AFRICAAM 18A:
Jazz History: Ragtime to Bebop, 1900-1940 (MUSIC 18A)
From the beginning of jazz to the war years.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AFRICAAM 18B:
Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present (MUSIC 18B)
Modern jazz styles from Bebop to the current scene. Emphasis is on the significant artists of each style.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AFRICAAM 30:
The Egyptians (CLASSHIS 105)
Overview of ancient Egyptian pasts, from predynastic times to Greco-Roman rule, roughly 3000 BCE to 30 BCE. Attention to archaeological sites and artifacts; workings of society; and cultural productions, both artistic and literary. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AFRICAAM 43:
Introduction to African American Literature (AMSTUD 143)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143.) African American literature from its earliest manifestations in the spirituals, trickster tales, and slave narratives to recent developments such as black feminist theory, postmodern fiction, and hip hop lyricism. We will engage some of the defining debates and phenomena within African American cultural history, including the status of realist aesthetics in black writing; the contested role of literature in black political struggle; the question of diaspora; the problem of intra-racial racism; and the emergence of black internationalism. Attuned to the invariably hybrid nature of this tradition, we will also devote attention to the discourse of the Enlightenment, modernist aesthetics, and the role of Marxism in black political and literary history.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 54N:
African American Women's Lives
Preference to freshmen. The everyday lives of African American women in 19th- and 20th-century America in comparative context of histories of European, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American women. Primary sources including personal journals, memoirs, music, literature, and film, and historical texts. Topics include slavery and emancipation, labor and leisure, consumer culture, social activism, changing gender roles, and the politics of sexuality.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 133:
Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (FRENCH 133, JEWISHST 143)
This course aims to equip students with an understanding of the cultural, political and literary aspects at play in the literatures of Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Our primary readings will be Francophone novels and poetry, though we will also read some theoretical texts, as well as excerpts of Francophone theater. The assigned readings will expose students to literature from diverse French-speaking regions of the African/Caribbean world. This course will also serve as a "literary toolbox," with the intention of facilitating an understanding of literary forms, terms and practices. Students can expect to work on their production of written and spoken French (in addition to reading comprehension) both in and outside of class. Required readings include: Aimé Césaire, "Cahier d'un retour au pays natal," Albert Memmi, "La Statue de Sel," Abdelkebir Khatibi, "Amour bilingue," Abdelwahab Meddeb, "Talismano." nnTaught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AFRICAAM 145B:
Africa in the 20th Century (HISTORY 145B)
(Same as HISTORY 45B. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for 145B.) The challenges facing Africans from when the continent fell under colonial rule until independence. Case studies of colonialism and its impact on African men and women drawn from West, Central, and Southern Africa. Novels, plays, polemics, and autobiographies written by Africans.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AFRICAAM 152E:
African American Literature (AMSTUD 152E, ENGLISH 152E)
What is African American literature? This course is both an introduction to some of the great works of black literary expression and an examination of this category. We will examine the formal and rhetorical strategies that figure most prominently in this literary tradition and investigate the historical circumstances (including slavery, Reconstruction, the Great Migration, and Jim Crow) that have shaped¿and been shaped by¿this body of literature. Topics to be addressed include canon formation, negotiations between fiction and history, sectional tensions (between North and South), gender politics, and folk culture.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 152G:
Global Harlem Renaissance (AMSTUD 152G)
Examination of the explosion of African American artistic expression during 1920s and 30s New York known as the Harlem Renaissance. Amiri Baraka once referred to the Renaissance as a kind of ¿vicious Modernism,¿ as a ¿BangClash,¿ that impacted and was impacted by political, cultural and aesthetic changes not only in the U.S. but Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Focus on the literature, graphic arts, and the music of the era in this global context.
Last offered: Autumn 2010
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMELANG 126:
Reflection on the Other: The Jew in Arabic Literature, the Arab in Hebrew Literature (COMPLIT 145, JEWISHST 106)
How literary works outside the realm of western culture struggle with questions such as identity, minority, and the issue of the other. How the Arab is viewed in Hebrew literature and how the Jew is viewed in Arabic literature. Historical, political, and sociological forces that have contributed to the shaping of the writer's views. Arab and Jewish (Israeli) culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 1B:
Media, Culture, and Society (COMM 1B)
The institutions and practices of mass media, including television, film, radio, and digital media, and their role in shaping culture and social life. The media's shifting relationships to politics, commerce, and identity.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AMSTUD 51Q:
Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity (COMPLIT 51Q, CSRE 51Q)
We may "know" "who" we "are," but we are, after all, social creatures. How does our sense of self interact with those around us? How does literature provide a particular medium for not only self expression, but also for meditations on what goes into the construction of "the Self"? After all, don't we tell stories in response to the question, "who are you"? Besides a list of nouns and names and attributes, we give our lives flesh and blood in telling how we process the world. Our course focuses in particular on this question--Does this universal issue ("who am I") become skewed differently when we add a qualifier before it, like "ethnic"?
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
AMSTUD 68N:
Mark Twain and American Culture (ENGLISH 68N)
Preference to freshmen. Mark Twain has been called our Rabelais, our Cervantes, our Homer, our Tolstoy, our Shakespeare. Ernest Hemingway maintained that all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. President Franklin D.nRoosevelt got the phrase New Deal from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Class discussions will focus on how Twain's work illuminates and complicates his society's responses to such issues as race, technology, heredity versus environment, religion, education, and what it means to be American.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 101:
American Fiction into Film: How Hollywood Scripts and Projects Black and White Relations
Movies and the fiction that inspires them; power dynamics behind production including historical events, artistic vision, politics, and racial stereotypes. What images of black and white does Hollywood produce to forge a national identity? How do films promote equality between the races? What is lost or gained in film adaptations of books?
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 121:
Masterpieces of American Literature
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 121.) A survey of some of the definitive texts of American writing, such as Leaves of Grass, Benito Cereno, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Waste Land, The Sun Also Rises, The Golden Apples, and The Crying of Lot 49.
Last offered: Spring 2011
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 124A:
The American West (ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AMSTUD 132:
American Art and Culture, 1528-1910 (ARTHIST 132, ARTHIST 332)
The visual arts and literature of the U.S. from the beginnings of European exploration to the Civil War. Focus is on questions of power and its relation to culture from early Spanish exploration to the rise of the middle classes. Cabeza de Vaca, Benjamin Franklin, John Singleton Copley, Phillis Wheatley, Charles Willson Peale, Emerson, Hudson River School, American Genre painters, Melville, Hawthorne and others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 139B:
American Women Writers, 1850-1920 (ENGLISH 139B)
The ways in which female writers negotiated a series of literary, social, and intellectual movements, from abolitionism and sentimentalism in the nineteenth century to Progressivism and avant-garde modernism in the twentieth. Authors include Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Jacobs, Rebecca Harding Davis, Emily Dickinson, Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, Gertrude Stein, Willa Cather, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 140:
Stand Up Comedy and the "Great American Joke" Since 1945
Development of American Stand Up Comedy in the context of social and cultural eruptions after 1945, including the Borscht Belt, the Chitlin¿ Circuit, the Cold War, censorship battles, Civil Rights and other social movements of the 60s and beyond. The artistry of stories, monologues, jokes, impersonations, persona, social satire, scatology, obscenity, riffs, rants, shtick, and more by such artists as Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Margaret Cho, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, as well as precursors such as Mark Twain, minstrelsy and vaudeville and related films, TV shows, poems and other manifestations of similar sensibilities and techniques.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 142:
The Literature of the Americas (COMPLIT 142, CSRE 142, ENGLISH 172E)
A wide-ranging overview of the literatures of the Americas inncomparative perspective, emphasizing continuities and crises that are common to North American, Central American, and South American literatures as well as the distinctive national and cultural elements of a diverse array of primary works. Topics include the definitions of such concepts as empire and colonialism, the encounters between worldviews of European and indigenous peoples, the emergence of creole and racially mixed populations, slavery, the New World voice, myths of America as paradise or utopia, the coming of modernism, twentieth-century avant-gardes, and distinctive modern episodes--the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, magic realism, Noigandres--in unaccustomed conversation with each other.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 143:
Introduction to African American Literature (AFRICAAM 43)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143.) African American literature from its earliest manifestations in the spirituals, trickster tales, and slave narratives to recent developments such as black feminist theory, postmodern fiction, and hip hop lyricism. We will engage some of the defining debates and phenomena within African American cultural history, including the status of realist aesthetics in black writing; the contested role of literature in black political struggle; the question of diaspora; the problem of intra-racial racism; and the emergence of black internationalism. Attuned to the invariably hybrid nature of this tradition, we will also devote attention to the discourse of the Enlightenment, modernist aesthetics, and the role of Marxism in black political and literary history.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 145M:
Culture Wars: Art and Social Conflict in the USA, 1890-1950 (ARTHIST 145, ARTHIST 345, FEMGEN 145)
This course examines social conflicts and political controversies in American culture through the lens of visual art and photography. We consider how visual images both reflect and participate in the social and political life of the nation and how the terms of citizenship have been represented¿and, at times, contested¿by artists throughout the first half of the 20th century. The class explores the relation between American art and the body politic by focusing on issues of poverty, war, censorship, consumerism, class identity, and racial division.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 150:
American Literature and Culture to 1855 (ENGLISH 23, ENGLISH 123)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for ENGLISH 123 or AMSTUD 150). A survey of early American writings, including sermons, poetry, captivity and slave narratives, essays, autobiography, and fiction, from the colonial era to the eve of the Civil War.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 150A:
Colonial and Revolutionary America (HISTORY 150A)
(Same as HISTORY 50A. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for HISTORY 150A.) Survey of the origins of American society and polity in the 17th and 18th centuries. Topics: the migration of Europeans and Africans and the impact on native populations; the emergence of racial slavery and of regional, provincial, Protestant cultures; and the political origins and constitutional consequences of the American Revolution.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AMSTUD 152E:
African American Literature (AFRICAAM 152E, ENGLISH 152E)
What is African American literature? This course is both an introduction to some of the great works of black literary expression and an examination of this category. We will examine the formal and rhetorical strategies that figure most prominently in this literary tradition and investigate the historical circumstances (including slavery, Reconstruction, the Great Migration, and Jim Crow) that have shaped¿and been shaped by¿this body of literature. Topics to be addressed include canon formation, negotiations between fiction and history, sectional tensions (between North and South), gender politics, and folk culture.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 152G:
Global Harlem Renaissance (AFRICAAM 152G)
Examination of the explosion of African American artistic expression during 1920s and 30s New York known as the Harlem Renaissance. Amiri Baraka once referred to the Renaissance as a kind of ¿vicious Modernism,¿ as a ¿BangClash,¿ that impacted and was impacted by political, cultural and aesthetic changes not only in the U.S. but Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Focus on the literature, graphic arts, and the music of the era in this global context.
Last offered: Autumn 2010
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 154X:
The American Civil War: A Visual History (ARTHIST 154, ARTHIST 354)
A painting of men charging across a field, a photograph of dead bodies in a ditch, a fragment of metal, a sliver of bone, and a brass button: how do we make sense of the visual record of the American Civil War (1861-65)? From the Capitol Dome to a skeleton dug up in a highway project a hundred years after the last battle, the course will consider the strange and scattered remnants of a famous era. Drawing on the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Herman Melville, the paintings of Winslow Homer, the photographs of Alexander Gardner, and the oratory of Abraham Lincoln, the course will examine what cannot be portrayed: the trauma of war.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 159X:
American Photographs, 1839-1971: A Cultural History (ARTHIST 159, ARTHIST 359)
This course concentrates on many important American photographers, from the era of daguerreotypes to near the end of the pre-digital era. We study photographs of the Civil War, western exploration, artistic subjects, urban and rural poverty, skyscrapers, crime, fashion, national parks, and social protest, among other topics. Among the photographers we study: Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Garry Winogrand, and Diane Arbus. Emphasis on developing students' abilities to discuss and write about photography; to see it.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 169B:
Asian American Fiction (ENGLISH 169B)
Why are stories told in particular voices and from particular perspectives? This course explores such a question from the vantage point of Asian American fiction, where we will investigate dynamic and equivocal narrative voices, including "we" narration, "you" narration, multi-person narratives, and unreliable storytellers. We will further engage how these storytelling constructs affect and help to augment our understandings of racial formation. Selections may include: Julie Otsuka's "The Budda in the Attic," Ed Park's "Personal Days," among others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 178:
Ethnicity and Dissent in United States Art and Literature (ARTHIST 178, ARTHIST 378)
The role of the visual arts of the U.S. in the construction and contesting of racial, class, and gender hierarchies. Focus is on artists and writers from the 18th century to 1990s. How power, domination, and resistance work historically. Topics include: minstrelsy and the invention of race; mass culture and postmodernity; hegemony and language; memory and desire; and the borderlands.
Last offered: Spring 2004
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 183:
Border Crossings and American Identities (CSRE 183)
How novelists, filmmakers, and poets perceive racial, ethnic, gender, sexual preference, and class borders in the context of a national discussion about the place of Americans in the world. How Anna Deavere Smith, Sherman Alexie, or Michael Moore consider redrawing such lines so that center and margin, or self and other, do not remain fixed and divided. How linguistic borderlines within multilingual literature by Caribbean, Arab, and Asian Americans function. Can Anzaldúa's conception of borderlands be constructed through the matrix of language, dreams, music, and cultural memories in these American narratives? Course includes examining one's own identity.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 186:
Tales of Three Cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles (ENGLISH 186)
How urban form and experience shape literary texts and how literary texts participate in the creation of place, through the literature of three American cities as they ascended to cultural and iconographical prominence: New York in the early to mid 19th century; Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and Los Angeles in the mid to late 20th century.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 226X:
Curating Experience: Representation in and beyond Museums (CSRE 226X, EDUC 226X)
In an age when some 50% of museum visitors only "visit" museums online and when digital technologies have broken open archival access, anyone can be a curator, a critic, an historian, an archivist. In this context, how do museums create experiences that teach visitors about who they are and about the world around them? What are the politics of representation that shape learning in these environments? Using an experimental instructional approach, students will reconsider and redefine what it means to curate experience.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 251C:
The American Enlightenment
Eighteenth century America was like a laboratory for exciting new social, political, religious, scientific, and artistic theories that we collectively call "the Enlightenment." With readings in original texts and studies of material culture, examines ways in which eighteenth century Americans applied Enlightenment thinking to some of the most important problems and questions of their time. What was the best kind of government, and how could this be known? Was the new world of America fundamentally different or the same as Europe, and did animals, plants,and people improve or worsen there? What creatures (children, apes, women, slaves) were considered unreasonable in the Age of Reason, and why? What was the place of religion and passion in the Age of Reason?
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 1:
Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 201)
Crosscultural anthropological perspectives on human behavior, including cultural transmission, social organization, sex and gender, culture change, technology, war, ritual, and related topics. Case studies illustrating the principles of the cultural process. Films.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 1S:
Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 101S)
Crosscultural anthropological perspectives on human behavior, including cultural transmission, social organization, sex and gender, culture change, technology, war, ritual, and related topics. Case studies illustrating the principles of the cultural process. Films.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 3:
Introduction to Prehistoric Archeology (ARCHLGY 1)
Aims, methods, and data in the study of human society's development from early hunters through late prehistoric civilizations. Archaeological sites and remains characteristic of the stages of cultural development for selected geographic areas, emphasizing methods of data collection and analysis appropriate to each.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 101S:
Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 1S)
Crosscultural anthropological perspectives on human behavior, including cultural transmission, social organization, sex and gender, culture change, technology, war, ritual, and related topics. Case studies illustrating the principles of the cultural process. Films.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 128:
Visual Studies
Drawing on anthropology, art history, cultural studies, and other fields, this course explores how and why one might want to think critically about the politics of visuality, social imagination, the politics of making and consuming images and things, iconophonia and iconophilia, the classification of people and things into 'artists' and 'art', and cultural production more generally.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II
ARCHLGY 1:
Introduction to Prehistoric Archeology (ANTHRO 3)
Aims, methods, and data in the study of human society's development from early hunters through late prehistoric civilizations. Archaeological sites and remains characteristic of the stages of cultural development for selected geographic areas, emphasizing methods of data collection and analysis appropriate to each.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARCHLGY 106A:
Museums and Collections (ARCHLGY 306A)
Practical, theoretical, and ethical issues which face museums and collections. Practical collections-based work, museum visits, and display research. The roles of the museum in contemporary society. Students develop their own exhibition and engage with the issues surrounding the preservation of material culture.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ARCHLGY 118:
Architecture & Power: Engineering the Roman Empire (CLASSART 117)
Roman monumental space was designed to impress. This class will explore the interrelated aesthetics and mechanics of construction that led to one of the most extensive building programs undertaken by a pre-modern state. Through case studies ranging from bridges, domes and machines to road networks, hydraulic engineering and landscape modification, we will investigate not only the materials, methods, and knowledge behind Roman architectural innovation, but the communication of imperial messages through aesthetics of space.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 1:
Introduction to the Visual Arts: History of Western Art from the Renaissance to the Present
This course surveys the history of Western painting from the start of the 14th century to the late 20th century and our own moment. Lectures introduce important artists (Giotto, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Goya, Manet, Matisse, Pollock, and others), and major themes associated with the art of particular periods and cultures. The course emphasizes training students to look closely at - and to write about - works of art.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 2:
Asian Arts and Cultures (JAPANGEN 60)
An introduction to major monuments, themes, styles, and media of East and South Asian visual arts, in their social, literary, religious, and political contexts. Through close study of primary monuments of architectural, pictorial, and sculptural arts and related texts, this course will explore ritual and mortuary arts; Buddhist arts across Asia; narrative and landscape images; and courtly, urban, monastic, and studio environments for art from Bronze Age to modern eras.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 3:
Introduction to the History of Architecture- Domes: from the Pantheon to the Present (CLASSART 103)
This introduction to the history of architecture traces domed architecture, sacred and secular, from the 1st century BC to the 20th century AD. Themes include pre-modern cosmology and the dome as microcosm; innovations in engineering and the history of geometry; structural and painted illusionism; the dome as religious symbol, urban landmark, and national or political monument; social, religious, and political history and symbolism. Individual case studies range from Hadrian to Richard Rogers.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 100N:
The Artist in Ancient Greek Society (CLASSART 22N)
Given the importance of art to all aspects of their lives the Greeks had reason to respect their artists. Yet potters, painters and even sculptors possessed little social standing. Why did the Greeks value the work of craftsmen but not the men themselves? Why did Herodotus dismiss those who worked with their hands as "mechanics?" What prompted Homer to claim that, "there is no greater glory for a man¿ than what he achieves with his own hands," provided that he was throwing a discus and not a vase on a wheel? Painted pottery was essential to the religious and secular lives of the Greeks. Libations to the gods and to the dead required vases from which to pour them. Economic prosperity depended on the export of wine and oil in durable clay containers. At home, vases depicting gods and heroes reinforced Greek values and helped parents to educate their children. Ceramic sets with scenes of Dionysian excess were reserved for elite symposia from which craftsmen were excluded. Sculptors were less lowly but even those who carved the Parthenon's pediments and frieze were still "mechanics," with soft bodies and soft minds (Xenophon), "indifferent to higher things" (Plutarch).nnThe seminar addresses these issues. Students will read and discuss texts, write response papers and present slide lectures on aspects of the artist's profession.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 101:
Archaic Greek Art (ARTHIST 301, CLASSART 101, CLASSART 201)
The development of Greek art and culture from protogeometric beginnings to the Persian Wars, 1000-480 B.C.E. The genesis of a native Greek style; the orientalizing phase during which contact with the Near East and Egypt transformed Greek art; and the synthesis of East and West in the 6th century B.C.E.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 102:
Empire and Aftermath: Greek Art from the Parthenon to Praxiteles (ARTHIST 302, CLASSART 102)
The course explores the art and architecture of the Athenian Empire in the age of Pericles, and then considers the effects of civil war and plague on Greek art and society in the later 5th and early 4th centuries.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 106:
Byzantine Art and Architecture, 300-1453 C.E. (ARTHIST 306, CLASSART 106, CLASSART 206)
This course and its study trip to the Getty (Los Angeles) to view the new Byzantine exhibition explores the art and architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean: Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Damascus, Thessaloniki, and Palermo, 4th-15th centuries. Applying an innovative approach, we will probe questions of phenomenology and aesthetics, focusing our discussion on the performance and appearance of spaces and objects in the changing diurnal light, in the glitter of mosaics and in the mirror reflection and translucency of marble.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 106B:
What Do Medieval Images Want? Theories of the Image in Byzantium, Islam, and the Latin West (ARTHIST 306B)
What is an image? The medieval response was tied to religious identity. At the core of the debate was whether the image was just a mimetic representation or a living entity: matter imbued with divine spirit. Byzantium, Islam, and the Latin West each developed their own positions and used it as a platform for political legitimacy. We will study the development of the medieval image theories by focusing on specific monuments and objects and by reading both primary sources in translation and current scholarly interpretations.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 114:
Mystical Naturalism: Van Eyck, Dürer, and the Northern Renaissance (ARTHIST 314)
A survey of the major innovations in Northern European painting ca. 1400-1600, in light of the social status of the artist between city and court. In the early fifteenth century painters began to render an idealized world down to its smallest details in ways that engaged new devotional practices. Later Hieronymus Bosch would identify the painter's imagination with the bizarre and grotesque. In response to Renaissance humanism, some painters introduced classical mythology and allegorical subjects in their works, and many traveled south to absorb Italianate pictorial styles. We will be visiting art museums in San Francisco and Stanford. May be repeat for credit.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
ARTHIST 117:
Picturing the Papacy, 1300-1850 (ARTHIST 317)
Popes deployed art and architecture to glorify their dual spiritual and temporal authority, being both Christ's vicars on earth and rulers of state. After the return of the papacy from Avignon, Rome underwent numerous campaigns of renovation that staged a continuity between the pontiffs and the ancient Roman emperors. Patronage of art and architecture became important tools in the fight against Protestantism. Artists include Botticelli, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Bernini.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
ARTHIST 118:
Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto (ARTHIST 318)
The course addresses the ways in which Venetian painters of the sixteenth century redefined paradigms of color, design, and invention. Themes to be examined include civic piety, new kinds of mythological painting, the intersection between naturalism and eroticism, and the relationship between art and rituals of church and statecraft.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 120:
Living in a Material World: Seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish Painting (ARTHIST 320)
Painting and graphic arts by artists in Flanders and Holland from 1600 to 1680, a period of political and religious strife. Historical context; their relationship to developments in the rest of Europe and contributions to the problem of representation. Preferences for particular genres such as portraits, landscapes, and scenes of everyday life; the general problem of realism as manifested in the works studied.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 122:
The Age of Revolution: Painting in Europe 1780-1830 (ARTHIST 322)
Survey of European painting bracketed by the French Revolution and the end of the Napoleonic conquest. Against this background of social upheavel, the visual arts were profoundly affected by shifts in patronage, public, and ideas about the social utility of image making. Lectures and readings align ruptures in the tradition of representation with the unfolding historical situation, and trace the first manifestations of a "romantic" alternative to the classicism that was the cultural legacy of pre-Revolutionary Europe.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 123N:
Thinking about Visual Attention : from Balzac to Facebook
Writing in 1829, the French author Honoré de Balzac celebrated the acute visual attention of the flâneur, a character he closely associates with modern life: "To flâne is to take pleasure, to collect flashes of wit, to admire sublime scenes of unhappiness, of love, of joy as well as graceful or grotesque portraits, to thrust one's attention into the depths of a thousand lives." In July 2012 the Huffington Report pointed to a fact of modern life: "On city streets, in suburban parking lots and in shopping centers, there is usually someone strolling while talking on a phone, texting with his head down, listening to music, or playing a video game. The problem isn't as widely discussed as distracted driving, but the danger is real." These two very different ways of circulating in urban space suggest that a major shift in how we humans relate to our environment has occurred over the course of nearly two centuries--especially in the densely populated spaces of modern cities. Where the great spectacle of urban life was a marvel of the nineteenth century, today's inhabitants want mainly to block it out by insulating themselves in a cocoon of favorite music or personal conversation, whether by voice or text, that they risk stepping into traffic, colliding with lightposts, or bumping into others similarly self-absorbed. This seminar proposes to think about the hows and whys of that important shift from the unique perspective of art history, a field of study especially attuned to the limits and exigencies of visual acuity. We will explore the topic across a range of media, from daguerreotypes to stereoscopes, from paintings to films, from television screen to the hand-held displays of our smartphones.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 124:
The Age of Naturalism, Painting in Europe1830-1874 (ARTHIST 324)
Survey of European painting from the heyday of Romanticism to the first Impressionist exhibition. Lectures and readings focus on the tensions between traditional forms and ambitions of history painting and the challenge of "modern" subjects drawn from contemporary life. Attention to the impact of painting in the open-air, and the effect of new imaging technologies- notably lithography and photography - to provide "popular" alternatives to the hand-wrought character and elitist appeal of "high art" cultural forms.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 132:
American Art and Culture, 1528-1910 (AMSTUD 132, ARTHIST 332)
The visual arts and literature of the U.S. from the beginnings of European exploration to the Civil War. Focus is on questions of power and its relation to culture from early Spanish exploration to the rise of the middle classes. Cabeza de Vaca, Benjamin Franklin, John Singleton Copley, Phillis Wheatley, Charles Willson Peale, Emerson, Hudson River School, American Genre painters, Melville, Hawthorne and others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 143A:
American Architecture (ARTHIST 343A)
A historically based understanding of what defines American architecture. What makes American architecture American, beginning with indigenous structures of pre-Columbian America. Materials, structure, and form in the changing American context. How these ideas are being transformed in today's globalized world.
