Spring 2020 MALAS Course Description: IMAGINING HELL with Professor Andrew McClellan

MALAS 600A: Imagining Hell  
Dr. Andrew M. McClellan (Ph.D., University of British Columbia) 

 

Humanity has always been obsessed with the idea of the afterlife. Nowhere is this more powerfully – and frighteningly – articulated than in artistic conceptions of “Hell,” a dark, infernal place reserved for those deemed, at best, morally insufficient, and at worst, willfully malevolent. Though Hell for modern audiences carries unavoidable Christian overtones, the basic theoretical and conceptual outlines of a gloomy umbratic netherworld have existed across cultures for many millennia. This course investigates different representations of Hell in a variety of artistic “texts” from antiquity to the present. By studying closely the concept of Hell, students will explore artistic influences, compare different genres, and examine a range of cultural value systems. Some of the texts we will discuss this semester include The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer’s Odyssey, Aristophanes’ Frogs, Plato’s Republic, Virgil’s Aeneid, Dante’s Inferno, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Gabriel Squailia’s Dead Boys, and the film Event Horizon.

MALAS-600AIMAGNING HELL:SCI ANTIQTY1600-1840. W NE-172 A.MCCLELLAN

Apply Now and Join the Incoming Fall 2020 Cohort of Graduate Students in MALAS, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Program at SDSU

MALAS is accepting applications thru March 1 2020 for our new incoming cohort of graduate students! Want to do MA-level work on Sustainability, Ethnic Studies, Social Justice, and/or just about any Interdisciplinary combination under the sun? Join us now!https://t.co/EnXU9f8zdb pic.twitter.com/RwNxFL2SeA

— Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences, MALAS (@sdsumalas) January 15, 2020

Spring 2020 --> New Course Description! MALAS/RWS Seminar | Visual Rhetoric with Cezar Ornatowski

Coming in Spring 2020

                                                                 

RWS 744 VISUAL RHETORIC

Tuesday 7:00-9:40 pm

Prof. Cezar Ornatowski

Visuality has in recent years become a major focus of interest in a variety of fields (rhetoric, communication, cultural studies, literary, and science studies). With the spread of global electronic communication technologies, visuality became the major form of communication, as well as the most manipulated one. The power of images lies in their presence and vividness and in their ability to directly impact our emotions. Because of that, images have become major tools of communication, social action, and political struggle, while in the context of science and knowledge discovery visualization has become a powerful strategy for involving high-level human intelligence in the process of exploring new phenomena.

Visual artifacts may be examined from three complementary perspectives:

• a semiotic perspective: the nature and working of the visual sign itself
• a systemic perspective: visuality as a communication system that involves specific technologies, media, and techniques of production, reproduction, manipulation, circulation, and reception
• a rhetorical/communication perspective that involves practices of seeing and looking, analysis of persuasive effects of visual artifacts, as well as examination of their deployments in politics, culture, advertising, knowledge discovery, and so on.

The course will begin with the exploration of still images (photographs, paintings, etc.), which will allow us to introduce such basic analytic concepts as the visual sign, icon, index, symbol, connotation, denotation, code, vector, visual composition, framing, paradigm, and syntagm. We will then proceed to look at film, including a brief history of the development of filmic discourse, and apply some of these concepts to analyze filmic discourse. The course will include two brief student presentations -- on a selected image and a selected film or video – using some of the analytic concepts we covered.

Since the course is cross-listed between RWS and MALAS, it does not assume any special prior knowledge of rhetoric or rhetorical theory; we will introduce such concepts as needed while we proceed, and I will include a few more specialized separate readings for
RWS graduate students. 

Myriam Gurba! Author of MEAN! Free and Open to the Public @ SDSU Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 11am in GMCS 333

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At the SDSU Love Library, BRIANDA DOMECQ, Live! Co-sponsored by CAL, Spanish & Portuguese, Love Library, and MALAS, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Program at SDSU

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See you Thursday for MALAS's 3rd Edward Said Cultural Studies Lecture featuring Carlos Kelly, Thursday at 11am, November 21, 2019, in SDSU's GMCS 333. Free and Open to the Public

See you Thursday for MALAS's 3rd Edward Said Cultural Studies Lecture featuring Carlos Kelly, Thursday at 11am, November 21, 2019, in SDSU's GMCS 333. Free and Open to the Public.

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MALAS Edward Said Cultural Studies Lecture II: Dr. Alice Balestrino, "Of Patriarchy, Patrimony, Patriotism, and Other Feral Things: Ripping the Paters Apart in Chelsea Cane's MAN-EATERS #1" November 7, 2019 in GMCS 333 from 11am to 12:15pm on the SDSU Main Campus | Free and Open to the Public!

November 7, 2019
GMCS 333
11am to 12:15pm
Free and Open to the Public!

