Course Syllabus: GLITS 250
Introduction to Global Literatures: The Sounds of Silence
(draft version; subject to change)
Winter 2026 Professor Gary Handwerk
Tu/Thur 1:30-3:20; MEB 248 Office: A-402 Padelford
E-mail: handwerk@uw.edu Office Hours: by appt. (generally available for a bit after classes)
Canvas Site: https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1862563
About the course:
This is a course for students who love to read, to linger with the joys and pleasures of complex literary texts. It is a course for students who love to learn, to learn about diverse cultures and varied people, about the profound depths of historical traditions, about the intricate pathways of human thoughts and behaviors. It is a course where the primary learning objective is to work toward using better the most powerful tool ever devised by human beings—language. We won’t read a huge number of pages, but we will practice how to read them with steadily increasing analytical precision. We won’t be writing a huge number of pages, but will practice writing them with the fluency that increases rhetorical impact.
Course content includes a set of short stories, a pair of novels and various non-fiction texts, centered on the themes of identity, diversity and our human relationship with the “natural” world. Together, these texts comprise an historical sweep extending from the 1700’s (Octavia Butler) to the 21st century (Greta Thunberg), reaching back into Asian, Indigenous and North American history. They represent a geographical scope from the equator (Amitav Ghosh) to the Arctic (Barry Lopez), the global South to the global North, and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The core idea for the course is the sounds of silence. Our writers all seek to give voice to components of global ecosystems (psychological, social, ecological and economic) that are essential, but often unheard or ignored. How do we make the silences resound? A simple question, but quite sufficient for a quarter of reflection. This is a fully in-person course, where regular attendance and participation in class activities constitutes a significant portion of the grades.
Course Texts (be cautious with e-books, which may not contain all the material in the printed text):
Malena Ernman & Greta Thunberg, Our House Is on Fire
Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide
Pierre Bayard, How to Talk about Books You Haven’t Read
Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams
Octavia Butler, Wild Seed
Additional Course Readings available on Canvas Web site (in the Files section): Munro, Davis, Foer, Leopold, Kimmerer, Teuton
Graded Work:
Attendance/participation/group discussion work 30% of final grade
Munro completion exercise 5% of final grade
Reverse outlines 20% of final grade
Analytical essays (3, 15% each) 45% of final grade