Last offered: Spring 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 145:
Culture Wars: Art and Social Conflict in the USA, 1890-1950 (AMSTUD 145M, ARTHIST 345, FEMGEN 145)
This course examines social conflicts and political controversies in American culture through the lens of visual art and photography. We consider how visual images both reflect and participate in the social and political life of the nation and how the terms of citizenship have been represented¿and, at times, contested¿by artists throughout the first half of the 20th century. The class explores the relation between American art and the body politic by focusing on issues of poverty, war, censorship, consumerism, class identity, and racial division.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 147:
The Visual Culture of Modernism and its Discontents (ARTHIST 347)
The development of modern art and visual culture in Europe and the US, beginning with Paris in the period of Haussmann, Baudelaire and Manet, and ending with Surrealism in the 1920s and 30s. Modernism in art, architecture and design (e.g., Gauguin, Picasso, Duchamp, Tatlin, Le Corbusier, Breuer, Dali) will be presented as a compelling dream of utopian possibilities involving multifaceted and often ambivalent, even contradictory responses to the changes brought about by industrialization, urbanization, and the rise of mass culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 152:
The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARTHIST 154:
The American Civil War: A Visual History (AMSTUD 154X, ARTHIST 354)
A painting of men charging across a field, a photograph of dead bodies in a ditch, a fragment of metal, a sliver of bone, and a brass button: how do we make sense of the visual record of the American Civil War (1861-65)? From the Capitol Dome to a skeleton dug up in a highway project a hundred years after the last battle, the course will consider the strange and scattered remnants of a famous era. Drawing on the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Herman Melville, the paintings of Winslow Homer, the photographs of Alexander Gardner, and the oratory of Abraham Lincoln, the course will examine what cannot be portrayed: the trauma of war.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 159:
American Photographs, 1839-1971: A Cultural History (AMSTUD 159X, ARTHIST 359)
This course concentrates on many important American photographers, from the era of daguerreotypes to near the end of the pre-digital era. We study photographs of the Civil War, western exploration, artistic subjects, urban and rural poverty, skyscrapers, crime, fashion, national parks, and social protest, among other topics. Among the photographers we study: Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Garry Winogrand, and Diane Arbus. Emphasis on developing students' abilities to discuss and write about photography; to see it.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 160N:
The Sisters: Poetry & Painting (ENGLISH 51N)
Poetry and painting have often been called the "sister arts". Why? Sometimes a poem or a painting stands out to us, asking that we stay with it, that we remember it, although we cannot exactly say why. Poems have a way of making pictures in the mind, and paintings turn "rhymes" amid the people, places, and things they portray. Each is a concentrated world, inviting an exhilarating closeness of response: why does this line come first? Why does the artist include that detail? Who knows but that as we write and talk about these poems and pictures we will be doing what John Keats said a painter does: that is, arriving at a "trembling delicate and snail-horn perception of Beauty." Each week explore the kinship between a different pair of painter and poet and also focuses on a particular problem or method of interpretation. Some of the artist/poet combinations we will consider: Shakespeare and Caravaggio; Jorie Graham and (the photographer) Henri Cartier-Bresson; Alexander Pope and Thomas Gainsborough; William Wordsworth and Caspar David Friedrich; Christina Rossetti and Mary Cassatt; Walt Whitman and Thomas Eakins; Thomas Hardy and Edward Hopper.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 164A:
Technology and the Visual Imagination (ARTHIST 364A, FILMSTUD 164A, FILMSTUD 364A)
An exploration of the dynamic relationship between technology and the ways we see and represent the world. The course examines technologies from the Renaissance through the present day, from telescopes and microscopes to digital detectors, that have changed and enhanced our visual capabilities as well as shaped how we imagine the world. We also consider how these technologies influenced and inspired the work of artists. Special attention is paid to how different technologies such as linear perspective, photography, cinema, and computer screens translate the visual experience into a representation; the automation of vision; and the intersection of technology with conceptions of time and space.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 165A:
Fashion Shows: From Lady Godiva to Lady Gaga (ARTHIST 365A, FILMSTUD 165A, FILMSTUD 365A)
The complex and interdependent relationship between fashion and art. Topics include: the ways in which artists have used fashion in different art forms as a means to convey social status, identity, and other attributes of the wearer; the interplay between fashion designers and various art movements, especially in the 20th century; the place of prints, photography, and the Internet in fashion, in particular how different media shape how clothes are seen and perceived. Texts by Thorstein Veblen, Roland Barthes, Dick Hebdige, and other theorists of fashion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 178:
Ethnicity and Dissent in United States Art and Literature (AMSTUD 178, ARTHIST 378)
The role of the visual arts of the U.S. in the construction and contesting of racial, class, and gender hierarchies. Focus is on artists and writers from the 18th century to 1990s. How power, domination, and resistance work historically. Topics include: minstrelsy and the invention of race; mass culture and postmodernity; hegemony and language; memory and desire; and the borderlands.
Last offered: Spring 2004
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 188B:
From Shanghai Modern to Global Contemporary: Frontiers of Modern Chinese Art
Chinese artistic engagements with international arenas and with the cultural politics of modernity, from the late 19th century to the present. Topics will include Shanghai modernity and public media; artistic reform and political activism at the end of empire; competition between national style painting and international modernisms; politicized arts of resistance and revolution; post-Mao era experimental and avant-garde movements; transnational careers and exhibition circuits.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 203:
Greek Art In and Out of Context (CLASSART 109)
The cultural contexts in which art served religious, political, commercial, athletic, sympotic, and erotic needs of Greek life.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 208C:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 408C, CLASSART 108, CLASSART 208, MUSIC 208C, MUSIC 408C, REES 208C, REES 408C, RELIGST 208C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
ARTHIST 213:
Renaissance Print Culture: Art in the Cantor Arts Center
The seminar takes place in the Cantor Arts Center and provides a unique opportunity to study original works of art from the museum's storage. Beginning in the fifteenth century new techniques of reproduction changed the pictorial culture of Europe. Some engravings called attention to the engraver's virtuosity, and the private nature of the medium was explored for erotic imagery. By the sixteenth century printed images were used for political and religious propaganda during the societal upheavals.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
ARTHIST 245:
Art, Business & the Law
This course examines the intersection of art, business, and the law from a number of different angles, focusing on issues that impact our understanding of works of art and their circulation in the modern and contemporary periods. Topics range from individual case studies (e.g., Leonardo da Vinci; Richard Serra) to the consolidation of the art market, and include cultural heritage issues, problems of censorship, and conceptions of authorship and intellectual property.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 263B:
The View through the Windshield: Cars and the American Landscape
Both cars and the landscape are fundamental to American identity. This seminar will consider the relationship between them: how they have shaped each other, how one mediates the experience of the other, and how American artists such as Ansel Adams, Edward Hopper, and Ed Ruscha have represented both. We will discuss the relationship between nature and technology; the aesthetics of highways and parkways; the phenomenology of driving and road trips; maps and way finding; and the future of cars, mapping, and the landscape.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 264A:
Picturing the Cosmos
This seminar explores the place of images in how we understand and imagine the universe. The course draws on art, science, and popular culture, and pays particular attention to the ways they inform each other. Examples include: star maps, science fiction films, appropriated astronomical images, and telescopic views of stars, planets, and nebulae. Using these representations as well as accompanying readings we will discuss the importance of aesthetics for conceptions of the cosmos; the influence of technology on representations; strategies for representing concepts that exceed the limits of human vision; and the ways that views of the universe reflect and shape their cultural context. Open to undergraduates and graduates.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTSINST 11:
Art in the Metropolis (MUSIC 11Q)
This seminar is offered in conjunction with the annual "Arts Immersion" trip to New York that takes place over the spring break and is organized by the Stanford Arts Institute (SAI). Participation in the trip is a requirement for taking part in the seminar (and vice versa). The trip is designed to provide a group of students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the cultural life of New York City guided by faculty and the SAI programming director. Students will experience a broad range and variety of art forms (visual arts, theater, opera, dance, etc.) and will meet with prominent arts administrators and practitioners, some of whom are Stanford alumni. For further details and updates about the trip, see http://artsinstitute.stanford.edu.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTSTUDI 239:
Intermedia Workshop (MUSIC 155, MUSIC 255)
Students develop and produce intermedia works. Musical and visual approaches to the conceptualisation and shaping of time-based art. Exploration of sound and image relationship. Study of a wide spectrum of audiovisual practices including experimental animation, video art, dance, performance, non-narrative forms, interactive art and installation art. Focus on works that use music/sound and image as equal partners. Limited enrollment. Prerequisites: consent of instructors, and one of FILMPROD 114, ARTSTUDI 131, 138, 167, 177, 179, or MUSIC 123, or equivalent. May be repeated for credit
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
ARTSTUDI 271:
The View Camera: Its Uses and Techniques
For students of photography who wish to gain greater control and refine skills in image making. 4x5 view cameras provided. Enrollment limited to 8. (upper level)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ASNAMST 88N:
Graphic Novels Asian American Style (ENGLISH 88N)
Though genre fiction has occasionally been castigated as a lowbrow form only pandering to the uneducated masses, this course reveals how Asian American writers transform the genre to speak to issues of racial difference and social inequality.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CEE 32Q:
Place: Making Space Now (ARTHIST 232Q)
This seminar argues that architeccts are ultimately "placemakers," and questions what that means in the contemporary world. Part I investigates the meaning of the word "place." Additional background for understanding contemporary place making will include a critique of the history of modern place-making through an examination of modern form. Part II examines two traditional notions of place by scale: from "home" to "the city." What elements give these conceptions of space a sense of place? To answer this question, themes such as memory, mapping, and boundary, among others, will be investigated. part III presents challenges to the traditional notions of place discussed in Part II. Topics addressed include: What does it mean to be "out of place"? What sense of place does a nomad have, and how is this represented? What are the "non-places" and how can architects design for these spaces? Part IV addresses the need to re-conceptualize contemporary space. The role of digital and cyber technologies, the construction of locality in a global world, and the in-between places that result from a world in flux are topics discussed in this section of the seminar. nLearning goals: Specific goals include clsoe reading of texts, understanding of philosophical thinking and writing, argument under uncertainty, and developed concepts of place, space and architecture.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CHILATST 120:
Queer Raza (FEMGEN 120, ILAC 287)
Examination of cultural representations by U.S. Latin@s that explore the following questions: How is the mutual constitution of race/sex/class/gender theorized and represented? How is desire racialized? How is racial difference produced through sex acts and what is the function of sex in racial (self)formation? How to reconcile pleasure and desire with histories of imperialism and (neo)colonialism and other structures of power? How do these texts reinforce or contest stereotypes and the "ideal" bodies of national identity? How do these texts produce queerness as a web of social relations?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CHILATST 179:
Chicano & Chicana Theater: Politics In Performance (TAPS 179, TAPS 379)
This is a practicum course, where the basic tenets and evolving politic and philosophies of Chicano and Latin American liberationist theater are examined through direct engagement with its theatrical forms, including, social protest & agit-prop, myth & ritual, scripting through improvisation, in-depth character and solo work, collective conceptualization and more. The course will culminate in an end-of-the quarter play performance in the Nitery Theater (Old Union) and at a Mission District theater in San Francisco.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CHILATST 200:
Latin@ Literature (CSRE 200, ILAC 280, ILAC 382)
Examines a diverse set of narratives by U.S. Latin@s of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan, and Dominican heritage through the lens of latinidad. All share the historical experience of Spanish colonization and U.S. imperialism, yet their im/migration patterns differ, affecting social, cultural, and political trajectories in the US and relationships to "home" and "homeland," nation, diaspora, history, and memory. Explores how racialization informs genders as well as sexualities. Emphasis on textual analysis. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CHINGEN 101:
How to Be Modern in China: A Gateway to the World Course
A gateway course on China, with a focus on the politics of everyday life, in the capital city of Beijing. Introduction to the history and politics of modern China. The pleasures, frictions, and challenges of daily living in the penumbra of power in Beijing as reported, represented, and reflected upon in fiction, film, reportage, social commentary, and scholarly writings. Priority to those preparing to participate in BOSP-Beijing Program or returning from the program.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CHINGEN 133:
Literature in 20th-Century China (CHINGEN 233)
(Graduate students register for 233.) How modern Chinese culture evolved from tradition to modernity; the century-long drive to build a modern nation state and to carry out social movements and political reforms. How the individual developed modern notions of love, affection, beauty, and moral relations with community and family. Sources include fiction and film clips. WIM course.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
CHINGEN 135:
Chinese Bodies, Chinese Selves (CHINGEN 235)
Interdisciplinary. The body as a contested site of representational practices, identity politics, cultural values, and social norms. Body images, inscriptions, and practices in relation to health, morality, gender, sexuality, nationalism, consumerism, and global capitalism in China and Taiwan. Sources include anthropological, literary, and historical studies, and fiction and film. No knowledge of Chinese required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CHINGEN 150:
Sex, Gender, and Power in Modern China (CHINGEN 250)
Investigates how sex, gender, and power are entwined in the Chinese experience of modernity. Topics include anti-footbinding campaigns, free love/free sex, women's mobilization in revolution and war, the new Marriage Law of 1950, Mao's iron girls, postsocialist celebrations of sensuality, and emergent queer politics. Readings range from feminist theory to China-focused historiography, ethnography, memoir, biography, fiction, essay, and film. All course materials are in English.
Last offered: Spring 2012
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CHINLIT 155:
Classical Poetry: Reading, Theory, Interpretation (CHINLIT 255)
Introduction to the reading and interpretation of classical Chinese poetry, with attention to the language of poetry, aesthetics, expressive purposes, and social roles. Readings in Chinese. Prerequisite: three years of modern Chinese or equivalent.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
16 times
(up to 4 units total)
CLASSART 21Q:
Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe
Preference to sophomores. Focus is on excavation, features and finds, arguments over interpretation, and the place of each site in understanding the archaeological history of Europe. Goal is to introduce the latest archaeological and anthropological thought, and raise key questions about ancient society. The archaeological perspective foregrounds interdisciplinary study: geophysics articulated with art history, source criticism with analytic modeling, statistics interpretation. A web site with resources about each site, including plans, photographs, video, and publications, is the basis for exploring.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, Writing 2
CLASSART 22N:
The Artist in Ancient Greek Society (ARTHIST 100N)
Given the importance of art to all aspects of their lives the Greeks had reason to respect their artists. Yet potters, painters and even sculptors possessed little social standing. Why did the Greeks value the work of craftsmen but not the men themselves? Why did Herodotus dismiss those who worked with their hands as "mechanics?" What prompted Homer to claim that, "there is no greater glory for a man¿ than what he achieves with his own hands," provided that he was throwing a discus and not a vase on a wheel? Painted pottery was essential to the religious and secular lives of the Greeks. Libations to the gods and to the dead required vases from which to pour them. Economic prosperity depended on the export of wine and oil in durable clay containers. At home, vases depicting gods and heroes reinforced Greek values and helped parents to educate their children. Ceramic sets with scenes of Dionysian excess were reserved for elite symposia from which craftsmen were excluded. Sculptors were less lowly but even those who carved the Parthenon's pediments and frieze were still "mechanics," with soft bodies and soft minds (Xenophon), "indifferent to higher things" (Plutarch).nnThe seminar addresses these issues. Students will read and discuss texts, write response papers and present slide lectures on aspects of the artist's profession.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSART 101:
Archaic Greek Art (ARTHIST 101, ARTHIST 301, CLASSART 201)
The development of Greek art and culture from protogeometric beginnings to the Persian Wars, 1000-480 B.C.E. The genesis of a native Greek style; the orientalizing phase during which contact with the Near East and Egypt transformed Greek art; and the synthesis of East and West in the 6th century B.C.E.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSART 102:
Empire and Aftermath: Greek Art from the Parthenon to Praxiteles (ARTHIST 102, ARTHIST 302)
The course explores the art and architecture of the Athenian Empire in the age of Pericles, and then considers the effects of civil war and plague on Greek art and society in the later 5th and early 4th centuries.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSART 103:
Introduction to the History of Architecture- Domes: from the Pantheon to the Present (ARTHIST 3)
This introduction to the history of architecture traces domed architecture, sacred and secular, from the 1st century BC to the 20th century AD. Themes include pre-modern cosmology and the dome as microcosm; innovations in engineering and the history of geometry; structural and painted illusionism; the dome as religious symbol, urban landmark, and national or political monument; social, religious, and political history and symbolism. Individual case studies range from Hadrian to Richard Rogers.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSART 105:
The Body in Roman Art
Ancient and modern ideas about the body as ideal and site of lived experience. Themes include representation, portrayal, power, metamorphosis, and replication. Works that exemplify Roman ideas of heroism and power versus works portraying nude women, erotic youth, preserved corpses, and suffering enemies. Recommended: background in ancient Mediterranean art, archaeology, history, or literature. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
CLASSART 106:
Byzantine Art and Architecture, 300-1453 C.E. (ARTHIST 106, ARTHIST 306, CLASSART 206)
This course and its study trip to the Getty (Los Angeles) to view the new Byzantine exhibition explores the art and architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean: Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Damascus, Thessaloniki, and Palermo, 4th-15th centuries. Applying an innovative approach, we will probe questions of phenomenology and aesthetics, focusing our discussion on the performance and appearance of spaces and objects in the changing diurnal light, in the glitter of mosaics and in the mirror reflection and translucency of marble.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSART 108:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 208C, ARTHIST 408C, CLASSART 208, MUSIC 208C, MUSIC 408C, REES 208C, REES 408C, RELIGST 208C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
CLASSART 109:
Greek Art In and Out of Context (ARTHIST 203)
The cultural contexts in which art served religious, political, commercial, athletic, sympotic, and erotic needs of Greek life.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSART 113:
Ten Things: An Archaeology of Design (CLASSART 213)
Connections among science, technology, society and culture by examining the design of a prehistoric hand axe, Egyptian pyramid, ancient Greek perfume jar, medieval castle, Wedgewood teapot, Edison's electric light bulb, computer mouse, Sony Walkman, supersonic aircraft, and BMW Mini. Interdisciplinary perspectives include archaeology, cultural anthropology, science studies, history and sociology of technology, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSART 117:
Architecture & Power: Engineering the Roman Empire (ARCHLGY 118)
Roman monumental space was designed to impress. This class will explore the interrelated aesthetics and mechanics of construction that led to one of the most extensive building programs undertaken by a pre-modern state. Through case studies ranging from bridges, domes and machines to road networks, hydraulic engineering and landscape modification, we will investigate not only the materials, methods, and knowledge behind Roman architectural innovation, but the communication of imperial messages through aesthetics of space.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSGEN 17:
Gender and Power in Ancient Greece (FEMGEN 17)
Introduction to the sex-gender system of ancient Greece, with comparative material from modern America. How myths, religious rituals, athletics, politics and theater reinforced gender stereotypes and sometimes undermined them. Skills: finding clues, identifying patterns and making connections amongst the components of a strange and beautiful culture very different from our own. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CLASSGEN 18:
Greek Mythology
The heroic and divine in the literature, mythology, and culture of archaic Greece. Interdisciplinary approach to the study of individuals and society. Illustrated lectures. Readings in translation of Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, and the poets of lyric and tragedy. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required.
Terms: Spr, Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSGEN 34:
Ancient Athletics
How the Olympic Games developed and how they were organized. Many other Greek festivals featured sport and dance competitions, including some for women, and showcased the citizen athlete as a civic ideal. Roman athletics in contrast saw the growth of large-scale spectator sports and professional athletes. Some toured like media stars; others regularly risked death in gladiatorial contests and chariot-racing. We will also explore how large-scale games were funded and how they fostered the development of sports medicine. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required; enroll in sections on coursework.
Terms: Win, Sum
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSGEN 61N:
Classical California
California's collections of Greco-Roman antiquities present several opportunities: to learn about ancient Greek and Roman societies via their artifacts; to trace the microhistories of particular collections; to gain a sense of how those specific narratives reflect more general patterns of Californian and US pasts; and finally to reflect on the nature of collecting and the ethics involved. This course will combine visits to collections on campus and field trips farther afield (San Francisco, San Simeon and Malibu) with classroom discussion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSGEN 81:
Philosophy and Literature (COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSGEN 86:
Exploring the New Testament (RELIGST 86)
The New Testament is many things to many people. Around the globe, it is and has been for two millennia a source of culture, law, and faith. It has been used both to undergird battles for civil rights and to fight against them. It has been used both to justify wars and to argue that all war is unjust. Yet, many people haven¿t read the New Testament and still more haven¿t looked at it from historical, sociological, comparative and literary frameworks. This course will provide you the opportunity to read the New Testament and to study it closely. We will ask questions of the New Testament about the early Jesus movement, how it fits into its historical context and how it developed. We will look at the range of opinions and views about Jesus present in this literature. We will explore the different genres used by early Christians. We will examine how this set of Early Christian texts came to be considered the canon.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSGEN 109:
Emperor, Explorer, and God: Alexander the Great in the Global Imagination (RELIGST 109)
This course will survey the changing image of Alexander the Great from the Hellenistic world to the contemporary. We shall study the appropriation of his life and legend in a variety of cultures both East and West and discuss his reception as both a divine and a secular figure by examining a variety of media including texts (primary and secondary) and images (statues, coins, mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, film, and TV) in the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Jewish, Islamic, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern contexts. In concluding the quarter, students will evaluate contemporary representations in film and popular culture, such as Alexander directed by Oliver Stone and Pop Art in order to better appreciate his enduring legacy.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSGEN 110:
Introduction to Greek Tragedy (TAPS 167)
Gods and heroes, fate and free choice, gender conflict, the justice or injustice of the universe: these are just some of the fundamental human issues that we will explore in about ten of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSGEN 116:
Ecology in Philosophy and Literature
The basic principles of ecological thinking, exploring the ways that different writers represent and relate to the natural world. Some key questions: What is nature, and where do humans fit in the natural world? How exactly do humans differ from other animals? Do these differences make us superior beings? What are our ethical responsibilities towards the earth and its inhabitants? In what ways have the technologies of writing, television, and computers affected humankind's relationship to the natural world?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
CLASSGEN 132:
Early Christian Gospels (RELIGST 132D)
An exploration of Christian gospels of the first and second century. Emphasis on the variety of images and interpretations of Jesus and the good news, the broader Hellenistic and Jewish contexts of the gospels, the processes of developing and transmitting gospels, and the creation of the canon. Readings include the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary and other canonical and non-canonical gospels.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSHIS 105:
The Egyptians (AFRICAAM 30)
Overview of ancient Egyptian pasts, from predynastic times to Greco-Roman rule, roughly 3000 BCE to 30 BCE. Attention to archaeological sites and artifacts; workings of society; and cultural productions, both artistic and literary. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSHIS 117:
Origins of History in Greece and Rome (HISTORY 114)
The beginnings and development of historical writing in the ancient world. Emphasis on major classical historians and various models of history they invented, from local to imperial, military, cultural, biographical, world history and church history. Focus on themes of power, war, loss, growth and decline, as put by the ancients into historical narrative forms and probed by way of historical questioning and explanation. Attention to how these models resonate still today. Readings in translation: Herodotus, Thucydides, Tacitus, Livy and others.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSHIS 133:
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought (CLASSHIS 333, PHIL 176A, PHIL 276A, POLISCI 330A)
Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and law, civic strife, and constitutional change.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
CLASSLAT 112:
Advanced Latin: Seneca
Systematic reading of one of Seneca's tragedies, with attention to literary style, dramaturgy, and political background. Evolving interpretation of the whole via the details. Exercise in developing translation skills. Overview of the full range of Seneca's writings, with some representative sampling. Classics majors and minors must take course for letter grade. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: Language, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
COMM 1B:
Media, Culture, and Society (AMSTUD 1B)
The institutions and practices of mass media, including television, film, radio, and digital media, and their role in shaping culture and social life. The media's shifting relationships to politics, commerce, and identity.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
COMPLIT 10N:
Shakespeare and Performance in a Global Context
Preference to freshmen. The problem of performance including the performance of gender through the plays of Shakespeare. In-class performances by students of scenes from plays. The history of theatrical performance. Sources include filmed versions of plays, and readings on the history of gender, gender performance, and transvestite theater.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 11Q:
Shakespeare, Playing, Gender
Preference to sophomores. Focus is on several of the best and lesser known plays of Shakespeare, on theatrical and other kinds of playing, and on ambiguities of both gender and playing gender.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 41N:
Borderlands of Literature and Culture
Rather than try to examine the whole of such an extensive body of work by artists of Mexican descent living in Mexico and the United States, the focus will be on the transnational themes of border thinking, memory, and identity (both personal and collective). Looking at the foundational poetry, auto-ethnographies, and narratives by Américo Paredes and Gloria Anzaldúa and how their literary and ethnographic work laid the groundwork for subsequent imaginings in the narratives, poetry, and theory of border thinking and writing. We will explore the trans-frontier cultural conditions under which imaginative literary texts are produced, disseminated, and received. We will consider not only the historical transnational experiences that inform these borderlands texts but the potential futures of Mexico and the United States they imagine.
Last offered: Autumn 2010
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 51Q:
Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity (AMSTUD 51Q, CSRE 51Q)
We may "know" "who" we "are," but we are, after all, social creatures. How does our sense of self interact with those around us? How does literature provide a particular medium for not only self expression, but also for meditations on what goes into the construction of "the Self"? After all, don't we tell stories in response to the question, "who are you"? Besides a list of nouns and names and attributes, we give our lives flesh and blood in telling how we process the world. Our course focuses in particular on this question--Does this universal issue ("who am I") become skewed differently when we add a qualifier before it, like "ethnic"?
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
COMPLIT 101:
What is Comparative Literature?
Introduction to theories about reading and theories about thinking. How should we best read novels, plays, short stories, poetry, and a variety of other forms of literary expression? Which ideas get taken across borders by literature, and which ideas do not? What role has literature played in human societies in different times and places? Fulfills the Writing-in-the-Major requirement. Gateway to the Comparative Literature Major.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 110:
Introduction to Comparative Queer Literary Studies (COMPLIT 310, FEMST 110)
Introduction to the comparative literary study of important gay, lesbian, queer, bisexual, and transgender writers and their changing social, political, and cultural contexts from the 1890s to today: Wilde, Gide, Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, Radclyffe Hall, E.M. Forster, Thomas Mann, Georges Bataille, James Baldwin, Jean Genet, Jeanette Winterson, Sarah Waters, Audre Lorde, discussed in the context of 20th-century feminist and queer literary and social theories of gender and sexuality (Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick, Julia Serano, and others).
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 111:
German Capstone: Reading Franz Kafka (COMPLIT 311C, GERMAN 190, GERMAN 390, JEWISHST 147, JEWISHST 349)
This class will address major works by Franz Kafka and consider Kafka as a modernist writer whose work reflects on modernity. We will also examine the role of Kafka's themes and poetics in the work of contemporary writers. (Meets Writing-in-the-Major requirement)
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 112:
Oscar Wilde and the French Decadents (COMPLIT 312, FRENCH 112, FRENCH 312)
Close reading of Oscar Wilde's work together with major texts and authors of 19th-century French Decadence, including Symbolism, l'art pour l'art, and early Modernism. Points of contact between Wilde and avant-garde Paris salons; provocative, creative intersections between (homo)erotic and aesthetic styles, transgression; literary and cultural developments from Baudelaire to Mallarmé, Huysmans, Flaubert, Rachilde, Lorrain, and Proust compared with Wilde¿s Salomé, Picture of Dorian Gray, and critical writings; relevant historical and philosophical contexts. All readings in English; all student levels welcome.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 121:
Poems, Poetry, Worlds
What is poetry? How does it speak in many voices to questions of history, society, and personal experience? Why does it matter? The reading and interpretation of poetry in crosscultural comparison as experience, invention, form, sound, knowledge, and part of the world. Readings include: classical Chinese poetry, English Romantic poetry, and modern Arabic, American, Brazilian, Japanese, German, Spanish poetry, with specific attention to landscape, terrain, the environment, and the role of the poet.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 123:
The Novel, The World (ENGLISH 184)
Literary inventiveness and social significance of novelistic forms from the Hellenistic age to the present.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 132A:
Dynasties, Dictators and Democrats: History and Politics in Germany (GERMAN 132)
Key moments in German history through documents: personal accounts, political speeches and texts, and literary works. The course begins with the Prussian monarchy and proceeds to the crisis years of the French Revolution. Documents from the 1848 revolution and the age of Bismarck and German unification follow. World War I and its impact on Germany, including the rise of Hitler, as well as the aftermath, divided Germany in the Cold War through the fall of the Berlin Wall. Taught in German.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
COMPLIT 141A:
The Meaning of Arabic Literature: a seminar investigation into the nebulous concept of adab
An investigation into the concept of literature in mediaeval Arabic. Was there a mediaeval Arabic way of thinking? We look to develop a translation for the word "adab," a concept that dominated mediaeval Arabic intellectual culture, and is related in some ways to what we mean today when we use the word literature. Our core text is a literary anthology from the 900s in Iraq and we try, together, to work out what literature meant for the author and his contemporaries. Readings, assignments and, class discussion all in English.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 142:
The Literature of the Americas (AMSTUD 142, CSRE 142, ENGLISH 172E)
A wide-ranging overview of the literatures of the Americas inncomparative perspective, emphasizing continuities and crises that are common to North American, Central American, and South American literatures as well as the distinctive national and cultural elements of a diverse array of primary works. Topics include the definitions of such concepts as empire and colonialism, the encounters between worldviews of European and indigenous peoples, the emergence of creole and racially mixed populations, slavery, the New World voice, myths of America as paradise or utopia, the coming of modernism, twentieth-century avant-gardes, and distinctive modern episodes--the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, magic realism, Noigandres--in unaccustomed conversation with each other.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 144A:
Istanbul the Muse: The City in Literature and Film
The multiple layers of culture and history in Istanbul, a city on two continents between East and West, have inspired great art and literature. The class focuses on the idea of "inbetweenness" through art, literature, music, and popular culture seen chronologically. In addition to discussing literary, historical, and academic texts we will explore visual genres such as advertising, architecture, caricature, documentary, film, and miniature painting. Readings and discussion in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 145:
Reflection on the Other: The Jew in Arabic Literature, the Arab in Hebrew Literature (AMELANG 126, JEWISHST 106)
How literary works outside the realm of western culture struggle with questions such as identity, minority, and the issue of the other. How the Arab is viewed in Hebrew literature and how the Jew is viewed in Arabic literature. Historical, political, and sociological forces that have contributed to the shaping of the writer's views. Arab and Jewish (Israeli) culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 145B:
Ideas of Africa in Atlantic Writing (COMPLIT 345B, FRENCH 145B, FRENCH 345B)
This course examines the ways Anglophone and Francophone writers from the African, Caribbean and North Atlantic have represented Africa as a geographic, aesthetic and political space where one may think through problems of history, community and identity formation, art, language and the author's function. The course begins with Equiano and may include DuBois, Césaire, Senghor, Maryse Condé, Bessie Head, Phillip Gourevitch, Antjie Krog, and Barack Obama. Graduate students read in original French.
