MALA (Master of Liberal Arts) 6050-Philosophy in Recent American Fiction
(For more info: phil.oliver@mtsu.edu... https://prafmtsu.blogspot.com/)
We'll all read three novels* together, and each of us will additionally read and report on either a fourth novel or on a specific author's life and works.**
"Philosophy" = searching for wisdom, clarity, enlightenment, meaning, perspective, purpose, reality, truth, understanding, ... especially with regard to the human impact on nature, the environment, other species, & other humans.
"Recent" = 21st century
*The three novels:
- Richard Ford, Be Mine
- Richard Powers, Playground (see below #)
- Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God
**Possible fourth choices, for individual reports:
- The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015) - A satirical look at race and identity that won the Man Booker Prize.
- The Candy House by Jennifer Egan (2022) - Explores themes of memory, connection, and digital surveillance.
- Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (2024) - Considers whether the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past.
- Any of the earlier Frank Bascombe novels by Richard Ford...
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) - Explores the lasting impacts of slavery and the search for identity across generations.
- Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (2012) - Explores climate change, ecological disruption, and human responsibility.
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2024) - a new take on Dickens' Copperfield.
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) - A harrowing journey through a post-apocalyptic landscape, meditating on survival, love, and morality.
- A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet (2020) - Set in a near-apocalyptic world, it examines generational responsibility and environmental collapse.
- Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (2022) - Dystopian fiction about cultural repression and familial bonds.
- The Overstory by Richard Powers (2018) - A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel weaving interrelated stories about trees, nature, and activism.
- Bewilderment by Richard Powers (2021) - This novel delves deeply into themes of ecological awareness and the human condition through the story of a father and his neurodivergent son.
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (2019) - Investigates issues of race, privilege, and morality in contemporary America.
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022) - This narrative explores human creativity and relationships within the context of gaming and artificial intelligence.
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (2004) - A profound exploration of faith, mortality, and legacy in small-town America.
- Plato at the Googleplex by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein...
- The Maytrees by Annie Dillard (2007 meditates on time, love, and mortality in a manner reminiscent of late James or even Santayana.
- A Children’s Bible (2020) and Dinosaurs (2022) by Lydia Millet, perhaps our sharpest living ecological moralist. She writes with a mix of irony and tenderness about apocalypse, indifference, and human responsibility to the more-than-human world.
- The Woman Upstairs (2013), The Emperor’s Children (2006) by Claire Messud.
- Messud’s work probes questions of authenticity, ambition, and moral compromise—what Sartre called mauvaise foi in a modern American key.
- The Flamethrowers (2013), The Mars Room (2018) by Rachel Kushner
- Both novels interrogate freedom, rebellion, and moral responsibility within systems of art, politics, and incarceration.
- Fates and Furies (2015), Matrix (2021) by Lauren Groff
- Matrix, in particular, is a striking meditation on creative power, spirituality, and women’s community—an existential study of agency within constraint. Medieval monastic life reimagined as a feminist parable of creation, solitude, and visionary leadership. Philosophical focus: Meliorism, the work of care, and the imagination of better worlds within the constraints of necessity — what it means to “find delight in dark times.”
- The History of Love (2005), Forest Dark (2017) by Nicole Krauss
- Krauss brings a metaphysical sensibility to questions of love, art, and transcendence—often through a quasi-Kabbalistic lens.
- Oryx and Crake (2003) and The Year of the Flood (2009) by Margaret Atwood
- The Auburn Conference by Tom Piazza
- Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
- Michael Chabon
- Jennifer Egan
- Richard Ford
- Jonathan Franzen
- Barbara Kingsolver
- Rachel Kushner
- Ann Patchett
- Richard Powers
- Marilyn Robinson
- Philip Roth
- Tom Piazza
For midterm report presentations, focus on the day's assigned material. For the final report presentation and accompanying blog post, focus on the additional text you've selected. Each report is worth up to 25 points. Exams will be objective-format questions covering the required texts, each worth up to 25 points. Gain extra credit via participation (earned via comments and questions posted online and posed in class), which we'll track on the scorecard (to be explained in class)...
