I enjoyed this class, especially seeing everyone’s final projects! I loved seeing what everyone took away from all of the discussions and writing we did and the different creative directions people took them in.
I hope everyone else is taking away as much as I am from all of the reading discussions we had, as I felt like they really helped me to pick up on parts of books I may not have noticed if I was just reading by myself.
Thank you all for such a great semester and I hope everyone enjoys a restful break!
This was a really lovely class! It was truly a pleasure getting to know all of y’all. I’m sure we’ll end up in classes together again in the coming years, but it is unfortunate that the community we built in this class won’t be replicable. I loved the final presentations so much. They were so insightful and I feel like I learned so much more about everyone and their perspective. I’m almost sad that we didn’t do them earlier in the semester? But at the same time, I think we wouldn’t have been able to cultivate that sense of safety in October.
Academically, this class has been very interesting. I liked all of the books/readings we were assigned. Getting some real essay writing experience was also great, because prior to this class I had only written in the basic five paragraph format. I came to Smith hoping to grow significantly as a writer. I feel like this class was a great introduction. Thank you all so much <3
Wow I can’t believe this is the final takeaway. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know all of you, most poignantly through the final presentations this week. We shared such vulnerable, intimate, critical, and reflective moments that I don’t take for granted. Each of you are so special, creative, and talented. I was blown away by what you produced and also by the classroom environment we cultivated throughout the semester with the help and facilitation of Professor Cassarino. The discussions were so different and so much better than the ones I had in high school–frankly dominated by cis white boys who think their thoughts matter more than anyone else’s. You’ve all enriched my understanding of the works and media we’ve talked about and brought such fresh perspectives. Good luck with finals if you still have some to take, and thank you for a wonderful class! Have a relaxing break. See you around in 2024.
Thank you to everyone who shared their final project. They were all so unique and well thought out. They felt so personal to each of you and it was something I’m glad to have experienced. I felt this class was essential to my growth and I have really enjoyed all the texts we got to explore and dive deeper into. Everyone’s reading responses were so well crafted and I enjoyed learning from all of you. The concept of borders is what intrigued me and I’m glad I followed my gut and joined this class. It was a lovely experience! I will miss having class with you all and I wish everyone the best of luck for next semester!
I loved getting to see all of your creative projects! There was so much variety but I also thought it was cool to see what themes or trends ran through them all. You’re all so talented, and I’m going to miss sharing both the brilliant discussions and the lovely frantic moments as class started–how does one segue from American girl dolls to Citizen? It’s been an honor and a pleasure to learn alongside and from all of you.
I’ve gained so much from everything I’ve read for this class, not only the assigned poems and novels but also all of your incredible reading responses. I feel like I’ve grown as a writer this semester, looking both at essays and at the day to day reading responses which pushed me to get more comfortable with writing and sharing my writing casually.
Thank you all. I hope you all have lovely and restful winter breaks and I hope to see you all around next semester.
I loved seeing everyone’s final responses to this course. Even though we all had different approaches, whether it be media format or the particular border we were exploring, every one of them was meaningful and bespoke a lot of thought and effort put in.
Overall, I loved this class and the community we were able to create! Best of luck during finals season, and have a restful break.
This last week was such a nice way to end this course. Everyone’s final projects were so personal, thoughtful, and beautiful, and I’m so happy that I got to experience all of them. Overall, this course was such a lovely experience and I am so glad that it was a part of my first semester here at Smith. Everyone was so engaged in and curious about the texts we read, which was so refreshing coming from high school and made me love and appreciate literature even more. Also, everyone was so kind and thoughtful towards one another, which made class such a welcoming and comfortable environment. I’m going to miss this class and everyone in it next semester, but hopefully we’ll run into each other in the future whether on campus or in other classes. I hope everyone has a restful and rejuvenating break!
I really enjoyed listening to everyone’s final projects, they were all so reflective and I loved seeing how we all responded to the course in such personal ways.
This class really improved my confidence in discussing texts, even when I don’t feel like I understand them. I loved hearing everyone’s insights and I feel like I learned a lot from you all. I was pushed in so many to expand my thinking, and I am grateful for what I learned.
Have a great break! Thank you all! Hope to see you around in the spring.