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 146A:
The Arab Spring in Arabic Literature (COMPLIT 347)
An examination of the events of 2011 in the Middle East through literature. We will read short stories, poetry, graphic novels, and blogs in order to try and work out whether the revolution could have been predicted, and how it took place. Prerequisite: two years of Arabic at Stanford, or equivalent.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 148B:
Indian Epics: Past and Present (RELIGST 108)
The Mahabharata and the Ramayana, the two great epics of India, have been crucial texts in South Asian literature and culture for millennia. In this course, we will explore the diverse forms and impacts of both epics from their Sanskrit versions, first composed more than 2,000 years ago, into retellings through newer media forms well into the twenty-first century. We begin with abridged translations of both the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavadgita) and the Ramayana. We will discuss the major literary, religious, and social themes of each text as well as subsequent retellings in Sanskrit and vernacular languages. Throughout the course we will also investigate the modern lives of the Indian epics, including their transformations into Indian television serials, film versions of both narratives (from India and America), and invocations of the epic stories in contemporary political disputes. In addition to gaining exposure to some of the foundational texts for the study of South Asia, students will cultivate the ability to fruitfully analyze texts and stories from different cultures.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 149A:
Classical Arabic Poetry: An Introduction (COMPLIT 346)
The primary litmus test of proficiency in the Arabic language is, and has always been, a command of classical Arabic poetry. Study and memorize the great lines of Arabic poetry with a manual that has stood the pedagogical test of time from the eleventh century until today. Questions of literary merit, poetic technique, metaphor, and divine and human linguistic innovation are all raised by the text that we will read together. Readings in Arabic, assignments and discussion in English. Prerequisite: two years of Arabic at Stanford, or equivalent.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 151A:
Philosophies, Literatures, and Alternatives (COMPLIT 351A)
Aristotelian poetics and mediaeval Arabic literary theory. Nietzsche's irony and Philosophies and literatures, together and apart, dominate the last two millennia of human thought. How might they best be read? Are philosophy and literature two different ways of thinking, or are they just two separate institutional histories? This course starts with familiar Greeks, moves onto unfamiliar Arabs, confronts old Europe, and ends with contemporary Americans arguing.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 154A:
Film & Philosophy (FRENCH 154, ITALIAN 154, PHIL 193C, PHIL 293C)
Issues of freedom, morality, faith, knowledge, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Twelve Monkeys (Gilliam), Ordet (Dreyer), The Dark Knight (Nolan), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Allen), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 154B:
Poetic Thinking Across Media (GERMAN 154, JEWISHST 144B)
Even before Novalis claimed that the world must be romanticized, thinkers, writers, and artists wanted to perceive the human and natural world poetically. The pre- and post-romantic poetic modes of thinking they created are the subject of this course. Readings include Ecclestias, Zhaozhou Congshen, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Kafka, Benjamin, Arendt, and Sontag. This course will also present poetic thinking in the visual arts--from the expressionism of Ingmar Bergman to the neo-romanticism of Gerhard Richter.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 157:
Contemporary Turkish Cinema and Society (COMPLIT 357)
An examination of contemporary Turkish cinema in a social and political context. The course will focus on films and directors that revived Turkish cinema in the mid-1990s with a focus on key issues pertaining to belonging, denied identities, masculinity, nationalism, silencing of women, urbanization. There will be approximately two hours of film screening and two hours of classroom discussion/seminar each week. All films have English subtitles.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 168:
Imagining the Oceans (COMPLIT 368, ENGLISH 168, ENGLISH 368, FRENCH 168, FRENCH 368)
How has Western culture constructed the world's oceans since the beginning of global ocean exploration? How have imaginative visions of the ocean been shaped by marine science, technology, exploration, commerce and leisure? Readings might include voyage accounts by Cook and Darwin, sailors' narratives by Equiano and Dana, poetry by Coleridge, Bishop and Walcott, novels by Melville, Verne, Conrad and Woolf. Visual culture might include paintings by Turner and Redon, and films by Jean Painlevé, Kathryn Bigelow, Jerry Bruckheimer and James Cameron. Critical texts will be drawn from interdisciplinary theorists of modernity and mobility, such as Schmitt, Wallerstein, Corbin, Latour, Deleuze + Guattari, and Cresswell.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSGEN 81, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 190:
Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in Dialogue with Contemporary Philosophical, Social, and Ethical Thought (COMPLIT 390, SLAVIC 190, SLAVIC 390)
Anna Karenina, the novel as a case study in the contest between "modernity" and "tradition," their ethical order, ideology, cultural codes, and philosophies. Images of society, women and men in Tolstoy v. those of his contemporaries: Marx, Mill, Nietzsche, Weber, Durkheim, Freud. Open to juniors, seniors and graduate students. Requirements: three interpretive essays (500-1000 words each). Analysis of a passage from the novel; AK refracted through a "philosophical" prism and vice versa (30% each); class discussion and Forum (10%).
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
COMPLIT 199:
Senior Seminar: J.R.R. Tolkien and Junot Diaz's Speculative Narratives
Major terms of speculative narratology; how different literary, cinematic, and popular culture narratives by (and about) Tolkien and Diaz raise issues of coloniality, power and race, stir public debates and contribute to understanding planetary literature. Readings include texts by Tolkien and Diaz, Frye, Fanon, Quijano, Mignolo, Jameson, Badiou, Butler, Moya, and Perez. Satisfies the capstone seminar requirement for the major tracks in Philosophy and Literature. CL Senior majors only and minors with permission.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMPLIT 222A:
Wrestling with Modernity: German Literature and Thought from 1900 to the Present (GERMAN 222, GERMAN 322)
Masters of German 20th- and 21st-Century literature and philosophy as they present aesthetic innovation and confront the challenges of modern technology, social alienation, manmade catastrophes, and imagine the future. Readings include Nietzsche, Freud, Rilke, Musil, Brecht, Kafka, Doeblin, Benjamin, Juenger, Arendt, Musil, Mann, Adorno, Celan, Grass, Bachmann, Bernhardt, Wolf, and Kluge. Taught in English. Undergraduates enroll in 222 for 5 units, graduate students enroll in 322 for 8 units.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5-8
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 226A:
Queer Literature and Film (FEMGEN 226A)
Close analysis of major works of LGBTQ literature, film, and visual art from the 1890s to today. Students will gain deeper knowledge and appreciation of historical and contemporary forms of queer representation in various national literatures, film, and visual art; understand relevant social and political debates; and gain a basic knowledge of feminist and queer theory. Course will include an optional online component to reach out to the public (class website queerlitfilm.wordpress.com, social media).
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 229:
Literature of Global Health (FRENCH 229, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways literary and medical writers have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health -- modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, which are meant to have helped readers develop a modern public health conscience. We will study global health ethics as a field initially rooted in philosophy and policy that address questions raised by practice in resource-constrained communities abroad. And we will spend the quarter understanding how colonial and world literatures may deepen and even alter these questions. Readings will be selected from Albert Schweitzer, Aime Cesaire, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Antonio Olinto, Ben Okri, Amitav Ghosh, Anne Fadiman, and Paul Farmer.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMPLIT 236:
Literature and Transgression (FEMGEN 236)
Close reading and analysis of erotic-sexual and aesthetic-stylistic transgression in selected works by Wilde, Schnitzler, Joyce, Barnes, Bataille, Burroughs, Thomas Mann, Guenter Grass, Kathy Acker, Junot Diaz and others. Along with understanding the changing cultural, social, and political contexts of what constitutes "transgression" or censorship, students will gain knowledge of influential theories of transgression by Foucault, Blanchot, and contemporary queer and feminist writers.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 247:
Bollywood and Beyond: An Introduction to Indian Film (FILMSTUD 250B, ICA 250)
A broad engagement with Indian cinema: its relationship with Indian politics, history, and economics; its key thematic concerns and forms; and its adaptation of and response to global cinematic themes, genres, and audiences. Locating the films within key critical and theoretical debates and scholarship on Indian and world cinemas. Goal is to open up what is often seen as a dauntingly complex region, especially for those who are interested in but unfamiliar with its histories and cultural forms.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 252A:
An Introduction to Classical Arabic Poetry: the Shakespeare of the Arabs (al-Mutanabbi)
Study, memorize, and criticize the work of al-Mutanabbi, a poet who in his twenties led a failed desert revolution. The mature and cynical poet he became was embarrassed by the claims he made in his youth to be a prophet who received new Quran from God. How did he get away with this? Engage with a literary and political society wholly unlike our own. Readings in Arabic, discussion in English. Prerequisite: two years of Arabic at Stanford or equivalent.
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 252B:
An Introduction to Classical Arabic Prose: the Shakespeare of the Arabs (al-Jahiz)
Learn how to read the Arabic of Iraq in the 800s. Discover how close it is to Modern Standard Arabic. Engage with the politician, philosopher, theologian, and satirist who is still acknowledged today as the master of Arabic prose writing. Readings in Arabic, discussion in English. Prerequisite: two years of Arabic at Stanford or equivalent.
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 271A:
Futurity: Why the Past Matters (GERMAN 271)
Drawing on literature, the arts, political discourse, museums, and new media, this course asks why and how we take interest in the watershed events of the modern era; how does contemporary culture engages with modern, made-made disasters such as the World Wars or 9/11? Readings and viewings include the literature of G. Grass, W. G. Sebald, Ian McEwan, Toni Morrison and Cormac McCarthy; the cinema of Kathryn Bigelow and Steven Spielberg; speeches by Barak Obama; and the theoretical writing of Walter Benjamin, Hayden White, Fredric Jameson, among others. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 283:
Masterpieces of Hebrew Literature from the Bible to the Present (JEWISHST 243)
This course presents and reflects on some of the canonical works of Hebrew literature, from biblical era to the present. Discussing works such as the Wisdom Books and selections from the Midrash; and reflecting on important periods such as the Golden Age of Jewish Culture in Spain, the Renaissance, and contemporary Israeli literature, we will highlight linguistic innovation, as well as crucial thematic and philosophical concerns. Readings include the Book of Job, Psalm, Ibn Gabirol, Mapu, Rachel, Goldbegr, Agnon, S. Yizhar, Amichai, Oz and more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CSRE 51Q:
Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity (AMSTUD 51Q, COMPLIT 51Q)
We may "know" "who" we "are," but we are, after all, social creatures. How does our sense of self interact with those around us? How does literature provide a particular medium for not only self expression, but also for meditations on what goes into the construction of "the Self"? After all, don't we tell stories in response to the question, "who are you"? Besides a list of nouns and names and attributes, we give our lives flesh and blood in telling how we process the world. Our course focuses in particular on this question--Does this universal issue ("who am I") become skewed differently when we add a qualifier before it, like "ethnic"?
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
CSRE 65:
Nation in Motion: Film, Race and Immigration in Contemporary French Cinema (FRENCH 122)
An examination of the current debates in France regarding national identity, secularism, and the integration of immigrants, notably from the former colonies. Confronts films' and other media's visual and discursive rhetorical strategies used to represent ethnic or religious minorities, discrimination, citizens' resistance to government policies, inter-racial marriages, or women's rights within immigrant communities. By embodying such themes in stories of love, hardships, or solidarity, the motion pictures make the movements and emotions inherent to immigration tangible: to what effect? Taught in French. Films in French with English subtitles. Additional paper for students enrolled in 235.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 142:
The Literature of the Americas (AMSTUD 142, COMPLIT 142, ENGLISH 172E)
A wide-ranging overview of the literatures of the Americas inncomparative perspective, emphasizing continuities and crises that are common to North American, Central American, and South American literatures as well as the distinctive national and cultural elements of a diverse array of primary works. Topics include the definitions of such concepts as empire and colonialism, the encounters between worldviews of European and indigenous peoples, the emergence of creole and racially mixed populations, slavery, the New World voice, myths of America as paradise or utopia, the coming of modernism, twentieth-century avant-gardes, and distinctive modern episodes--the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, magic realism, Noigandres--in unaccustomed conversation with each other.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
CSRE 183:
Border Crossings and American Identities (AMSTUD 183)
How novelists, filmmakers, and poets perceive racial, ethnic, gender, sexual preference, and class borders in the context of a national discussion about the place of Americans in the world. How Anna Deavere Smith, Sherman Alexie, or Michael Moore consider redrawing such lines so that center and margin, or self and other, do not remain fixed and divided. How linguistic borderlines within multilingual literature by Caribbean, Arab, and Asian Americans function. Can Anzaldúa's conception of borderlands be constructed through the matrix of language, dreams, music, and cultural memories in these American narratives? Course includes examining one's own identity.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 188Q:
Imagining Women: Writers in Print and in Person (FEMGEN 188Q)
Gender roles, gender relations and sexual identity explored in contemporary literature and conversation with guest authors. Weekly meetings designated for book discussion and meeting with authors. Interest in writing and a curiosity about diverse women's lives would be helpful to students. Students will use such tools as close reading, research, analysis and imagination. Seminar requires strong voice of all participants. Oral presentations, discussion papers, final projects.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
CSRE 200:
Latin@ Literature (CHILATST 200, ILAC 280, ILAC 382)
Examines a diverse set of narratives by U.S. Latin@s of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan, and Dominican heritage through the lens of latinidad. All share the historical experience of Spanish colonization and U.S. imperialism, yet their im/migration patterns differ, affecting social, cultural, and political trajectories in the US and relationships to "home" and "homeland," nation, diaspora, history, and memory. Explores how racialization informs genders as well as sexualities. Emphasis on textual analysis. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
DANCE 160:
Rethinking the Ballerina (TAPS 160, TAPS 260)
The ballerina occupies a unique place in popular imagination as an object of over-determined femininity as well as an emblem of extreme physical accomplishment for the female dancer. This seminar is designed as an investigation into histories of the ballerina as an iconographic symbol and cultural reference point for challenges to political and gender ideals. Through readings, videos, discussions and viewings of live performances this class investigates pivotal works, artists and eras in the global histories of ballet from its origins as a symbol of patronage and power in the 15th century through to its radical experiments as a site of cultural obedience and disobedience in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
DLCL 293:
Literary Translation (ENGLISH 293)
An overview of translation theories and practices over time. The aesthetic, ethical, and political questions raised by the act and art of translation and how these pertain to the translator's tasks. Discussion of particular translation challenges and the decision processes taken to address these issues. Coursework includes assigned theoretical readings, comparative translations, and the undertaking of an individual translation project.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
EDUC 116N:
Howard Zinn's 'A People's History' and the Quest for Historical Truth (HISTORY 116N)
Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of the United States' has few peers among contemporary historical works. With more than two million copies in print, A People's History is more than a book. It is a cultural icon, a symbol of our time. "You wanna read a real history book," Matt Damon tells Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting, "read People's History of the US. That book'll knock you on your ass." Today, A People's History's original grey cover has been colorized in red, white, and blue for its Harper "Perennial Modern Classic" edition, and is now marketed with special displays in suburban megastores. You can buy A People's History T-shirts and tote-bags. Zinn's book was not the first but is certainly the defining example of a genre of historical writing known as revisionism, in which the cherished truths of a previous generation are turned on their head. In this seminar, we will use A People's History to probe the question of historical truth. How do we determine what was true in the past? Why and under what circumstances should we believe what historians say? Under what circumstances are we required to rethink our own interpretations about the past, even if doing so causes discomfort and upheaval? A People's History will be our point of departure, but our journey will visit a variety of historical trouble spots: debates about whether the US was founded as a Christian nation, Holocaust denial, and the "Birther" controversy of President Obama.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 23:
American Literature and Culture to 1855 (AMSTUD 150, ENGLISH 123)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for ENGLISH 123 or AMSTUD 150). A survey of early American writings, including sermons, poetry, captivity and slave narratives, essays, autobiography, and fiction, from the colonial era to the eve of the Civil War.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 42D:
Talking Back: Intertextuality in Contemporary Fiction (ENGLISH 142D)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 142D.) Why do so many contemporary writers create fictions that contend with the past by rewriting, revising, or otherwise 'talking back' to their literary forebears? Is everything intertextual or are post-WW II experiments in intertextuality characteristic of historical, cultural, and geopolitical changes particular to the twentieth century? How does intertextuality inform narrative voice, constructions of authorship, character portrayal, political and aesthetic interpretation, and contemporary claims to - or critiques of - fame and canonization? Students will be encouraged to make comparative connections with the contemporary media scene, while comparing EM Forster and Zadie Smith; Virginia Woolf and Michael Cunningham; George Orwell and Margaret Atwood; Charotte Bronte and Jean Rhys; Oscar Wilde and Tom Stoppard.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 44B:
Contemporary British Fiction (ENGLISH 144B)
(English majors and others taking 5 units should register for 144B). How do contemporary British novelists represent the dramatic changes in culture, class, landscape, economy, gender, race, and national identity that followed the allied victory in the Second World War (1939-1945) when Britain is said to have `won the war but lost the empire'? Focusing on writers born in the aftermath of the war, and the successive generation, this course asks what political, cultural, and literary concerns shape historical consciousness in novels by Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Jeanette Winterson, Hanif Kureishi, Julian Barnes Flaubert's, and Ali Smith.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 47N:
Sports and Culture
Stanford has the most successful student-athlete program in the country (maybe ever) and athletics are an enormously important aspect of Stanford¿s student culture. This course looks in depth at sports in American culture. Through film, essays, fiction, poetry and other media, we will explore an array of topics including representations of the athlete, violence, beauty, the mass media, ethics, college sports, race and gender.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 51N:
The Sisters: Poetry & Painting (ARTHIST 160N)
Poetry and painting have often been called the "sister arts". Why? Sometimes a poem or a painting stands out to us, asking that we stay with it, that we remember it, although we cannot exactly say why. Poems have a way of making pictures in the mind, and paintings turn "rhymes" amid the people, places, and things they portray. Each is a concentrated world, inviting an exhilarating closeness of response: why does this line come first? Why does the artist include that detail? Who knows but that as we write and talk about these poems and pictures we will be doing what John Keats said a painter does: that is, arriving at a "trembling delicate and snail-horn perception of Beauty." Each week explore the kinship between a different pair of painter and poet and also focuses on a particular problem or method of interpretation. Some of the artist/poet combinations we will consider: Shakespeare and Caravaggio; Jorie Graham and (the photographer) Henri Cartier-Bresson; Alexander Pope and Thomas Gainsborough; William Wordsworth and Caspar David Friedrich; Christina Rossetti and Mary Cassatt; Walt Whitman and Thomas Eakins; Thomas Hardy and Edward Hopper.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 64N:
Growing Up in America (PSYCH 29N)
Preference to freshmen. To what extent is it possible to describe an "American" experience? How are different people included in or excluded from the imagined community that is America? How do a person's race, class, gender and sexuality affect his or her experience of belonging to this country? These are just some of the questions we will consider as we familiarize ourselves with the great diversity of childhood and young adult experiences of people who have grown up in America. We will read and discuss narratives written by men and women, by urban, suburban, and rural Americans, and by Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Latina/os, and European Americans.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ENGLISH 65N:
Contemporary Women Fiction Writers
Preference to freshmen. Novels and story collections addressing childhood, coming of age, and maturity; love, sexuality, orientation; the experience of violence and the politics, domestic and global, of women¿s lives. Texts include Gordimer, Eisenberg, Latiolais, Munro, O'Brien, and others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 68N:
Mark Twain and American Culture (AMSTUD 68N)
Preference to freshmen. Mark Twain has been called our Rabelais, our Cervantes, our Homer, our Tolstoy, our Shakespeare. Ernest Hemingway maintained that all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. President Franklin D.nRoosevelt got the phrase New Deal from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Class discussions will focus on how Twain's work illuminates and complicates his society's responses to such issues as race, technology, heredity versus environment, religion, education, and what it means to be American.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 81:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSGEN 81, COMPLIT 181, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 88N:
Graphic Novels Asian American Style (ASNAMST 88N)
Though genre fiction has occasionally been castigated as a lowbrow form only pandering to the uneducated masses, this course reveals how Asian American writers transform the genre to speak to issues of racial difference and social inequality.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 90:
Fiction Writing
The elements of fiction writing: narration, description, and dialogue. Students write complete stories and participate in story workshops. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: PWR 1 (waived in summer quarter).
