Papers, Please: Crafting the Un/Documented Memoir

MMH 728 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This generative creative writing course pairs close readings of un/documented immigrant memoirs with a biweekly workshop. Through works of Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, Jose Antonio Vargas, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Cathy Park Hong, and others, students study how these writers build voice, structure, and authority under sociopolitical and bodily constraint. Immigration is a social determinant of health: undocumented and mixed-status families face severe physical, mental, and intergenerational health disparities. These risks stem directly from systemic exclusion and lack of access to care, economic inequality, and the constant psychological toll of immigration enforcement.

How does the un/documented memoir confront institutional power while generating its own through form, subversion, and the assertion of presence?

Odd-numbered weeks are seminars: close reading discussion, ethical inquiry, and a short, generative "form study" writing exercise using provided excerpts. Even-numbered weeks are peer workshops where students voluntarily share work and give constructive, empathetic craft feedback. The instructor facilitates discussion, provides excerpts and prompts, and guides workshop feedback. Students are expected to read critically, write regularly, and engage as both generous readers, writing peers, and developing memoirists. Throughout, we treat the ethics of memoir (risk, privacy, representation, consent, and the line between testimony and exposure) as an essential tool of craft, with the aim of ultimately positioning the memoir as testimony and intervention.