In our age of distraction, it can be hard to pay attention. Scrolling, skimming, and information mining are different from the skills of deep focus, contemplation, and analysis necessary for human flourishing—including academic success— at UVA and beyond. Attention is the very foundation of engaging with aesthetics, the area of study concerned with the perception of sensory experiences. In the next seven weeks, students will explore ways to create space, time, and personal readiness for sustained attention without using technology during class time or while completing class assignments. The focus of our sustained attention will be language. How can something we use every day, often without thinking about it, be part of an aesthetic experience? In other words, how does life become art? To answer this question, we read a memoir by UVA graduate Safiya Sinclair. Students flex their attention muscles by reading, annotating, and journaling in class and on their own. In class, students form small book clubs of 5-7 people, assigned by the professor, to discuss this topic. Students reflect on the memoir’s use of telling details, dialogue, setting, point of view, characterization, and pacing. They are invited to identify a moment from their own lives they would like to capture in aesthetic language. Our culminating exercise will be the recording of one book club roundtable discussion for each group.