AMCS 3140, GS 3142, E Lit 314
Topics in Lit: Turn and Face the Strange: Alienation & Transformation in Modern Lit & Contemp Music
This course explores the transformational effects of estrangement by pairing modern English literary and popular musical figures famous for their roles in reflecting and effecting radical social shifts. Questions of aestheticism, performance, audience response, fame, and influence will thread through five units. Godot and Glam: Beckett / Bowie Portrait and Punk: Joyce / The Clash Aestheticism and Alternative: Wilde / Morrissey Gender and GenX: Woolf / Lady Gaga Romance and Rap: Keats / Kendrick Students will then construct their own pairing for a class presentation and final essay. Satisfies the Twentieth Century and later requirement.
Instructors
Reviews
Dr. Finneran is a very interesting person and a great professor! Sometimes she will talk about things that don't make sense or feel relevant, but overall she gives great insight and leads good discussions about the readings.
3/2/2026
Hardly gives any feedback on assignments. Assigns an unmanageable amount of work for each class (reading 500+ pages per class)
11/15/2025
Read everything if you want to do well, you have to be more insightful that her, which will go poorly if you disagree with her. Very rewarding if you pick a final pairing you care about, but you'll feel like you're slogging through all the unnecessary discussion posts that could just be in-person discussions.
5/8/2025
This class is intense (lots of reading and writing) but so much fun. Grading isn't super hard as long as you're clearly making an effort and reading. Finneran is entertaining and kooky.
4/27/2024
100% take this class with Finneran, it's her baby and she's super passionate about the subject. A good amount of writing (~500 words weekly) but it wasn't graded harshly, and felt necessary to process the big topics and complex theory. All writing was submitted via public Canvas discussion, so you also get to learn from other students' work too.
5/5/2023
Prof. McKay is a marvelous teacher. Very engaging, clear and helpful. The atmosphere in class is really nice, and she gives great comments on papers. The reading is interesting and manageable. Also, as others have said, her accent is such a treat.
4/14/2011