MALAS! Making the World a Better Place, One Professor, One Book at a Time! Kudos to Matt de la Peña!

We work to ensure that all the Professors that teach for MALAS are the very best at what they do -- but some, even, take...

Posted by MALAS, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences at SDSU on Saturday, August 20, 2022

New MALAS Graduate Seminar, Fall 2022 with Professor Lashon Daley | THE WRITING OF FICTION !!!

THE WRITING OF FICTION

MALAS 600D OR ENGL 581W | PROFESSOR LASHON DALEY

Calling all cinephiles: have you ever wanted to adapt your favorite film into a novel? Or your favorite TV show into a collection of short stories? In this course, you will learn the basics of writing fiction while producing original works of fanfiction. Through a series of writing exercises and in-class workshops, you will develop skills on how to write strong characters, climactic plots, and descriptive settings. This course is not about becoming a professional creative writer. Rather, it is about learning the skills of creativity, communication, style, and voice.

We will read How to Write Mind Blowing FanFiction by Roslyn Thomas as well as participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to help us dive more deeply into fanfiction and develop community around our writing. 

This course will help you compose a short story or a compilation of flash fiction pieces totaling an approximate count of 6,500 words based on your favorite film, TV series, or web content. Weekly reading and writing assignments, and in-class workshops will be used to practice specific composition skills.

Bio: 

Lashon Daley is the director of the National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature and an assistant professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University. She earned her PhD in Performance Studies with a Designated Emphasis in New Media from the University of California, Berkeley. She also holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in Folklore from UC Berkeley. Her children’s book, Mr. Okra Sells Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, was released in February 2016.

ENGL-581W 03 21615 THE WRITING OF FICTION 3.0 Lecture 1230-1345 TTH COM-206 L. DALEY 0/27 Footnotes: 04 , 15 , S , Y

MALAS-600D 03 34444 THE WRITING OF FICTION 3.0 Seminar 1230-1345 TTH COM-206 L. DALEY 0/3

New MALAS Graduate Seminar, Fall 2022: Meagan Marshall's LIVING WRITERS

MALAS 600A.03 / ENGL 579: Living Writers

Professor: Meagan Marshall  | Wednesdays 7-9:40

Derek Walcott’s Fortunate Traveler asserts, “…literature is an old couch stuffed with fleas.” This course aims to counter his assertion by examining the texts of living writers who are working to maintain literature’s livelihood. Guest authors will visit the class to conduct discussions, writing workshops, and readings centered on their work and experience in the literary world. This course provides the rare opportunity to work closely with visiting authors while exploring multiple genres and mediums, including poetry, prose, and creative nonfiction. Active participation and inquiry will expand your perception of literature and strengthen your ability as a writer and reader. This course promises to shake the fleas from static written word. Writers of all experience-levels and genres are welcomed and encouraged.   

About the Professor:  

Meagan Marshall is a poet, performer, and professor. She directs the Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers Series and teaches in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. She is a recent recipient of the Pitt and Virginia Warner Innovation Award. She also teaches in the English Department at San Diego City College. Her work has appeared in various journals, including The Portland Review, Web Del Sol, San Diego Poetry Annual, Charlotte: A Journal of Literature and Art, Poetry Internationaland elsewhere. Meagan is co-author of the essay “The Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers Series at San Diego State University: How One of the Nation’s Oldest Reading Series Found a Home in the Library” (McFarland 2017). She is commissioned frequently by San Diego Dance Theater and has written and performed several micro-fictions with the company including “Pillow: Case” (2015), “Requiem for an Ocean” (2016), “Shaker Loops” (2019), and “Janus II” (2020).      

Section Details:

Course	MALAS-600A
Course Title	LIVING WRITERS
Section	03
Schedule #	34443
Units	3.0
Session	FALL CAMPUS
Seats	3/3
Meetings	Seminar   1900-2140   W   AH-2116   M. MARSHALL
Full Title	Interdisciplinary Study in Liberal Arts and Sciences: Cultural Studies
Description	MALAS seminars are divided into four general areas with content that varies semester to semester. Each course may be repeated once with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units for MALAS 600A.
Prerequisite	Graduate standing.
Footnotes	07   This course is stacked with ENGL 579 "Living Writers." Not open to students currently enrolled in or with previous credit in ENGL 579 "Living Writers." ZL   The following student levels are allowed: Graduate.

New Fall MALAS Graduate Seminar! Comix and History, aka #eyegasm22

New Fall MALAS Graduate Seminar! 

Comix and History, aka #eyegasm22

Graduate students can take an MA-level version of this class! More info here: https://sunspot.sdsu.edu/schedule/sectiondetails… or write Professor Bill Nericcio at bnericci@sdsu.edu

A great sequence from Marjani Satrape's EMBROIDERIES (Translated from the French by Anjali Singh) ... one of the comix volumes in my Fall class at #SDSU ... The class is called #eyegasm22 and is focused on visual culture, comix, history, autobiography, and more ... book info here https://amzn.to/3JWdicu class info here https://eyegiene.sdsu.edu/2022/fall/

New MALAS Seminar Fall 2022: Techniques of the Novel with Professor Matt de la Peña!

ENGL 573/MALAS 600A.02  

Techniques of the Novel

Matt de la Peña, Wednesdays 3:30 to 6:10, Storm Hall 316

 

Writing a novel is a long, messy, exhilarating, frustrating, and profoundly beautiful undertaking. Most novel writers get lost at some point during the journey and fear they no longer know where the story is going. Author Denis Johnson didn’t see this as a problem. “You get in your teacup and take your oar and strike off for Australia,” he once said, “and if you wind up in Japan, you’re ecstatic.” In other words, novel writing is about the journey, not the destination. Similarly, a good novel doesn’t set out to provide answers, it asks interesting questions while following interesting characters. 

In this course we will honor the mystery of the novel, while also studying techniques all writers should be exposed to as they take on this work. We will examine published novels, explore how-to philosophies and generate original creative materials. In addition to our course texts, I will bring in other literature to help spark discussion and/or help initiate generative exercises. We will explore many of the tools in our novel-writing toolboxes, such as character, setting, scene, POV, pacing, plot/theme and revision. You will be required to offer both written and oral feedback to your classmates during workshop. Our focus in this class will be craft, but there will also be some discussion of the marketplace and the business side of the writing life.

Matt de la Peña is the #1 New York Times Bestselling, Newbery Medal-winning author of seven young adult novels (including Mexican WhiteBoy and We Were Here) and seven picture books (including Patchwork and Last Stop on Market Street). In 2016 he was awarded the NCTE Intellectual Freedom Award. Matt received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific where he attended school on a full basketball scholarship. In 2019 Matt was awarded an honorary doctorate from UOP.

Section Details:

Course	MALAS-600A
Course Title	TECHNIQUES OF NOVEL
Section	02
Schedule #	34442
Units	3.0
Session	FALL CAMPUS
Seats	2/3
Meetings	Seminar   1530-1810   W   SH-316   M. DE LA PENA
Full Title	Interdisciplinary Study in Liberal Arts and Sciences: Cultural Studies
Description	MALAS seminars are divided into four general areas with content that varies semester to semester. Each course may be repeated once with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units for MALAS 600A.
Prerequisite	Graduate standing.
Footnotes	09   Stacked with ENGL 573. Not open to students currently enrolled in or with prior credit in ENGL 573 "Techniques of Novel." ZL   The following student levels are allowed: Graduate.