{"id":103092,"date":"2015-02-03T14:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-02-03T22:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/?p=103092"},"modified":"2024-06-24T10:29:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T17:29:21","slug":"junot-diazs-syllabi-for-his-mit-writing-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2015\/02\/junot-diazs-syllabi-for-his-mit-writing-classes.html","title":{"rendered":"Junot D\u00edaz\u2019s Syllabi for His MIT Writing Classes, and the Novels on His Reading List"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"oc-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"oc-video-container\">\n\t<span class=\"youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"505\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lD44jmeAHJY?wmode=transparent&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;showsearch=0&amp;rel=0&amp;theme=dark\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<!-- \/oc-video-embed -->\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/oc-video-wrapper --><\/p>\n<p>We can prob\u00ada\u00adbly all agree that it\u2019s a lit\u00adtle pre\u00adma\u00adture, but all the same, the BBC has bar\u00adreled ahead with its list of \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture\/story\/20150119-the-21st-centurys-12-best-novels\">The 21st Century\u2019s 12 great\u00adest nov\u00adels<\/a>.\u201d Top\u00adping the list of excel\u00adlent, if not espe\u00adcial\u00adly sur\u00adpris\u00ading, picks is&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/1Cs2j3R\"><em>The Brief Won\u00addrous Life of Oscar Wao<\/em><\/a>, Junot D\u00edaz\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-win\u00adning debut nov\u00adel about, as he puts it in the inter\u00adview above, \u201ca clos\u00adet\u00aded nerd writ\u00ading about an absolute\u00adly out nerd, and using their shared mutu\u00adal lan\u00adguage to tell the sto\u00adry.\u201d The book has con\u00adnect\u00aded with such a wide swath of read\u00aders for more than its appeal to fel\u00adlow nerds, though that\u2019s no small thing. A great many read\u00aders have seen their own lives reflect\u00aded in D\u00edaz\u2019s characters\u2014Dominican immi\u00adgrants grow\u00ading up in New Jersey\u2014or have found their expe\u00adri\u00adences illu\u00admi\u00adnat\u00ading. And even though Yunior and Oscar\u2019s very male point of view might have alien\u00adat\u00aded female read\u00aders in the hands of a less\u00ader author, D\u00edaz has the sen\u00adsi\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty and self-aware\u00adness to\u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2012\/09\/how-junot-diaz-wrote-a-sexist-character-but-not-a-sexist-book\/262169\/\">as Joe Fassler argues in <em>The Atlantic<\/em><\/a>\u2014write sex\u00adist char\u00adac\u00adters, but not sex\u00adist books. As the author him\u00adself says above, \u201cif it wasn\u2019t for women read\u00aders, I wouldn\u2019t have a career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>D\u00edaz\u2019s ear for dia\u00adlogue and idiom and his facil\u00adi\u00adty for con\u00adstruct\u00ading com\u00adplete\u00adly believ\u00adable char\u00adac\u00adters with com\u00adplete\u00adly dis\u00adtinc\u00adtive voic\u00ades are matched by his com\u00admit\u00adment to rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading the expe\u00adri\u00adences of peo\u00adple who still get rou\u00adtine\u00adly left out of the con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary canon. Despite the atten\u00adtion giv\u00aden to such stel\u00adlar non-white, non-male writ\u00aders as Toni Mor\u00adri\u00adson, Max\u00adine Hong-Kingston, Arund\u00adhati Roy, and Jamaica Kin\u00adcaid, most MFA pro\u00adgrams, Diaz argued in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/books\/page-turner\/mfa-vs-poc\">a recent essay for <em>The New York\u00ader<\/em><\/a>, are still \u201c<em>too white<\/em>,\u201d repro\u00adduc\u00ading \u201cexact\u00adly the dom\u00adi\u00adnant culture\u2019s blind spots and assump\u00adtions around race and racism (and sex\u00adism and het\u00adero\u00adnor\u00adma\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty, etc).