Mumbai Seoul OCS | Senior Spotlight: Linnea Williams and Caroline Cooper | Comps Illuminated
Film, Literature, and Culture in Mumbai and Seoul Program This Spring!
Program director Arnab Chakladar gives us a sneak peek into what the term abroad will look like.
What is the general structure of the program?
We spend five weeks in Bombay, officially known as Mumbai, and then we move to Seoul for the second five weeks. In Bombay, I teach a class on the literature of Bombay, a filmmaker based in Bombay teaches a class on documentary and other non-mainstream Indian cinema, and we do a number of historical cultural walks. We explore the city’s identity through food. It’s made up of multiple generations of immigrant communities from different parts of India, all of whose foods are widely available. On the last program, a couple of people noted that it almost felt more like a food program than anything else. When we get to Seoul, there’ll be a lot of history walks, culture walks, and a lot of eating. In Seoul, there’s one class on K-drama, and then one class on Korean cinema.
Are you focusing on any authors or filmmakers in particular?
It’s very broad. We read poetry and we read short stories about Bombay. We read non-fiction, we read a graphic novel, we might even read a whole novel as well. The point is to sort of show all the different ways in which the city has been represented.
What are you most excited about?
I’m excited about all of it, really. This time we are going with a different organization [for our historical cultural walks], who are a lot more grassrootsy in in their approach. Our first culture outing in Bombay is going to be to a forest area about one hour north of the city. We’ll meet with their tribal community and learn about their day-to-day lives and eat meals with them and traipse through the forest.
What would you say to underclassmen considering the next iteration of the program?
The next time it will happen is Spring 2028. We’ll start recruiting and having info sessions this October. You know, the English department has a London program and then an Ireland program as well that is usually dominated by English majors. For this program, there are 16 students going, and I think right now there’s only one declared English major, and maybe a couple who are leaning towards declaring English. It would be nice to see more English majors interested in this program because it’s the only program [our department has] that goes outside of Europe.
So keep your eyes peeled come fall for your chance to to be one such (prospective) English major on the trip in 2028!
Senior English major Sasha Monks speaks from experience when she says, “Go with Arnab to Mumbai and Seoul if you are looking for the best 10 weeks of eating you will ever have, to consume countless stories through indie and mainstream film, and to read and meet local authors that define the cities they write about. Also fulfill your Global requirements and HE3 while you are at it…and get an arts practice.”
Senior Spotlight: Linnea Williams and Caroline Cooper
Read on to learn about these wonderful seniors’ post-grad plans, favorite books, and more!
What are your current post-grad aspirations?
Linnea: My current post-grad plans are to move to the Bay and work in a legal office while applying to grad schools for English.
Caroline: My post-grad plans are currently to pursue either education (teaching) or a career in the field of history (such as working for historical societies), though I hope to continue to be involved in creative outlets as well (art-making, improv, writing).
What was your favorite class you ever took?
Linnea: My favorite class was ENGL 395: The Writings of Virginia Woolf with Greg Hewett!
Caroline: My favorite creative writing class I’ve taken was Advanced Fiction with Greg Smith (who retired but was awesome), though I also really like screenwriting (which I’m currently taking). Other classes I’ve loved are Consumer Culture (HIST) with Annette and the Twelfth Night class with Pierre and Andrew.
What advice would you give to future English majors/Creative Writing minors?
Linnea: My advice to future English majors is to read everything twice if you have the time. It will make you understand so much better!
Caroline: Check which courses are offered and plan accordingly! For instance, many of the CAMS creative writing courses aren’t offered as frequently as creative writing/short story workshop, so make sure to take them when they are! Also, consume lots of different types of writing (short stories, flash fiction, novels, screen plays, essays, poems) and figure out what you like and what works—it will make your writing better.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Linnea: My favorite book of all time is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
Caroline: Ooh, “of all time” is so hard! My two favorites of college have been Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu and The Idiot by Elif Batuman.
What is your most “English major” or “Creative Writing minor” trait?
Linnea: I think my most English major trait is that I literally actually love Shakespeare so so much and will talk about it all day long.
Caroline: Having a robust notes app on my phone and a mile long to-read list.
What’s your comps topic/thesis?
Linnea: My comps topic/thesis is how women’s authority gets reframed and retained in spinoff texts that replaces canonical protagonists with minority women in diasporic communities!
Caroline: I am a HIST major and my comps looks at Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Wellesley colleges (women’s colleges) during the mid-century and examines how their post-war campus cultures championed heterosexuality and “medicalized” same-sex attraction, treating it as a psychological illness.
Comps Illuminated: A Look Into the Comps Process
This week we asked our valiant compsers to update us on their progress and what remains to be done before the looming deadline.
Linnea says, “This week we all exchanged drafts for peer reviews. As of now we’ve got two people each reviewing drafts and will begin having feedback meetings on Friday. My personal next step after getting feedback is to incorporate more secondary scholarship into my paper to help my claims.”
Ambar says, “It’s all finally coming together. I turned in a full draft that started connecting all the parts. However, my argument was contradicting itself and needlessly complicated, so I had to reframe it. Now I actually have a thesis that connects all of my literary analysis. To finish off my project, I need to engage more with my secondary sources and pull a magic trick: make it seem like I knew my argument this whole time. Also still a little wobbly on the framework, but it should be fine! (I think?)”
Ryan says, “Last week, I had to turn in a rough draft of my stories and I’m working on the revision process with Gwen’s feedback, as well as my 5-page paper about my methods and inspirations. I’m meeting with the other creative writers to get advice and read each other’s work, which has been a good source of inspiration and I hope others choose to do the same. It’s been helpful to feel like I’m not alone in this process. Writing is a really solitary practice and doing it with other people makes it feel a lot more meaningful.”