Trauma, Text, & the City (FNDS 1301)

An exploration of how artists and writers represent urban trauma (terror, violence, destruction, absence) to describe indescribable suffering.

We will especially examine stories of plague, pandemic, and public health in cities.

In the wake of urban chaos, how do writers make urban community possible? 

To answer this question, we will examine traumatic events in New York City (9/11) as well as London and Detroit to understand how emails, photographs, novels, documentaries, and films try to narrate chaos and stabilize urban history. In addition to films that experiment with narrative (such as Memento [2000] and documentaries), texts may include writings by psychologists (Freud), urban historians (Sugrue), cultural theorists (Baudrillard), and novelists (Joseph Conrad).

This course covers topics in the disciplines of English Literature, Psychology, Urban & Cultural Studies, Fine Arts, Creative Writing.

Who should take this course?

Any student interested in analyzing novels, screenplays, etc. to learn about the psychological effects, and how this literature can heal and harm reader’s conceptions of urban community. 

More about this course

Course number: FNDS 1301

Number of Credits: 3

Search UM-Dearborn Class Schedule to find out more.

Dearborn Discovery Core requirements met: Humanities and the Arts

Meet your faculty member: Erik Bond, Associate Professor of English Literature

One of the benefits of taking a Foundations course is gaining a faculty mentor that can support you throughout your college career. Get to know Erik Bond, faculty member for Trauma, Text, & the City.

Professor Bond is probably right now recovering from his performance as “Mr. Banks” in his daughter’s community theater production of Mary Poppins: the Musical. Before that role-of-his-life, he studied English literature in London, New York City (on 9/11), Philadelphia, and Detroit.  

In his spare time, he contemplates feelings of guilt for having any spare time while raising two daughters and Teddy (a “juggle”---Jack Russell-Pug-Beagle mix from the pound).  He is also currently securing a literary agent for his novel, Terminal Degree.

Have questions about this course? Email Dr. Bond at [email protected].