JAN
20 Introductions (Who are you? Why are you here? What's your definition of philosophy? What are the best and the most recent novels you've read? What did you like/dislike about them? Did you find in them anything "philosophical," by your definition? Post your responses in the comments' space below.)
27 Richard Ford, Be Mine ch1 (thru p.46). Select/assign midterm report presentation topic & date... and think about your final report presentation topic on a fourth novel or on a particular author. And take a look at the Richard Ford interview above, if you get a chance.
FEB
3 Richard Ford, Be Mine -p.87. Midterm report presentation: ___
10 Richard Ford, Be Mine -172. Presentation: ___
17 Richard Ford, Be Mine -266. Presentation: ___
24 Richard Ford, Be Mine -342. Presentation(s): ___
MAR
3 Exam. Select final report presentation topic & date. Presentation(s): ___
SPG BK
17 Richard Powers, Playground -p.95. Final report presentation: ___
24 Richard Powers, Playground -p.193. Presentation: ___
31 Richard Powers, Playground -p.292. Presentation: ___
APR
7 Richard Powers, Playground -p.381. Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God -tba. Presentation: ___Presentation: ___
14 Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God -tba. Presentation: ___
21 Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God -tba. Presentation(s): ___
28 Last class. Exam 2. Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God -tba. Presentation(s): ___
MAY
2 Final report blog post (final draft) due. Post earlier for feedback
IMPORTANT DATES Fall 2026
Jan 20 - Classes begin
Jan 27 - Select/assign midterm report presentation topic & date.
Feb 3 - Mid-term report presentations begin.
Mar 3 – Exam 1. Select final report presentation topic & date.
Mar 9-14 – Spring Break – No Classes
Mar 17 – Final report presentations begin
Apr 28 – Our Last Day of Class. Exam 2
May 2 - Final report blog post (final draft) due. Post earlier for feedback
May 7 – Last Day of Term
May 9 – Commencement (Days and Times TBD), Official Fall Graduation Date
May 10 – Deadline for Submission of Final Grades, 11:59 p.m.
I'll begin the Introductions.
ReplyDelete*Who are you? --I'm the Prof, probably the oldest guy in the room (though that isn't always the case, in MALA classes). I've been teaching at MTSU for a quarter century, but this is the first time I've offered THIS course. My specialty is American philosophy, particularly William James.
*Why are you here? -I'm at MTSU because they hired me, not long after the Belmont provost un-hired me when I expressed sympathy for the Unitarian Universalist credo ("guided by reason and inspired by love, we celebrate diversity, confront oppression, and promote environmental and social justice"). And in retrospect, I'm glad he did! I've been happy at MTSU (and teach a course called Philosophy of Happiness). I'm in Middle Tennessee because I came to Vanderbilt (from Mizzou) for grad school and liked it enough to stay.
*What's your definition of philosophy? "An unusually stubborn attempt to think [and write and speak] clearly" in the pursuit of wisdom.
*What are the best and the most recent novels you've read? What did you like/dislike about them? Did you find in them anything "philosophical," by your definition? Most recent, and among the best, are those by the two Richards (Ford and Powers) we'll be reading. We'll get into my thoughts (and yours) concerning their relation to wisdom. Suffice for now to say that Ford's Frank Bascombe is a character I find amusing and occasionally wise; and Powers's "Playground" touches on themes I find vitally relevant and potentially either an advance or a big setback for humanity: the environment, and Artificial Intelligence. It's too soon to tell about that, but it's pretty clear that we've got to address those issues effectively as individuals AND as a species, if we're to survive and flourish for long,.
What made you select these specific novels? Is there a philosophy you would like us to grasp as MLA students from these novels?
DeleteWho are you? - My name is Amanda. I'm in my last year of the MALA program and I work here in the English Grad Program (going on four years). My main areas of study are Fandom, Popular Culture, and Film.
ReplyDeleteWhy are you here? - I'm here in the MALA program because I'm a lifelong learner and love openness and flexibility of this Masters program. While I hold a Bachelors in English literature, I am drawn to many other Liberal Arts disciplines and making connections between them.
What's your definition of philosophy? - To me, philosophy is a means of understanding or making sense of the world, ourselves, and our relationships to others.
