This class will teach you how to surf (the Internet) and about the various ways that English studies have been transformed over the last few decades. Starting with some basic close-reading and analysis skills (aided by annotation at COVE Studio), we will then explore how those skills have been increasingly applied to new areas of inquiry (tv, film, culture, critical theory, and politics). Throughout, we will employ new digital tools that change the way we approach our subjects of inquiry, including Web annotation, timeline-building, gallery-building and GIS mapping. As we proceed, we will consider the nature of English studies: What is an English department and how does it relate to the rest of the university? What can you do with an English degree? Why is it necessary to fight for English in an increasingly STEM-oriented world? The Bisexual Center, according to it's founders, is a safe haven to promote a more sex-positive environment for bisexual persons. The desire for a place that bisexual persons can be authentically themselves started when a group of people, all of them bisexual, got together and attempted to create a center where they can hold potlucks and gatherings and generally a safe space for bisexuals to celebrate their sexuality without feeling any judgement. The main issue for creating the center however, was the lack of any sort of financial backing, which was the only thing blocking them from success.
The most prominent person that helped the center become a reality was Dr. Maggi Rubenstein. Rubenstein and her two partners that helped her tremondously, David Lourea and Margo Rila, initially tried to get the amount of money they needed to open up the Bisexual Center in 1974 from the owner of the local paper that was closest to them, The Berkeley Barb, however, this idea has...
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