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ;
Antopol, M. (PI);
Clark, H. (PI);
Frisch, S. (PI);
Kealey, T. (PI);
Kletter, D. (PI);
Marra, A. (PI);
McIlvain, R. (PI);
Pufahl, S. (PI);
Schloesser Tarano, N. (PI);
Soileau, S. (PI);
Tanaka, S. (PI);
Dooling, K. (GP)
ENGLISH 91:
Creative Nonfiction
(Formerly 94A.) Historical and contemporary as a broad genre including travel and nature writing, memoir, biography, journalism, and the personal essay. Students use creative means to express factual content.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
Instructors: ;
Antopol, M. (PI);
Carlson-Wee, K. (PI);
Clark, H. (PI);
Ekiss, K. (PI);
Evans, J. (PI);
Frisch, S. (PI);
Hummel, M. (PI);
Kletter, D. (PI);
Pufahl, S. (PI);
Schloesser Tarano, N. (PI);
Wrenn, G. (PI)
ENGLISH 92:
Reading and Writing Poetry
Prerequisite: PWR 1. Issues of poetic craft. How elements of form, music, structure, and content work together to create meaning and experience in a poem. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
ENGLISH 94:
Creative Writing Across Genres
For minors in creative writing. The forms and conventions of the contemporary short story and poem. How form, technique, and content combine to make stories and poems organic. Prerequisite: 90, 91, or 92.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 100A:
Literary History I
First in a three quarter sequence. Team-taught, and ranging in subject matter across almost a millennium from the age of parchment to the age of Facebook, this required sequence of classes is the department's account of the major historical arc traced so far by literature in English. It maps changes and innovations as well as continuities, ideas, and aesthetic forms, providing a grid of knowledge and contexts for other, more specialized classes.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 100B:
Literary History II
Second in a three quarter sequence. Team-taught, and ranging in subject matter across almost a millennium from the age of parchment to the age of Facebook, this required sequence of classes is the department's account of the major historical arc traced so far by literature in English. It maps changes and innovations as well as continuities, ideas as well as aesthetic forms, providing a grid of knowledge and contexts for other, more specialized classes.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 100C:
Literary History III
Third in a three quarter sequence. Team-taught, and ranging in subject matter across almost a millennium from the age of parchment to the age of Facebook, this required sequence of classes is the department's account of the major historical arc traced so far by literature in English. It maps changes and innovations as well as continuities, ideas as well as aesthetic forms, providing a grid of knowledge and contexts for other, more specialized classes.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 102A:
The Material Book
When was the form of the book invented? Why has it proven the most significant and long-lived of all text technologies? This course will (literally) deconstruct the material book and examine its inventiveness; its metaphorical capaciousness; its role as icon, fetish, container, weapon and monument of collective memory. We shall focus on pairs of medieval manuscripts and contemporary artists' books to investigate the book's meaning, learning also how to produce simple handmade books in a series of creative workshops.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 105A:
Queer Reading and Queer Writing in Early Modern England (FEMGEN 115)
Considers the possibility of identifying queer reading and writing practices in early modern England as well the theoretical and historical obstacles such a project necessarily encounters. Focus on the role which Renaissance discourses of desire continue to play in our negotiations of homo/erotic subjectivity, identity politics, and sexual and gender difference. Study of Renaissance queerness in relation to the classical tradition on the one hand and the contemporary discourses of religion, law, and politics on the other. Readings include plays, poems, and prose narratives as well as letters, pamphlets, and ephemeral literature. Both major and minor authors will be represented.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 115A:
Shakespeare and Modern Critical Developments
Approaches include gender studies and feminism, race studies, Shakespeare's geographies in relation to the field of cultural geography, and the importance of religion in the period.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 115B:
Late Shakespeare: Genre, Style, Authorship
Shakespearean scholarship regularly observes a marked shift of interest in Shakespeare's late plays. Can we speak of "late Shakespeare," and how might that be useful in our understanding of plays such as The WInter's Tale or The Tempest? Can Coriolanus be considered a "late" play, and what do we make of Shakespeare's collaboration with John Fletcher on Henry VIII, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and possibly Cardenio? Our study of Shakespeare"s late plays will be guided by considerations of changing tastes, theatrical conditions, and authorial sensibility.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 123:
American Literature and Culture to 1855 (AMSTUD 150, ENGLISH 23)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for ENGLISH 123 or AMSTUD 150). A survey of early American writings, including sermons, poetry, captivity and slave narratives, essays, autobiography, and fiction, from the colonial era to the eve of the Civil War.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 124:
The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ENGLISH 136:
Romantic Poetry and Poetics
Major Romantic writers including William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. Focus on form in the lyrical ballad, ode, epic romance, and closet drama.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 139B:
American Women Writers, 1850-1920 (AMSTUD 139B)
The ways in which female writers negotiated a series of literary, social, and intellectual movements, from abolitionism and sentimentalism in the nineteenth century to Progressivism and avant-garde modernism in the twentieth. Authors include Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Jacobs, Rebecca Harding Davis, Emily Dickinson, Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, Gertrude Stein, Willa Cather, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 141B:
World Literature in English
One of the most significant cultural consequences of British colonialism has been the emergence of global varieties of English. This is a diverse and diffuse body of literature, including work from spaces with vastly different histories ¿ the colonies in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia, the settler colonies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and the even more unclassifiable contexts of Ireland and South Africa, just to mention some of its major sites. In this course we shall try to sample a small selection of the richness and the complexity of English as a language of world literature outside its canonical location of England and the US
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 142D:
Talking Back: Intertextuality in Contemporary Fiction (ENGLISH 42D)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 142D.) Why do so many contemporary writers create fictions that contend with the past by rewriting, revising, or otherwise 'talking back' to their literary forebears? Is everything intertextual or are post-WW II experiments in intertextuality characteristic of historical, cultural, and geopolitical changes particular to the twentieth century? How does intertextuality inform narrative voice, constructions of authorship, character portrayal, political and aesthetic interpretation, and contemporary claims to - or critiques of - fame and canonization? Students will be encouraged to make comparative connections with the contemporary media scene, while comparing EM Forster and Zadie Smith; Virginia Woolf and Michael Cunningham; George Orwell and Margaret Atwood; Charotte Bronte and Jean Rhys; Oscar Wilde and Tom Stoppard.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 144B:
Contemporary British Fiction (ENGLISH 44B)
(English majors and others taking 5 units should register for 144B). How do contemporary British novelists represent the dramatic changes in culture, class, landscape, economy, gender, race, and national identity that followed the allied victory in the Second World War (1939-1945) when Britain is said to have `won the war but lost the empire'? Focusing on writers born in the aftermath of the war, and the successive generation, this course asks what political, cultural, and literary concerns shape historical consciousness in novels by Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Jeanette Winterson, Hanif Kureishi, Julian Barnes Flaubert's, and Ali Smith.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 144F:
Female Modernists: Women Writers in Paris Between the Wars
The course will focus on expatriate women writers - American and British - who lived and wrote in Paris between the wars. Among them: Edith Wharton, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, H.D., Djuna Barnes, Margaret Anderson, Janet Flanner, Natalie Barney, Kay Boyle, Mina Loy, Romaine Brooks, Mary Butts, Radclyffe Hall, Colette, and Jean Rhys. A central theme will be Paris as a lure and inspiration for bohemian female modernists, and the various alternative and emancipatory literary communities they created.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 145D:
Jewish American Literature (JEWISHST 155D, REES 145D)
Fiction of Jewish-American writers across the 20th and into the 21st centuries, both immigrants and subsequent generations of native-born Jews, to show how the topic of assimilation is thematized in the literature and to evaluate the distinctiveness of Jewish-American literature as a minority literature.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 145G:
American Fiction since 1945
A survey of the American novel and short story since WWII focusing on themes of mass media and mass marketing, technology and information, poverty and prosperity, race and ethnicity. Included are works by Flannery O'Connor, Thomas Pynchon, Philip Roth, Raymond Carver, Maxine Hong Kingston, Sandra Cisneros and others.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 146:
Development of the Short Story: Continuity and Innovation
Exploration of the short story form's ongoing evolution as diverse writers address love, death, desire. Maupassant, D.H. Lawrence, Woolf, Flannery O'Connor, Hurston, and others. Required for Creative Writing emphasis. All majors welcome.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 148:
Family Drama: American Plays about Families (TAPS 248)
Plays written by 20th century writers that concentrate on the family as the primary source of dramatic conflict and comedy. Writers include Williams, O'Neill, Wilder, Albee, Vogel, Parks, Lindsay-Abaire, and Hwang.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 150D:
Women Poets (FEMGEN 150D)
The development of women's poetry from the 17th to the 20th century. How these poets challenge and enhance the canon, amending and expanding ideas of tone, voice and craft, while revising societal expectations of the poet's identity. Poets include Katharine Philips, Letitia Barbauld, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Charlotte Mew, Sylvia Plath, and Adrienne Rich.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 151F:
Angelheaded Hipsters: Beat Writers of San Francisco and New York
Reading of central writers of the Beat movement (Ginsberg, Kerouac, di Prima, Snyder, Whalen) as well as some related writers (Creeley, Gunn, Levertov). Issues explored include NY and SF, Buddhism and leftist politics, poetry and jazz. Some exposure to reading poems to jazz accompaniment. Examination of some of the writers and performers growing out of the Beats: Bob Dylan, rock music, especially from San Francisco, and jazz.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 151H:
Wastelands
Beginning with a sustained examination of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," this class will explore the trope of ecological and/or spiritual devastation as it enters into other modernist (Hemingway, Cather, Faulkner, O'Neill) and postmodernist (Ballard, Atwood, McCarthy) projects, tracing this theme to its culmination in the contemporary zombie apocalypse.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 152E:
African American Literature (AFRICAAM 152E, AMSTUD 152E)
What is African American literature? This course is both an introduction to some of the great works of black literary expression and an examination of this category. We will examine the formal and rhetorical strategies that figure most prominently in this literary tradition and investigate the historical circumstances (including slavery, Reconstruction, the Great Migration, and Jim Crow) that have shaped¿and been shaped by¿this body of literature. Topics to be addressed include canon formation, negotiations between fiction and history, sectional tensions (between North and South), gender politics, and folk culture.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 157:
American Literary Journalism
Literary journalism merges the factual reporting of traditional journalism with the narrative techniques of fiction. This course will follow the development of this influential genre of writing in the U.S. from the 1890s to the present, with special attention to the particularly American emergence of this form in the non-fiction writing published in the New Yorker during the 1930s and 40s and the New Journalism of the 1960s and 70s. Engaging with the form¿s most prominent writers, themes, and techniques, we will investigate questions of objectivity and subjectivity, tensions between fact and fiction, and the genre¿s position as a particularly American cultural form.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 160:
Poetry and Poetics
Introduction to the reading of poetry, with emphasis on how the sense of poems is shaped through diction, imagery, and technical elements of verse.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 161:
Narrative and Narrative Theory
An introduction to stories and storytelling--that is, to narrative. What is narrative? When is narrative fictional and when non-fictional? How is it done, word by word, sentence by sentence? Must it be in prose? Can it be in pictures? How has storytelling changed over time? Focus on various forms, genres, structures, and characteristics of narrative.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 161A:
Narrative & Narrative Theory: Power, Difference, and The Construction of Fictional Worlds
An introduction to narrative and narrative theory challenging students through the larger thematic of power and subjection, whether routed through class and gender dynamics as portrayed in the work of Jane Austen and Virgina Woolf, or the elements of race and oppression as depicted in the representational terrains offered by Fae Myenne Ng and Adrian Tomine.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 162A:
Critical Methods: Readings in Feminist and Queer Criticism
Kinships and friendships, publics and counterpublics, scenes and networks; feminist, gay/lesbian and queer theorists have long been preoccupied with the forms of social association. Some of these forms are relatively codified or institutionalized, while others are not. The text will help us think about how specific forms of association depend on but also potentially destabilize existing concepts of gender and sex; abouthow social forms are shot through with political as well as erotic desire; how they contribute to the making of specific subjects and narratives; how they make certain modes of collective life possible while also impeding others. We will do this not just by reading key essays in feminist and queer theory but literary works by Tennessee Williams, Henry James, Juliana Spahr, and Octavia Butler.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 163C:
Early Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright
Examination of Shakespeare's early career in the literary and cultural context of the early 1590s. How did Shakespeare become a successful writer? Why did he write an erotic narrative poem like "Venus and Adonis"? Are his "Sonnets" part of a literary vogue or a reaction against it? Where did he learn to write his early comedies? What was the impact of his early history plays? What¿s special about his early tragedies? While undertaking detailed analyses of individual texts, we will consider these texts in relation to some larger formal and historical forces, such as: the classical tradition; vernacular literary production; literary form, genre, and style; print culture and literary authorship; theater culture, collaboration, and performance.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 168:
Imagining the Oceans (COMPLIT 168, COMPLIT 368, ENGLISH 368, FRENCH 168, FRENCH 368)
How has Western culture constructed the world's oceans since the beginning of global ocean exploration? How have imaginative visions of the ocean been shaped by marine science, technology, exploration, commerce and leisure? Readings might include voyage accounts by Cook and Darwin, sailors' narratives by Equiano and Dana, poetry by Coleridge, Bishop and Walcott, novels by Melville, Verne, Conrad and Woolf. Visual culture might include paintings by Turner and Redon, and films by Jean Painlevé, Kathryn Bigelow, Jerry Bruckheimer and James Cameron. Critical texts will be drawn from interdisciplinary theorists of modernity and mobility, such as Schmitt, Wallerstein, Corbin, Latour, Deleuze + Guattari, and Cresswell.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 169B:
Asian American Fiction (AMSTUD 169B)
Why are stories told in particular voices and from particular perspectives? This course explores such a question from the vantage point of Asian American fiction, where we will investigate dynamic and equivocal narrative voices, including "we" narration, "you" narration, multi-person narratives, and unreliable storytellers. We will further engage how these storytelling constructs affect and help to augment our understandings of racial formation. Selections may include: Julie Otsuka's "The Budda in the Attic," Ed Park's "Personal Days," among others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 171H:
History of the English Language (LINGUIST 163)
This course traces the history of the English language from its roots through its earliest written records into the present. It will trace the fundamental changes that English has undergone in terms of morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics, and vocabulary. It will also explore some of the social, cultural, and historical forces that affect language. The course emphasizes the pre-modern history of English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 172E:
The Literature of the Americas (AMSTUD 142, COMPLIT 142, CSRE 142)
A wide-ranging overview of the literatures of the Americas inncomparative perspective, emphasizing continuities and crises that are common to North American, Central American, and South American literatures as well as the distinctive national and cultural elements of a diverse array of primary works. Topics include the definitions of such concepts as empire and colonialism, the encounters between worldviews of European and indigenous peoples, the emergence of creole and racially mixed populations, slavery, the New World voice, myths of America as paradise or utopia, the coming of modernism, twentieth-century avant-gardes, and distinctive modern episodes--the Harlem Renaissance, the Beats, magic realism, Noigandres--in unaccustomed conversation with each other.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 173H:
Passions, Emotions, Moods
An examination of theories as well as representations and enactments of three genres of feeling¿passions, emotions, and moods¿in western literature, philosophy, and social theory. Reading across five centuries and also across diverse literary genres, we will track changes and continuities in the cultural understanding of one particular cluster of feelings¿envy, jealousy, and competitiveness¿which has played an especially central role in the social life of subjects organized by the institution of the family and also by the economic system of capitalism.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ENGLISH 184:
The Novel, The World (COMPLIT 123)
Literary inventiveness and social significance of novelistic forms from the Hellenistic age to the present.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 184H:
Text Technologies: A History (STS 200D)
Beginning with cave painting, carving, cuneiform, hieroglyph, and other early textual innovations, survey of the history of writing, image, sound, and byte, all text technologies employed to create, communicate and commemorate. Focus on the recording of language, remembrance and ideas explicating significant themes seen throughout history; these include censorship, propaganda, authenticity, apocalypticism, technophobia, reader response, democratization and authority. The production, transmission and reception of tablet technology, the scroll, the manuscript codex and handmade book, the machine-made book, newspapers and ephemera; and investigate the emergence of the phonograph and photograph, film, radio, television and digital multimedia.The impact of these various text technologies on their users, and try to draw out similarities and differences in our cultural and intellectual responses to evolving technologies. STS majors must have senior status to enroll in this senior capstone course.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ENGLISH 186:
Tales of Three Cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles (AMSTUD 186)
How urban form and experience shape literary texts and how literary texts participate in the creation of place, through the literature of three American cities as they ascended to cultural and iconographical prominence: New York in the early to mid 19th century; Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and Los Angeles in the mid to late 20th century.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 191:
Intermediate Creative Nonfiction
Continuation of 91. Workshop. The application of advanced storytelling techniques to fact-based personal narratives, emphasizing organic writing, discovering audience, and publication. Guest lecturers, collaborative writing, and publication of the final project in print, audio, or web formats. Prerequisite: 91 or 90.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
ENGLISH 195B:
How to Write a Great Essay: A Writing Bootcamp for Undergraduates
Practical workshop for undergraduates on how to improve essay-writing skills. Just like any other complex and demanding human activity --scuba diving, working out a mathematical proof, learning to pole vault, cooking the perfect soufflé, arguing a court case--the ability to write clear and compelling prose requires practice, alertness, psychological intensity, and a certain amount of imaginative and emotional daring. Focus will be on the finer points of vocabulary, grammar, mechanics, logic, timing, intellectual precision; how to connect with (and delight) an audience; how to magnify a theme; how to deflect counter-arguments; how to develop your own sophisticated authorial 'style'; how to write sentences (and papers!) your reader will care about and admire and maybe even remember.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 196A:
Honors Seminar: Critical Approaches to Literature
Overview of literary-critical methodologies, with a practical emphasis shaped by participants' current honors projects. Restricted to students in the English Honors Program. Offered in conjunction with ENGLISH 196B. Honors Writing Workshop.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ESF 2:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The German Tradition of Bildung or How to Become a Global Citizen
This course considers education not as training in external knowledge or skills but as a lifelong process of development and growth in which an individual cultivates her or his spiritual, cultural and social sensibilities. This concept of education - education as a formative and transformative process in the development of the self - is called Bildung in German and has a long tradition reaching back to the Middle Ages. The term first appears in the writings of the mystic Meister Eckhart who defines it as self-composure which he regards as a crucial stage in our spiritual development. The concept of Bildung takes on a secular meaning in the Reformation, when Ulrich von Hutten first coined the phrase that has become Stanford's motto: Die Luft der Freiheit weht. (The wind of freedom is blowing). What he meant is that the cultivation of oneself leads to the freedom of thought, freedom to act, freedom to assert oneself as an individual, freedom to access knowledge, and freedom to determine one's own role in society. This idea of education as an internal and transformative process is central to debates in the nineteenth century (both in Germany and the United States) in which self-reflection is seen as key to the cultivation of an individual's identity and to her or his role as a member of society. In this course we will read reflections on education as self-fashioning by some of the greatest German thinkers spanning from the Middle Ages to the present. We will also enjoy some contemporary parodies of such reflections. These readings and our discussions will help us to understand Stanford undergraduate education as a transformative process of self-realization in our global society.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing 1
ESF 2A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The German Tradition of Bildung or How to Become a Global Citizen
This course considers education not as training in external knowledge or skills but as a lifelong process of development and growth in which an individual cultivates her or his spiritual, cultural and social sensibilities. This concept of education¿education as a formative and transformative process in the development of the self¿is called Bildung in German and has a long tradition reaching back to the Middle Ages. The term first appears in the writings of the mystic Meister Eckhart who defines it as self-composure which he regards as a crucial stage in our spiritual development. The concept of Bildung takes on a secular meaning in the Reformation, when Ulrich von Hutten first coined the phrase that has become Stanford¿s motto: ¿Die Luft der Freiheit weht¿ (The wind of freedom is blowing.¿). What he meant is that the cultivation of oneself leads to the freedom of thought, freedom to act, freedom to assert oneself as an individual, freedom to access knowledge, and freedom to determine one¿s own role in society. This idea of education as an internal and transformative process is central to debates in the nineteenth century¿both in Germany and the United States¿in which self-reflection is seen as key to the cultivation of an individual¿s identity and to her or his role as a member of society. In this course we will read reflections on education as self-fashioning by some of the greatest German thinkers spanning from the Middle Ages to the present. We will also enjoy some contemporary parodies of such reflections. These readings and our discussions will help us to understand Stanford undergraduate education as a transformative process of self-realization in our global society.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing 1
ESF 3:
Education as Self-Fashioning: How to be a Public Intellectual
Can education impart more than bookish learning? This is the question that critics have posed since the European Renaissance. Through their reflections, these critics posited an alternative ideal of education that prepared the student for life outside the academy. Over the centuries, this ideal would evolve into what we would today call an 'intellectual' - but this modern concept only captures a part of what earlier writers thought learning could achieve. In this course, we will focus on how education can prepare students to engage in public debates and the role that the university can play in public learning.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing 1
ESF 3A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: How to be a Public Intellectual
Can education impart more than bookish learning? This is the question that critics have posed since the European Renaissance. Through their reflections, these critics posited an alternative ideal of education that prepared the student for life outside the academy. Over the centuries, this ideal would evolve into what we would today call an 'intellectual' - but this modern concept only captures a part of what earlier writers thought learning could achieve. In this course, we will focus on how education can prepare students to engage in public debates and the role that the university can play in public learning.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing 1
ESF 4:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Learning to Change
Does education entail changing the self? How much? Why should I change my life? How do I discover that I need to change? Who can rightly tell me how to change? What difference does it make? These and related questions have been around for a long time, yet that makes them no easier to answer today than 2500 years ago. In the 5th century BCE, Socrates found that his answers--based on his own will to change--proved troublesome, and ultimately fatal. His follower, the philosopher Plato, transformed the Socratic exploration into idiosyncratic utopian visions that sought to change the conditions of life--and so make Socrates' fate unrepeatable. Plato's own followers, from Aristotle onward, found new ways to explain, enact, or evade change. Not until the end of antiquity, however, do we find, in Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE), someone as explicitly and passionately committed to personal change as the early Greek thinker. Bookended by the major figures of the Athenian seeker and the North African, this course will lead students to analyze and compare their own tentative answers with the ideas on self-fashioning that can be found in a range of ancient texts. Students will demonstrate their grasp of the material through a variety of exercises, including a research paper, discourse analyses, and responses in persona.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 4A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Learning to Change
Does education entail changing the self? How much? Why should I change my life? How do I discover that I need to change? Who can rightly tell me how to change? What difference does it make? These and related questions have been around for a long time, yet that makes them no easier to answer today than 2500 years ago. In the 5th century BCE, Socrates found that his answers--based on his own will to change--proved troublesome, and ultimately fatal. His follower, the philosopher Plato, transformed the Socratic exploration into idiosyncratic utopian visions that sought to change the conditions of life--and so make Socrates' fate unrepeatable. Plato's own followers, from Aristotle onward, found new ways to explain, enact, or evade change. Not until the end of antiquity, however, do we find, in Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE), someone as explicitly and passionately committed to personal change as the early Greek thinker. Bookended by the major figures of the Athenian seeker and the North African, this course will lead students to analyze and compare their own tentative answers with the ideas on self-fashioning that can be found in a range of ancient texts. Students will demonstrate their grasp of the material through a variety of exercises, including a research paper, discourse analyses, and responses in persona.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 5:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Thinking Like a Philosopher
The Ancient Greek aphorism ¿Know thyself¿ is a centerpiece of wisdom. But knowing one¿s own mind is not easy, in part because it is not a matter of simply looking inward to find one¿s proclivities and beliefs; it seems one must look outward to the issues and questions the world presents, and know what one thinks about them. Knowing oneself is in part a matter of knowing one¿s way around as a thinker, where that is a matter of knowing how to think about issues, when to trust one¿s judgment and when to withhold it. Fashioning or making oneself into a better (more acute, more sensitive, more judicious) reasoner is something philosophy as a discipline holds out as a promise. In this course, we will take up the first task of becoming better reasoners about a select handful of persistent problems; we will at the same time reflect on what it is that philosophical thinking is, and how it might shape us as thinkers.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 5A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Thinking Like a Philosopher
The Ancient Greek aphorism ¿Know thyself¿ is a centerpiece of wisdom. But knowing one¿s own mind is not easy, in part because it is not a matter of simply looking inward to find one¿s proclivities and beliefs; it seems one must look outward to the issues and questions the world presents, and know what one thinks about them. Knowing oneself is in part a matter of knowing one¿s way around as a thinker, where that is a matter of knowing how to think about issues, when to trust one¿s judgment and when to withhold it. Fashioning or making oneself into a better (more acute, more sensitive, more judicious) reasoner is something philosophy as a discipline holds out as a promise. In this course, we will take up the first task of becoming better reasoners about a select handful of persistent problems; we will at the same time reflect on what it is that philosophical thinking is, and how it might shape us as thinkers.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 6:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The Wind of Freedom
Stanford's unofficial motto, "the wind of freedom blows," engraved in German on the university seal, invites us the ponder freedom in the context of education. What is the relation between freedom and the "liberal" arts? Does studying free your mind? Does free will even exist? If so, how does education help you develop its potential? This course will look at various authors -- from antiquity through the 20th century -- who have thought about the blessings, burdens, and obligations of human freedom. Beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden, we will explore how exercising freedom in your personal choices and conduct not only determines your fate as an individual but carries with it a measure of responsibility for the world. We will place special emphasis on the implications of such responsibility in our own time.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 6A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The Wind of Freedom
Stanford's unofficial motto, "the wind of freedom blows," engraved in German on the university seal, invites us the ponder freedom in the context of education. What is the relation between freedom and the "liberal" arts? Does studying free your mind? Does free will even exist? If so, how does education help you develop its potential? This course will look at various authors -- from antiquity through the 20th century -- who have thought about the blessings, burdens, and obligations of human freedom. Beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden, we will explore how exercising freedom in your personal choices and conduct not only determines your fate as an individual but carries with it a measure of responsibility for the world. We will place special emphasis on the implications of such responsibility in our own time.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ETHICSOC 20:
Introduction to Moral Philosophy (PHIL 2)
A survey of moral philosophy in the Western tradition. What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? What is it to have a virtuous rather than a vicious character? What is the basis of these distinctions? Why should we care about morality at all? Our aim is to understand how some of the most influential philosophers (including Aristotle, Kant, and Mill) have addressed these questions, and by so doing, to better formulate our own views. No prior familiarity with philosophy required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 131S:
Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx and Mill (POLISCI 131L)
This course offers an introduction to the history of Western political thought from the late fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries. We will consider the development of ideas like individual rights, government by consent, and the protection of private property. We will also explore the ways in which these ideas continue to animate contemporary political debates. Thinkers covered will include: Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 170:
Ethical Theory (PHIL 170, PHIL 270)
A more challenging version of Phil 2 designed primarily for juniors and seniors (may also be appropriate for some freshmen and sophomores - contact professor). Fulfills the Ethical Reasoning requirement. Graduate section (270) will include supplemental readings and discussion, geared for graduate students new to moral philosophy, as well as those with some background who would like more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 174A:
Moral Limits of the Market (PHIL 174A, PHIL 274A, POLISCI 135P)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 237M:
Politics and Evil (POLISCI 237M)
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the political theorist Hannah Arendt wrote that ¿the problem of evil will be the fundamental question of postwar intellectual life in Europe.¿ This question remains fundamental today. The acts to which the word ¿evil¿ might apply¿genocide, terrorism, torture, human trafficking, etc.¿persist. The rhetoric of evil also remains central to American political discourse, both as a means of condemning such acts and of justifying preventive and punitive measures intended to combat them. In this advanced undergraduate seminar, we will examine the intersection of politics and evil by considering works by philosophers and political theorists, with occasional forays into film and media. The thinkers covered will include: Hannah Arendt, Immanuel Kant, Niccolò Machiavelli, Friedrich Nietzche, and Michael Walzer.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
FEMGEN 17:
Gender and Power in Ancient Greece (CLASSGEN 17)
Introduction to the sex-gender system of ancient Greece, with comparative material from modern America. How myths, religious rituals, athletics, politics and theater reinforced gender stereotypes and sometimes undermined them. Skills: finding clues, identifying patterns and making connections amongst the components of a strange and beautiful culture very different from our own. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 103:
Feminist Theories and Methods Across the Disciplines (FEMGEN 203, PHIL 153, PHIL 253)
(Graduate Students register for PHIL 253 or FEMGEN 203) The interdisciplinary foundations of feminist thought. The nature of disciplines and of interdisciplinary work. Challenges of feminism for scholarship and research.nnPrerequisites: Feminist Studies 101 or equivalent with consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 115:
Queer Reading and Queer Writing in Early Modern England (ENGLISH 105A)
Considers the possibility of identifying queer reading and writing practices in early modern England as well the theoretical and historical obstacles such a project necessarily encounters. Focus on the role which Renaissance discourses of desire continue to play in our negotiations of homo/erotic subjectivity, identity politics, and sexual and gender difference. Study of Renaissance queerness in relation to the classical tradition on the one hand and the contemporary discourses of religion, law, and politics on the other. Readings include plays, poems, and prose narratives as well as letters, pamphlets, and ephemeral literature. Both major and minor authors will be represented.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 120:
Queer Raza (CHILATST 120, ILAC 287)
Examination of cultural representations by U.S. Latin@s that explore the following questions: How is the mutual constitution of race/sex/class/gender theorized and represented? How is desire racialized? How is racial difference produced through sex acts and what is the function of sex in racial (self)formation? How to reconcile pleasure and desire with histories of imperialism and (neo)colonialism and other structures of power? How do these texts reinforce or contest stereotypes and the "ideal" bodies of national identity? How do these texts produce queerness as a web of social relations?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 145:
Culture Wars: Art and Social Conflict in the USA, 1890-1950 (AMSTUD 145M, ARTHIST 145, ARTHIST 345)
This course examines social conflicts and political controversies in American culture through the lens of visual art and photography. We consider how visual images both reflect and participate in the social and political life of the nation and how the terms of citizenship have been represented¿and, at times, contested¿by artists throughout the first half of the 20th century. The class explores the relation between American art and the body politic by focusing on issues of poverty, war, censorship, consumerism, class identity, and racial division.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 150D:
Women Poets (ENGLISH 150D)
The development of women's poetry from the 17th to the 20th century. How these poets challenge and enhance the canon, amending and expanding ideas of tone, voice and craft, while revising societal expectations of the poet's identity. Poets include Katharine Philips, Letitia Barbauld, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Charlotte Mew, Sylvia Plath, and Adrienne Rich.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FEMGEN 152:
'Tis all in pieces: Space and Gender on the Threshold of the Modern World (FEMGEN 252)
These dramatic words, spoken by the British poet John Donne, signal the onset of the Early Modern world and the profound reconfigurations of space and related structures of thought, including conceptions of the self and the encoding of gender roles. We will explore the vibrant Early Modern world in the context of space and representations of gender, sexuality, and race as manifest in unprecedented literary and artistic forms, such as Shakespeare¿s ¿Othello,¿ Marlowe¿s ¿Doctor Faustus,,¿ the poetry of John Donne, the art of Michelangelo and Caravaggio as well as key historical and cultural texts. And we will visit the Cantor Arts Center (on campus) for a guided tour and lecture on art and perspective. We also will read and discuss selected texts from the modern world, such as Samuel Beckett¿s ¿Waiting for Godot¿ and poetry and commentary by Adrienne Rich, to study both changes and continuities with the Early Modern period. We will consider the vital cognitive role of the reader or viewer in the formation of particular instances of artistic form, including recent---and highly thought-provoking---material from the neurosciences and cognitive studies.nnNote: Instructor will consider changes in meeting times/days to accommodate student schedules if feasible. Please send request to: hbrooks@stanford.edu.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FEMGEN 188Q:
Imagining Women: Writers in Print and in Person (CSRE 188Q)
Gender roles, gender relations and sexual identity explored in contemporary literature and conversation with guest authors. Weekly meetings designated for book discussion and meeting with authors. Interest in writing and a curiosity about diverse women's lives would be helpful to students. Students will use such tools as close reading, research, analysis and imagination. Seminar requires strong voice of all participants. Oral presentations, discussion papers, final projects.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
FEMGEN 205:
Songs of Love and War: Gender, Crusade, Politics (FRENCH 205)
Analysis of medieval love, satirical and Crusade lyrics of the trouabdours. Study of deictic address, corporeal subjectivity, the female voice, love debates, and the body as a figure of political conflict. Course readings include medieval treatises on lyric and modern translations of the troubadour tradition. Works by Ovid, Bernart de Ventadorn, Bertran de Born, La Comtessa de Dia, Thibaut de Champagne, Raimon Vidal, Dante, and Pound. Taught in English. Course includes a lab component for creation of multi-media translation projects: trobar. stanford.edu.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 226A:
Queer Literature and Film (COMPLIT 226A)
Close analysis of major works of LGBTQ literature, film, and visual art from the 1890s to today. Students will gain deeper knowledge and appreciation of historical and contemporary forms of queer representation in various national literatures, film, and visual art; understand relevant social and political debates; and gain a basic knowledge of feminist and queer theory. Course will include an optional online component to reach out to the public (class website queerlitfilm.wordpress.com, social media).
