In this course we will read a number of literary texts set in colonized territories, largely though not entirely under French domination.  Dating from the turn of the twentieth century to the period of widespread decolonization some half-century later, these texts represent a variety of forms and genres (adventure novels, autobiographical fiction, philosophical novels, political denunciation and/or satire) and emerge out of a number of different cultural situations and geographic locations (including Southeast Asia, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa).  Some of the authors to be considere

Frame narratives (“story within a story”) are common in nineteenth-century literature, but why should this be so? And what might the implications of this phenomenon be?  Our first goal will be to identify some types of frame narratives in selected texts of European and American literature of the nineteenth century. We will consider classic examples of frame narrative, such as Frankenstein, in which a narrator who is also a character relates the tale that constitutes the novel. But we will also explore less obvious possible types.

Modern Greek is unique among languages in that it is the only modern language directly descended from Ancient Greek. In this course, the student studies reading, writing, pronunciation and use of contemporary spoken idiom, all within the historical and cultural context of the language. By the end of the course, the student should have a strong grammatical and linguistic foundation in Greek as it is spoken today. (No Prerequisite)

This seminar takes up a very big question: How do American poets, from about 1950 to the present, attempt formally and thematically to engage ethics and politics?

“But what was he after? What did he want? What did he love and what did he hate? He did not know. There was something he knew and something he felt; something the world gave him and something he himself had…never in all his life, with this black skin of his, had the two worlds, thought and feeling, will and mind, aspiration and satisfaction, been together; never had he felt a sense of wholeness.”–Richard Wright, Native Son discussing Bigger Thomas

If you’ve ever finished a good book with the urge to write a better one… if you’ve always thought of taking a creative writing class but been reluctant to commit… if you’re ever tempted to let the dishes pile up and lock yourself with your laptop in a room of your own… then this course is your chance to explore the storytelling impulse in a supportive environment completely free of intimidation and pretension.

In his landmark study on modern nationalism, Benedict Anderson identifies the novel as one of the principal vehicles by which the experience of national consciousness is transmitted. Taking Anderson’s claim as its point of departure, this course will investigate the intimate, if vexed, relation the novel is said to maintain with the nation-form.

Attempting to give one name to the way many lyric poems seem at once to capture a humble instant, and to initiate a “momentous” discourse outside time, Earl Miner asked, “In a double sense, is lyric not of moment?” From William Blake’s attempts to harbor “Moments Satan cannot find,” to Emily Dickinson’s “Life” that “stood – a Loaded Gun,” this course will examine the varied mischief lyric poems perform on standard clock-time and our perception of its irrevocable progression.  How do meter and rhythm, repetition and elision, accelerate or suspend the progression of moments?  To what extent m

People today do not have enough poetry in their heads, and everyone should be able to recite one or two of their favorite poems. In addition to its purely personal benefits, knowing some poetry by heart has practical applications in a tough job interview, you can impress the prospective boss by reciting just the right line, say, from Dylan Thomas: “do not go gentle into that good night / rage rage against the dying of the light.” Or at a party some time, you’ll be able to show off with a bit of T.S.

The magical power of transforming the self and the world has held a compelling sway over the literary imagination throughout the centuries. In this course, we will look at the ways in which literature has reflected man’s fascination with magic as supernatural capacity to transfigure reality, as superstition, as verbal magic, as carnivalesque playfulness, and as Romantic imagination.