WSTO 301(991) WSTO 501(990)/FASO 329-4 
Topics: Franco-American Women's Project: Borders and Beyond
Online, Asynchronous course

Course Description
Franco-American Women's Project:  Borders and Beyond 
This course will examine the intersection of the past, present and future texts, in comparison/contrast with writings that cross borders and go beyond the borders. Through various mediums, the course will explore the expression of the self, the imagination, the geography, the crossing of oceans, the past events that continue into the future--time and space measured by texts and contexts of literature and story. A world within a world�visibility of presence outside of the mainstream focus: What constitutes story of a cultural group such as the Franco-American women? Métis women?  Francophone women of color?    Does an event cease to happen in its own time, or does it effect the future generations with each new examination of the event and its representation?  Do stories relate and inter-relate, weaving complexities across texts, back to the original and newly fashioned genres?  Where is the future generation's literary, legacy bound?  What does the absence of presence of the French women mean in the area of Ethnic or Women�s Studies in many areas of publication such as anthologies, textbooks and more?  Borders, boundaries, time, space, texts, contexts, events, and the future of literatures will be examined through the lens of FrancoAmerican/Métis/Francophone women of color, women-defined, examination of writings and more.  Texts, plays, film, music, artifacts, etc. will be some of the mediums explored in this course. The course will be writing intensive, students will conduct original research, and publish final projects online.

Instructor:
Rhea Côté Robbins, M.A. 

Prerequisites 
This class will utilize email, computer conferencing and the World Wide Web, requiring students to log on the Internet for lessons, reaction responses, and online discussion. The class will include intensive text-based online discussion. 

Weeks of the course:
France, Canada and Slavery
Haitian Women's Literature
Diasporas
Counting on Grace
Political Women
Performers
Crime! Scandal and Social Issues
The Challenged
Lesbian Women
Women & Wars
Stories Re-written
Speak White
Artists
Raging Grannies
Final Project

Contact Literature:  Native American and Emigrant Stories
The field of Western literature is undergoing massive changes, with the emergence of a movement called "The New Western History" challenging the more established "Turner School" of the past.  This course will focus on the settlement of the continent and those cultures that already existed on the land through the literature of contact between the two.  "West" is defined as the continental United States upon which the myth of pioneer will be brought into question.  The readings will cover the many cultures of the people who came to West and the people who were displaced as a result. This course will be taught as a retrospective of the literature to the present day to better understand the landscape of the continent.

Instructor:
Rhea J. Côté Robbins

Books the course will be reading as well as selected web sites:
 

1.  Life Among the Piutes : Their Wrongs and Claims (Vintage West Series) 
by Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins
Paperback - 268 pages (December 1994) 
Univ of Nevada Pr; ISBN: 0874172527 

2.  Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta : The Celebrated California Bandit
by John R. Ridge
Paperback (August 1977) 
Univ of Oklahoma Pr (Trd); ISBN: 0806114290

3.  Here First : Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers (Modern Library Series)
by Arnold Krupat (Editor), Brian Swann (Editor)
Paperback - 416 pages (June 13, 2000) 
Modern Library; ISBN: 0375751386 

4.  The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
by Sherman Alexie
Paperback - 240 pages Reprint edition (September 1994) 
Harperperennial Library; ISBN: 0060976241 

5.  Snow Falling on Cedars
by David Guterson
Paperback - 460 pages (October 1995) 
Vintage Books; ISBN: 067976402X

6.  A Lantern in Her Hand
by Bess Streeter Aldrich
Paper: 1994, xi, 307, CIP.LC 93-39763, 
University of Nebraska Press, ISBN: 0-8032-5922-0

7.  Augusta Tabor; Pioneering Woman
by Betty Moynihan
Paperback - 144 pages (May 1988) 
Cordillera Pr; ISBN: 0917895231

8.  Death Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics)
by Willa Silbert Cather
Paperback - 297 pages Reissue edition (June 1990) 
Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679728899

9.  Le Quebecois:  The Virgin Forest
by Doris Provencher-Faucher
Paperback, 263 pages, (2000)
Artenay Press, P.O. Box 664, Biddeford, ME  04005
email:  dpf@maine.rr.com
 

Instructor:
Rhea J. Côté Robbins

Writing the Textures, Textiles, and Texts of Our Lives
Finding and Writing Your "Roots"

Untold stories and unrecognized resources lie in the attics and basements of almost every family. In diaries, letters, journals, bibles, photo albums, oral histories, and much more are the makings of a great book.  How can you unleash the power of the untold, tell the story of your family and your culture?  This creative nonfiction workshop will be a collaborative experience, a "writing inquiry" approach tailored to the students' works-in-progress, their needs and interests. The format includes writing exercises, readings, slide presentations, and the discussion and development of student work. We'll focus on how to recover and analyze traditional and nontraditional data and transform this source material into stories.  The instructor will share examples of the research methods she used in developing an award-winning memoir.  Readings include: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; Silences by Tillie Olsen; and Peyton Place by Grace Metalious and Creative Nonfiction by Philip Gerard