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CS92PROD
Scribes, Book Worms, and Bibliomaniacs: The Thrall of the Book

ENGL 355
Spring 2019
Section: 01  
Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory, Writing

Even in the age of electronic and audiobooks one still hears book lovers exclaim on the unique sensation of "holding the physical book," the smell of its pages, and the pleasures (or transgressions) of being able to write notes in one's own physical copy. Loving books thus amounts to more than reading text, it often involves a relationship with the physical objects of books. The course has a two-pronged focus: the history of the evolution of the book as medium and the literature on the creation, collecting, and circulation of books. This means that we will be tracing the evolution of reading and writing as technologies on the one hand, and reading literary representations of this evolution on the other. Our discussions of bibliomania and the preservation impulse of archivists and book collectors will be accompanied by practical exercises with physical books in Special Collections.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSCT)(ENGL)
Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above

Last Updated on OCT-03-2024
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