\u201d In his own MFA work\u00adshop expe\u00adri\u00adences at <a href=\"http:\/\/english.arts.cornell.edu\/graduate\/mfa\/\">Cor\u00adnell<\/a>, he found that \u201cthe default sub\u00adject posi\u00adtion of read\u00ading and writing\u2014of Lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture with a cap\u00adi\u00adtal L\u2014was white, straight and male.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"oc-center-da\">\n<div data-fuse=\"22871471544\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The prob\u00adlem is more than just per\u00adson\u00adal, though he cer\u00adtain\u00adly found the expe\u00adri\u00adence per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adly alien\u00adat\u00ading, and it isn\u2019t a mat\u00adter of redress\u00ading his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal wrongs or enforc\u00ading an abstract PC notion of diver\u00adsi\u00adty. Instead, as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2014\/05\/02\/this_is_what_junot_diaz_wants_his_undergrad_students_to_read\/?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=socialflow\">D\u00edaz told <em>Salon<\/em><\/a>, it\u2019s a prob\u00adlem of accu\u00adrate\u00adly rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading real\u00adi\u00adty. \u201cIf race or gen\u00adder (or any oth\u00ader impor\u00adtant social force) are not part of your inter\u00adpre\u00adtive logic\u2014if they\u2019re not part of what you con\u00adsid\u00ader the real\u2014then you\u2019re leav\u00ading out most of what has made our world our world.\u201d In his own role at a <a href=\"http:\/\/cmsw.mit.edu\/profile\/junot-diaz\/\">pro\u00adfes\u00adsor at MIT<\/a>, teach\u00ading under\u00adgrad\u00adu\u00adate writ\u00ading cours\u00ades for the <a href=\"http:\/\/cmsw.mit.edu\/\">Com\u00adpar\u00ada\u00adtive Media Studies\/Writing Depart\u00adment<\/a>, D\u00edaz is very thought\u00adful about his approach, empha\u00adsiz\u00ading, \u201cit\u2019s not the books you teach, but how you teach them.\u201d In addi\u00adtion to nov\u00adels by authors like Hait\u00adian-born Edwidge Dan\u00adti\u00adcat and Zim\u00adbab\u00adwean author NoVi\u00ado\u00adlet Bul\u00adawayo, he has his stu\u00addents read&nbsp;\u201cclas\u00adsic Goth\u00adic texts which are them\u00adselves not very diverse by our stan\u00addards,\u201d but, he says, \u201cthe crit\u00adi\u00adcal lens I deploy helps my stu\u00addents under\u00adstand how issues of race, gen\u00adder, colo\u00adnial\u00adi\u00adty etc. are nev\u00ader far.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Salon<\/em> tracked down the syl\u00adlabi and read\u00ading lists for two of D\u00edaz\u2019s MIT cours\u00ades, \u201cWorld-Build\u00ading\u201d and \u201cAdvanced Fic\u00adtion.\u201d We do find one clas\u00adsic Goth\u00adic text\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/ebooks\/345\">Bram Stok\u00ader\u2019s <em>Drac\u00adu\u00adla<\/em><\/a>\u2014and also much of what we might expect from the self-con\u00adfessed nerd, includ\u00ading work from such well-regard\u00aded com\u00adic writ\u00aders as Frank Miller and Alan Moore and clas\u00adsic sci-fi from Tarzan cre\u00adator Edgar Rice Bur\u00adroughs. In addi\u00adtion to these white, male writ\u00aders, we have fic\u00adtion from African-Amer\u00adi\u00adcan sci-fi authors <a href=\"http:\/\/octaviabutler.org\">Octavia But\u00adler<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/nkjemisin.com\">N.K. Jemisin<\/a>. D\u00edaz\u2019s \u201cAdvanced Fic\u00adtion\u201d list is even more wide-rang\u00ading, inclu\u00adsive of writ\u00aders from Chile, Zim\u00adbab\u00adwe, Chi\u00adna, and Haiti, as well as the U.S. See both lists below.