Reid Hall is located on the Left Bank in the lively Montparnasse (6th arrondissement) within walking distance of the Luxembourg Gardens as well as the Latin Quarter and various branches of the University of Paris. The grounds of Reid Hall include a beautiful private interior courtyard and gardens, a small reference library, a computer room, classrooms, two large conference rooms, and administrative offices. Reid Hall is open seven days a week and has a wireless network.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students are expected to attend all classes and events and to complete a workshop portfolio, a writing project for the seminar, and creative project for the interdisciplinary study group.
CREATIVE WRITING CREDIT (for Creative Writing Majors)
The course will provide four (4) Creative Writing credits. It will count as one of the Creative Writing major's four required 3-credit seminars or as one of the three required 3-credit “related courses.” The one remaining credit may be combined with two other credits--for example, from a one-credit independent study or a one-credit master class--and count as a “related course." Distribution of the credits will be determined in conference with the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Creative Writing, Timothy Donnelly.
The course will provide four (4) Creative Writing credits. It will count as one of the Creative Writing major's four required 3-credit seminars or as one of the three required 3-credit “related courses.” The one remaining credit may be combined with two other credits--for example, from a one-credit independent study or a one-credit master class--and count as a “related course." Distribution of the credits will be determined in conference with the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Creative Writing, Timothy Donnelly.
COURSE ELIGIBILITY
Priority will be given to Columbia creative writing majors; undergraduate and graduate students in the humanities with prior creative writing coursework, French language experience, and a strong writing sample will also be considered.
APPLICATION
The deadline for applications is March 1, 2012. You must submit a writing sample (up to 20 pages for prose, 10 for poetry) and a few paragraphs describing your interest in the course. Applicants to the course will be notified of their admissions status by April 1, 2012.
The deadline for applications is March 1, 2012. You must submit a writing sample (up to 20 pages for prose, 10 for poetry) and a few paragraphs describing your interest in the course. Applicants to the course will be notified of their admissions status by April 1, 2012.
Please visit the Office of Global Program's website to apply.
TUITION & FEES
The list below is intended to summarize possible charges that could be incurred against a student's account. Certain charges depend upon specific circumstances, as noted.
Tuition 2012 Tuition rate will be published in early January. 2011 Tuition was $5800, and we are anticipating only a slight increase.
Transcript Fee* $95
Withdrawal Fee*** $75
*One-time fee for Visiting Students only
**Required of any student who withdraws from program once registered
ESTIMATED EXPENSES
The estimated expenses below are NOT paid to the program. The figures below can be used to plan average meal and miscellaneous costs while in Paris. However, please remember that each person has individual spending habits and that you must decide for yourself how much to budget. Depending on your living arrangements and own spending habits, as well as the depreciating dollar, you may decide to bring more than what is listed below. Also remember that travel within France and Europe can further increase costs.
Round trip airfare NYC-Paris $1,250
Meals $600/month
Miscellaneous $700/month
INQUIRIES
If you have questions about the content of the course or your eligibility, please contact the course instructors, Amy Benson or Stacey D’Erasmo.
If you have questions about the content of the course or your eligibility, please contact the course instructors, Amy Benson or Stacey D’Erasmo.
If you have general questions about your application or living in Paris, please contact the Office of Global Programs (212-854-2559, tel.)
About the Instructors
Amy Benson
Amy Benson's book, The Sparkling-Eyed Boy, was chosen by Ted Conover as the 2003 Katherine Bakeless Nason Prize winner in creative nonfiction, sponsored by Bread Loaf Writer's Conference. It was published by Houghton Mifflin in June 2004. More > >
Stacey D'Erasmo
Stacey D'Erasmo holds a B.A. from Barnard College and an M.A. from New York University in English and American Literature. She was a Stegner Fellow in Fiction at Stanford University from 1995-1997. More > >
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Columbia University School of the Arts offers MFA degrees in Film, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, and Writing, an MA degree in Film Studies, a joint JD/MFA degree in Theatre Management & Producing, and a PhD degree in Theatre History, Literature, and Theory.
Columbia University School of the Arts offers MFA degrees in Film, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, and Writing, an MA degree in Film Studies, a joint JD/MFA degree in Theatre Management & Producing, and a PhD degree in Theatre History, Literature, and Theory.