Comparative Literature Course Descriptions

An introduction to literary studies, combined with an intensive writing approach. From the broad perspective of world literature, consideration of topics such as desire, language, and identity. Fulfills the first-year writing requirement.

Representative works from the Bible, ancient Greek and Roman literature, and European literature of the Middle Ages. Emphasis on close reading of particular texts; all readings in English. Fulfills the post-freshman writing requirement and GER V.(B).

Representative works of European and American literature from the sixteenth to the twentieth century in different genres. Emphasis on close reading of particular texts; all readings in English. Fulfills the post-freshman writing requirement and GER V.(B).

Texts of popular culture and literary works of ethnic minorities, non-Western writers, and women. Attention to the relationship of these writings to traditional literary forms and content. Fulfills the post-freshman writing requirement.

An introduction to a specific method of literary criticism or theoretical approach as applied through close textual interpretations. Fulfills GER Advanced Seminar and IV.(A).

Learning to read literature from a theoretical viewpoint, its formal properties, distinctive features, origins, purposes, and mode of existence; representative critics and schools from contemporary and earlier periods. Fulfills GER Advanced Seminar and IV.(A).

A study of literary texts and their complex interplay with other disciplines (e.g., literature and psychoanalysis, literature and philosophy, literature and law, and literature and religion). Fulfills GER IV.(A).

Lively topical or theoretical approaches to a given set of literary texts or problems. May be repeated for credit when subject varies. Fulfills the post-freshman writing requirement.

A seminar devoted to the intensive close reading of literary and other texts. Fulfills GER Advanced Seminar.

Prerequisite: approval of the director of Undergraduate Studies. Open to candidates for honors in their senior year.

Directed studies of special topics in literature. Open to students with consent of instructor and approval of the director of Undergraduate Studies.