What are the best and the most recent novels you've read? What did you like/dislike about them? Did you find in them anything "philosophical," by your definition? - The most recent novels I've read are from The Locked Tomb series, Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and (currently reading) Nona the Ninth, and I consider them to be some of the best novels I've read. I quite enjoy how Tamsyn Muir blends the gothic, horror and sci-fi genres together and breaks traditional narrative structures in each book, allowing for new ways of storytelling. I do find philosophical aspects in these novels through their subject matter and world building. The characters deal head on with mortality, finding reasons for living in a troubled world, and exploring the value human connections hold.
Hello Amanda! Have you ever considered writing your own novel? Or have you already?
DeleteWho are you? - My name is Jalen Walker. I'm in my last semester as a MALA student. I received my Bachelor's degree at MTSU in summer 2023, and began Graduate school in Fall 2024. My main areas of study are visual arts, graphic design, Africana studies, and some political science.
ReplyDeleteWhy are you here? - I am here as a MALA student to further my critical thinking skills, and to advance the knowledge I obtained during undergrad. I enjoy how diverse Liberal Arts is.
What's your definition of philosophy? - When I think of philosophy, I think of the origins or morality, values, ethics, "right from wrong", and how we as humans should operate our fullest, positive potential.
What are the best and the most recent novels you've read? - I honestly have not done much reading as of recent, but one of the my favorites authors is Fred T. Joseph. He published a book titled "The Black Friend", a social justice book aimed at younger readers based on his own experiences growing up in Westchester County, New York and his college years. Joseph also has a book titled "Patriarchy Blues: Reflections on Manhood". I believe they revolve a unique philosophy, regarding race, gender, power dynamics, and moral ethics.
Hello, Class!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Markeem Tyler, but the question of who I am is much deeper than a name tied to an ancestral oppressor. I would say I am a conscious being trying to make sense of this spinning rock and its inhabitants. Deep down, I feel that I am here to make a positive impact, although the method of how that happens is still to be determined.
My definition of philosophy, without Googling the term, would be the process of finding the why behind the is and translating that understanding into comprehensible terms.
I have not read a novel in the last five years. Instead, I have been reading memoirs, such as Finding Me by Viola Davis. If I had to look back to a novel, I would say The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris. I liked hearing a similar internal monologue that related to people who look like me. I disliked the abuse the main character experienced throughout the book. However, I understand that this is part of the author’s artistic expression.
What I found philosophical in The Other Black Girl is the idea that one should not stay in spaces where they do not belong solely for security, because financial gain is not worth mental bankruptcy. I do confess that I did not complete the book, but I definitely plan to finish it over the summer.
I look forward to a thought provoking semester.
Who are you? - My name is Ashley Eady. I’m in my third semester of the MALA program. I would describe myself as a curious creative; a deep thinker; and a lover of music, history, and plants. I’m a world traveller (13 countries and counting!) My areas of interest are African history, journalism, French, education, and music.
ReplyDeleteWhy are you here? - Someday, I hope to get my PhD in African and African Diaspora Studies and teach African history at the college level. I think the MALA program is a great stepping stone to achieve just that.
Definition of philosophy - Superficially, the love of knowledge. On a deeper level, the insatiable desire to define the undefinable and know the unknowable. To attempt to answer existential questions such as “who are we?” and “what is the meaning of our existence?”
Best/most recent novels - (1) Secret Doctors, by Wonda L. Fontenot. I don’t know if this counts as a novel, but I read it recently and really enjoyed it. It’s an ethnography of the medicinal practices of African Americans in rural Louisiana. It’s philosophical in that it provides insight into the people’s cultural values. Their medicinal practices reveal how they preserve their history despite centuries of attempts at erasure. (2) I definitely wouldn’t call this a novel, but I recently read a book about a family of dogs (The Izy Staff Wolfpack, by Ian Barnes). It tells the story of a man’s lifelong love of a particular breed of dogs and how he built his own “pack.” Even though it’s not exactly a novel, it’s philosophical in the sense that it talks about unconditional love and the bond between dogs and humans. I recently lost my schnauzer, so this book has helped me through my grief.
Great meeting you all last night. I think we're off to a good start, and will enjoy meeting in the cozy Conference Room. See you Tuesday, weather willing.
ReplyDelete