Dr. Alice Balestrino
Of Patriarchy, Patrimony, 
Patriotism, and Other Feral Things
Ripping the Paters Apart in Chelsea Cane's MAN-EATERS #1

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Dr. Alice Balestrino holds a Ph.D. in American literature from Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”. Her dissertation, Extra-Vacant Narrative. Reading Holocaust Fiction in the Post-9/11 Age, develops the philosophical concept of vacancy as a reading strategy for Holocaust uchronias, idealized or fictional conceptions of a particular period of time (especially in the past), and fictionalized autobiographies published in the aftermath of 9/11. She has published on Jewish- American Holocaust literature and post-memory, on alternate histories, on post- 9/11 fiction, and, specifically connected to her lecture today, to narrative strategies for the representation of memory in graphic novels: “Placing Time, Timing Space. Memory as Border and Line of (Hi)Stories in Richard McGuire’s Graphic Narrative Here,” published in RIAS – The Review of International American Studies. She has lectured on Art Spiegelman’s MAUS and In the Shadow of No Towers at University of Bologna and University of Naples, L’Orientale. She taught American culture at the University of Milan as an adjunct professor and has recently joined the Department of French and Italian Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she is pursuing a second Ph.D. focusing on the philosophical currents of Italian Critical Theory. Presently, in Illinois, she works as the program coordinator of IFUSS – An International Forum for U.S. Studies.

This is the Second Lecture in The Edward Said Cultural Studies Lecture Series, 2019-2020 sponsored by MALAS, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Co-sponsoring support comes from Amatl Comix, the new comic book publishing initiative of San Diego State University Press, and SDSU Press. The lecture is hosted by the 281 souls in English 220: #nakedsexybeasts: An Introduction to the Study of Literature, Film, Photography, Comics, and Streaming Media.

About Edward Said (via wikipedia)

	Edward Wadie Said 1 November 1935 Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
	24 September 2003 (aged 67) New York City, United States
Education	Princeton University Harvard University
Spouse(s)	Mariam C. Said
	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Continental philosophy Postcolonialism
Notable ideas	Occidentalism, Orientalism, the Other
Influences[show]

Edward Wadie Said 
(/sɑːˈiːd/; Arabic: إدوارد وديع سعيد‎ [wædiːʕ sæʕiːd], Idwārd Wadīʿ Saʿīd; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.^[3] A Palestinian American born in Mandatory Palestine, he was a citizen of the United States by way of his father, a U.S. Army veteran.

Educated in the Western canon, at British and American schools, Said applied his education and bi-cultural perspective to illuminating the gaps of cultural and political understanding between the Western world and the Eastern world, especially about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the Middle East; his principal influences were Antonio Gramsci,  Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Michel Foucault, and Theodor Adorno.^[4]

As a cultural critic, Said is known for the book Orientalism (1978), a critique of the cultural representations that are the bases of Orientalism—how the Western world perceives the Orient.^[5][6][7][8] Said's model of textual analysis transformed the academic discourse of researchers in literary theory, literary criticism, and Middle-Eastern studies—how academics examine, describe, and define the cultures being studied.^[9][10] As a foundational text, Orientalism was controversial among scholars of Oriental Studies, philosophy, and literature.^[11][4]

MALAS Present its New Lecture Series! The Edward Said Cultural Studies Lectures, 2019-2020 | Featuring MALAS Alum Hayley Kasden on Comix | "The Monstrosity of Femininity: Reading Chelsea Kane’s MANEATERS #1"

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Come to the SDSU main campus Tuesday at 11am to GMCS 333 for a lecture on Comix by Hayley Kasden, MALAS alum

high-res poster: malas.sdsu.edu/1final_kasden_lecture_poster.jpg

The first of our Edward Said Cultural Studies Lectures, 2019-2020
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 in GMCS 333 at 11am – Free and open to the public! malas.sdsu.edu

Hayley Kasden
The Monstrosity of Femininity
Reading Chelsea Kane’s MANEATERS #1

About Hayley Kasden
---------------------------------
Hayley Kasden earned her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature at San Diego State University and then continued on to a Master’s degree concentrated on cognitive approaches to literature in SDSU’s Liberal Arts and Sciences program (MALAS). Cognitive Literature draws upon contemporary psychology and the neurosciences to dissect the ways in which literature allows us to explore consciousness, perception, emotion, behavior, and social ideology. Through the perspective of another, a narrative allows the audience to encounter the spectrum of these qualities of the human condition without the threat of true experience. However, as Kasden dove deeper, she realized that, although the neurosciences explain what happens in the brain and psychology provides explanations as to how these phenomena occur, the story remained incomplete without answering why. Kasden’s research attempts to place the missing piece to the cognitive puzzle of narratives by introducing a fourth layer to her analyses – philosophy. Reviving the centuries-old questions that have gone unanswered, she attempted to paint the portrait of our faceless selves in the 21st century.Presently, Kasden works in bio-tech as a technical writer at Illumina’s West Coast headquarters in La Jolla; her work there focuses on web development and design.

