Abstract
Welcome to English 484, a course that is a core substitute for English 411. Like 411, this course is
designed to round out your academic preparation for the intellectual, moral, and communication
challenges you will face in the Air Force. And like 411, this course emerges from the conviction that we
can increase our understanding of what it means to be ethically-minded and historically-informed
defenders of the Constitution through an intellectual and emotional engagement w/ the literature of war.
In English 484 will be focusing on the human story surrounding Israel. This means that the texts
themselves will be on the spectrum of human conflict—families and soldiers, before, during and after
war. By learning how to read, discern, and produce the essential characteristics of powerful language
and storytelling in a geographically specific area, you will learn a lot about a county and a people who
have always been at war. In this respect, English 484 will be a human experience as much as an
academic one. This is also an exploratory course for me and for the department. In other words, the
attention to Israel offers a lens into Anglophone authors, a new vocabulary, texts-in-translation, global
politics, and communities. The texts are substantive in both length and historical context. Therefore, we
will have to listen, collaborate, and lead respectful discussions. I look forward to you voicing your
individual opinions, developing your evidentiary basis, and constructing original arguments. In other
words, please come to class ready to develop and transform as a thinker, a speaker, and a writer.
By delving into a variety of texts by Israeli authors, my hope for you over the course of the semester is
to discover the value of the liberal arts. In humanities courses—English, History, Philosophy, Classics,
and other disciplines—we ask students to think broadly, specifically, analytically, creatively,
argumentatively, and passionately. Literary studies, especially, prize freethinking, questioning, curiosity,
and critique. Will these traits be useful to you as an officer? Yes (trust me on this!). Throughout your
career, you will need to communicate clearly, be creative, be analytical, and be smart enough to ask the
questions no one else is asking. These skills not only hold relevance for your future as an officer, but as
a citizen, a (future) civilian, and, most importantly as a well-educated human being.