“Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing,” writes Jenny Odell in How To Do Nothing. Everything vies for our time and attention: school work, waged work, care work, extracurriculars, keeping up with the news, Tiktok trends, doomscrolling. How could we possibly do nothing when there’s always something? And do we even want to get off the busy tread mill – or know how? This course asks what it means to cultivate the art of ‘doing nothing’ at a time when it feels like there’s so much to do. Thinking with classic and contemporary texts, we’ll investigate the capitalist imperative to be productive and keep busy, and we’ll imagine what it might look like to resist its demands and pursue more nourishing ways of passing our time. We’ll also experiment with the idea that writing could be a gateway into such experiences. We’ll try out different modes of writing (letter writing, journaling, interviews, and personal essays) that avoid ‘just trying to get it done’ and instead savor the time spent doing it. This course is meant to give students the freedom and time in their writing to step outside anxieties about “productivity” and focus instead on seeking meaning and joy while they write.

Units: 1

Max Enrollment: 18

Prerequisites: Fulfillment of First-Year Writing Requirement.

Distribution Requirements: LL - Language and Literature

Typical Periods Offered: Summer