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 236:
Literature and Transgression (COMPLIT 236)
Close reading and analysis of erotic-sexual and aesthetic-stylistic transgression in selected works by Wilde, Schnitzler, Joyce, Barnes, Bataille, Burroughs, Thomas Mann, Guenter Grass, Kathy Acker, Junot Diaz and others. Along with understanding the changing cultural, social, and political contexts of what constitutes "transgression" or censorship, students will gain knowledge of influential theories of transgression by Foucault, Blanchot, and contemporary queer and feminist writers.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMST 110:
Introduction to Comparative Queer Literary Studies (COMPLIT 110, COMPLIT 310)
Introduction to the comparative literary study of important gay, lesbian, queer, bisexual, and transgender writers and their changing social, political, and cultural contexts from the 1890s to today: Wilde, Gide, Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, Radclyffe Hall, E.M. Forster, Thomas Mann, Georges Bataille, James Baldwin, Jean Genet, Jeanette Winterson, Sarah Waters, Audre Lorde, discussed in the context of 20th-century feminist and queer literary and social theories of gender and sexuality (Judith Butler, Eve Sedgwick, Julia Serano, and others).
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMST 210:
Queer Almodovar (ILAC 210)
Focus on the representation of non-normative sexualities and genders in films by Pedro Almodóvar, one of the most recognizable auteur directors in Europe today. Analysis of his hybrid and eclectic visual style complemented by critical and theoretical readings in queer studies. Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FILMSTUD 4:
Introduction to Film Study
Formal, historical, and cultural issues in the study of film. Classical narrative cinema compared with alternative narrative structures, documentary films, and experimental cinematic forms. Issues of cinematic language and visual perception, and representations of gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. Aesthetic and conceptual analytic skills with relevance to cinema.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 6:
Introduction to Digital Media
Media beyond the horizon of cinema and television present unique problems of definition and analysis. Taking the digital - information represented as discrete values - as a reasonable approximation of the mechanics and fantasies of computation, course surveys theoretical approaches to code, networks, and cyberculture. Taking familiar formations like web sites and video games as objects by which to learn how thinkers have understood and envisioned emerging media from the mid-20th century to the present. Students to develop own methodological tools for becoming more critical users of digital media. COMM 1B can be taken in substitution of FILMSTUD 6 when the course is not being offered.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 100A:
History of World Cinema I, 1895-1929 (FILMSTUD 300A)
From cinema's precursors to the advent of synchronized sound.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 100B:
History of World Cinema II, 1930-1959 (FILMSTUD 300B)
The impact of sound to the dissolution of Hollywood's studio system.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 100C:
History of World Cinema III, 1960-Present (FILMSTUD 300C)
From the rise of the French New Wave to the present.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 101:
Fundamentals of Cinematic Analysis (FILMSTUD 301)
The close analysis of film. Emphasis is on formal and narrative techniques in structure and style, and detailed readings of brief sequences. Elements such as cinematography, mise-en-scène, composition, sound, and performance. Films from various historical periods, national cinemas, directors, and genres. Prerequisite: FILMSTUD 4 or equivalent. Recommended: ARTHIST 1 or FILMSTUD 102. Course can be repeated twice for a max of 8 units.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
FILMSTUD 102:
Theories of the Moving Image (FILMSTUD 302)
Major theoretical arguments and debates about cinema: realism,formalism, poststructuralism, feminism, postmodernism, and phenomenology. Prerequisites: FILMSTUD 4.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 110:
Science Fiction Cinema (FILMSTUD 310)
Science fiction film's sense of wonder depends upon the development and revelation of new ways of seeing. The American science fiction film emphasizes the fundamental activity of human perception, its relation to bodily experience and the exploration of other worlds, new cities, and other modes of being, in such new technological spaces as the cyberspaces of the information age. It is perhaps the Hollywood genre most directly concerned with the essence of cinema itself.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 110N:
Darkness in Light: The Filmic Imagination of Horror
Preference to freshmen. From its beginnings, the cinema evinced an affinity with the phantom realm of specters, ghosts, and supernatural beings. Not only does horror have deep and diverse roots in the international history of film; it emerges as a trope of film itself, as a medium of shadows, dematerialized presence, life drained of substance. Overview of filmic imaginations of horror with a focus on the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Theories of horror, from the fantastic to the uncanny; unpacking these in light of key moments in the genre's development. The merits of vampires versus zombies. Ongoing debates through the lens of horror about cinematic representation, from Andre Bazin's idea of the mummy complex to Linda Williams' thesis of body genres to Jeffrey Sconce's notion of haunted media. Introduction to film analysis and interpretation; no prior experience in film studies required. Required weekly screening.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 115:
Documentary Issues and Traditions (FILMSTUD 315)
Issues include objectivity/subjectivity, ethics, censorship, representation, reflexivity, responsibility to the audience, and authorial voice. Parallel focus on form and content.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 133:
Contemporary Chinese Auteurs (FILMSTUD 333)
New film cultures and movements in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China in the 80s. Key directors including Jia Zhangke, Wu Wenguang, Tsai Ming-liang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wong Kar-wai, Ann Hui. Topics include national cinema in the age of globalization, the evolving parameters of art cinema, and authorship.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 145:
Politics and Aesthetics in East European Cinema (FILMSTUD 345)
From 1945 to the mid-80s, emphasizing Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and Yugoslav contexts. The relationship between art and politics; postwar establishment of film industries; and emergence of national film movements such as the Polish school, Czech new wave, and new Yugoslav film. Thematic and aesthetic preoccupations of filmmakers such as Wajda, Jancso, Forman, and Kusturica.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 164A:
Technology and the Visual Imagination (ARTHIST 164A, ARTHIST 364A, FILMSTUD 364A)
An exploration of the dynamic relationship between technology and the ways we see and represent the world. The course examines technologies from the Renaissance through the present day, from telescopes and microscopes to digital detectors, that have changed and enhanced our visual capabilities as well as shaped how we imagine the world. We also consider how these technologies influenced and inspired the work of artists. Special attention is paid to how different technologies such as linear perspective, photography, cinema, and computer screens translate the visual experience into a representation; the automation of vision; and the intersection of technology with conceptions of time and space.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 165A:
Fashion Shows: From Lady Godiva to Lady Gaga (ARTHIST 165A, ARTHIST 365A, FILMSTUD 365A)
The complex and interdependent relationship between fashion and art. Topics include: the ways in which artists have used fashion in different art forms as a means to convey social status, identity, and other attributes of the wearer; the interplay between fashion designers and various art movements, especially in the 20th century; the place of prints, photography, and the Internet in fashion, in particular how different media shape how clothes are seen and perceived. Texts by Thorstein Veblen, Roland Barthes, Dick Hebdige, and other theorists of fashion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 250B:
Bollywood and Beyond: An Introduction to Indian Film (COMPLIT 247, ICA 250)
A broad engagement with Indian cinema: its relationship with Indian politics, history, and economics; its key thematic concerns and forms; and its adaptation of and response to global cinematic themes, genres, and audiences. Locating the films within key critical and theoretical debates and scholarship on Indian and world cinemas. Goal is to open up what is often seen as a dauntingly complex region, especially for those who are interested in but unfamiliar with its histories and cultural forms.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 75N:
Narrative Medicine and Near-Death Experiences (ITALIAN 75N)
Even if many of us don't fully believe in an afterlife, we remain fascinated by visions of it. This course focuses on Near-Death Experiences and the stories around them, investigating them from the many perspectives pertinent to the growing field of narrative medicine: medical, neurological, cognitive, psychological, sociological, literary, and filmic. The goal is not to understand whether the stories are veridical but what they do for us, as individuals, and as a culture, and in particular how they seek to reshape the patient-doctor relationship. Materials will span the 20th century and come into the present. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FRENCH 112:
Oscar Wilde and the French Decadents (COMPLIT 112, COMPLIT 312, FRENCH 312)
Close reading of Oscar Wilde's work together with major texts and authors of 19th-century French Decadence, including Symbolism, l'art pour l'art, and early Modernism. Points of contact between Wilde and avant-garde Paris salons; provocative, creative intersections between (homo)erotic and aesthetic styles, transgression; literary and cultural developments from Baudelaire to Mallarmé, Huysmans, Flaubert, Rachilde, Lorrain, and Proust compared with Wilde¿s Salomé, Picture of Dorian Gray, and critical writings; relevant historical and philosophical contexts. All readings in English; all student levels welcome.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 120:
Coffee and Cigarettes: The Making of French Intellectual Culture
Examines a quintessential French figure "l'intellectuel" from a long-term historical perspective. We will observe how this figure was shaped over time by such other cultural types as the writer, the artist, the historian, the philosopher, and the moralist. Proceeding in counter-chronological order, from the late 20th to the 16th century, we will read a collection of classic French works. As this course is a gateway for French studies, special emphasis will be placed on oral proficiency. Taught in French; readings in French.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 122:
Nation in Motion: Film, Race and Immigration in Contemporary French Cinema (CSRE 65)
An examination of the current debates in France regarding national identity, secularism, and the integration of immigrants, notably from the former colonies. Confronts films' and other media's visual and discursive rhetorical strategies used to represent ethnic or religious minorities, discrimination, citizens' resistance to government policies, inter-racial marriages, or women's rights within immigrant communities. By embodying such themes in stories of love, hardships, or solidarity, the motion pictures make the movements and emotions inherent to immigration tangible: to what effect? Taught in French. Films in French with English subtitles. Additional paper for students enrolled in 235.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 130:
Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance French Literature
Introduction to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The birth of a national literature and its evolution. Literature as addressing cultural, philosophical, and artistic issues which question assumptions on love, ethics, art, and the nature of the self. Readings: epics (La Chanson de Roland), medieval romances (Tristan, Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain), post-Petrarchan poetics (Du Bellay, Ronsard, Labé), and prose humanists (Rabelais, Montaigne). Taught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 131:
Absolutism, Enlightenment, and Revolution in 17th- and 18th-Century France
The literature, culture, and politics of France from Louis XIV to Olympe de Gouges. How this period produced the political and philosophical foundations of modernity. Readings include Corneille, Molière, Racine, Lafayette, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Beaumarchais, and Gouges. Taught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FRENCH 132:
Literature, Revolutions, and Changes in 19th- and 20th-Century France
This course will explore several of the most important texts of 19th- and 20th-century French literature. The aim of the course will be understanding stylistic and thematic experimentation in its historical/cultural context, with a focus on the theme of transgression : moral, political, and social. We will read works in all major literary genres (poetry, prose, and drama) and will discuss prominent movements such as Realism, Romanticism, Symbolism, Decadentism, and Existentialism through the works that best define them. Readings include Constant, Balzac, Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Rimbaud, Flaubert, Maupassant, Jarry, Gide, Apollinaire, Breton, Yourcenar, Sartre. All readings, discussion, and assignments are in French.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 133:
Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (AFRICAAM 133, JEWISHST 143)
This course aims to equip students with an understanding of the cultural, political and literary aspects at play in the literatures of Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Our primary readings will be Francophone novels and poetry, though we will also read some theoretical texts, as well as excerpts of Francophone theater. The assigned readings will expose students to literature from diverse French-speaking regions of the African/Caribbean world. This course will also serve as a "literary toolbox," with the intention of facilitating an understanding of literary forms, terms and practices. Students can expect to work on their production of written and spoken French (in addition to reading comprehension) both in and outside of class. Required readings include: Aimé Césaire, "Cahier d'un retour au pays natal," Albert Memmi, "La Statue de Sel," Abdelkebir Khatibi, "Amour bilingue," Abdelwahab Meddeb, "Talismano." nnTaught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 140:
Paris: Capital of the Modern World (FRENCH 340, HISTORY 230C)
This course explores how Paris, between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, became the political, cultural, and artistic capital of the modern world. It considers how the city has both shaped and been shaped by the tumultuous events of modern history- class conflict, industrialization, imperialism, war, and occupation. It will also explore why Paris became the major world destination for intellectuals, artists and writers. Sources will include films, paintings, architecture, novels, travel journals, and memoirs.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FRENCH 145B:
Ideas of Africa in Atlantic Writing (COMPLIT 145B, COMPLIT 345B, FRENCH 345B)
This course examines the ways Anglophone and Francophone writers from the African, Caribbean and North Atlantic have represented Africa as a geographic, aesthetic and political space where one may think through problems of history, community and identity formation, art, language and the author's function. The course begins with Equiano and may include DuBois, Césaire, Senghor, Maryse Condé, Bessie Head, Phillip Gourevitch, Antjie Krog, and Barack Obama. Graduate students read in original French.
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 154:
Film & Philosophy (COMPLIT 154A, ITALIAN 154, PHIL 193C, PHIL 293C)
Issues of freedom, morality, faith, knowledge, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Twelve Monkeys (Gilliam), Ordet (Dreyer), The Dark Knight (Nolan), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Allen), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 168:
Imagining the Oceans (COMPLIT 168, COMPLIT 368, ENGLISH 168, ENGLISH 368, FRENCH 368)
How has Western culture constructed the world's oceans since the beginning of global ocean exploration? How have imaginative visions of the ocean been shaped by marine science, technology, exploration, commerce and leisure? Readings might include voyage accounts by Cook and Darwin, sailors' narratives by Equiano and Dana, poetry by Coleridge, Bishop and Walcott, novels by Melville, Verne, Conrad and Woolf. Visual culture might include paintings by Turner and Redon, and films by Jean Painlevé, Kathryn Bigelow, Jerry Bruckheimer and James Cameron. Critical texts will be drawn from interdisciplinary theorists of modernity and mobility, such as Schmitt, Wallerstein, Corbin, Latour, Deleuze + Guattari, and Cresswell.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSGEN 81, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 204:
Revolutions in Prose: The 19th-Century French Novel
The French Revolution was not just a haunting memory in nineteenth-century France: it was the decisive structure around which French politics, but also French culture and the arts more generally, were centered. As some historians have argued, the French Revolution might not even have really "ended" until 1880. In this course, we will examine both literary representations of the French Revolution, as well as the literary analyses of a society constantly dealing with the fears (or hopes) of a new Revolution. Primary readings by Stendhal, Balzac, Flaubert, Zola. Taught in French.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 205:
Songs of Love and War: Gender, Crusade, Politics (FEMGEN 205)
Analysis of medieval love, satirical and Crusade lyrics of the trouabdours. Study of deictic address, corporeal subjectivity, the female voice, love debates, and the body as a figure of political conflict. Course readings include medieval treatises on lyric and modern translations of the troubadour tradition. Works by Ovid, Bernart de Ventadorn, Bertran de Born, La Comtessa de Dia, Thibaut de Champagne, Raimon Vidal, Dante, and Pound. Taught in English. Course includes a lab component for creation of multi-media translation projects: trobar. stanford.edu.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 219:
The Renaissance Body in French Literature and Medicine (FRENCH 319)
If the Renaissance is famous for discovering unknown continents and ancient texts the body too was a new territory of conquest. How did literature respond to the rise of an anatomical gaze in the arts and in medicine and how did it stage the aesthetic religious philosophical and moral issues related to such a promotion or deconstruction of the body? Does literature aim at representing the body or does it use it instead as a ubiquitous signifier for intellectual emotional and political ideas? The locus of desire, pleasure and disease, the body also functioned as a reminder of human mortality and was caught in the web of gender issues, religious controversies and new norms of behavior. Texts from prose fiction (Rabelais) poetry (Scève Ronsard Labé D'Aubigné) essays (Montaigne) and emblem literature. Extra documents include music scores tapestries paintings philosophical and anatomical plates from medical treatises. Taught in English. Visit the Web site: renaissancebodyproject.stanford.edu
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 221:
Conceiving Other Worlds: Travel Narrative and Science Fiction in Early-Modern France
This course will concentrate on the important role of science fiction and travel literature in early-modern France. Although these narratives were intended to describe distant worlds and different ways of living, they frequently revealed more about the aspirations, assumptions, hopes, and concerns of the cultures in which they originated than about their actual subject matter. Authors frequently sought to determine the identity and uniqueness of their own cultures by contrasting them against the 'otherness' of their imagined subjects. Similarly, by describing either utopian or dystopian civilizations, writers attempted to highlight the problems that plagued their own societies. Among other texts, we will read selections from Montaigne's 'Essais,' Cyrano de Bergerac's 'L'Autre monde ou les états et empires de la Lune,' Huygens's 'Nouveau traité de la pluralité des mondes,' Fontenelle's 'Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes,' Voltaire's 'Micromegas,' Bougainville's 'Voyage autor du monde,' and Diderot's 'Supplement au voyage de Bougainville.' Taught in English. Readings in French (English translations available).
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 229:
Literature of Global Health (COMPLIT 229, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways literary and medical writers have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health -- modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, which are meant to have helped readers develop a modern public health conscience. We will study global health ethics as a field initially rooted in philosophy and policy that address questions raised by practice in resource-constrained communities abroad. And we will spend the quarter understanding how colonial and world literatures may deepen and even alter these questions. Readings will be selected from Albert Schweitzer, Aime Cesaire, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Antonio Olinto, Ben Okri, Amitav Ghosh, Anne Fadiman, and Paul Farmer.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
GERMAN 41N:
Inventing Modern Theatre: Georg Büchner and Frank Wedekind (TAPS 41N)
The German writers Georg Büchner (1813-1837) and Frank Wedekind (1864-1918). Many of the most important theater and film directors of the last century, including Max Reinhardt, G. W. Pabst, Orson Welles, Robert Wilson, and Werner Herzog, have wrestled with their works, as have composers and writers from Alban Berg and Bertolt Brecht through Christa Wolf and Thalia Field. Rock artists as diverse as Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Duncan Sheik, and Metallica have recently rediscovered their urgency. Reading these works in translation and examining artistic creations they inspired. Classroom discussions and written responses; students also rehearse and present in-class performances of excerpts from the plays. The aim of these performances is not to produce polished stagings but to creatively engage with the texts and their interpretive traditions. No previous theatrical experience required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
GERMAN 88Q:
Gateways to the World: Germany in 5 Words
This course explores German history, culture and politics by tracing five (largely untranslatable) words and exploring the debates they have engendered in Germany over the past 200 years. This course is intended as preparation for students wishing to spend a quarter at the Bing Overseas Studies campus in Berlin, but is open to everyone. Preference to sophomores.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
GERMAN 120N:
The Brothers Grimm and Their Fairy Tales
Historical, biographical, linguistic, and literary look at the Kinder- and Hausmarchen of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Readings from the fairy tales, plus materials in other media such as film and the visual arts. Four short essays, one or two oral reports. Preference to Freshmen; class then opens to all. Fulfills WIM for German majors (must be taken for letter grade.) In German.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 123:
German Culture and Film
This course has two primary goals. First, it is designed to provide students with a visual and linguistic foundation for discussing and writing about German film from the Weimar period to the present. To that end we will review important genres, directors, and technological developments in the history of German film. Second, using film as a lens, we will examine several key moments in German cultural history from the 1920s to the present. Certain themes will reoccur throughout the course, including gender, the city, technology, violence, and social crisis. All materials and class discussion in German.(Meets Writing-in-the-Major requirement)
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 124:
Introduction to German Poetry
Introduction to the reading and interpretation of lyrical poetry in German from the 18th century to present. Readings include poems by Goethe, Holderlin, Brentano, Eichendorff, Heine, Rilke, Trakl, Celan, Brecht. Ways of thinking about and thinking with poetry. Attention to poetic form, voice, figural language, and the interaction of sensory registers. Taught in German.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 128N:
Medicine, Modernism, and Mysticism in Thomas Mann's the Magic Mountain
Published in 1924, The Magic Mountain is a novel of education, tracing the intellectual growth of a budding engineer through a maze of intellectual encounters during a seven- year sojourn in a sanatorium set high in the Swiss Alps. It engages with the key themes of modernism: the relativity of time, the impact of psychoanalysis, the power of myth, and an extended dispute between an optimistic belief in progress and a pessimistic vision of human nature. Through its detailed discussion of disease (tuberculosis), this remarkable text connects the study of medicine to the humanities. There will be an exploration of this rich and profound novel both as a document of early twentieth-century Europe and as a commentary on the possibilities of education that are urgent for liberal arts education today. Taught in English.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 131:
What is German Literature?
This course covers material from the fairy tales of German romanticism, expressionist poetry and painting, literary responses to Nazi Germany and reflections on a unified Germany. Exploring the shifting relationships between cultural aesthetics, entertainment, historical context, and "what is German" we will cover roughly 250 years of literary and artistic production, social and political upheavals, as well as the lives of numerous authors, both male and female. Taught in German.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 132:
Dynasties, Dictators and Democrats: History and Politics in Germany (COMPLIT 132A)
Key moments in German history through documents: personal accounts, political speeches and texts, and literary works. The course begins with the Prussian monarchy and proceeds to the crisis years of the French Revolution. Documents from the 1848 revolution and the age of Bismarck and German unification follow. World War I and its impact on Germany, including the rise of Hitler, as well as the aftermath, divided Germany in the Cold War through the fall of the Berlin Wall. Taught in German.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
GERMAN 133:
Marx, Nietzsche, Freud
We read and discuss selections from works by the key master thinkers who have exerted a lasting influence by debunking long-cherished beliefs. Do these authors uphold or repudiate Enlightenment notions of rationality, autonomy and progress? How do they assess the achievements of civilization? How do their works illuminate the workings of power in social and political contexts? Readings and discussion in German.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 154:
Poetic Thinking Across Media (COMPLIT 154B, JEWISHST 144B)
Even before Novalis claimed that the world must be romanticized, thinkers, writers, and artists wanted to perceive the human and natural world poetically. The pre- and post-romantic poetic modes of thinking they created are the subject of this course. Readings include Ecclestias, Zhaozhou Congshen, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Kafka, Benjamin, Arendt, and Sontag. This course will also present poetic thinking in the visual arts--from the expressionism of Ingmar Bergman to the neo-romanticism of Gerhard Richter.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSGEN 81, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 182:
War and Warfare in Germany
Survey of Germany at war through historical, theoretical and literary accounts. War in the international system and the role of technology. Religious wars, rationalization of warfare, violence and politics, terrorism. War films, such as All Quiet on the Western Front. Readings by authors such as Clausewitz, Jünger, Remarque, Schimtt, and Arendt. Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
GERMAN 184:
Technology, Innovation, and the History of the Book
An historical perspective on the intellectual and social impact of developments in information technology will be examined. Focusing on the evolution of media from scrolls to codices to printed books we will look at the social, historical, cultural, and economic sources and ramifications of innovation in media and information technology, and explore why such innovation occurs in certain places and within certain social groups and not others. Examples draw from German cultural history, e.g. Gutenberg and the printing press, but also from the broader European history of the book. Students will have the opportunity to work with historical materials from Special Collections. Taught in English.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 190:
German Capstone: Reading Franz Kafka (COMPLIT 111, COMPLIT 311C, GERMAN 390, JEWISHST 147, JEWISHST 349)
This class will address major works by Franz Kafka and consider Kafka as a modernist writer whose work reflects on modernity. We will also examine the role of Kafka's themes and poetics in the work of contemporary writers. (Meets Writing-in-the-Major requirement)
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 218:
Central European Literature
Central Europe is not a clearly defined region so much as an idea debated with particular intensity in the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Part reality part fantasy, "Central Europe" refers to a contested space between East and West, between cosmopolitanism and provincial narrowness, a space whose diversity has fostered cultural creativity, political conflict and utopian fantasy. Our survey will focus on fiction, memoires and essayistic commentary from the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. It will comprise the dissolution of the empire, the interwar years, the Cold War decades and the postcommunist era. Attention to the predicament of small nations, "minor" literatures and cultural cross-pollination. Authors include Musil, Kafka, Roth, Kosztolányi, Márai, Hasek, Svevo, Kis, Torberg, Hrabal, Kundera, Esterházy, Magris. Discussion and readings in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
GERMAN 220:
Medieval and Early Modern German Literature (GERMAN 320)
This seminar offers a survey of literary, cultural and intellectual developments in German-speaking lands from ca.1200 to 1600. We will begin our investigation with a sampling of medieval heroic epic, romance, lyric poetry, and mysticism. From there we will move into humanism and consider the invention of print and the popular literary forms characteristic of Reformation culture in the German lands. Discussion in English. All texts are available in modern German or English translation. Undergraduates enroll in 220 for 5 units, graduate students enroll in 320 for 8 units.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5-8
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 221:
From Enlightenment to Realism: German Literature 1750-1900 (COMPLIT 321A, GERMAN 321)
How German writers respond to the rise of historical awareness in the long nineteenth century. The role of historical precedents and models, especially Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman legacies, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the French Revolution and its aftermath. The vexed relation between cultural production, material circumstances and political agency. The belatedness of German modernity and the anomalous character of Germany's development. France as a screen for the projection of nationalist and utopian fantasies. Authors include Herder, Goethe, Fichte, Heine, Büchner, Marx, Nietzsche, Fontane. Taught in German. Undergraduates enroll in 220 for 5 units, German graduate students enroll in 320 for 8 units.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5-8
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 222:
Wrestling with Modernity: German Literature and Thought from 1900 to the Present (COMPLIT 222A, GERMAN 322)
Masters of German 20th- and 21st-Century literature and philosophy as they present aesthetic innovation and confront the challenges of modern technology, social alienation, manmade catastrophes, and imagine the future. Readings include Nietzsche, Freud, Rilke, Musil, Brecht, Kafka, Doeblin, Benjamin, Juenger, Arendt, Musil, Mann, Adorno, Celan, Grass, Bachmann, Bernhardt, Wolf, and Kluge. Taught in English. Undergraduates enroll in 222 for 5 units, graduate students enroll in 322 for 8 units.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5-8
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 246:
Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit
Written in the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars, Hegel's masterpiece is a freewheeling philosophical story about what Hegel takes to be the experiential path that consciousness must traverse from rudimentary awareness to insight into the absolute truth. Experience, as Hegel understands it, is a necessary process in the course of which consciousness becomes estranged from itself in order finally to recognize itself in its object. This recognition seals the knowledge that thought is not finite and constrained by an inert reality but absolutely free, the only source of authority for modern subjects. We will ask whether Hegel's thesis about the supremacy of conceptual thought is compatible with his reliance on narrative form and dramatic impersonation. How does Hegel's survey of rival models of consciousness and forms of life relate to historical reality? Is the ideal of modernity upheld by Hegel still relevant in the light of recent developments? Discussion and readings in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 262:
The Total Work of Art (TAPS 262S)
Frequently associated with the work of Richard Wagner, The Total Work of Art (or Gesamtkunstwerk) is a genre that aims to synthesize a range of artistic forms into an organic unity, a unity that both models and helps to forge an ideal state. This seminar will examine the history of the Gesamtkunstwerk from its roots in German Romanticism to the present day, focusing on the genre's relations with technology and mass culture across a wide range of media. Creations we will consider include Wagner's Festival Theatre at Bayreuth, Walter Gropius' plans for a Totaltheater, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's radio-oratorio The Lindbergh Flight, Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, Walt Disney's theme parks, Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and Bill Gates' "home of the future." Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 271:
Futurity: Why the Past Matters (COMPLIT 271A)
Drawing on literature, the arts, political discourse, museums, and new media, this course asks why and how we take interest in the watershed events of the modern era; how does contemporary culture engages with modern, made-made disasters such as the World Wars or 9/11? Readings and viewings include the literature of G. Grass, W. G. Sebald, Ian McEwan, Toni Morrison and Cormac McCarthy; the cinema of Kathryn Bigelow and Steven Spielberg; speeches by Barak Obama; and the theoretical writing of Walter Benjamin, Hayden White, Fredric Jameson, among others. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HISTORY 30Q:
English Society Through Fiction
Preference to sophomores. England from the eighteenth century to the twentieth century through the reading of seven novels ranging from Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews, to Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust. Focus is on the novels themselves and the historical context of the novels to acquire a knowledge of British history over two hundred years.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
HISTORY 48N:
African History through Literature and Film
Literary and cinematic works as a window into the history of sub-Saharan Africa.; and the difficulty of using artistic works as historical sources, the value of art as representation and artifact of the past. Premodern traditions of political narrative; art in the era of the slave trade; the impact of colonialism on African intellectuals; the political uses of art by nationalists; and the struggle to represent rapidly changing social and culture norms.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
HISTORY 50A:
Colonial and Revolutionary America
(Same as HISTORY 150A. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for 150A.) Survey of the origins of American society and polity in the 17th and 18th centuries. Topics: the migration of Europeans and Africans and the impact on native populations; the emergence of racial slavery and of regional, provincial, Protestant cultures; and the political origins and constitutional consequences of the American Revolution.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 78N:
Latin American Movies of Revolution
In this course we will watch and critique films made about Latin America's 20th century revolutions focusing on the Mexican, Cuban, Chilean and Nicaraguan revolutions. We will analyze the films as both social and political commentaries and as aesthetic and cultural works, alongside archivally-based histories of these revolutions.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 114:
Origins of History in Greece and Rome (CLASSHIS 117)
The beginnings and development of historical writing in the ancient world. Emphasis on major classical historians and various models of history they invented, from local to imperial, military, cultural, biographical, world history and church history. Focus on themes of power, war, loss, growth and decline, as put by the ancients into historical narrative forms and probed by way of historical questioning and explanation. Attention to how these models resonate still today. Readings in translation: Herodotus, Thucydides, Tacitus, Livy and others.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
HISTORY 116N:
Howard Zinn's 'A People's History' and the Quest for Historical Truth (EDUC 116N)
Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of the United States' has few peers among contemporary historical works. With more than two million copies in print, A People's History is more than a book. It is a cultural icon, a symbol of our time. "You wanna read a real history book," Matt Damon tells Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting, "read People's History of the US. That book'll knock you on your ass." Today, A People's History's original grey cover has been colorized in red, white, and blue for its Harper "Perennial Modern Classic" edition, and is now marketed with special displays in suburban megastores. You can buy A People's History T-shirts and tote-bags. Zinn's book was not the first but is certainly the defining example of a genre of historical writing known as revisionism, in which the cherished truths of a previous generation are turned on their head. In this seminar, we will use A People's History to probe the question of historical truth. How do we determine what was true in the past? Why and under what circumstances should we believe what historians say? Under what circumstances are we required to rethink our own interpretations about the past, even if doing so causes discomfort and upheaval? A People's History will be our point of departure, but our journey will visit a variety of historical trouble spots: debates about whether the US was founded as a Christian nation, Holocaust denial, and the "Birther" controversy of President Obama.
