Asusena (she/they) began her higher education as a first-generation student at Los Angeles City College where she tutored at the Writing Center. She then transferred to California State University, Northridge, earning a B.A. in Music Education and Creative Writing. As an instructor, she aims to help students learn from diverse perspectives so they can in turn reflect on their own life experiences. Outside of the classroom, she loves to write poetry, watch art house films, and visit museums.
Courses Typically Taught:
- Writing 50
- Writing 60
Themes Typically Taught:
- WR 50 - Political Poetry
- WR 60 - Climate Change
Course Descriptions:
- WR 50 - Political Poetry
- Students will explore the rhetoric of political poetry, sometimes called poetry of engagement, poetry of commitment, poetry of protest, or citizens poetry. Students will be discussing how it functions, and how it engages with the American social, political, and economic landscape. Students will examine poems from the modern and contemporary era that address the current events affecting their population. This genre of poetry raises awareness and often protests racial injustices, environmental hazards, modern warfare, and gender inequality. Through poetic devices like imagery, metaphor, and many more, political poets act as witnesses publicizing personal and private memories and testimonials to convey their critiques against society. They channel their fear, anger, and pain to convey their perceptions of politics, and they commonly use didactic approaches to advocate resistance, radical change, equality, and liberation. The course’s exploration of the political poetry genre will center on polemical issues concerning war, gender, race, and environmentalism. Through analyses of different poems, the class will examine how different poets confront a set of related themes: class stratification, identity, gender roles, racism, authority, social mores, policing, corporate greed, climate change, extinction, and pollution.
- WR 60 - Climate Change
- Climate change is the defining issue of this century, and the world's future depends on the extent to which this challenge is addressed. In this course, students will learn and practice how to conduct research, assess the credibility of sources, and use various types of evidence to support informed and persuasive arguments on climate change. Once students have established a broad understanding of the sources of greenhouse gas emissions, anticipated climate changes in the upcoming centuries, and the global energy infrastructure in a historical context, students will quantify the effects of climate change on both humanity and the natural environment. This evaluation will encompass impacts on health, air quality, biodiversity, food security, migration of humans and animals, and the proliferation of infectious diseases. During their research, students will investigate the rhetorical and argumentative strategies of scholars, public intellectuals, private firms, policymakers, and social justice advocates engaged in thinking through political, social, and economic problems related to climate change. After students have examined the actors and institutions of global environmental politics and learned how laws are made and policy is implemented, they will evaluate the successes and failures of past and current climate change policy at local, national, and international levels. Finally, students will advocate for the implementation of mitigation and adaption policies and technologies that promote water conservation, ocean protection, urban green spaces, carbon regulation, carbon sequestration, renewable energies, and sustainable practices in fishing, building design, and transportation. "
Textbooks Needed:
- Course readings are provided by instructor as PDFs via Canvas.
Email: asusenal@uci.edu