Course Catalog - Fall 2024
Exploration of the cultural and historical roots of globalization and the development of global consciousness from ancient Greece to the present, as reflected primarily in literature, but also with reference to historiography, cartography, religion, art, politics, economics, and popular culture. Course materials including literary texts, articles, historical accounts, political tracts, films, and paintings focus on the mutual perception of, and historical relationships among Europe, the Arab world, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Explores a combination of western and non-western literature through the focus on a shared theme, exploring differences in treatment both within and among different cultures. Several thematic focuses are offered in rotation, including concepts of love and death, environmental justice, catastrophe, gender, and others. All the themes introduce students to a wide array of famous texts from different cultures and also offer some varied perspectives for their own inevitable thoughts on these major topics. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours if topics vary. Students may register in more than one section per term.
Comparative, cross-cultural study of major literary and cultural works from the Islamic world, broadly defined, including pre-Islamic cultures and their interactions with Islamic civilization. All readings in English.
Comparative, cross-cultural study of major works from the postcolonial world. Topics may include pre-colonial cultures, the impact of colonialism, decolonization, modernization, and/or globalization. All readings in English.
Study of selected topics on an individually arranged basis. Open only to honors students or to Cohn Scholars and Associates. May be repeated one time. Prerequisite: Consent of departmental honors advisor.
Credit: 1 to 5 hours. Approved for both letter and S/U grading. May be repeated.
Introduction to various methods in comparative literary study, including genres, thematics, literary relations, literary movements, and interdisciplinary approaches.
Analysis of several important world-views in Western civilization (such as classical, Romantic, modern, and so forth), studied comparatively and in relation to selected figures in Western literature.
Exploration of the cultures, experiences, and conditions of people living on and around the borders of the United States. The syllabus will place particular emphasis on the US-Mexico borderlands, a space of interaction, exchange, and confrontation between diverse communities that traverse national, racial, and linguistic borders. We will examine this dynamic space through a varied array of cultural texts, including literature, film, journalism, and scholarship. Through these texts, students will gain a deepened understanding and appreciation of the Latinx and indigenous communities that live along, around, and across today’s US-Mexico border. At the end of the semester, we will turn our attention briefly to the US-Canada border – and, in particular, to the political and cultural life of indigenous peoples living along and across the present-day US-Canada border.
Organized around major cultural/historical/religious topics presented in literature through Western and Islamic eyes, beginning with the Crusades and proceeding into the present. This course will examine stereotypes, fantasies, identifications and political opportunism promoted by the encounter between the West and the Islamic World. Prerequisite:CWL 241 and CWL 242 or one year of college literature.
Introduction to Indian mainstream (mainly Bollywood) cinema and its evolution through the last seven decades. Topics to be explored include, but not limited to, the relation between Indian society/culture and its cinematic representations, cinema's resistance to dominant nationalist and patriarchal ideologies, its interactions with the postcolonial nation-state of India, how globalization has changed the industry. All films will be screened with subtitles. No knowledge of Hindi or any other Indian language is required. Same as MACS 207.
Same as ASST 208, REL 208 and SAME 208. See REL 208.
Same as JS 209 and ENGL 222. See JS 209.
Same as AFST 210 and ENGL 211. See AFST 210.
War has been a constant shadow over the lives of Israelis and Palestinians. We will examine the history of attitudes to war and peace in the region as presented through historical documents, memoirs, political statements, poetry, film and short stories. The course explores the plurality of voices and experiences of different political groups, genders, ethnicities, religions and communities. Same as JS 211 and SAME 211.
Same as ENGL 223, JS 220, REL 220, and YDSH 220. See YDSH 220.
Same as AFST 209, FR 240, and LAST 240. See FR 240.
Same as EALC 230. See EALC 230.
Comparative study of major works of literature, philosophy and culture in the Western tradition from the ancient world to the Renaissance, from Homer and the Bible to Shakespeare and Cervantes. Emphasis on the works as representative of their historical and cultural period, as well as how these works create the cultural world we live in today. Prerequisite: Completion of campus Composition I general education requirement.
Comparative study of major works of literature, philosophy and culture in the Western tradition from the Enlightenment to today, from Descartes and Voltaire to Dickinson and Calvino. Emphasis on the works as representative of their historical and cultural period, as well as how these works create the cultural world we live in today.
Same as ENGL 202 and MDVL 201. See ENGL 202.
Same as ENGL 266 and GER 251. See GER 251.
Same as AFRO 259 and ENGL 259. See ENGL 259.
Same as AFRO 260 and ENGL 260. See ENGL 260.
Same as CLCV 240 and GWS 240. See CLCV 240.
Same as CLCV 222 and THEA 210. See CLCV 222.
Examination of important thematic and structural relationships - influences, parallels, and variations - among selected major works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; readings chosen from works of Bronte, Hardy, Lawrence, Woolf, James, Faulkner, Bellow, Oates, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Stendhal, Flaubert, Camus, Kafka, Mann, Hesse, Moravia, and Pavese. All works read in English. Same as ENGL 248. Prerequisite: Completion of the Composition I requirement.
Same as ENGL 268 and GER 260. See GER 260.