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HISTORY 145B:
Africa in the 20th Century (AFRICAAM 145B)
(Same as HISTORY 45B. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for 145B.) The challenges facing Africans from when the continent fell under colonial rule until independence. Case studies of colonialism and its impact on African men and women drawn from West, Central, and Southern Africa. Novels, plays, polemics, and autobiographies written by Africans.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 150A:
Colonial and Revolutionary America (AMSTUD 150A)
(Same as HISTORY 50A. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for HISTORY 150A.) Survey of the origins of American society and polity in the 17th and 18th centuries. Topics: the migration of Europeans and Africans and the impact on native populations; the emergence of racial slavery and of regional, provincial, Protestant cultures; and the political origins and constitutional consequences of the American Revolution.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 151:
The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, POLISCI 124A)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 168:
American History in Film Since World War ll
U.S. society, culture, and politics since WW II through feature films. Topics include: McCarthyism and the Cold War; ethnicity and racial identify; changing sex and gender relationships; the civil rights and anti-war movements; and mass media. Films include The Best Years of Our Lives, Salt of the Earth, On the Waterfront, Raisin in the Sun, Kramer v Kramer, and Falling Down.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 208A:
Science and Law in History (HISTORY 308A)
How the intertwined modern fields of science and law, since the early modern period, together developed central notions of fact, evidence, experiment, demonstration, objectivity, and proof.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 208C:
History of Death and Dying (HISTORY 308C)
The changing realities of, attitudes towards and ways of coping with death drawing on examples from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States. The role of death in shaping the modern world via the global slave trades, imperial conquest, pandemics, wars and genocides. Changing rituals relating to death, intellectual and philosophical debates about the personal and social meanings of death, and the political and personal consequences of particular ways and patterns of dying.
Last offered: Autumn 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 230C:
Paris: Capital of the Modern World (FRENCH 140, FRENCH 340)
This course explores how Paris, between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, became the political, cultural, and artistic capital of the modern world. It considers how the city has both shaped and been shaped by the tumultuous events of modern history- class conflict, industrialization, imperialism, war, and occupation. It will also explore why Paris became the major world destination for intellectuals, artists and writers. Sources will include films, paintings, architecture, novels, travel journals, and memoirs.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 231G:
European Reformations (HISTORY 331G, RELIGST 236, RELIGST 336)
Readings in and discussion of theological and social aspects of sixteenth century reformations: Luther, Radical Reform, Calvin, and Council of Trent, missionary expansion, religious conflict, creative and artistic expressions. Texts include primary sources and secondary scholarly essays and monographs.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HPS 60:
Introduction to Philosophy of Science (PHIL 60)
The nature of scientific knowledge: evidence and confirmation; scientific explanation; models and theories; objectivity; science, society, and values.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
HUMBIO 167:
The Art of Vision
This course concerns eyes and art. It asks how eyes are built, how they process visual information, and how they are affected by diseases that are major problems in our society. These topics are illustrated through fine art and famous artists, and we explore the implications of both normal and abnormal vision for art. There are short diversions into animal eyes and the role of vision in music, literature, and sports.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER: DB-NatSci, WAY-A-II
HUMBIO 175L:
Literature of Global Health (COMPLIT 229, FRENCH 229, MED 234)
This course examines the ways literary and medical writers have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health -- modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, which are meant to have helped readers develop a modern public health conscience. We will study global health ethics as a field initially rooted in philosophy and policy that address questions raised by practice in resource-constrained communities abroad. And we will spend the quarter understanding how colonial and world literatures may deepen and even alter these questions. Readings will be selected from Albert Schweitzer, Aime Cesaire, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Antonio Olinto, Ben Okri, Amitav Ghosh, Anne Fadiman, and Paul Farmer.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ICA 250:
Bollywood and Beyond: An Introduction to Indian Film (COMPLIT 247, FILMSTUD 250B)
A broad engagement with Indian cinema: its relationship with Indian politics, history, and economics; its key thematic concerns and forms; and its adaptation of and response to global cinematic themes, genres, and audiences. Locating the films within key critical and theoretical debates and scholarship on Indian and world cinemas. Goal is to open up what is often seen as a dauntingly complex region, especially for those who are interested in but unfamiliar with its histories and cultural forms.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 103N:
The Millenium Novel in Latin America
Between 2000 and 2012, a young Spanish American novel emerges, taking at times a minimalist point of view to narrate individual stories with a subjective tone, or continuing a tradition of the historical panorama to present national tragedies that occurred in the last two or three decades. Focus is on this new type of novel from different countries, with such titles as "El cuerpo en que nací" by Guadalupe Entel; "Las teorías salvajes" by Pola Oloixarac; "El ruido de las cosas al caer" by Juan Gabriel Vazquez; and "Bonsai" by Alejandro Zambra, among others. Taught in Spanish.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 114N:
Introduction to Lyric Poetry
A basic introduction to the elements of lyric poetry--image, metaphor, symbol, connotation, denotation, irony, rhyme and meter - drawing upon a selection of poems from major poets of the Hispanic World, including, G. A. Bécquer, Rosalía de Castro, Rubén Darío, Miguel de Unamuno, Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Garcia Lorca, Pablo Neruda, and Gabriela Mistral. This is a bilingual course, taught both in English, and Spanish, with an emphasis on Spanish. Some knowledge of Spanish is necessary.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 116:
Approaches to Spanish and Spanish American Literature
Short stories, poetry, and theater. What analytical tools do the "grammars" of different genres call for? What contact zones exist between these genres? How have ideologies, the power of patronage, and shifting poetics shaped their production over time? Authors may include Arrabal, Borges, Cortázar, Cernuda,García Márquez, Lorca, Neruda, Rivas. Taught in Spanish.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 130:
Introduction to Iberia: Cultural Perspectives
The purpose of this course is to study major figures and historical trends in modern Iberia against the background of the linguistic plurality and social and cultural complexity of the Iberian world. We will study the fundamental issues of empire, the Napoleonic occupation of Spain, Latin American independence, recurring civil wars, federal republicanism, and the historic nationalisms (Galician, Basque, and Catalan), all leading up to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which is a defining moment in modern Spanish and European history, with ongoing consequences still felt and debated painfully today in contemporary Spain. This course is designed to help prepare students for their participation in the Stanford overseas study programs in Barcelona and Madrid. Taught in Spanish.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ILAC 131:
Introduction to Latin America: Cultural Perspectives
Part of the Gateways to the World program, this is an introductory course for all things Latin American: culture, history, literature, and current events. By combining lecture and seminar formats, the class prepares you for all subsequent research on, and learning about, the region. Comparative discussion of independence movements in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Andean Region, Brazil, and the Southern Cone. Other topics vary yearly, including: representations of ethnicity and class, the Cold War, popular culture, as well as major thinkers and writers. Open to all. Recommended for students who want to study abroad in Santiago, Chile. Required for majors in Spanish or Iberian and Latin American Cultures (ILAC). In Spanish.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ILAC 133N:
The Animal Within: Animal Presence in Latin American Narrative
How does the criterion for the division between the human and the animal take part on contemporary Latin American narrative? To what extent is this divide challenged or contested? The course combines a discussion of the literary works of authors like Jorge Luis Borges, Horacio Quiroga, Julio Cortázar, Mario Bellatin, Clarice Lispector, and José María Arguedas with a reflection on the animal and animality in the writings of Bataille, Derrida and Deleuze. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 134:
In the First Person: Representation of the Self in Modern Latin America
This course examines different expressions of self-portrayal in Latin America from 1920s to the present. The course explores different models of self-shaping and forms of expression that draw contourns on self and identity in Latin America. After a brief consideration of the Inca Garcilaso, Sor Juana, J.F. Sarmiento, we examine the works of José Vasconcelos, Norah Lange, Victoria Ocampo, Frida Kahlo, José María Arguedas, Rosario Castellanos, Mario Bellatin, Tununa Mercado, Marcela Trujillo, Fernando Vallejo, among others. Taught in Spanish; Spanish proficiency required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 135:
From Book to Screen: Brazilian Novels and Their Film Adaptations
Can the study of cinematographic adaptation of novels help us understand better the specific nature of literature and that of film? Addressing this central question, the course combines an introduction to Brazilian narrative (Euclides Da Cunha, Mário De Andrade, João Guimaraes Rosa, Graciliano Ramos, Rubem Fonseca, Clarice Lispector) and a panorama of Brazilian cinematography (from Cinema Novo to contemporary productions). The course offers a space for reflection on the multifaceted relationship between the literary and the cinematographic. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 136:
Modern Iberian Literatures
Survey on modern Iberian literatures (Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician and Portuguese) through major canonical authors. Community building, tolerance, the ethics of memory, the value of human purpose as a tool for survival are some of the issues explores in key works by Eca de Queiros, Miguel de Unamuno, García Lorca, Fernando Pessoa, Antonio Machado, Mercé Rodoreda, Maria Angels Anglada, Ramón Sainzarbitoria and Manuel Rivas. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisites: SPANLANG 13 or equivalent, SPANLANG 102 Recommended.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 157:
Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Literatures
Survey of literature in Spanish from the early modern period. Course will draw on transatlantic literature. Taught in Spanish; prerequisite: SPANLANG 13 or equivalent.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ILAC 161:
Modern Latin American Literature
From independence to the present. Topics include romantic allegories of thennation; modernism and postmodernism; avant-garde poetry; regionalism versus cosmopolitanism; indigenous and indigenist literature; magical realism and the literature of the boom; Afro-Hispanic literature; and testimonial narrative. Authors may include: Bolívar, Bello, Gómez de Avellaneda, Isaacs, Sarmiento, Machado de Assis, Darío, Martí, Agustini, Vallejo, Huidobro, Borges, Cortázar, Neruda, Guillon, Rulfo, Ramos, García Marquez, Lispector, and Bolaño. Taught in Spanish.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 175:
Daydreaming in Portugal and Brazil
This course explores the role of the imagination in 19th and 20th century Portuguese and Brazilian literature. We will read 4-5 novels, short stories and articles analyzing how and why authors recreate imaginary processes in their characters, and what these processes reveal about the socio-cultural contexts of their period. Authors include Raúl Brandão, Machado de Assis, Antonio Lobo Antunes, Raduan Nassar, and Álvaro Cardoso Gomes, with complementary short pieces by Fernando Pessoa, José Saramago, Mario de Andrade, Guimarães Rosa, and Clarice Lispector. Readings available in English and Portuguese. In English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 193:
The Cinema of Pedro Almodovar (ILAC 393)
Pedro Almodóvar is one of the most recognizable auteur directors in the world today. His films express a hybrid and eclectic visual style and the blurring of frontiers between mass and high culture. Special attention is paid to questions of sexuality and the centering of usually marginalized characters. This course studies Pedro Almodóvar's development from his directorial debut to the present, from the "shocking" value of the early films to the award-winning mastery of the later ones. Prerequisite: ability to understand spoken Spanish. Readings in English. Midterm and final paper can be in English. Majors should write in Spanish.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 210:
Queer Almodovar (FEMST 210)
Focus on the representation of non-normative sexualities and genders in films by Pedro Almodóvar, one of the most recognizable auteur directors in Europe today. Analysis of his hybrid and eclectic visual style complemented by critical and theoretical readings in queer studies. Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 240E:
Borges and Philosophy
Analysis of the Argentine author's literary renditions of philosophical ideas. Topics may include: time, free will, infinitude, authorship and self, nominalism vs. realism, empiricism vs. idealism, skepticism, peripheral modernities, postmodernism, and Eastern thought. Close reading of short stories, poems, and essays from Labyrinths paired with selections by authors such as Augustine, Berkeley, James, and Lao Tzu. The course will be conducted in English; Spanish originals will be available. Satisfies the capstone seminar requirement for the major in Philosophy and Literature.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ILAC 241:
Fiction Workshop in Spanish
Enrollment limited. Spanish and Spanish American short stories approached through narrative theory and craft. Assignments are creative in nature and focus on the formal elements of fiction (e.g. character and plot development, point of view, creating a scene,etc.). Students will write, workshop, and revise an original short story throughout the term. No previous experience with creative writing is required. Readings may include works by Ayala, Bolaño, Borges, Clarín, Cortázar, García Márquez, Piglia, Rodoreda, and others. Prerequisite: SPANLANG 102 or permission from instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ILAC 243:
The Millenium Novel in Latin America
Between 2000 and 2012, a young Spanish American novel emerges, taking at times a minimalist point of view to narrate individual stories with a subjective tone, or continuing a tradition of the historical panorama to present national tragedies that occurred in the last two or three decades. Focus is on this new type of novel from different countries, with such titles as "El cuerpo en que nací" by Guadalupe Entel; "Las teorías salvajes" by Pola Oloixarac; "El ruido de las cosas al caer" by Juan Gabriel Vazquez; and "Bonsai" by Alejandro Zambra, among others.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 263:
Visions of the Andes (ILAC 363)
What visions and images of the Andes circulate in contemporary Latin American literature? How are they constructed? How is their value accrued? An exploration of the visual economy of the Andes in representative literary texts of the 20th century, vis-à-vis critical discourses about Andean culture. Topics: visual culture and identity, iconography and the word/image tension, nature vs. culture, debates on utopia, indigenismo, mestizaje, and hibridez. Authors may include: Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, Martín Chambi, José Carlos Mariátegui, César Vallejo, José María Arguedas, Mario Vargas Llosa, Raúl Salmón, Aurelio Arturo. Spanish proficiency required.
Last offered: Winter 2010
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 277:
Spanish in Society
Emphasis is on the documentation and analysis of the use of Spanish in real-world contexts. Readings include representative scholarship from linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, psychology, and sociology. Topics include fieldwork methods, the ethnography of communication, conversational narrative, body language, and language ideologies and politics. Students will conduct their own ethnographic fieldwork and present findings to class. Taught in English (with fieldwork component in Spanish).
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ILAC 278:
Senior Seminar: Early 20th Century Lyric Poetry (Machado, Jimenez, Lorca)
This course will study the development of the donimant trends of early Iberian 20th-century lyric poetry, against the background of Restoration Spain (1875-1930), and the forces of resistance and opposition to its oligarchical and archaic social and political structure. We will concentrate on the major works of the three most important poets: Antonio Machado, Juan Ramon Jimenez, and Federico Garcia Lopez. Symbolist-modernist poetry, the creation of symbolic systems, and the brief appearance of surrealism all define key aspects of this avant-garde during the first two decades. Special attention will be given to close stylistic analysis and to the historical and social conditions out of which arose the progressive intellectual and educational movement that gave rise to this renaissance of brilliant lyric poetry. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
ILAC 278A:
Senior Seminar: Cuba from Beginning to End
The Cuban Revolution of '59 to today, through literature and film. Themes: Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Elián González, the exiles, love and war in the times of socialism. The course will focus on literature "classics" like "Condenados de Condado" by Norberto Fuentes, and contemporary works like "Trilogía sucia de La Habana" by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez and "Cien botella en una pared" by Ena Lucía Portela. Taught in Spanish.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 280:
Latin@ Literature (CHILATST 200, CSRE 200, ILAC 382)
Examines a diverse set of narratives by U.S. Latin@s of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan, and Dominican heritage through the lens of latinidad. All share the historical experience of Spanish colonization and U.S. imperialism, yet their im/migration patterns differ, affecting social, cultural, and political trajectories in the US and relationships to "home" and "homeland," nation, diaspora, history, and memory. Explores how racialization informs genders as well as sexualities. Emphasis on textual analysis. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 287:
Queer Raza (CHILATST 120, FEMGEN 120)
Examination of cultural representations by U.S. Latin@s that explore the following questions: How is the mutual constitution of race/sex/class/gender theorized and represented? How is desire racialized? How is racial difference produced through sex acts and what is the function of sex in racial (self)formation? How to reconcile pleasure and desire with histories of imperialism and (neo)colonialism and other structures of power? How do these texts reinforce or contest stereotypes and the "ideal" bodies of national identity? How do these texts produce queerness as a web of social relations?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ITALIAN 41N:
Imagining Italy
Preference to freshmen. To the English and American literary imagination, Italy has long been a source of fascination. During the past hundred years, writers from Nathaniel Hawthorne to Frances Mayes have explored the broad range of contradictory resonances of the Italian setting, in fiction, travel essays, and memoirs. While some writers have celebrated the sensuality of Italian culture and landscape, others have imagined Italy as a more dangerous place -- as dangerous as the erotic love with which it is often identified. The range of literary responses to Italy by writers in English during the past hundred years will be examined, and the ways in which our culture has continued to construct myths of Italy will be explored. We will also see how these myths have been transformed into commodities in today's consumer culture, making "Italy" one of the most profitable fictions in the marketplace. Taught in English.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 75N:
Narrative Medicine and Near-Death Experiences (FRENCH 75N)
Even if many of us don't fully believe in an afterlife, we remain fascinated by visions of it. This course focuses on Near-Death Experiences and the stories around them, investigating them from the many perspectives pertinent to the growing field of narrative medicine: medical, neurological, cognitive, psychological, sociological, literary, and filmic. The goal is not to understand whether the stories are veridical but what they do for us, as individuals, and as a culture, and in particular how they seek to reshape the patient-doctor relationship. Materials will span the 20th century and come into the present. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ITALIAN 101:
Italy: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Renowned for its rich cultural tradition, Italy is also one of the most problematic nations in Europe. This course explores the contradictions at the heart of Italy, focusing on five key words and their corresponding human figures, which embody the spirit of Italy and its people: Stile (the artist), Spirito (the hero-saint), Scienza (the thinker), Migrazione (the explorer), and Crisi (the political man). Through the study of historical and literary texts, films, and news media, the course addresses figures such as Dante, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Galileo; and socio-cultural phenomena such as fashion and design, the scientific revolution, immigration, and Berlusconi. Offered as a part of the Gateways to the World program. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ITALIAN 127:
Inventing Italian Literature: Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarca
The origins of Italian literature. Poetry such as 13th-century love lyrics, Dante's Vita Nuova and Petrarca's Canzoniere; prose such as stories from Boccaccio's Decameron. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 128:
The Italian Renaissance and the Path to Modernity
The literature, art, and history of the Renaissance and beyond. Readings from the 15th through 18th centuries include Moderata Fonte, Machiavelli, Ariosto, Tasso, Galileo, and Goldoni. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent (2 years of Italian)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 129:
Modern Italian History and Literature
The history of the Italian nation and national literary identity in the 19th and 20th centuries. The relationship between literary texts and their historical context from the Risorgimento to the Resistance. Focus is on the romantic lyric, futurism, fascism, and the changing status of women. Authors include Foscolo, Leopardi, D'Annunzio, Aleramo, Marinetti, Pirandello, Ungaretti, and Montale. Prerequisite: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent. Taught in Italian.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 152:
Boccaccio's Decameron: The Ethics of Storytelling (ITALIAN 352)
This course involves an in-depth study of Boccaccio's Decameron in the context of medieval theories of poetry and interpretation. The goal is to understand more fully the relationship between literature and lived experience implied by Boccaccio's fictions. We will address key critical issues and theoretical approaches related to the text. Taught in English translation, there will be an optional supplementary Italian discussion section during weeks 2-9.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 154:
Film & Philosophy (COMPLIT 154A, FRENCH 154, PHIL 193C, PHIL 293C)
Issues of freedom, morality, faith, knowledge, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Twelve Monkeys (Gilliam), Ordet (Dreyer), The Dark Knight (Nolan), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Allen), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 155:
The Mafia in Society, Film, and Fiction
The mafia has become a global problem through its infiltration of international business, and its model of organized crime has spread all over the world from its origins in Sicily. At the same time, film and fiction remain fascinated by a romantic, heroic vision of the mafia. Compares both Italian and American fantasies of the Mafia to its history and impact on Italian and global culture. Taught in English.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 166:
Women's Voices in Contemporary Italian Literature (ITALIAN 366)
The traditional canon of Italian literature consists almost exclusively of male authors. Yet Italian women writers have been active since the time of Dante. This presents an overview of women's prose fiction of the last 100 years, from Sibilla Aleramo's groundbreaking feminist novel *Una donna* (1906) to novels from the 80's and 90's. We will examine such issues as the central issue of sexual violence in many female autobiographies; the experience of motherhood; the conflict between maternal love and the desire for self-determination and autonomy; paths to political awareness; reinventing the historical novel. Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ITALIAN 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSGEN 81, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 221:
Italo Calvino: Literature, Science, Philosophy
The course will follow the development of Italo Calvino's literary career, with a particular focus on his interest in fantastical and meta-fictional forms of narrative. Readings of Calvino's literary works, such as Cosmicomics, Invisible Cities, and Mr. Palomar, will be supplemented by readings from his critical prose, collected in the volumes The Uses of Literature and Six Memos for the Next Millennium. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 235E:
Dante's "Inferno"
Intensive reading of Dante's "Inferno" (the first canticle of his three canticle poem The Divine Comedy). Main objective: to learn how to read the Inferno in detail and in depth, which entails both close textual analysis as well as a systematic reconstruction of the Christian doctrines that subtend the poem. The other main objective is to understand how Dante's civic and political identity as a Florentine, and especially his exile from Florence, determined his literary career and turned him into the author of the poem. Special emphasis on Dante's moral world view and his representation of character. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 236E:
Dante's "Purgatorio and Paradiso"
Reading the second and third canticles of Dante's Divine Comedy. Prerequisite: students must have read Dante's Inferno in a course or on their own. Taught in English. Recommended: reading knowledge of Italian.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ITALIC 91:
Immersion in the Arts: Living in Culture
ITALIC is a new residence-based program built around a series of big questions about the historical, critical and practical purposes of art and its unique capacities for intellectual creativity, communication, and expression. This year-long program fosters close exchanges among faculty, students and guest artists and scholars in class, over meals and during excursions to arts events. We trace the challenges that works of art have presented to categories of knowledge ¿ history, politics, culture, science, medicine, law ¿ by turning reality upside-down or inside-out, or just by altering one¿s perspective on the world. The arts become a model for engaging with problem-solving: uncertainty and ambiguity confront art makers and viewers all the time; artworks are experiments that work by different sets of rules. Students will begin to understand and use the arts to create new frameworks for exploring our (and others¿) experience.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
ITALIC 92:
Immersion in the Arts: Living in Culture
ITALIC is a new residence-based program built around a series of big questions about the historical, critical and practical purposes of art and its unique capacities for intellectual creativity, communication, and expression. This year-long program fosters close exchanges among faculty, students and guest artists and scholars in class, over meals and during excursions to arts events. We trace the challenges that works of art have presented to categories of knowledge -- history, politics, culture, science, medicine, law -- by turning reality upside-down or inside-out, or just by altering one's perspective on the world. The arts become a model for engaging with problem-solving: uncertainty and ambiguity confront art makers and viewers all the time; artworks are experiments that work by different sets of rules. Students will begin to understand and use the arts to create new frameworks for exploring our (and others') experience.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
JAPANGEN 60:
Asian Arts and Cultures (ARTHIST 2)
An introduction to major monuments, themes, styles, and media of East and South Asian visual arts, in their social, literary, religious, and political contexts. Through close study of primary monuments of architectural, pictorial, and sculptural arts and related texts, this course will explore ritual and mortuary arts; Buddhist arts across Asia; narrative and landscape images; and courtly, urban, monastic, and studio environments for art from Bronze Age to modern eras.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
JAPANGEN 75N:
Around the World in Seventeen Syllables: Haiku in Japan, the U.S., and the Digital World
Preference to freshmen. Origins of the haiku form in Japan, its place in the discourse of Orientalism during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the West, its appropriation by U.S.devotees of Zen and the beat poets after WW II, and its current transformation into a global form through the Internet.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
JAPANGEN 92:
Traditional East Asian Culture: Japan
Required for Chinese and Japanese majors. Introduction to Japanese culture in historical context. Previous topics include:shifting paradigms of gender relations and performance, ancient mythology, court poetry and romance, medieval war tales, and the theaters of Noh, Bunraku, and Kabuki.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
JAPANGEN 121:
Translating Japan, Translating the West (JAPANGEN 221)
Translation lies at the heart of all intercultural exchange. This course introduces students to the specific ways in which translation has shaped the image of Japan in the West, the image of the West in Japan, and Japan's self-image in the modern period. What texts and concepts were translated by each side, how, and to what effect? No prior knowledge of Japanese language necessary.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JAPANGEN 124:
Manga as Literature
Analysis of representative manga as narratives that combine verbal and visual elements, with attention to historical and cultural background. Representative manga by Tezuka Osamu, Tatsumi Yoshihiro, Koike Kazuo, Taniguchi Jiro, Natsume Ono, Kono Fumiyo, and others. All readings in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
JAPANGEN 137:
Classical Japanese Literature in Translation (JAPANGEN 237)
Prose, poetry, and drama from the 10th-19th centuries. Historical, intellectual, and cultural context. Works vary each year. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
JAPANGEN 138:
Introduction to Modern Japanese Literature and Culture (JAPANGEN 238)
This class introduces key literary texts from Japan's modern era (1868-present), locating these works in the larger political, social, and cultural trends of the period. Primary texts include: Futabatei Shimei's Floating Clouds, Higuchi Ichiyô's Child's Play, Natsume Sôseki's Kokoro, Kobayashi Takiji's Cannery Boat, Ôe Kenzaburô's The Catch, and Yoshimoto Banana's Kitchen. Examination of these literary works will be contextualized within larger political trends (e.g., the modernization program of the Meiji regime, the policies of Japan's wartime government, and postwar Japanese responses to the cold war), social developments (e.g., changing notions of social class, the women's rights movement, and the social effects of the postwar economic expansion), and cultural movements (e.g., literary reform movement of the 1890s, modernism of the 1920s and 30s, and postmodernism of the 1980s). The goal of the class is to use literary texts as a point of entry to understand the grand narrative of Japan's journey from its tentative re-entry into the international community in the 1850s, through the cataclysm of the Pacific War, to the remarkable prosperity of the bubble years in the 1980s.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
JAPANGEN 187:
Romance, Desire, and Sexuality in Modern Japanese Literature (JAPANGEN 287)
This class is structured around three motifs: love suicide (as a romantic ideal), female desire, and same-sex sexuality. Over the course of the quarter we will look at how these motifs are treated in the art and entertainment from three different moments of Japanese history: the Edo period (1615-1868), the modern period (1920-65), and the contemporary period (1965-present). We will start by focusing on the most traditional representations of these topics. Subsequently, we will consider how later artists and entertainers revisited the conventional treatments of these motifs, informing them with new meanings and social significance. We will devote particular attention to how this material comments upon issues of gender, sexuality, and human relationships in the context of Japan. Informing our perspective will be feminist and queer theories of reading and interpretation.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JAPANLIT 170:
The Tale of Genji and Its Historical Reception (JAPANLIT 270)
Approaches to the tale including 12th-century allegorical and modern feminist readings. Influence upon other works including poetry, Noh plays, short stories, modern novels, and comic book ( manga) retellings. Prerequisite for graduate students: JAPANLNG 129B or 103, or equivalent.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 71:
Exploring Judaism (RELIGST 71)
Introduction to the varied beliefs, ritual practices, and sacred stories of Judaism, moving from foundational texts like the Bible and the Talmud to recent changes in Jewish religious life that have arisen in response to secular and feminist critiques, the Holocaust, and the emergence of the State of Israel.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JEWISHST 106:
Reflection on the Other: The Jew in Arabic Literature, the Arab in Hebrew Literature (AMELANG 126, COMPLIT 145)
How literary works outside the realm of western culture struggle with questions such as identity, minority, and the issue of the other. How the Arab is viewed in Hebrew literature and how the Jew is viewed in Arabic literature. Historical, political, and sociological forces that have contributed to the shaping of the writer's views. Arab and Jewish (Israeli) culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JEWISHST 129:
Modern Jewish Thought (RELIGST 129)
From 1870 to the late twentieth century, Jewish thought and philosophy attempted to understand Judaism in response to the developments and crises of Jewish life in the modern world. In this course we shall explore the responses of figures such as Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Hermann Cohen, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Joseph Soloveitchik, Emil Fackenheim, and Emmanuel Levinas. Central topics will concern ethics and politics, faith and revelation, redemption and messianism, and the religious responses to catastrophe and atrocity. We shall discuss Judaism in European culture before and after World War I and in North America in the postwar period and after the Six Day War. A central theme will be the ways in which attempts to understand Jewish experience are related to history.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 143:
Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (AFRICAAM 133, FRENCH 133)
This course aims to equip students with an understanding of the cultural, political and literary aspects at play in the literatures of Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Our primary readings will be Francophone novels and poetry, though we will also read some theoretical texts, as well as excerpts of Francophone theater. The assigned readings will expose students to literature from diverse French-speaking regions of the African/Caribbean world. This course will also serve as a "literary toolbox," with the intention of facilitating an understanding of literary forms, terms and practices. Students can expect to work on their production of written and spoken French (in addition to reading comprehension) both in and outside of class. Required readings include: Aimé Césaire, "Cahier d'un retour au pays natal," Albert Memmi, "La Statue de Sel," Abdelkebir Khatibi, "Amour bilingue," Abdelwahab Meddeb, "Talismano." nnTaught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 144B:
Poetic Thinking Across Media (COMPLIT 154B, GERMAN 154)
Even before Novalis claimed that the world must be romanticized, thinkers, writers, and artists wanted to perceive the human and natural world poetically. The pre- and post-romantic poetic modes of thinking they created are the subject of this course. Readings include Ecclestias, Zhaozhou Congshen, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Kafka, Benjamin, Arendt, and Sontag. This course will also present poetic thinking in the visual arts--from the expressionism of Ingmar Bergman to the neo-romanticism of Gerhard Richter.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 147:
German Capstone: Reading Franz Kafka (COMPLIT 111, COMPLIT 311C, GERMAN 190, GERMAN 390, JEWISHST 349)
This class will address major works by Franz Kafka and consider Kafka as a modernist writer whose work reflects on modernity. We will also examine the role of Kafka's themes and poetics in the work of contemporary writers. (Meets Writing-in-the-Major requirement)
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 155D:
Jewish American Literature (ENGLISH 145D, REES 145D)
Fiction of Jewish-American writers across the 20th and into the 21st centuries, both immigrants and subsequent generations of native-born Jews, to show how the topic of assimilation is thematized in the literature and to evaluate the distinctiveness of Jewish-American literature as a minority literature.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JEWISHST 243:
Masterpieces of Hebrew Literature from the Bible to the Present (COMPLIT 283)
This course presents and reflects on some of the canonical works of Hebrew literature, from biblical era to the present. Discussing works such as the Wisdom Books and selections from the Midrash; and reflecting on important periods such as the Golden Age of Jewish Culture in Spain, the Renaissance, and contemporary Israeli literature, we will highlight linguistic innovation, as well as crucial thematic and philosophical concerns. Readings include the Book of Job, Psalm, Ibn Gabirol, Mapu, Rachel, Goldbegr, Agnon, S. Yizhar, Amichai, Oz and more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
KORGEN 101:
Kangnam Style: Korean Media and Pop Culture (KORGEN 201)
For over a decade now, South Korea has established itself as a tireless generator of soft power, the popularity of its pop-culture spreading from Asia to the rest of the world. This class will look into the economic engine that moves this "cultural contents" industry, and will examine some of its expressions in the form of K-pop, soap operas, tourism, food, sports, and fashion in order to illuminate the ways in which Korean culture is being (self-)narrated and consumed in this era of globalization of the 21st century.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
KORGEN 120:
Narratives of Modern and Contemporary Korea (KORGEN 220)
This introductory survey will examine the development of South and North Korean literature from the turn of the 20th century until the present. The course will be guided by historical and thematic inquiries as we explore literature in the colonial period, in the period of postwar industrialization, and contemporary literature from the last decade. We will supplement our readings with critical writing about Korea from the fields of cultural studies and the social sciences in order to broaden the terms of our engagement with our primary texts.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
KORGEN 121:
Ethics and Violence in Korean film and literature (KORGEN 221)
Ethics and violence seem to be contradictory terms, yet much of Korean film and literature in the past five decades has demonstrated that they are an intricate¿and in many ways justifiable¿part of the fabric of contemporary existence. Film and literature exposes time and again the complex ways in which the supposed vanguards of morality¿religious institutions, family, schools, and the state¿are sites of condoned transgression, wherein spiritual and physical violation is inflicted relentlessly. This class will explore the ways in which questions about Truth and the origins of good and evil are mediated through film and literature in the particular context of the political, social, and economic development of postwar South Korea.
