I really enjoyed this class and it put me outside of my comfort zone. Especially during the beginning of the class I was not completely sure how to approach the material. Classics/ comparative lit is still relatively new to me, and I did purposely want to take classes that pushed my thinking. I thought that the class format and structure was approachable, and everyone’s appetizer projects really kept the classroom alive. I think back to the huge range of appetizers we had, from pre-modern texts to sumo wrestling, and I’m happy that the presentations were able to broaden my interests and curiosity. Even up until the final project the class format allowed for us to integrate our interests and seeing everyone express their own interests in a creative way was a good way to end the semester.
Something I really enjoyed about the texts that we read were how bizarre, weird, and joyful they were. Coming into the semester, I was interested in how the body is portrayed in literature. How is it celebrated? How does it move? I think that the coolest part of the class is that we did not get all of our questions about the grotesque or carnivalesque answered, but we walked away with a relevant framework for how to analyze the questions we have. I noticed that watching TV and other media I’m looking through the portrayal of characters through a different lens and am more conscious about how they are celebrated/ celebrate others. I think in a time of social media, the body is portrayed, celebrated, and detested in so many different ways. Really happy that I took this class!