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>World-Build\u00ading<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Descrip\u00adtion: \u201cThis class con\u00adcerns the design and analy\u00adsis of imag\u00adi\u00adnary (or&nbsp;con\u00adstruct\u00aded) worlds for nar\u00adra\u00adtive media such as role\u00adplay\u00ading games, films, comics,&nbsp;videogames and lit\u00ader\u00adary texts. \u2026 The class\u2019 pri\u00adma\u00adry goal is to help par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpants cre\u00adate bet\u00adter imag\u00adi\u00adnary worlds \u2013 ulti\u00admate\u00adly all our efforts should serve that high\u00ader pur\u00adpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pre\u00adreq\u00adui\u00adsites: \u201cYou will need to have seen Star Wars (episode four: A New Hope) and read The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read\u00ading List:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Princess of Mars\u201d by ER Bur\u00adroughs<br>\n\u201cDrac\u00adu\u00adla\u201d by Bram Stok\u00ader<br>\n\u201cBat\u00adman: The Dark Knight Returns\u201d by Frank Miller<br>\n\u201cSun\u00adshine\u201d by Robin McKin\u00adley<br>\n\u201cV for Vendet\u00adta\u201d by Alan Moore<br>\n\u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d by Suzanne Collins<br>\n\u201cThe Hun\u00addred Thou\u00adsand King\u00addoms\u201d by NK Jemisin<br>\n\u201cLilith\u2019s Brood\u201d by Octavia But\u00adler<br>\n\u201cPer\u00addi\u00addo Street Sta\u00adtion\u201d by Chi\u00adna Mi\u00e9ville<br>\n\u201cSnow Crash\u201d by Neal Stephen\u00adson (Rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded)<\/p>\n<p>Some things to con\u00adsid\u00ader always when tak\u00ading on a new world: What are its pri\u00adma\u00adry features\u2014spatial, cul\u00adtur\u00adal, bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal, fan\u00adtas\u00adtic, cos\u00admo\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal? What is the world\u2019s ethos (the guid\u00ading beliefs or ideals that char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adize the world)? What are the pre\u00adcise strate\u00adgies that are used by its cre\u00adator to con\u00advey the world to us and us to the world? How are our char\u00adac\u00adters con\u00adnect\u00aded to the world? And how are we the view\u00ader or read\u00ader or play\u00ader con\u00adnect\u00aded to the world?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Advanced Fic\u00adtion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Descrip\u00adtion: \u201cAn advanced work\u00adshop on the writ\u00ading and cri\u00adtiquing of prose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read\u00ading List:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClara\u201d by Rober\u00adto Bola\u00f1o<br>\n\u201cHit\u00adting Budapest\u201d by NoVi\u00ado\u00adlet Bul\u00adawayo<br>\n\u201cWhites\u201d by Julie Otsu\u00adka<br>\n\u201cGhosts\u201d by Edwidge Dan\u00adti\u00adcat<br>\n\u201cMy Good Man\u201d by Eric Gansworth<br>\n\u201cGold Boy, Emer\u00adald Girl\u201d by Yiyun Li<br>\n\u201cBoun\u00adty\u201d by George Saun\u00adders<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>For more from D\u00edaz him\u00adself on his approach to writ\u00ading fic\u00adtion, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=90111248\">lis\u00adten to his inter\u00adview with NPR\u2019s Teri Gross<\/a>. And just below, hear D\u00edaz read from <em>The Brief Won\u00addrous Life of Oscar Wao<\/em> at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kwls.org\/podcasts\/junot_diaz_january_18_2008\/\">Key West Lit\u00ader\u00adary Sem\u00adi\u00adnar<\/a> in 2008.<\/p>\n<div id=\"oc-audio-embed\">\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-103092-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.kwls.org\/lit\/podcasts\/mp3\/junotdiaz1.mp3?