CRW 195 Stories in the Cloth
In this course, students will explore the connections between the narrative arts and the textile arts. What is the difference between constructing a text and constructing a textile? In other words: how are the head and the hand connected? We will explore the historical, multicultural, and gendered roots that merge language arts with textile arts (i.e., quilting and other forms of sewing), arguing that both are figures of speech. In addition to assigned readings and in-class discussion, students will examine the above questions through hands-on “making” (writing and sewing). By semester’s end, each student will have a portfolio of writing and a handful of small, hand-sewn objects. Every good artist conducts a dialogue between concrete practices and thinking; this dialogue evolves into sustaining habits, and these habits establish a rhythm between problem-solving and problem-finding.