Northwest Narratives: Stories from Here

Discovery Core Experience: VLPA Course

BCORE 104

60-Second Syllabus: Northwest Narratives – Stories from Here

About This Course:

Whether you grew up in Bothell or moved to Washington State for college – congratulations & welcome! You’re a Husky! And while there is much to celebrate about this new step, transitioning to a new place (in the world, or in life) can also bring complications and questions. In this class, we turn to writing by local authors to explore how others have developed their own feelings of connection, meaning, and belonging in this place we call “the Northwest.”

How have authors written about our local landscapes, and what can we learn about the Pacific Northwest from their texts? From mountains to cities, from ocean coasts to old-growth forests, how have writers depicted Pacific Northwest places and how does that connect with their own sense of identity and community? Moreover, how does place play a role in the negotiation of life’s challenges? And, how do larger social and political realities, such as histories and experiences of colonization, genocide, war, and violence shape the ways in which we live in and experience place?

Selected Projects & Activities

In this class, we will read a selection of memoirs, poems, and essays by local writers that connect personal reflections with larger experiences of place. We will also write creatively ourselves, following examples from the course texts to explore our own identities in relation to the Northwest.

Professor Pedersen (She/Her/Hers)

School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences

About Professor Pedersen:

  • B.A. English and Hispanic Studies, Macalester College
  • M.A. English, University of Washington
  • Ph.D. English, University of Washington

Contact:

"I emphasize safety, not comfort, in the classroom, and incorporate elements of performance and yoga studies and public scholarship to create new possibilities for encounters with the text, society, and self." – Professor Pedersen