ENG 171 SECRETS, SPIES, & SURVEILLANCE IN YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
Children and young adults are one of the most deeply surveilled populations in the United States. Nanny cams keep an eye on the nursery, schools collect data on internet use, and insurance agencies track a new driver’s road speeds. Literature showcases this phenomenon too from the picture book Runaway Bunny to young adult novels like Twilight and Little Brother. Students in this first-year seminar course will analyze the ways different forms of surveillance are both overtly and covertly presented in a wide variety of books for young adult readers. Drawing on the techniques of literary analysis as well as the critical theories of surveillance studies, students will investigate how this literature serves to generate a sense of agency or to enforce an expectation of submission to surveillance technologies. Most importantly, students will consider what it means in relation to personal independence, civic life, and economic opportunity to live in a surveillance society.
Prerequisite
Open to new students only.