This class was really a great way to start off my time at Smith! I am very grateful to have met all of you guys in this setting and I appreciate every single one of you! It was nice to be in a setting where everyone was pushing each other constantly and always being vulnerable with one another. This was a great environment to share all of my opinions with the works we interacted with, and it was truly special to see everyone’s points of views. The writings really pushed my writing style further. I feel like this class alone has changed the way I think and interact with pieces of text so much, and thus has impacted my writing a lot! I am excited to see where this takes my writing into the future.
As for my final presentation, I have an article that I wrote as extra material posted up. It also has some of the explanations of what symbols I used and some general knowledge of Sikhism. I also posted the article I had pieced back together and a video of the presentation (thank you Zeynep!!!). So I hope you guys are interested enough after my presentation to take a quick little look to educate yourselves on a topic that is never really discussed much.
Ahhhhhh! I am going to miss seeing all of you in class! I hope to see you all around campus and hopefully everyone’s finals go well.
This course has been absolutely amazing in so many ways– I’ve loved getting to know each and every single one of you. From laughing together to having insightful scholarly questions, post-menopauses and penis-phoenixes, we’ve undeniably created a special bond that I am extremely downhearted to be leaving behind. I am so grateful to have been able to come to this class twice a week for the past few months, and I feel that the moments and ideas we’ve shared will stay with me for years to come.
Not only has Literary Borders been enriching in a community-sense, but I genuinely feel that I have become a better overall student, as well. I feel more confident in my writing, reading, analysis, commentary, and ability to work with one another; Professor Cassarino, you have been a joy to learn from, and I hope that us students have also taught you a thing or two (besides not “tik-toking” on computers).
All in all, I hope everyone has a wonderful, well-deserved break, and please feel free to stay in touch! <3
First off, everyone’s final projects were all so so beautiful! Oh me goodness, I’m still thinking about them, and how unique and individualistic they all were!
I am also really sad to see this class end! This class expanded (at least my views) of our own personal borders we cross every day.
I enjoyed all of the books/poems we read, and the discussions we had gaining each other’s perspectives of the reading. As well as pushing my understanding of what we read into a more critical lens.
I will also miss the dynamic of our class, and all of the cool places we were able to have class (such as special collections, SCMA, and outside)!
Have a great break and thank you for such an amazing class!
I enjoyed this class, especially seeing everyone’s final projects! I loved seeing what everyone took away from all of the discussions and writing we did and the different creative directions people took them in.
I hope everyone else is taking away as much as I am from all of the reading discussions we had, as I felt like they really helped me to pick up on parts of books I may not have noticed if I was just reading by myself.
Thank you all for such a great semester and I hope everyone enjoys a restful break!
This was a really lovely class! It was truly a pleasure getting to know all of y’all. I’m sure we’ll end up in classes together again in the coming years, but it is unfortunate that the community we built in this class won’t be replicable. I loved the final presentations so much. They were so insightful and I feel like I learned so much more about everyone and their perspective. I’m almost sad that we didn’t do them earlier in the semester? But at the same time, I think we wouldn’t have been able to cultivate that sense of safety in October.
Academically, this class has been very interesting. I liked all of the books/readings we were assigned. Getting some real essay writing experience was also great, because prior to this class I had only written in the basic five paragraph format. I came to Smith hoping to grow significantly as a writer. I feel like this class was a great introduction. Thank you all so much <3
Wow I can’t believe this is the final takeaway. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know all of you, most poignantly through the final presentations this week. We shared such vulnerable, intimate, critical, and reflective moments that I don’t take for granted. Each of you are so special, creative, and talented. I was blown away by what you produced and also by the classroom environment we cultivated throughout the semester with the help and facilitation of Professor Cassarino. The discussions were so different and so much better than the ones I had in high school–frankly dominated by cis white boys who think their thoughts matter more than anyone else’s. You’ve all enriched my understanding of the works and media we’ve talked about and brought such fresh perspectives. Good luck with finals if you still have some to take, and thank you for a wonderful class! Have a relaxing break. See you around in 2024.
Thank you to everyone who shared their final project. They were all so unique and well thought out. They felt so personal to each of you and it was something I’m glad to have experienced. I felt this class was essential to my growth and I have really enjoyed all the texts we got to explore and dive deeper into. Everyone’s reading responses were so well crafted and I enjoyed learning from all of you. The concept of borders is what intrigued me and I’m glad I followed my gut and joined this class. It was a lovely experience! I will miss having class with you all and I wish everyone the best of luck for next semester!
