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Self-invention is focus of alumni studies course
Posted April 6, 2006; 09:17 p.m.
"Born Again: Self-Invention and Imposture in America," a six-week online study course that begins Monday, April 17, is being offered to members of the University community by the Alumni Association.
Clayton Marsh, University counsel, will lead the course, examining how
the American yearning for self-invention is, at once, heroic and
foolish, liberating and destructive, fraudulent and authenticating.
Marsh, a member of Princeton's class of 1985, holds a doctorate in
English and comparative literature from Columbia and also teaches a
freshman seminar titled "'Good to Be Shifty': American Swindlers and
Imposters."
The course will consist of readings and online discussions. To wrap up
the class, participants are invited to a screening of "Con Man," a
documentary that chronicles the exploits of James Hogue, an imposter
who conned his way into Princeton in 1988. The June 1 screening will
include a discussion with filmmaker Jesse Moss and guests who knew
Hogue.
For more information, contact Kaitlin Lutz.