2005-2006 Course Offerings

Courses in world literature are designed to enable students to pursue their interests in literature beyond linguistic, cultural, or departmental boundaries. Classes and readings are in English, but students with foreign language proficiency are encouraged to read in the original language. The courses are taught by the members of the English and foreign languages and literatures departments. The material may be drawn from various literatures such as Greek, Latin, Russian, Italian, etc.

The minor in World Literature: A minimum of twenty credits in world literature, including at least three courses numbered above 300 and at least one course numbered below 300.

Courses in World literature taught by members of the French department include but are not limited to the following list. Typically, the French department will offer at least one world literature course per semester. For a complete listing of current world literature courses from all departments, please see the College Catalog .

200 The Literature of Peace
4, 4   Henry
Reading and discussion of a group of religious peace activists of the twentieth century (Dorothy Day, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Merton, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Daniel Berrigan, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Bernie Glassman) and of the religious texts that inspired their non-violent theories. Some films and videos will be incorporated into the class. Several papers; oral presentations in class; no exams. Open to all students.

210 The Literature and Film of the Holocaust in France
4, 4   Henry
Although some texts and films not originally composed in French will be studied, this course will focus on the plight of Jews in France from 1940-1944. We will read texts written during the Holocaust, others composed from memories of the Holocaust, and finally works about the Holocaust written by those who did not experience the event. All readings in English. All films will have English subtitles. Weekly films; several papers; oral presentations in class; no exams. Open to all students. May be elected as Rhetoric and Film Studies 379 or 380.

384 Special Topics: Introduction to French Cinema
x, 4   Hurlburt
This course will examine the major authors and movements of French cinema from the 1930's to the present day. We will study works by film authors such as Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné, Jacques Tati, Jean Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Agnes Varda, Luc Besson and Matthieu Kassovitz. In addition to required screenings, students will read a broad selection of texts introducing the technical, theoretical, cultural, political and economic forces that have shaped the French film industry from the advent of sound through to the present day. Movies will be shown in French with English subtitles; texts, papers and classroom discussion will be in English. May be elected as RFS 368A.

387-390 Special Studies in World Literature
4
Selected problems of developments in a non-English literature. Such topics as Medieval Courtly Literature, Scandinavian Drama, European Romanticism, Twentieth-Century German fiction, Existentialism, the Enlightenment, the Picaresque and Symbolism may be studied. All material will be read in English translation.

388 SS: From Negritude to Creolité: Francophone Literatures of West Africa and the Caribbean
4, x   Simek
The French language and culture were imposed to varying degrees on populations across the globe over the course of France's 17th-19th Century imperial expansion. This course is an introduction to the West African and Caribbean literary traditions that emerged from this often violent contact between cultures. Focusing on questions of identity, cultural and linguistic hybridity, and nationalism, this course will examine political and aesthetic conceptions of literature from Negritude's Black unity movement in the 1930's to the recent West Indian theory of Creolité, or "Creoleness." Special attention will be paid to African and Creole oral traditions, race relations, French politics of assimilation, and diaspora issues. Distribution area: humanities or alternative voices.

389 SS: Sartre and Camus: The Polemics of Violence
x, 4   Cosper
A critical study of select philosophical and literary works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus focussing on the theme of violence with special emphasis on the debate surrounding Camus' The Rebel. Critical papers will be required.