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
LINGUIST 163:
History of the English Language (ENGLISH 171H)
This course traces the history of the English language from its roots through its earliest written records into the present. It will trace the fundamental changes that English has undergone in terms of morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics, and vocabulary. It will also explore some of the social, cultural, and historical forces that affect language. The course emphasizes the pre-modern history of English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 1A:
Music, Mind, and Human Behavior
An introductory exploration of the question of why music is a pervasive and fundamental aspect of human existence. The class will introduce aspects of music perception and cognition as well as anthropological and cultural considerations.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 2C:
An Introduction to Opera
The lasting appeal of opera as a lavishly hybrid genre from the 1600s to the present. How and why does opera set its stories to music? What is operatic singing? Who is the audience? How do words, music, voices, movement, and staging collaborate in different operatic eras and cultures? Principal works by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, Britten, and Adams. Class studies and attends two works performed by the San Francisco Opera.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 6A:
From Gamelan to Kabuki: Musical Traditions of Far East Asia
Introduction to the musical traditions of Far East Asia. Study of prominent examples from diverse regions with an emphasis on Indonesia, China and Japan. Exploration of ethnic, social, cultural, and global perspectives. Survey of instruments and ensembles in a wide range of performance contexts, from sacred rituals to secular dance and theater. Traditional genres and their impact on contemporary composers. No musical background required. Lectures, listening to live and recorded music, attendance of a concert, video screenings.
Last offered: Autumn 2009
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 7B:
Musical Cultures of the World
An overview of selected musical cultures from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Course objectives: cultivate an appreciation for the diversity of human musical expression; discover how music is used to shape social interactions and systems of meaning; develop active listening skills that can be used when encountering any music; gain a preliminary understanding of ethnomusicological concepts and vocabulary. No musical experience is necessary. Class format: Lecture, discussion, listening, guest performances, musical participation, and a concert analysis.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 8A:
Rock, Sex, and Rebellion
Development of critical listening skills and musical parameters through genres in the history of rock music. Focus is on competing aesthetic tendencies and subcultural forces that shaped the music. Rock's significance in American culture, and the minority communities that have enriched rock's legacy as an expressively diverse form. Lectures, readings, listening, and video screenings. Attendance at all lectures is required.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 11Q:
Art in the Metropolis (ARTSINST 11)
This seminar is offered in conjunction with the annual "Arts Immersion" trip to New York that takes place over the spring break and is organized by the Stanford Arts Institute (SAI). Participation in the trip is a requirement for taking part in the seminar (and vice versa). The trip is designed to provide a group of students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the cultural life of New York City guided by faculty and the SAI programming director. Students will experience a broad range and variety of art forms (visual arts, theater, opera, dance, etc.) and will meet with prominent arts administrators and practitioners, some of whom are Stanford alumni. For further details and updates about the trip, see http://artsinstitute.stanford.edu.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
MUSIC 14N:
Women Making Music
Preference to freshmen. Women's musical activities across times and cultures; how ideas about gender influence the creation, performance, and perception of music.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 17N:
The Operas of Mozart
Preference to freshmen. Four of Mozart's mature operas, the earliest works in the operatic repertoire never to go out of fashion. What accounts for this extraordinary staying power? Focus on the history of their composition, performance, and reception, and their changing significance from Mozart's time to the present.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 18A:
Jazz History: Ragtime to Bebop, 1900-1940 (AFRICAAM 18A)
From the beginning of jazz to the war years.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 18B:
Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present (AFRICAAM 18B)
Modern jazz styles from Bebop to the current scene. Emphasis is on the significant artists of each style.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 19A:
Introduction to Music Theory
For non-music majors and Music majors or minors unable to pass the proficiency test for entry to MUSIC 21. The fundamentals of music theory and notation, basic sight reading, sight singing, ear training, keyboard harmony; melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic dictation. Skill oriented, using piano and voice as basic tools to develop listening and reading skills.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 19B:
Intermediate Music Theory
This course is an introduction to music theory geared toward students who have basic literacy skills (i.e. fundamental notation, identifying major and minor scales, keys, etc). Using musical materials from repertoire selected from campus and area concerts, and incorporating the opportunity to attend these concerts, the course will introduce elements of harmony, melody, form, orchestration and arrangement. The course is an appropriate successor to Music 19A. Students who successfully complete Music 19B can go on directly to Music 21.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 20A:
Jazz Theory
Introduces the language and sounds of jazz through listening, analysis, and compositional exercises. Students apply the fundamentals of music theory to the study of jazz. Prerequisite: 19 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 20B:
Advanced Jazz Theory
Approaches to improvisation through listening and transcribing, and developing familiarity with important contributors to this music. Topics: scale theory, altered dominants, and substitute harmony. Prerequisite: 20A or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 20C:
Jazz Arranging and Composition
Jazz arranging and composition for small ensembles. Foundation for writing for big band. Prerequisite: 20A or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 21:
Elements of Music I
Preference to majors. Introduction to tonal theory. Practice and analysis. Diatonic harmony focusing on melodic and harmonic organization, functional relationships, voice-leading, and tonal structures. Students must concurrently enroll in an Ear-training and musicianship lab (MUSIC 24a, 24b, or 24c as appropriate). Music majors must take 4 courses in ear training, and pass an ear training exit exam in their Junior year. Enrollment limited to 40. Prerequisites: (1) Piano Proficiency Exam (must be passed within the first two weeks of the term) or MUSIC 12A (may be taken concurrently); (2) Passing grade on a basic musical skills proficiency examination on the first day of class or MUSIC 19.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 22:
Elements of Music II
Preference to majors. Introduction to chromatic harmony focusing on secondary functions, modulations, harmonic sequences, mode mixture, and the Neapolitan, and augmented sixth chords. Analysis of musical forms and harmonizations complemented by harmonic and melodic dictation, sight singing, and other practical skills. Students must concurrently enroll in an Ear-training and musicianship lab (MUSIC 24a, 24b, or 24c as appropriate). Music majors must take 4 courses in ear training, and pass an ear training exit exam in their Junior year. Prerequisites: (1) MUSIC 21; (2) Piano Proficiency Exam or MUSIC 12B (may be taken concurrently).
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 23:
Elements of Music III
Preference to majors. Continuation of chromatic harmony and complex forms of late Romantic period. Satisfactory passage of ear-training proficiency exam, part of the course's final, is a requirement for course completion and for continuation in the major sequence. Students must concurrently enroll in an Ear-training and musicianship lab (MUSIC 24a, 24b, or 24c as appropriate). Music majors must take 4 courses in ear training, and pass an ear training exit exam in their Junior year. Prerequisites: (1) MUSIC 22; (2) Piano Proficiency Exam or MUSIC 12C (may be taken concurrently).
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 30N:
A Stranger in a Strange Land: Jewish Musics in Translation
What does it mean to be a stranger in a strange land? For centuries Jewish people have struggled to shape their identities in unfamiliar surroundings, using music to remember the past and generate new, hybrid identities. In this class we adopt the metaphor of translation to think about how minority Jewish communities bridge distinct languages, musical idioms, and cultural practices. Our theme will take us on a journey across time and space¿from Italy to India, New York, Syria, Russia, and Israel. We consider the case of Salamone Rossi, a 17th-century Italian Jewish composer who moved uneasily between dual careers in the synagogue and a secular/Christian court. We also explore a group of Indian Jews (Bene Israel) who combine idioms learned from Jewish and Christian missionaries with local Hindu musical traditions. In all our examples musicians translate languages, musical styles, and cultures to unite memories of a Jewish past with the realities of minority status in the present. The class format includes listening, discussion, some singing, student presentations, and guest lectures.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 34N:
Performing America: The Broadway Musical
Musical theater as a site for the construction of American identity in the twentieth century to the present. Issues of class, race, gender, and sexuality; intersections with jazz, rock, and pop; roles of lyricist, composer, director, choreographer, producer, performers. Individual shows (Showboat, Oklahoma, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Wicked, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Book of Mormon), show tunes in jazz performance, film musicals, and television. Opportunities for performance and attendance at local productions.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 36N:
Humor in Music
Through theoretical readings the course will touch on psychological and neurological bases of humor, explore contingent, tactical, modal, and ontological difficulties in the apprehension of humor, and address ethical issues surrounding humor in music. In addition to in-class listening and screening sessions, analytic discussions will be led by students who will find and present examples of humor in music. Students will also be invited to compose original humorous song lyrics and to create collaborative works of musical humor.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 40:
Music History to 1600
Pre- or corequisite: 21.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 41:
Music History 1600-1830
Pre- or corequisite: 22.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 42:
Music History Since 1830
Pre- or corequisite: 23.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 122A:
Counterpoint
Analysis and composition of contrapuntal styles from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Use of keyboard, ear training, and sight singing underlies all written work. Prerequisites: 23 and piano-proficiency examinations.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 122B:
Analysis of Tonal Music
Complete movements, or entire shorter works of the 18th and 19th centuries, are analyzed in a variety of theoretical approaches. Prerequisites: 23 or consent of instructor; and pass the ear-training and piano-proficiency examinations.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 123:
Undergraduate Seminar in Composition
Current trends in composition. May be repeated for credit a total of 7 times. Prerequisites: Music major; 23 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
8 times
(up to 24 units total)
MUSIC 140:
Studies in Medieval Music (MUSIC 240)
Prerequisites: MUSIC 21, MUSIC 40. (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
Last offered: Autumn 2011
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
MUSIC 141:
Studies in Renaissance Music (MUSIC 241)
Prerequisites: MUSIC 21, MUSIC 40. (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
MUSIC 143:
Studies in Classic Music (MUSIC 243)
Prerequisites: MUSIC 22, MUSIC 41. (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
Last offered: Spring 2009
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
MUSIC 144:
Studies in Romantic Music (MUSIC 244)
Prerequisites: MUSIC 23, MUSIC 42 (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
MUSIC 146:
Music and Urban Film (MUSIC 246)
How music and sound work in urban cinema. What happens when music's capacity to transform everyday reality combines with the realism of urban films? Provides an introduction to traditional theories of film music and film sound; considers how new technologies and practices have changed the roles of music in film. Readings discuss film music, realistic cinema, urban musical practices and urban culture. Viewing includes action/adventure, Hindi film, documentary, film noir, hip hop film, the musical, and borderline cases by Jean-Luc Godard, Spike Lee, Wong Kar-Wai and Tsai Ming-Liang. Pre- or corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 unit level only.)
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 147A:
Listening to the Local: Music Ethnography of the Bay Area (MUSIC 247A)
An introduction to music ethnography through student research on musical life in the Bay Area. Focus is on the intersections of music, social life, and cultural practice by engaging with people as they perform music and culture in situ. Techniques taught include participant-observation, interviewing and oral history, writing fieldnotes, recording, transcription, analysis, and ethnographic writing. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 147C:
Latin American Music and Globalization (MUSIC 247C)
Focuses on vernacular music of Latin America and the Caribbean, including Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina. Musical examples discussed in relation to: globalization, migration, colonialism, nationalism, diaspora, indigeneity, politics, religion, dance, ethnicity, and gender. How music reflects and shapes cultures, identities, and social structures. Genres addressed: bachata, bossa nova, cumbia, forro, ranchero, reggaeton, rock, salsa, tango, and others. Seminar, guest performances, reading, listening, and analysis. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
MUSIC 149:
Reactions to the Record: Early Recordings, Lost Styles, and Music's Future (MUSIC 249)
This is a seminar on the transformation of musical style in the era of recordings in light of their roots in cultural trends, including shifting hierarchies between composer and performer, work and notation, text and act. Early recordings will be studied as documents of musical values and conceptions different from those around us today. Methodologies of performance analysis will be explored and used to contextualize sources, which include historic recordings from Stanford's Archive of Recorded Sound, performance documents, and field research with performers, composers, critics, and listeners. Repertoire includes works for orchestra, piano, strings, chamber ensemble and voice. Outstanding contributions from seminar members may be featured in the Music Department¿s May 2014 Reactions to the Record symposium. May be repeated for credit. Pre- or corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
MUSIC 154:
History of Electronic Music
What is electronic music? Acousmatic, computer music, algorithmic composition, tape music, glitch, electronic, musique concrète, noise, laptop music, DJ'ing, organized sound...what do these labels mean? This course will provide a brief historical survey of electroacoustic music and discuss some of the most salient questions associated with it, from both a compositional and musicological point of view. Topics to be covered include: definitions of musical sounds; Schaefferian theory and musique concrète; serialism and elektronische Musik; tape music and computer music in the USA; analysis of electroacoustic music; sampling and intellectual property; algorithmic and computer-assisted composition; live-electronics and improvisation. The course does not require previous experience in the field. Classes will be based on discussion of selected listening and reading materials, as well as hands-on digital experimentation with sounds.
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 6 units total)
MUSIC 155:
Intermedia Workshop (ARTSTUDI 239, MUSIC 255)
Students develop and produce intermedia works. Musical and visual approaches to the conceptualisation and shaping of time-based art. Exploration of sound and image relationship. Study of a wide spectrum of audiovisual practices including experimental animation, video art, dance, performance, non-narrative forms, interactive art and installation art. Focus on works that use music/sound and image as equal partners. Limited enrollment. Prerequisites: consent of instructors, and one of FILMPROD 114, ARTSTUDI 131, 138, 167, 177, 179, or MUSIC 123, or equivalent. May be repeated for credit
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
MUSIC 186A:
Music and Religious Experience in the Contemporary World (MUSIC 286A, RELIGST 156, RELIGST 256)
Explores the central role of music in the performance and experience of religion, positioning music not as an adjunct to silent rituals and liturgy, but as the catalyst and carrier of religious experience, indeed as religious experience itself. Topics include: trance, spirit possession, heightened religious experience, sacred sound and chant, shamanism, politics, and identity. Musical traditions include: Zimbabwean mbira music, African-American church music, Southeast Asian Buddhist ritual music, South Asian Hindu and Islamic devotional music, shamanistic music of Southeast Asia.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 208C:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 208C, ARTHIST 408C, CLASSART 108, CLASSART 208, MUSIC 408C, REES 208C, REES 408C, RELIGST 208C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
MUSIC 220B:
Compositional Algorithms, Psychoacoustics, and Computational Music
The use of high-level programming language as a compositional aid in creating musical structures. Advanced study of sound synthesis techniques. Simulation of a reverberant space and control of the position of sound within the space. See http://ccrma.stanford.edu/. Prerequisite: 220A.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
NATIVEAM 143A:
American Indian Mythology, Legend, and Lore
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143A.)Readings from American Indian literatures, old and new. Stories, songs, and rituals from the 19th century, including the Navajo Night Chant. Tricksters and trickster stories; war, healing, and hunting songs; Aztec songs from the 16th century. Readings from modern poets and novelists including N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, and Leslie Marmon Silko, and the classic autobiography, "Black Elk Speaks."
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPBEIJ 7:
Sex, Gender, and Power in Modern China
How sex, gender, and power are entwined in the Chinese experience of modernity. Interdisciplinary approach to how gender and sexuality have emerged as a privileged modality of modern identity and an important site of social and political struggles in 20th-century China and beyond. Topics include: cross-dressing, marriage resistance, free love, women¿s mobilization in revolution and war, state feminism, postsocialist celebrations of the body, and the emergent queer movement. Readings range from feminist theory to historiography, ethnography, memoir, biography, short story, play, essay, and film. Prior coursework in Chinese history or literature is recommended but not necessary. In English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPBEIJ 8:
Marvelous Creatures: Animals and Humans in Chinese Literature and Society
What do pervasive animal imageries and metaphors tell us about the Chinese and how they relate to the world, be it natural or supernatural, and to their neighbors, be they ethnic minorities or foreigners? How do animals define the frontiers of humanity and mediate notions of civilization and Chineseness? How do culture, institution, and political economy shape concepts of human rights and animal rights? What does it mean to be human in the pluralistic and planetary 21st century? Course materials include scholarly treatises, novels, short stories, and films that feature an array of animalkind from late imperial times to the contemporary era.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
OSPBER 60:
Cityscape as History: Architecture and Urban Design in Berlin
Diversity of Berlin's architecture and urban design resulting from its historical background. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his artistic ancestors. Role of the cultural exchange between Germany and the U.S. Changing nature of the city from the 19th century to the present.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPBER 66:
Theory from the Bleachers: Reading German Sports and Culture
German culture past and present through the lens of sports. Intellectual, societal, and historical-political contexts. Comparisons to Britain, France, and the U.S. The concepts of Körperkultur, Leistung, Show, Verein, and Haltung. Fair play, the relation of team and individual, production and deconstruction of sports heroes and heroines, and sports nationalism. Sources include sports narrations and images, attendance at sports events, and English and German texts. Taught in German.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II
OSPBER 101A:
Contemporary Theater
Texts of plays supplemented by theoretical texts or reviews. Weekly theater visits, a tour of backstage facilities, and discussions with actors, directors, or other theater professionals. In German. Prerequisite: completion of GERLANG 3 or equivalent.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 34:
The Virgin Mother, Goddess of Beauty, Grand Duchess, and the Lady: Women in Florentine Art
Influence and position of women in the history of Florence as revealed in its art. Sculptural, pictorial, and architectural sources from a social, historical, and art historical point of view. Themes: the virgin mother (middle ages); the goddess of beauty (Botticelli to mannerism); the grand duchess (late Renaissance, Baroque); the lady, the woman (19th-20th centuries).
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPFLOR 48:
Sharing Beauty in Florence: Collectors, Collections and the Shaping of the Western Museum Tradition
The city's art and theories of how art should be presented. The history and typology of world-class collections. Social, economic, political, and aesthetic issues in museum planning and management. Collections include the Medici, English and American collectors of the Victorian era, and modern corporate and public patrons.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 49:
On-Screen Battles: Filmic Portrayals of Fascism and World War II
Structural and ideological attributes of narrative cinema, and theories of visual and cinematic representation. How film directors have translated history into stories, and war journals into visual images. Topics: the role of fascism in the development of Italian cinema and its phenomenology in film texts; cinema as a way of producing and reproducing constructions of history; film narratives as fictive metaphors of Italian cultural identity; film image, ideology, and politics of style.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 54:
High Renaissance and Mannerism: the Great Italian Masters of the 15th and 16th Centuries
The development of 15th- and early 16th-century art in Florence and Rome. Epochal changes in the art of Michelangelo and Raphael in the service of Pope Julius II. The impact of Roman High Renaissance art on masters such as Fra' Bartolomeo and Andrea del Sarto. The tragic circumstances surrounding the early maniera: Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino and the transformation of early Mannerism into the elegant style of the Medicean court. Contemporary developments in Venice.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 58:
Space as History: Social Vision and Urban Change
A thousand years of intentional change in Florence. Phases include programmatic enlargement of ecclesiastical structures begun in the 11th century; aggressive expansion of religious and civic space in the 13th and 14th centuries; aggrandizement of private and public buildings in the 15th century; transformation of Florence into a princely capital from the 16th through the 18th centuries; traumatic remaking of the city's historic core in the 19th century; and development of new residential areas on the outskirts and in neighboring towns in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 67:
The Celluloid Gaze: Gender, Identity and Sexuality in Cinema
Film in the social construction of gender through the representation of the feminine, the female, and women. Female subjects, gaze, and identity through a historical, technical, and narrative frame. Emphasis is on gender, identity, and sexuality with references to feminist film theory from the early 70s to current methodologies based on semiotics, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies. Advantages and limitations of methods for textual analysis and the theories which inform them. Primarily in Italian.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPFLOR 75:
Florence in the Renaissance: Family, Youth and Marriage in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
Using a series of texts written by 14th and 15th century Florentines, look at the urban values of the city's citizens. Topics include: thinking about urban space; social relations; the values attached to politics, money, family, religion. How meanings of words such as "state", "government", and "family" might have changed over time.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 111Y:
From Giotto to Michelangelo: The Birth and Flowering of Renaissance Art in Florence
Lectures, site visits, and readings reconstruct the circumstances that favored the flowering of architecture, sculpture, and painting in Florence and Italy, late 13th to early 16th century. Emphasis is on the classical roots; the particular relationship with nature; the commitment to human expressiveness; and rootedness in the real-world experience, translated in sculpture and painting as powerful plasticity, perspective space, and interest in movement and emotion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 115Y:
Building the Cathedral and the Town Hall: Constructing and Deconstructing Symbols of a Civilization
The history, history of art, and symbolism of the two principal monuments of Florence: the cathedral and the town hall. Common meaning and ideological differences between the religious and civic symbols of Florence's history from the time of Giotto and the first Guelf republic to Bronzino and Giovanni da Bologna and the Grand Duchy.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 134F:
Italian Cinema and the Aesthetics of Modernism
As the embodiment of modernity, cinema develops in the wake of modernism proper, but can be understood as one of its technological and aesthetic expressions. Topics: cinema's archaeology in futurist texts and theories with their nationalistic political flavor and their iconoclastic, radical, and interdisciplinary rethinking of the language and form of all the arts (Marinetti, Pirandello, D'Annuzio).
