Casebook Home | Twelve Winters Miscellany
Preface:
Origin of the Casebook Project
Amina Ghazanfar
“Vox Humana”: A Casebook features a compilation of term papers written by my undergraduate students for the course titled “Introduction to Literary Theory.” I was asked by the Department of English, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan to organize a series of webinars with international speakers so that the students could get exposure to current trends in the field and also gain confidence by communicating cross-culturally. When I started making list of the potential international speakers, the first name that came to my mind was Dr. Ted Morrissey.
I’ve known Dr. Morrissey since 2021, and was already familiar with his work on trauma literary theory. I had read and used his book Trauma Theory as an Approach to Analyzing Literary Texts, in my research. With time I also got to know him as an author. I contacted Dr. Morrissey, and he very graciously agreed to talk to our students and faculty. I wanted the students to discuss both the theory and praxis of Psychoanalytic Criticism so with Dr. Morrissey’s consent I shared his short story “Vox Humana” with my students and colleagues. The webinar was extremely successful because the students had already read the story and after a detailed lecture on the theory they were in a better position to apply the psychoanalytic lens to analyze the selected fictional text. (The lecture is available here.)
In order to get tangible results from this entire activity, the students were asked to use any theoretical lens of their choosing to write their term assignment. The students were given ample time to write their papers and present them in front of the class. As the students started presenting their work, I was amazed to see how brilliantly they had analyzed the story, using not only Freudian psychoanalytic frameworks but also numerous other approaches. By the end of the semester we had a pool of almost sixty-five assignments, all written about “Vox Humana.” This is what initiated the idea of compiling a casebook. Each paper selected for this case book was chosen for its lucidity and insight. The selected papers were carefully and lightly edited to preserve both the students’ voice and their academic rigor.
At the end, I would like express my deepest gratitude to Ted Morrissey and my exceptional students for making this project a success. It would never have been possible without their hard work and dedication.
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Dr. Amina Ghazanfar serves as a Lecturer in the English Department at the National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan. With a Ph.D. in American Studies from Quaid-i-Azam University, she boasts a diverse teaching background, having worked at Quaid-i-Azam University, Riphah International University, and Xinjiang Normal University, China. Her research focuses on American, Latin American, and Pakistani literature, with numerous publications in esteemed journals. Dr. Ghazanfar has presented research at various national and international conferences and has supervised M.Phil theses exploring themes such as trauma, migration, and cultural discourse. As a former Visiting Scholar at Ball State University in the USA, she remains active in academic circles, participating in faculty development programs and conferences. She was selected as a visiting scholar by the University of Oxford, but funding constraints prevented her from pursuing the opportunity.
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