Course Catalog

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CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST THEORY (CL2006)

Introduces the methodology of Gender Studies and the theory upon which it is based. Examines contemporary debates across a range of issues now felt to be of world-wide feminist interest: sexuality, reproduction, production, writing, representation, culture, race, and politics. Encourages responsible theorizing across disciplines and cultures.

PARIS THROUGH ITS BOOKS (CL2010)

Examines how experiences of Paris have been committed to the page from the first century to the present. Considers the uses and effects of overviews, street-level accounts, and underground approaches to describing the city and its inhabitants. Includes visits to the sewers and museums, revolutionary sites and archives, with multiple members of the comparative literature faculty speaking on their areas of expertise.
http://www.aup.edu/paris-through-its-books

THE ART OF SCREENWRITING (CL2028)

In Art of Screenwriting students consider the elements necessary for successful screenwriting practices, with close attention to the theory of screenwriting as influenced by other arts. In particular, a close emphasis of the course is on the art of narrative and the central role played by adaptation of novels in screenwriting practice. Character development, structure, dialogue and conflict are analyzed through exemplary scripting such as in the works of Jane Campion, Roman Polanski and others. The course culminates in a hands-on guided approach to scriptwriting by students.

TOUCHSTONES OF WORLD LITERATURE (CL2033)

Using Asia as a geographic rather than a linguistic or cultural marker, this course provides a survey of landmark literary texts drawn from some four millennia of creative activity on the continent, beginning with the earliest surbviving literary epic from Mesopotamia and including classics from ancient India, Arabia, Persia, Japan, and China, to the Ottoman Empire.

ENGLISH LITERATURE BEFORE 1800 (CL2051)

Begins with Old English literary texts, then examines selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the conventions of Middle English drama and lyrics, earlier Renaissance styles of lyric poetry (Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney), and then Shakespeare's sonnets and a major Shakespeare play. Reviews the dominant styles of Metaphysical and Cavalier poetry (Donne, Herbert, Marvell, Crashaw, Suckling, Waller, Milton).

ENGLISH LITERATURE SINCE 1800 (CL2052)

From the Romantic period, covers major examples of: prose - the transition from the 19th century models to Modernist experimentation; poetry - the development of modern poetic form and the fortunes of European hermetic influence in an increasingly politicized century; and drama - examples of absurdist and left-wing drama which have dominated the British stage since the 1950s.

MODERN LATIN AMERICAN & SPANISH LIT. (CL2054)

Traces modern continental and Latin American literature from the Molieresque comedy of Moratin to the magical realism of Garcia Marquez. Readings include Spanish authors (fiction by Galdos, Unamuno, Cela, Goytisolo), Spanish-American writers (poetry of Neruda, Paz and tales by Borges, Rulfo), and one Brazilian writer (Clarice Lispector). Conducted in English. Written work accepted in English or Spanish.

SAINTS & SINNERS: MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE (CL2055)

This course proposes a panorama of early modern poetry, prose, and drama in their European contexts, beginning with a lecture-discussion of the humanist ideal as represented in the life and writings of Petrarch, before moving on to those of Margery Kempe and Geoffrey Chaucer. This semester our focus will be the fortunes of three exemplary Italian genres from the Renaissance: (1) the proliferation of lyric forms (the origins of the sestina and the sonnet and the development of the sonnet sequence from Petrarch’s Rime onward); (2) the popularity of the novella tradition and pilgrimage narrative (with roots in classical narrative, medieval fabula, and early romance, as seen in Boccaccio’s Decameron and Kempe’s Book of Margery Kempe); and (3) the rise of drama.

RISE OF THE HERO & THE POET IN FRENCH LIT (CL2057)

Engages with the canonical texts and counter-texts of French literature across its long span, from the Middle Ages to the present. French literature was the first vernacular literature to emerge on the European scene and until relatively recently it remained the most influential.

This panoramic overview of French literature is anchored in bilingual editions, inviting participants to interact closely with the French originals and their facing English translations (including The Song of Roland, François Villon, Voltaire’s Candide, a Beckett play). Depending on the individual student’s needs, supporting readings will be recommended in French or English. Written work may be submitted in either language. French is not a requirement, but the better the student’s level, the more he or she will benefit from the course.

Fulfills the Medieval period requirement for the major in Comparative Literature. Original language option.