This course considers the history and possibilities of imagining and representing the Other and the Unknown. It is centered on the close study of films, texts and media, including Yermek Shinarbaev's Revenge, on the Korean diaspora in central Asia; Susana Aikin's The Salt Mines; Kpop; and texts drawn from critical theory, fiction, and the news. Through experimentations with various media, ranging from writing and storytelling to films and diagrams, students are asked to find ways to bring the unknown to the realm of the familiar, while questioning the merits of this practice.