_=1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kwls.org\/lit\/podcasts\/mp3\/junotdiaz1.mp3\">http:\/\/www.kwls.org\/lit\/podcasts\/mp3\/junotdiaz1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/colorlines.com\/archives\/2014\/05\/heres_a_list_of_what_junot_diaz_wants_you_to_read.html\">via Col\u00ador Lines<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Relat\u00aded Con\u00adtent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/literature_free_courses\"><span class=\"s1\">Free Online Lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture Cours\u00ades<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2013\/07\/junot-diaz-annotates-a-selection-of-the-brief-wondrous-life-of-oscar-wao-for-poetry-genius.html\">Junot D\u00edaz Anno\u00adtates a Selec\u00adtion of The Brief Won\u00addrous Life of Oscar Wao for \u201cPoet\u00adry Genius\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2013\/02\/david_foster_wallaces_1994_syllabus.html\">David Fos\u00adter Wallace\u2019s 1994 Syl\u00adlabus: How to Teach Seri\u00adous Lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture with Light\u00adweight Books<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2013\/02\/wh_audens_1941_literature_syllabus_asks_students_to_read_32_great_works_covering_6000_pages_.html\">W.H. Auden\u2019s 1941 Lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture Syl\u00adlabus Asks Stu\u00addents to Read 32 Great Works, Cov\u00ader\u00ading 6000 Pages<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/11\/lynda-barrys-wonderfully-illustrated-syllabus-homework-assignments-from-her-uw-madison-class-the-unthinkable-mind.html\">Lyn\u00adda Barry\u2019s Won\u00adder\u00adful\u00adly Illus\u00adtrat\u00aded Syl\u00adlabus &amp; Home\u00adwork Assign\u00adments from Her UW-Madi\u00adson Class, \u201cThe Unthink\u00adable Mind\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2013\/03\/donald_barthelmes_syllabus_highlights_81_books_essential_for_a_literary_education_.html\">Don\u00adald Barthelme\u2019s Syl\u00adlabus High\u00adlights 81 Books Essen\u00adtial for a Lit\u00ader\u00adary Edu\u00adca\u00adtion<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/about.me\/jonesjoshua\"><em>Josh Jones<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;is a writer and musi\u00adcian based in Durham, NC. Fol\u00adlow him at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jdmagness\">@jdmagness<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding: 10px 0\">\n<div class=\"oc-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"oc-video-container\">\n\t<span class=\"youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lD44jmeAHJY?wmode=transparent&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;showsearch=0&amp;rel=0&amp;theme=dark\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<!-- \/oc-video-embed -->\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/oc-video-wrapper --><\/p><\/div>\n<p>We can prob\u00ada\u00adbly all agree that it\u2019s a lit\u00adtle pre\u00adma\u00adture, but all the same, the BBC has bar\u00adreled ahead with its list of \u201cThe 21st Century\u2019s 12 great\u00adest nov\u00adels.\u201d Top\u00adping the list of excel\u00adlent, if not espe\u00adcial\u00adly sur\u00adpris\u00ading, picks is&nbsp;The Brief Won\u00addrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot D\u00edaz\u2019s Pulitzer Prize-win\u00adn\u00ading debut nov\u00adel about, as he [\u2026]<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-literature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Junot D\u00edaz&#039;s Syllabi for His MIT Writing Classes, and the Novels on His Reading List<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2015\/02\/junot-diazs-syllabi-for-his-mit-writing-classes.html\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Josh Jones\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/junot-diazs-syllabi-for-his-mit-writing-classes.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/junot-diazs-syllabi-for-his-mit-writing-classes.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Josh Jones\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dd299f984570248c0c72af54d3db4d80\"},\"headline\":\"Junot D\u00edaz\u2019s Syllabi for His MIT Writing Classes, and the Novels on His Reading 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