Comparative Literature Majors
TRISTAN BATES is a senior from Ruidoso, New Mexico, whose favorite books include Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Poisonwood Bible, The Bluest Eye, Lolita, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and To the Lighthouse. Her greatest life adventure (so far!) was living for a summer with "a bunch of Spaniards and Poles" in an apartment above a convenience in a "borderline sketchy" neighborhood in Dublin, Ireland. This year, her goal is to find an invigorating thesis topic that will keep her "engaged for the long haul. " |
ANNA MORTON comes to us from Sisters, Oregon, and is in her senior year here at CC. She loves her "mama's" cooking and favorite books include The Solace of Open Spaces and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Anna considers CompLit to be one of the most well-rounded majors available, incorporating literature and translation and cultural studies, theory, religion, and philosophy. She is grateful for the guidance of her professors, whom she describes as "present, intelligent, and engaging." For her thesis topic, she is writing on women trapped in patriarchal language by analyzing The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Indiana by George Sand. She has no definitive plans after graduation, but wants to keep learning, work on a farm, grow food, travel, and generally enjoy the journey. Her goal for this year is a good reminder to us all: "Breathe deeper . . . dance often!" |
A southern boy who is passionate about skiing, CHRIS PEW hails from Asheville, North Carolina. His biggest adventure has been skiing the Gore Range of Colorado. As a senior, his academic goal is to "write a thesis that I am proud of." Chris loves the gyro plate at the Mediterranean Cafe and his favorite book is The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. |
From Chatham, New Jersey, comes another senior student, REID PREBENDA, whose favorite book is The Road by Cormac McCarthy and favorite food is nigiri sushi. The most interesting experience of his life was traveling to rural Hokkaido in northern Japan and working on a farm, having "little conversational ability" with "a family that spoke no English." He says it was "disorienting to say the least!" But the experience shaped his goal for this year: "to become more comfortable with myself and comfortable with silence and stillness." |
STEPHANIE BUTLER is from Boulder, Colorado, but plans to move closer to the ocean after graduation and become a grant-writer for a nonprofit company. Right now, she is busy at work on her senior thesis, exploring the prescriptive social functions of the collapse of the binaries, using magical realism in Hopi myth and Julio Cortazar's short stories as text. She loves "everything" about the CompLit program--the faculty, students, texts, and methodology--and says that she has "never had more fun or worked harder" than in her courses here at CC. Of course, she loves to read, and two current favorites are The Princess Bride by William Goldman and All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. She also loves the Indian food at Mirch Masala! |
Other Seniors KENNAN STRYKER |
From the ranks of the juniors, we have PAULINA BARRIOS, whose home is Queretaro, Mexico. She spent a year living in France and traveling throughout Europe with her family, an experience which "opened my eyes to many things." She loves to eat any food with a lot of flavor--Italian, Indian, Moroccan, "real" Mexican--and to read anything by Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar, Maupassant, and Edgar Allan Poe. Her goal is to study abroad next semester or to get a summer internship. |
NIKKI MUYSKENS, another junior, comes from just a few miles to the north of us, Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Her favorite food is Mexican, especially at Jose Muldoon's, a popular downtown restaurant. Books that she loves include the Bible, Anne of Green Gables, Redeeming Love, and Heart of Darkness. Her enjoyment of the " poetic depth" in literature, her desire to know other people and societies, plus her interest in both teaching and learning from how other cultures live out the teachings of Jesus, motivated her decision to major in CompLit. A CompLit major allows her to study Spanish, translation, and religion on her "other disciplines" track, which serves and supports these life interests. Last semester, she studied abroad in Maastricht, the Netherlands, an experience she names as one of her most "amazing" so far. This year, she intends to "learn to ask better questions." |
| From East Aurora, NY, comes MAGGIE BARRETT, a junior whose favorite book is The Little Prince and who loves "mom's cooking." She also loves the Nepali family with whom she lived while studying in Nepal for a semester. When she realized that many of the classes she had already taken here at CC were part of the CompLit requirements, she decided to name that as her major. For this year, her goal is to relearn Spanish and is considering teaching English as a second language (in a big city!) after graduation. |
Other Juniors TARA MENON GREER SCHOTT VIRGINIA TRUEHEART |
