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Stone, Lauren Shizuko

Assistant Professor

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Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • Lauren Shizuko Stone's research interests include literature and culture from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries and their points of intersection with the German philosophical tradition since Kant. Her work focuses on representations of marginal figures in quotidian culture, with an emphasis on short format prose (e.g., fragments, letters, short stories, and novellas) produced during the rise and solidification of the bourgeois class. Broadly speaking, her work is animated by an interest in how literature renders a range of intractable philosophical problems through poetic language—from the re-appearance of Leibniz’ monad in early 20th century representations of childhood to the construction of gender in expressions of female same-sex desire before Freud. Recently, her work has ranged in topic from flirtation as a question for ordinary language philosophy to the aesthetic production of the non-traditional “family.”

keywords

  • 19th- and early 20th-century literature and philosophy, German Romanticism, Realism, Modernism, Literary theory, Aesthetics, Translation Theory, Feminist Theory, Queer Theory, Affect Theory, Critical Theory

Publications

selected publications

Teaching

courses taught

  • FYSM 1000 - First Year Seminar
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2022
    Provide first year students with an immersive experience in an interdisciplinary topic that addresses current issues including social, technical and global topics. Taught by faculty from across campus, the course provides students with an opportunity to interact in small classes, have project based learning experiences and gain valuable communication skills. Seminar style classes focused on discussion and projects.
  • GRMN 2504 - Gothic, Horror, and Fantasy
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2023
    Introduces students to gothic, horror, and fantasy with a multimedia approach. Investigates links between scary, creepy, and fantastical representations and their social and historical contexts. Explores German and Austrian films, images, fiction and poetry from a range of periods. Taught in English.
  • GRMN 4051 - Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
    Serves as an introduction to the "Frankfurt School" and Critical Theory with particular emphasis upon rationality, social psychology, cultural criticism, and aesthetics. Through close readings of key texts by members of the school (Horkheimer, Benjamin, Adorno, Habermas) we will work toward a critical understanding of the analytical tools they developed and consider their validity. Taught in English. Same as GRMN 4051.
  • GRMN 4231 - Sex, Love and Marriage in Literature and Philosophy
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2020 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
    Traces notions of love, sex and marriage in 19th-20th century philosophy and literature. Considered will be whether/how these representations reflect or challenge ideas of human agency, dignity and happiness. Examined will be shifting views of gender and other social configurations (e.g., friendship, adultery, same-sex desire) to understand their influence on modern attitudes towards sexuality and fidelity. Same as GRMN 5231.
  • GRMN 5010 - Theory and Practice of German Studies
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2023
    Provides a graduate-level introduction to German Studies, with emphasis on theoretical approaches and current trends in German Studies. Special attention will be given to developing the tools necessary for advanced criticism: close-reading skills, mastery of critical terminology, and training in a range of theoretical approaches. The main goals of this course are (1) to introduce students to critical approaches to literature/art/film and recent theoretical trends in German literary and cultural studies, (2) to give students the opportunity to deepen interpretive skills through close reading and discussion of representative texts, and (3) to encourage students to explore theoretical approaches to literary and cultural material.
  • GRMN 5030 - Foundations of Critical Theory
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019
    An introductory study of nineteenth-century German philosophy (especially Kant, Hegel, and Marx). Required course for the graduate certificate in Critical Theory.
  • GRMN 5051 - Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
    Serves as an introduction to the "Frankfurt School" and Critical Theory with particular emphasis upon rationality, social psychology, cultural criticism, and aesthetics. Through close readings of key texts by members of the school (Horkheimer, Benjamin, Adorno, Habermas) we will work toward a critical understanding of the analytical tools they developed and consider their validity. Taught in English. Same as GRMN 4051.
  • GRMN 5231 - Sex, Love and Marriage in Literature and Philosophy
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2020 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
    Traces notions of love, sex and marriage in 19th-20th century philosophy and literature. Considered will be whether/how these representations reflect or challenge ideas of human agency, dignity and happiness. Examined will be shifting views of gender and other social configurations (e.g., friendship, adultery, same-sex desire) to understand their influence on modern attitudes towards sexuality and fidelity. Same as GRMN 4231.
  • GRMN 5410 - Seminar: Topics in Early 20th Century German Society
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2022 / Fall 2023
    Focuses on major issues, events, movements, and figures prior to World War II. Topics may include the ontology of lyric poetry; Berlin in the 1920s; exiles, their communities, and their writings; women writers from Andreas-Salome to Anna Seghers; topics in German film; and others. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours when topic varies.
  • GRMN 6900 - Master's Thesis
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
    May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.

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