Humanities and Fine Arts 191HFA3 - FYS-Code-switching/CollegeExp

"Code switching" is a term originally from the field of linguistics, used to describe how speakers switch between languages or dialects (codes) depending upon the situation. People who are bilingual can attest that this happens quite seamlessly and without conscious thought. The term "code switching" has been adopted all over the Humanities to capture the performative and fluid nature of identity. Indeed, we all code-switch to some extent; we position and reposition ourselves throughout any given day to embody the roles that we have chosen for ourselves (or that have been chosen for us). Freshmen in this seminar will reflect on ?code-switching? in order to make sense of the increasingly complicated experience of first-year college students and the various ways we "do" college, as we switch between courses (from departments all over campus), roles (i.e. student, club member, roommate, athlete), and selves (present, past, and imagined future). Each week we will read a selected weekly post from NPR's culture blog, "Codeswitch," and use it as a launching point from which to discuss students' own code-switching experiences.

Open to first-year Humanities and Fine Arts Exploratory Track students and first-year HFA Majors.