About MAN-EATERS #1 via NPR
---------------------------------
Even if it didn't happen to be about preteen girls turning into enormous, slavering, murderous panthers, Man-Eaters would still be a remarkable comic. Though writer Chelsea Cain starts out by telling a straightforward story, she's impatient with the trappings of conventional narrative. She and lead artist Kate Niemczyk are far more interested in making a feminist statement through other means. To flesh out Man-Eaters' world, a place where women are viewed as dangerous animals, Cain and Niemczyk create page upon page of fake ads, educational pamphlets and other propaganda. Ultimately Cain even abandons the story altogether, devoting the last chapter in this volume to a fictional magazine, Cat Fight ("A Boy's Guide to Dangerous Cats"). [“In Wildly Satirical 'Man-Eaters,' Teen Girls Turn Into Ferocious Panthers” (March 6, 201 )by ETELKA LEHOCZKY | http://bit.ly/man-eaters]

This is the first lecture in The Edward Said Cultural Studies Lecture Series, 2019-2020 sponsored by MALAS, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Co-sponsoring support comes from Amatl Comix, the new comic book publishing initiative of San Diego State University Press, and SDSU Press. The lecture is hosted by the 281 souls in English 220: #nakedsexybeasts: An Introduction to the Study of Literature, Film, Photography, Comics, and Streaming Media.

About Edward Said (via wikipedia)

	Edward Wadie Said 1 November 1935 Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
	24 September 2003 (aged 67) New York City, United States
Education	Princeton University Harvard University
Spouse(s)	Mariam C. Said
	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Continental philosophy Postcolonialism
Notable ideas	Occidentalism, Orientalism, the Other
Influences[show]

Edward Wadie Said 
(/sɑːˈiːd/; Arabic: إدوارد وديع سعيد‎ [wædiːʕ sæʕiːd], Idwārd Wadīʿ Saʿīd; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.^[3] A Palestinian American born in Mandatory Palestine, he was a citizen of the United States by way of his father, a U.S. Army veteran.

Educated in the Western canon, at British and American schools, Said applied his education and bi-cultural perspective to illuminating the gaps of cultural and political understanding between the Western world and the Eastern world, especially about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the Middle East; his principal influences were Antonio Gramsci,  Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Michel Foucault, and Theodor Adorno.^[4]

As a cultural critic, Said is known for the book Orientalism (1978), a critique of the cultural representations that are the bases of Orientalism—how the Western world perceives the Orient.^[5][6][7][8] Said's model of textual analysis transformed the academic discourse of researchers in literary theory, literary criticism, and Middle-Eastern studies—how academics examine, describe, and define the cultures being studied.^[9][10] As a foundational text, Orientalism was controversial among scholars of Oriental Studies, philosophy, and literature.^[11][4]

MALAS Co-sponsors CULTURE CLASH at San Diego State University, October 15, 2019

MALAS Co-sponsors CULTURE CLASH at San Diego State University, October 15, 2019

MALAS is with AGLSP in Washington DC for #aglsp19

SDSU MALAS Proudly Co-Sponsors the AGLSP International Conference in Washington DC | MALAS is also a special sponsor of the Plenary Panel, Saturday Morning, October 12, 2019 featuring Denis Provencher, Nikki Lane, and Jesse Crane-Seeber

MALAS Proudly Co-Sponsors the AGLSP International Conference in Washington DC | MALAS is also a special sponsor of the Plenary Panel, Saturday Morning, October 12, 2019 featuring Denis Provencher, Nikki Lane, and Jesse Crane-Seeber

Wow! Plenary panel info for Saturday morning--now replete with groovy bios!https://t.co/I2iG110efs pic.twitter.com/3MxQLqWm5p

— AGLSP (@AglspC) October 9, 2019

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MALAS, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Proudly Salutes the Department of Chicana/o Studies, SDSU, with Warm Wishes on Their 50th Anniversary--With Culture Clash

MALAS, the Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Proudly Salutes the Department of Chicana/o Studies, SDSU, with Warm Wishes on Their 50th Anniversary--With Culture Clash

Yes! Culture Clash is back at SDSU with locos Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza checking in with their unique traveling comedy with a heart circus of amazingness! More information here.

Or check out these posters below--click them to see them SUPERSIZE!

 

MALAS Social Hour Tomorrow!

 

MALAS Social Hour Tomorrow! 
Thursday October 3, 2019

Greetings MALASheads, Faculty, staff, graduate students and alumni are invited to our first MALAS Social Hour of the semester--this is a great chance to meet and chat with your colleagues and professors in an informal setting. While the intellectual dimension of graduate school life is apparent (think about the three-five books you have to read this week), the social dimension is no less important and no less vital as you learn to engage and share ideas at a higher level.

2:30 to 4:15, patio at EUREKA restaurant right
across from the Presby Aztec Student Union!

https://eurekarestaurantgroup.com/locations/san-diego-state/​