Same as ENGL 269, GER 261, and JS 261. See GER 261.
Same as ENGL 284, JS 284, and REL 284. See JS 284.
Course introduces a variety of Jewish and non-Jewish responses to the Holocaust created during and after the Second World War (from 1939). The discussion of Holocaust films, miniseries, memoirs, diaries, novels, short stories, poems, and other texts will focus on the unique contribution of those works to our understanding of the Holocaust. In addition, the works and their authors will be situated in their cultural and historical context. Taught in English translation. Same as ENGL 359, JS 320, REL 320, and YDSH 320.
Same as EURO 376, GWS 376, and SCAN 376. See SCAN 376.
Presentation and discussion of subjects relating literature to other disciplines; topic varies. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours.
Same as AFRO 400. See AFRO 400.
Same as ENGL 412 and MDVL 410. See ENGL 412.
Same as HIST 436, REL 420, SLAV 420, and YDSH 420. See YDSH 420.
Same as CLCV 430, ENGL 486, GER 405, SLAV 430, SPAN 436, and TRST 431. See SLAV 430.
Analysis of literary themes and types in narratives of Western and non-Western literature (e.g., the hero, east and west, dream visions), emphasizing comparative perspectives. 3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. May be repeated to a maximum of 9 undergraduate hours or 12 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.
How do gender, sexuality, and the body emerge through cultural representations and across artistic forms? How do literature, film, and the visual arts construct gender identities in various times and places? Topics and regions vary by semester and instructor. All readings in English. Same as GWS 450. 3 undergraduate hours. 3 graduate hours. May be repeated up to 6 hours maximum. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Advanced, in-depth study of either (a) cinematic genres, or (b) major film directors. Genres may include musicals, horror films, Westerns, melodrama, comedies, film noir. Auteurs will include major figures of world cinema whose influence over the medium is widespread, such as Hitchcock, Woody Allen, Vertov, Bergman. No foreign language knowledge required. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated in the same or subsequent semesters to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours or 8 graduate hours if topics vary. Prerequisite: One cinema course or consent of instructor.
Structure and development of literary genres and forms in historical perspective (for instance, drama, parody and the grotesque, poetry, fables and fabulists, and modern fiction); essential international components and significant national variations of such genres and forms. Emphasis changes from term to term. 3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. May be repeated to a maximum of 9 undergraduate hours or 12 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.
Same as EURO 470 and SCAN 470. See SCAN 470.
Study of specific relations between authors of different countries; influences of certain works, concepts, or tastes on another work, author, or country; and literary interaction between Eastern and Western cultures. Emphasis changes from term to term. 3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. May be repeated to a maximum of 9 undergraduate hours or 12 graduate hours. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.
Same as PHIL 472, REL 472, and SCAN 472. See SCAN 472.
Studies in Arabic literature and culture of various genres, periods, and regions. Graduate students are encouraged to read the texts in the original language. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated in the same semester to a maximum of 6 undergraduate hours or 8 graduate hours if topics vary; May be repeated in separate semesters to a maximum of 12 undergraduate hours or 16 graduate hours if topics vary. Prerequisite: One year of college literature or consent of instructor.
Independent research guided by tutor(s), leading to the writing of a comparative thesis. Intended primarily for candidates for honors in comparative literature, but open to other seniors. 3 to 6 undergraduate hours. No graduate credit. May be repeated to a maximum of 12 hours.
Selected literary topics of international significance in relation to other cultural expressions. 3 undergraduate hours. 3 or 4 graduate hours. May be repeated to a maximum of 9 undergraduate or 12 graduate hours. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Major issues of literary theory, critical approaches, and comparative research.
Problems and methods of cross-cultural literary studies, concentrating on the effects of historical encounters between different civilizations and on theoretical issues in comparing literatures across cultures. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.
Same as EALC 511, GER 511, SLAV 501, and TRST 501. See TRST 501.
Same as EALC 512, GER 512, SLAV 502, and TRST 502. See TRST 502.
Investigation of the development and mutation of literary movements (classicism, romanticism, symbolism, etc.) through a study of critical texts and their reception in various countries. May be repeated to a maximum of 12 hours if topics vary.
Study of a form (the lyric, the novel, the drama, etc.) to discover its essential components in all the literatures studied and the significance of national variations. May be repeated to a maximum of 12 hours if topics vary.
Investigation of the impact of one literature upon another, or of some specific works upon others (the role of English literature in continental Europe, the influence of Russian novelists on French and German writers, etc.). May be repeated to a maximum of 12 hours if topics vary.
Study of a theme or type (the Faust myth, the romantic hero, etc.) to discover its essential components in all the literatures studied and the significance of national variations. The subject of the seminar varies each term. May be repeated to a maximum of 12 hours if topics vary.
Introduction to comparative literature as a discipline, history and philosophy of comparative literature, and training in practical professional skills, including conference presentations, grant writing, and course development. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Same as EURO 576, GWS 576, and SCAN 576. See SCAN 576.
Intended for students engaged in writing a thesis as a partial requirement for the M.A. or Ph.D. degree in comparative literature. Approved for S/U grading only. May be repeated to a maximum of 8 graduate hours.