I loved getting to see all of your creative projects! There was so much variety but I also thought it was cool to see what themes or trends ran through them all. You’re all so talented, and I’m going to miss sharing both the brilliant discussions and the lovely frantic moments as class started–how does one segue from American girl dolls to Citizen? It’s been an honor and a pleasure to learn alongside and from all of you.
I’ve gained so much from everything I’ve read for this class, not only the assigned poems and novels but also all of your incredible reading responses. I feel like I’ve grown as a writer this semester, looking both at essays and at the day to day reading responses which pushed me to get more comfortable with writing and sharing my writing casually.
Thank you all. I hope you all have lovely and restful winter breaks and I hope to see you all around next semester.
I loved seeing everyone’s final responses to this course. Even though we all had different approaches, whether it be media format or the particular border we were exploring, every one of them was meaningful and bespoke a lot of thought and effort put in.
Overall, I loved this class and the community we were able to create! Best of luck during finals season, and have a restful break.
This last week was such a nice way to end this course. Everyone’s final projects were so personal, thoughtful, and beautiful, and I’m so happy that I got to experience all of them. Overall, this course was such a lovely experience and I am so glad that it was a part of my first semester here at Smith. Everyone was so engaged in and curious about the texts we read, which was so refreshing coming from high school and made me love and appreciate literature even more. Also, everyone was so kind and thoughtful towards one another, which made class such a welcoming and comfortable environment. I’m going to miss this class and everyone in it next semester, but hopefully we’ll run into each other in the future whether on campus or in other classes. I hope everyone has a restful and rejuvenating break!
I really enjoyed listening to everyone’s final projects, they were all so reflective and I loved seeing how we all responded to the course in such personal ways.
This class really improved my confidence in discussing texts, even when I don’t feel like I understand them. I loved hearing everyone’s insights and I feel like I learned a lot from you all. I was pushed in so many to expand my thinking, and I am grateful for what I learned.
Have a great break! Thank you all! Hope to see you around in the spring.
This class was really a great way to start off my time at Smith! I am very grateful to have met all of you guys in this setting and I appreciate every single one of you! It was nice to be in a setting where everyone was pushing each other constantly and always being vulnerable with one another. This was a great environment to share all of my opinions with the works we interacted with, and it was truly special to see everyone’s points of views. The writings really pushed my writing style further. I feel like this class alone has changed the way I think and interact with pieces of text so much, and thus has impacted my writing a lot! I am excited to see where this takes my writing into the future.
As for my final presentation, I have an article that I wrote as extra material posted up. It also has some of the explanations of what symbols I used and some general knowledge of Sikhism. I also posted the article I had pieced back together and a video of the presentation (thank you Zeynep!!!). So I hope you guys are interested enough after my presentation to take a quick little look to educate yourselves on a topic that is never really discussed much.
Ahhhhhh! I am going to miss seeing all of you in class! I hope to see you all around campus and hopefully everyone’s finals go well.
This course has been absolutely amazing in so many ways– I’ve loved getting to know each and every single one of you. From laughing together to having insightful scholarly questions, post-menopauses and penis-phoenixes, we’ve undeniably created a special bond that I am extremely downhearted to be leaving behind. I am so grateful to have been able to come to this class twice a week for the past few months, and I feel that the moments and ideas we’ve shared will stay with me for years to come.
Not only has Literary Borders been enriching in a community-sense, but I genuinely feel that I have become a better overall student, as well. I feel more confident in my writing, reading, analysis, commentary, and ability to work with one another; Professor Cassarino, you have been a joy to learn from, and I hope that us students have also taught you a thing or two (besides not “tik-toking” on computers).
All in all, I hope everyone has a wonderful, well-deserved break, and please feel free to stay in touch! <3
First off, everyone’s final projects were all so so beautiful! Oh me goodness, I’m still thinking about them, and how unique and individualistic they all were!
I am also really sad to see this class end! This class expanded (at least my views) of our own personal borders we cross every day.
I enjoyed all of the books/poems we read, and the discussions we had gaining each other’s perspectives of the reading. As well as pushing my understanding of what we read into a more critical lens.
I will also miss the dynamic of our class, and all of the cool places we were able to have class (such as special collections, SCMA, and outside)!
Have a great break and thank you for such an amazing class!