The Hunger Games--Power & Humanity is a course designed to deeply engage with Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games trilogy as a significant work of contemporary literature and social commentary. We will closely examine character archetypes and development, as well as analyze themes of morality in social justice movements, the role of propaganda in shaping public opinion, wealth inequality, ethical leadership, trauma, gender, and political control. We will contemplate the concept of survival vs humanity. In addition to reading and seminars, students will be writing their own dystopian fiction. The course situates the novels within traditions of dystopian literature and by the end, students will understand how fiction can serve as a lens for examining real-world questions about governance, ethics, propaganda, and social justice. We will be engaging in meaningful, deep dialogue and inquiry during class seminars, small group work, and sharing our creative and reflective writing. The final project will be a dystopian fictional work that is a complete short story, a chapter in a longer work, or a section of a work-in-progress. Students will be required to have access to The Hunger Games,Catching Fire, and Mockingjay as well as a journal or notebook for class. This is a 4 credit course (as detailed above) with an 8 credit option for students interested in adding The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and/or Sunrise on the Reaping and writing a longer work of fiction. 

Class meets on Thursday afternoons 1pm - 4:30pm. You can join class in person or on zoom (hyflex). All writing levels are welcome.