Dr. Katharina Rout, a VIU English Professor, is teaching a third-level English course that explores the refugee crisis through literature by and about refugees. She is inviting members of the community to enroll as well as students.
July 27, 2016 - 9:30am
University invites public to enroll in third-level English course that tackles this timely issue
Today, more than 65-million people, or one out of every 113 people in the world, have been forced to flee their homes as a result of war, persecution or the effects of climate change – a population greater than all of France. More than two dozen of these refugee families have found a new home in the mid-Vancouver Island region.
This fall, in response to this worldwide crisis, Vancouver Island University (VIU) will offer an English course on literature by and about refugees. Dr. Katharina Rout, a VIU English Professor and the course instructor, is inviting members of the community at large to enroll, as well as students.
“There are a lot of people in Nanaimo who are working with refugees, or have been to fundraising events for sponsorships, or have new neighbours who are refugees,” she says. “Because of the topic and because of what’s going on locally, I think members of the community would be very interested in taking the course. While it is hard to imagine what it means that 65-million people have lost their homes, we can develop an understanding of their individual experiences, hopes and fears by reading their stories.”
Writers have always told stories of escape, exile and migration, says Rout, but the two World Wars have given rise to a new social and legal understanding of refugees and to new literary expressions and concerns. Today writers from many countries – many of them refugees themselves – tell of perilous journeys out of Afghanistan or Syria, across the Sahara or the Mediterranean, of fragile nation-states, newly fortified borders, and traffickers organized in corporation-like structures. These stories are about life and death, and they reshape notions of identity, not just for the people who no longer have a place to call “home,” but also for people who have never had to move, but see their society changing around them as a result of large-scale migration.
The course, called Topics in International Literature, will explore fiction, memoirs, a graphic novel and poetry about refugees from the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia. All texts originally written in foreign languages will be read in English translation.
A few years ago, Rout, a literary translator, developed a course on Modern Arabic Fiction that she offered with support from Mohammed Hawamdeh from the Faculty of International Education. The course brought domestic and Arabic students together and the success of the resulting dialogue resulted in Rout and Hawamdeh being invited to present on the course at the 2012 Annual Conference of the Canadian Bureau for International Education in Montreal.
“I have since taught the course again and the second time, a significant number of community members and activists participated, which led to a lot of dialogue that enhanced the experience for students,” says Rout, who won a Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching Design and Practice. “I love diversity in the classroom. The more different our perspectives, the better.”
The course takes place on Friday mornings from 9 am to noon throughout the fall. Community members who simply enjoy learning and do not need the grade or credit are encouraged to enroll under VIU’s Love of Learning program, at only $99 per course. Students 65 years or older will have their tuition waived.
For more information, visit the course link or contact Rout at Katharina.Rout@viu.ca. For more information on how to register, call 250-740-6400 or email registration@viu.ca.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Jenn McGarrigle, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University
P: 250.740.6288 | C: 250.619.6860 | E: jenn.mcgarrigle@viu.ca
Tags: Teaching and Learning
