Honors
390
East
Meets West: Cultivating and Maintaining a Zen-like
Perspective
in 21st Century, America
Professor
Michael Meyerhofer
Class Meeting Time: 3 to 3:50 PM in RB 105.
Office Hours: MW, noon to 2 PM in RB 246
Class Meeting Time: 3 to 3:50 PM in RB 105.
Office Hours: MW, noon to 2 PM in RB 246
Zen
is a way of liberation, concerned not with discovering what is good or bad or
advantageous, but what is. -Alan Watts
Course Description: Just as certain Zen
sayings (called koans) are designed to short-circuit our analytical brains and
hopefully jar us out of our everyday complacency, so too with poetry and
fiction (both "eastern" and "western" alike). But in our
modern day culture of constant commercials, reality TV, and near-rabid
consumerism, how significant is the sound a frog makes as it jumps in the water
(a famous haiku by Basho) or a bag blowing in the wind (a famous scene from
"American Beauty")? What is "significance," anyway? That's
where we'll begin—and quite possibly, where we'll end. This course will
incorporate careful readings and discussions of Zen as viewed through the lens
of poetry, fiction, film, and philosophy (but most especially, poetry). Later
in the semester, we will also write and workshop creative, Zen-inspired pieces
of our own.
Required Reading:
Bring Me the Rhinoceros by John Tarrant
Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk by Shozan Jack Haubner
One Hundred Poems from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth
Essential Haiku by Robert Hass
Folly by Norman Minnick
Haiku Anthology by Cor van den Heuvel
Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins
Suggested Additional Reading: Nine Stories by
J.D. Salinger. Also, The Blue Cliff Record, The Book of Serenity, The Gateless Gate, and
The True Dharma Eye (these are
ancient, original collections of Zen koans, widely available in print and online)
Grading: This is a hybrid
discussion/workshop class, not a
traditional lecture course, so a significant percentage of your overall points
depend on active and positive participation in class discussions (including
workshops). However, I also expect
regular journal responses, which is an additional opportunity for you to
interact critically with the assigned texts.
*Reading
Responses (a two full page reading response to each of the required texts). I will accept these responses in printed form
or over email in doc or docx format. 30%
*A
portfolio of your own Zen-inspired poems, workshopped in class and revised by
the end of the semester. Tentatively, I’m requiring five pieces. 30%
*Active
and Productive Class Participation (not synonymous
with attendance). 30%
*An
individual project elucidating or expanding upon some aspect of Zen literature
(especially Zen poetry) and/or the history of Zen. This can either be a creative project (such
as a multi-media or art piece), a class presentation, or a more traditional
research paper of 4-5 pages. 10%
Absences:
You can miss up to three classes without penalty. If you miss four to five
classes, your final grade will be reduced by one letter grade. If you miss six
to seven classes, your final grade will be reduced by two letter grades. If you
miss eight or more classes, you fail for the semester. However, attendance isn’t just a matter of
being there on time; it’s a matter of good participation. I reserve the right to mark as absent any
student who disrupts class or fails to be respectful to others.
Conferences: At least once during the semester, we will meet one-on-one
in my office to discuss your writing. Although these meetings are informal,
attendance is mandatory and is counted into your participation grade. Also,
failure to attend conferences will result in unexcused absences.
Reading
Responses: As I said, I expect you to turn in a
journal (two full, double spaced pages, typed) for each of the assigned texts.
Don’t just say “I like this” or “I hate this.” Give me specific lines, images, ideas, or
techniques that caught your attention.
You certainly don’t have to like all the pieces I assign, let alone all
the poems or passages in a given book.
In fact, I welcome disagreements!
Let’s get some good discussions/debates going so basically, look at
these responses as prep for class discussion.
Class Participation:
The way we improve as writers and critics is by practice and
participation. Think of this class as
a Sangha (more on that later), or if you prefer, as a community of fellow
scholars and writers who each bring something different to the table, who may
not always agree but can assist each other through good-natured, constructive
dialog. In terms of your final grade,
strong class participation will help you greatly, especially if your grade is
borderline. So don’t be afraid to speak up, and to speak your mind, but do it
with consideration for the opinions and feelings of your classmates. Going along with this, you are expected to
behave respectfully in class. That means
please don’t chat, interrupt, play with cell phones or laptops, start juggling
without permission, etc.
About
Your Instructor: I've published three books and five
chapbooks of poetry and have won quite a few national prizes. I also have a
literary fantasy novel forthcoming in April (the first in a series). Feel free
to swing by www.troublewithhammers.com and check out some of my work, if you’re
bored. This is my sixth year as an Assistant Professor at Ball State
University. Before this, I taught composition and creative writing at Southern
Illinois University for four years. I’m the Poetry Editor for Atticus Review
and I’ve also been a tutor, worked in a rehab center, flipped burgers, and
built refrigerators in a factory (worst job ever). I am also an unapologetic
history, science, and politics nerd so be prepared to have random facts thrown
at you (and, sometimes, candy). As my prior students can attest to, I
believe very strongly in helping my students. So if you have questions or
concerns, let me know!
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