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPGEN 77:
The Other France: Troubadours and the Politics of Cultural Heritage
The study of troubadours and medieval cultural heritage in southern France and northern Spain. Readings include troubadour poetry, histories of medieval France (Catharism and the Albigensian Crusade) and articles on modern interpretations of medieval culture. Meetings in Narbonne, France, with visit to sites associated with the troubadours in southern France and Catalonia, Spain.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 2
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
OSPKYOTO 13:
Contemporary Japanese Religion
Japanese attitudes to religion and popular forms of religiosity. Syncretic nature of beliefs and practices drawn on a variety of interwoven concepts, beliefs, customs and religious activities of native Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Indian origins as background. Topics include: pursuit of worldly benefits, religion and healing, fortune-telling, ascetic practices, pilgrimage, festivals (matsuri), new religions and their image, impact of the internet, response of religion in times of crisis.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPKYOTO 64:
Japanese Popular Culture
Origin, history and production of genres of Japanese popular culture such as manga, anime, popular music, television drama, film and new media, and their link to current phenomena. Themed units: disaster anime; politics of shojo; otakuology; keitai studies. Analysis of media texts and how age, gender, race, ethnicity and socio-economic class are represented. Social context in which popular culture is produced and consumed. Local field trips.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPMADRD 8A:
Architecture, Culture and Nature in Madrid: Towards a Sustainable City
Architecture and the city, with a focus on recent currents in the progress of both, such as sustainability, environmentalism and the relationship with nature. Topics underpinned by discussion of theory, and illustrated by a study of the city of Madrid: an example of a hybrid architectural/planning experiential environment that looks to the future with an ambition for modernization.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 2
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
OSPMADRD 41:
Dissidence and Continuity: Spanish Theater, 1907 to the Present
Tradition, transformation, experimentation, rupture, renovation, and innovation in the theater in Spain as a reflection of the artistic, social and historical commotion that led to the Spanish Civil War, Franco, and the present democratic monarchy. Ortega y Gasset, Benavente, Grau, Valle-Inclán, García Lorca, Buero Vallejo, Sastre, Arrabal, Fernán Gómez, Paloma Pedrero, Yolanda Pallín or other playwrights who may be staged in Madrid theaters.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPMADRD 45:
Women in Art: Case Study in the Madrid Museums
Viewing the collections at the Prado Museum through study and analysis of the representations of women. Contemporary literary texts and images that situate paintings in the historical, social, and political conditions that produced the works.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPMADRD 50:
Flirting with Spanish Metafiction: Cervantes, Velázquez, Fuentes, Almodóvar
Literary theory and critical analysis of peninsular and Latin American texts. Emphasis is on the origins and development of self-conscious fiction (metafiction). Works by Cervantes, Velázquez, Unamuno, Borges, Fuentes, Torrente Ballester, and Almodóvar. Attendance at music, art, cinema, and Spanish novelist events. In Spanish.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPOXFRD 17:
Novels of Sensation: Gothic, Detective Story, Prohibition, and Transgression in Victorian Fiction
Literary and moral value of transgressive sub-genres of the novel; what they reveal about Victorian society's anxiety over prohibited elements in the domestic and public spheres. Sources include gothic and detective novels.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPOXFRD 57:
The Rise of the Woman Writer 1660-1860
Emergence and rise of the professional woman writer from playwright and Royalist spy Aphra Behn (1640-89) to novelist and proto-feminist Charlotte Bronte (1816-55). How women writers dealt with criticism for writing publicly, placing each author and text in its historical and literary context. Range of poets, playwrights, and novelists including Eliza Haywood, Frances Burney, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Topics: gender roles and proto-feminism, the public versus the private sphere, sexuality, courtship and marriage.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
OSPOXFRD 74:
History and Architecture of Oxford
History of the city and university of Oxford through its physical fabric. Oxford's buildings within the context of British and European architectural history; growth and development of Oxford. Lectures paired with visits to buildings with additional discussion on site.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPOXFRD 221Y:
Art and Society in Britain
Themes in 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century British art. Painting, sculpture, and design. Comparisons between the British experience and that of continental Europe and the U.S. Readings address questions related to the role of art in modern society. Limited Enrollment.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 7:
From Disenchantment to Re-Enchantment: The Literature of Modern Paris
Modernity as a gradual move from enchantment to disenchantment and then to re-enchantment: from the loss of wonder, order, purpose, unity, and depth to their triumphant rediscovery in new domains. Novels by Balzac and Claire de Duras; philosophical writings by Camus and Sartre; short selections from prose works by Aragon and Proust; poems by Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Apollinaire, Césaire, Eluard; a play by Beckett; field trip to the Musée d'Orsay.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 30:
The Avant Garde in France through Literature, Art, and Theater
Multiple artistic trends and esthetic theories from Baudelaire to the Nouveau Roman, from the Surrealists to Oulipo, from the theater of cruelty to the theater of the absurd, from the Impressionists to Yves Klein. Interdisciplinary approach to reflect on the meaning of avant garde and modernity in general, and on the question of why revolutionary artists in France remained in search of institutional recognition, nonetheless.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 34:
Franco-American Encounters: Paris-New York in the 20th Century
Double vision of American artists and intellectuals of Paris, as well as their French counterparts of New York, throughout the 20th century. Exploration of Franco-American relations through two very problematic itineraries. Superposing the two will create a rich and complex image of the interaction between the two cultures. Migration of American artists and intellectuals to Paris in the 1920¿s and of French artists and intellectuals to New York during the Second World War. Through study of films, texts and images, view the two cities through eyes of immigrants, both temporary and permanent. Major figures such as Hemingway, Josephine Baker, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPPARIS 54:
The Artist's World: The Workshop, Patronage and Public in 19th and 20th Century France
Synergy between artists, their workshops, patrons, models and the public in 19th and 20th century France. Weekly sessions in museums, artists' studios, and special venues within and around Paris, attempting to understand the world of the artist, and how, in many cases, this world became not only a place of refuge, but a metaphor of the artistic creation itself.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 60:
Representations of Women in Christian Art: Boldness and Virtue
Representation of women as biblical heroes and saints in Christian art. Codes of iconography and the attributes of women saints from the Renaissance to the 19th century; underlying social and moral force of these women figures throughout history. Class sessions in Paris museums.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPPARIS 72:
The Ceilings of Paris
Seventeenth century transformation of the ceilings of Paris, religious, private and public. Itinerary of this transformation from artists¿ initial drawings to their finished work. In conjunction with an exhibition in the Louvre on this topic, study the original drawings as well as the venues in and around Paris. Sites vary from the most illustrious (Versailles) to the lesser known (Hôtel Lauzun). Reflection on the changing religious, social and political aspirations as represented in these new artistic forms.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 92:
Building Paris: Its History, Architecture, and Urban Design
The development of Parisian building and architecture from the 17th century to the present. Interaction of tradition and innovation in its transformation and its historical, political, and cultural underpinnings. Visits and case studies throughout Paris illustrate the formation of the city landscape and its culture.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 186F:
Contemporary African Literature in French
Focus is on African writers and those of the diaspora, bound together by a common history of slave trade, bondage, colonization, and racism. Their works belong to the past, seeking to save an oral heritage of proverbs, story tales, and epics, but they are also contemporary.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPSANTG 14:
Women Writers of Latin America in the 20th Century
Key figures in poetry, narrative fiction, theater, and testimonio, such as Mistral, Garro, Lispector, Poniatowska, Valenzuela, Eltit and Menchú. Close reading technique. Issues raised in literary texts that reflect the evolution of the condition of women in Latin America during the period. Topics include gender differences and relationships, tradition versus transgression, relationship between changes in the status of women and other egalitarian transformations, and women writers and the configuration of literary canons.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPSANTG 30:
Short Latin American Fiction of the 20th Century
Introduction to short narrative fiction produced in Latin America during the 20th Century. Key features of the short story genre, as defined by Chekhov in the 19th Century and redefined by Kafka and Borges in the 20th Century. Main literary movements of the period in Latin America, including Regionalism, Social Realism, the Avant-Garde, the Boom of the 1960s and Magical Realism, the Post-Boom, etc. Close reading course with strong emphasis on analysis and discussion of the required texts. Readings placed in the context of the main developments in Latin American history and culture in the period.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 1:
Introduction to Philosophy
Is there one truth or many? Does science tell us everything there is to know? Can our minds be purely physical? Do we have free will? Is faith rational? Should we always be rational? What is the meaning of life? Are there moral truths? What are truth, reality, rationality, and knowledge? How can such questions be answered? Intensive introduction to theories and techniques in philosophy from various contemporary traditions.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 2:
Introduction to Moral Philosophy (ETHICSOC 20)
A survey of moral philosophy in the Western tradition. What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? What is it to have a virtuous rather than a vicious character? What is the basis of these distinctions? Why should we care about morality at all? Our aim is to understand how some of the most influential philosophers (including Aristotle, Kant, and Mill) have addressed these questions, and by so doing, to better formulate our own views. No prior familiarity with philosophy required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 5N:
The Art of Living
Whether we realize it or not, all of us are forced to make a fundamental choice: by deciding what is most valuable to us, we decide how we are going to live our life. We may opt for a life of reason and knowledge; one of faith and discipline; one of nature and freedom; one of community and altruism; or one of originality and style.We may even choose to live our lives as though they were works of art. In every case, hard work is required: our lives are not just given to us, but need to be made. To live well is, in fact, to practice an art of living. Where, however, do such ideals come from? How do we adopt and defend them? What is required to put them into practice? What do we do when they come into conflict with one another? And what role do great works of art play in all this? "The Art of Living" will explore the various ways in which it is possible to live well and beautifully, what it takes to implement them, and what happens when they come under pressure from inside and out.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 6N:
Pictures and the Imagination
Paintings, drawings, and photographs often function as pictures or images of the preexisting things they take as subjects. They represent these subjects from specific spatial vantage points in ways that may be more or less definite, more or less detailed, and more or less faithful to what the subjects are actually like. One longs to know how this works: how vision, imagination, and background knowledge come together when we experience a picture as a picture. Certain forms of imagining and remembering involve mental picturing, mental imagery. Sometimes we imagine or remember things in visual terms from a specific spatial vantage point, with the result that we feel brought face to face with the things imagined or remembered, however far away they may actually be. How is the physical picturing that goes on in paintings, drawings, and photographs both like and unlike the mental picturing that goes on when things swim before the mind's eye? What role does mental picturing play in physical picturing? What kinds of artistic value and interest attach to paintings, drawings, and photographs in virtue of what they picture and how they picture it?
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 8N:
Free Will and Responsibility
In what sense are we, or might we be free agents? Is our freedom compatible with our being fully a part of the same natural, causal order that includes other physical and biological systems? What assumptions about freedom do we make when we hold people accountable morally and/or legally? When we hold people accountable, and so responsible, can we also see them as part of the natural, causal order? Or is there a deep incompatibility between these two ways of understanding ourselves? What assumptions about our freedom do we make when we deliberate about what to do? Are these assumptions in conflict with seeing ourselves as part of the natural, causal order?nWe will explore these and related questions primarily by way of careful study of recent and contemporary philosophical research on these matters.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 15N:
Freedom, Community, and Morality
Preference to freshmen. Does the freedom of the individual conflict with the demands of human community and morality? Or, as some philosophers have maintained, does the freedom of the individual find its highest expression in a moral community of other human beings? Readings include Camus, Mill, Rousseau, and Kant.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 60:
Introduction to Philosophy of Science (HPS 60)
The nature of scientific knowledge: evidence and confirmation; scientific explanation; models and theories; objectivity; science, society, and values.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 77S:
Philosophy of Religion (RELIGST 62S)
Key philosophical questions concerning the nature of the divine and the religious through a close reading of some classic philosophical texts, while aiming to develop critical thinking about these issues. Topics include: the existence and nature of God, the problem of evil, the justification of religious belief, the nature of and relationship between faith and reason, and the function(s) of religion. Key texts will include Plato, St. Anselm, Hume, and Nietzsche.
Last offered: Summer 2012
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 80:
Mind, Matter, and Meaning
Central topics in philosophy emphasizing development of analytical writing skills. Are human beings free? How do human minds and bodies interact? Prerequisite: introductory philosophy course.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 81:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSGEN 81, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 100:
Greek Philosophy
We shall cover the major developments in Greek philosophical thought, focusing on Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic schools (the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Skeptics). Topics include epistemology, metaphysics, psychology, ethics and political theory.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 101:
Introduction to Medieval Philosophy (PHIL 201)
Classics of Western philosophy by Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, and Aquinas. Explore the puzzles facing someone seeking to lead a good life and to understand herself and her world. A theory of will and human motivation, a theory of ethics based on the agent's intention, and a theory of divine omniscience and omnipotence consistent with divine goodness and human freedom. Works include On Free Choice, The Consolation of Philosophy, On the Fall of the Devil, and Summa Theologiae.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 102:
Modern Philosophy, Descartes to Kant
Major figures in early modern philosophy in epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. Writings by Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, and Kant.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 107A:
The Greeks on Irrationality (PHIL 207A)
In this course, we shall examine the views of some central Greek philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, and the Stoics) on the irrational and non-rational aspects of human life. What makes something irrational and what roles (negative and perhaps positive as well) does the irrational play in our lives? We shall examine their views on anger, fear, madness, love, pleasure and pain, sexual desire and so on. We shall also consider more briefly some depictions of these psychic items in ancient Greek literature.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 108:
Aristotle's Metaphysics Book Alpha (PHIL 208)
An introduction both to Aristotle's own metaphysics and to his treatment of his predecessors on causality, included the early Ionian cosmologists, atomism, Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras and Plato. Prerequisite: one course in ancient Greek philosophy.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 109A:
Special Topics in Ancient Philosophy (PHIL 209A)
In this course we will read carefully Book I, Chapters 1-3, of Aristotle's *Physics* and the commentary on those chapters by John Philoponus. Topics to be covered include Aristotle's preliminary discussion of the principles of natural science and his detailed exposition and refutation of Eleatic Monism.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
PHIL 125:
Kant's First Critique (PHIL 225)
(Graduate students register for 225.) The founding work of Kant's critical philosophy emphasizing his contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. His attempts to limit metaphysics to the objects of experience. Prerequisite: course dealing with systematic issues in metaphysics or epistemology, or with the history of modern philosophy.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 127A:
Kant's Value Theory (PHIL 227A)
(Graduate students register for 227A.) The role of autonomy, principled rational self-governance, in Kant's account of the norms to which human beings are answerable as moral agents, citizens, empirical inquirers, and religious believers. Relations between moral values (goodness, rightness) and aesthetic values (beauty, sublimity).
Last offered: Spring 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 137:
Wittgenstein (PHIL 237)
(Graduate students register for 237.) An exploration of Wittgenstein's changing views about meaning, mind, knowledge, and the nature of philosophical perplexity and philosophical insight, focusing on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 153:
Feminist Theories and Methods Across the Disciplines (FEMGEN 103, FEMGEN 203, PHIL 253)
(Graduate Students register for PHIL 253 or FEMGEN 203) The interdisciplinary foundations of feminist thought. The nature of disciplines and of interdisciplinary work. Challenges of feminism for scholarship and research.nnPrerequisites: Feminist Studies 101 or equivalent with consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
PHIL 164:
Central Topics in the Philosophy of Science: Theory and Evidence (PHIL 264)
(Graduate students register for 264.) Is reductionism opposed to emergence? Are they compatible? If so, how or in what sense? We consider methodological, epistemological, logical and metaphysical dimensions of contemporary discussions of reductionism and emergence in physics, in the ¿sciences of complexity¿, and in philosophy of mind.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 165:
Philosophy of Physics (PHIL 265)
Graduate students register for 265.) Central topic alternates annually between space-time theories and philosophical issues in quantum mechanics; the latter in Winter 2013-14. Conceptual problems regarding the uncertainty principle, wave-particle duality, quantum measurement, spin, and their treatment within the 'Copenhagen interpretation' of quantum mechanics, and the related doctrine of complementarity. The issue of quantum entanglement as raised by Einstein and Schrödinger in the 1930s and the famous EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) paper of 1935. Examination of EPR-type experimental set-ups and a result due to Bell in the 1960s, according to which no "hidden variables" theory satisfying a certain locality condition (apparently assumed by EPR) can reproduce all the predictions of quantum mechanics. Survey of several live interpretive options for standard quantum mechanics: Bohmian mechanics (a.k.a. 'pilot wave theory'), 'spontaneous collapse' theories, and Everett¿s relative-state interpretation. Critical scrutiny of the ¿decoherence¿ program that seeks to explain the classical-to-quantum transition, i.e., the emergence of the world of classical physics and macroscopic objects from quantum physics. May be repeated for credit if content is different.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 167B:
Philosophy, Biology, and Behavior (PHIL 267B)
(Graduate Students register for 267B) Philosophical study of key theoretical ideas in biology as deployed in the study of behavior. Topics to include genetic, neurobiological, ecological approaches to behavior; the classification and measurement of behaviors: reductionism, determinism, interactionism. Prerequisites: one PHIL course and either one BIO course or Human Biology core; or equivalent with consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 167D:
Philosophy of Neuroscience (PHIL 267D, SYMSYS 206)
Can problems of mind be solved by understanding the brain, or models of the brain? The views of philosophers and neuroscientists who believe so, and others who are skeptical of neurophilosophical approaches to the mind. Historical and recent literature in philosophy and neuroscience. Topics may include perception, memory, neural accounts of consciousness, neurophenomenology, neuroscience and physics, computational models, and eliminativism.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 170:
Ethical Theory (ETHICSOC 170, PHIL 270)
A more challenging version of Phil 2 designed primarily for juniors and seniors (may also be appropriate for some freshmen and sophomores - contact professor). Fulfills the Ethical Reasoning requirement. Graduate section (270) will include supplemental readings and discussion, geared for graduate students new to moral philosophy, as well as those with some background who would like more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 170B:
Metaphor (PHIL 270B)
In metaphor we think and talk about two things at once: two different subject matters are mingled to rich and unpredictable effect. A close critical study of the main modern accounts of metaphor's nature and interest, drawing on the work of writers, linguists, philosophers, and literary critics. Attention to how understanding, appreciation, and pleasure connect with one another in the experience of metaphor. Consideration of the possibility that metaphor or something very like it occurs in nonverbal medial: gesture, dance, painting, music.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 172:
History of Modern Moral Philosophy (PHIL 272)
This course traces the development of moral philosophy in Britain just prior to the nearly simultaneous emergence of Kant's moral philosophy and Bentham's utilitarianism in the 1780's. Emphasis is on the dialogue between empiricists and rationalists on the subject of the relationship between the natural and the normative. Authors include Hobbes, Clarke, Hutcheson, Hume, Smith, Price, and Bentham. Prerequisite: some familiarity with Kant's moral theory and utilitarianism, and demonstrated interest in philosophy.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 172B:
Recent Ethical Theory (PHIL 272B)
Study the works of several prominent contemporary moral philosophers. Possible authors include: Scanlon, Darwall, Nagel, Williams, Blackburn, Gibbard, Korsgaard. Prerequisite: students should have taken an introduction to moral philosophy (Phil. 20, Phil. 170 or equivalent).
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 174A:
Moral Limits of the Market (ETHICSOC 174A, PHIL 274A, POLISCI 135P)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 175:
Philosophy of Law
Philosophical foundations of law and the legal system. The justifiability of patterns of assigning legal responsibility within criminal law. Prerequisite: PHIL 80 and one additional PHIL course.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 176:
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition (PHIL 276)
(Graduate students register for 276.) Why and under what conditions do human beings need political institutions? What makes them legitimate or illegitimate? What is the nature, source, and extent of the obligation to obey the legitimate ones, and how should people alter or overthrow the others? Study of the answers given to such questions by major political theorists of the early modern period: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 176A:
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought (CLASSHIS 133, CLASSHIS 333, PHIL 276A, POLISCI 330A)
Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and law, civic strife, and constitutional change.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 180:
Metaphysics (PHIL 280)
The course will be devoted to an exploration of the mereological structure of material objects, and the related notions of 'part', 'whole' and 'constitution'. For instance, an ordinary physical object is susceptible to an analysis in terms of material parts and a structure such that the material constitute that object in virtue of having a certain structure. Among other things, we will consider questions of identity, both at a time and through time, of material objects from this perspective. We will consider both the antecedents for this kind of analysis in Plato and Aristotle and contemporary developments in the mereological analysis of objects. Prerequisite: Philosophy 80 (or consent of instructor).
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 181B:
Philosophy of Language: Contemporary Debates (PHIL 281B)
This course builds on the material of 181/281, focusing on debates and developments in the pragmatics of conversation, the semantics/pragmatics distinction, the contextuality of meaning, the nature of truth and its connection to meaning, and the workings of particular linguistic constructions of special philosophical relevance. Students who have not taken 181/281 should seek the instructor's advice as to whether they have sufficient background.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 182:
Truth (PHIL 282)
Focus on the nature of truth; specifically, ongoing debates between so-called correspondence theorists and deflationists. The former generally think truth amounts to some kind of structural isomorphism between the world and our representations of it (like the relationship between a subway map and the subway route itself). Deflationists think the nature of truth is exhausted by something as trifling as the equivalence between affirming something and affirming that it's true: e.g., it's true that Modest Mouse is God's gift to indie rock if and only if Modest Mouse IS God's gift to indie rock. Related issues include the possibility of truth-value "gaps" (claims that are neither true nor false), degrees of truth, relativism and realism about arbitrary subject matters, the semantic paradoxes (like the Liar), the role of truth in the theory of meaning, and the value of true belief. Most readings were written after 1980. Previous courses in philosophy of language and/or metaphysics very strongly encouraged. Phil 80 a must.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 184:
Theory of Knowledge (PHIL 284)
What is knowledge? How are beliefs justified? Contemporary theories evaluated against central problems: the regress argument, Gettier problem, and skeptical paradox.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 185:
Memory
Structure, content, functional role, and epistemic authority of human memories. Sources include philosophical and psychological literature from different schools and historical periods.
Last offered: Autumn 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 186:
Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 286)
(Graduate students register for 286.) Debates concerning the nature of mental states, their relation to physical states of the human body, how they acquire their content, how people come to know about them in themselves and others, and the roles they play in the explanation of human conduct.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 193C:
Film & Philosophy (COMPLIT 154A, FRENCH 154, ITALIAN 154, PHIL 293C)
Issues of freedom, morality, faith, knowledge, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Twelve Monkeys (Gilliam), Ordet (Dreyer), The Dark Knight (Nolan), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Allen), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 194E:
Beauty and Other Forms of Value
The nature and importance of beauty and of our capacity to discern it and respond to it, as discussed by philosophers and artists from various traditions and historical periods. Attempts to think out the relations between beauty and ethical values (such as goodness) on the one hand and cognitive values (such as truth) on the other. Fulfills capstone seminar requirement for the Philosophy and Literature tracks.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 194H:
Explanation and Justification
We will discuss the nature of epistemic justification¿in particular, whether it's "internal" or "external" and how, if at all, justification can explain belief. Assignments include a term paper + an oral presentation
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 194L:
Montaigne
Preference to Philosophy seniors. Philosophical and literary aspects of Montaigne's Essays including the nature of the self and self-fashioning, skepticism, fideism, and the nature of Montaigne's philosophical project. Montaigne's development of the essay as a literary genre.
Last offered: Winter 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 194P:
Naming and Necessity
Saul Kripke's lectures on reference, modal metaphysics, and the mind/body problem.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 194S:
Skepticism
Modern arguments for skepticism are hard to combat, but also curiously inert in ordinary life. We will look at a variety of contemporary attempts to come to terms with skepticism about the external world, each of which seeks to exploit the curious inertness of skeptical hypotheses.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
POLISCI 124A:
The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
POLISCI 131L:
Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx and Mill (ETHICSOC 131S)
This course offers an introduction to the history of Western political thought from the late fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries. We will consider the development of ideas like individual rights, government by consent, and the protection of private property. We will also explore the ways in which these ideas continue to animate contemporary political debates. Thinkers covered will include: Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 135P:
Moral Limits of the Market (ETHICSOC 174A, PHIL 174A, PHIL 274A)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 237M:
Politics and Evil (ETHICSOC 237M)
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the political theorist Hannah Arendt wrote that ¿the problem of evil will be the fundamental question of postwar intellectual life in Europe.¿ This question remains fundamental today. The acts to which the word ¿evil¿ might apply¿genocide, terrorism, torture, human trafficking, etc.¿persist. The rhetoric of evil also remains central to American political discourse, both as a means of condemning such acts and of justifying preventive and punitive measures intended to combat them. In this advanced undergraduate seminar, we will examine the intersection of politics and evil by considering works by philosophers and political theorists, with occasional forays into film and media. The thinkers covered will include: Hannah Arendt, Immanuel Kant, Niccolò Machiavelli, Friedrich Nietzche, and Michael Walzer.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PSYCH 29N:
Growing Up in America (ENGLISH 64N)
Preference to freshmen. To what extent is it possible to describe an "American" experience? How are different people included in or excluded from the imagined community that is America? How do a person's race, class, gender and sexuality affect his or her experience of belonging to this country? These are just some of the questions we will consider as we familiarize ourselves with the great diversity of childhood and young adult experiences of people who have grown up in America. We will read and discuss narratives written by men and women, by urban, suburban, and rural Americans, and by Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Latina/os, and European Americans.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
PWR 194SB:
Topics in Writing and Rhetoric: Rhetoric of Science
Understanding rhetoric as readers and interpreters of texts and to develop skills as writers and speakers. Prerequisite: first two levels of the writing requirement or equivalent transfer credit. For topics, see https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/advanced-pwr-courses.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
REES 145D:
Jewish American Literature (ENGLISH 145D, JEWISHST 155D)
Fiction of Jewish-American writers across the 20th and into the 21st centuries, both immigrants and subsequent generations of native-born Jews, to show how the topic of assimilation is thematized in the literature and to evaluate the distinctiveness of Jewish-American literature as a minority literature.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
REES 208C:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 208C, ARTHIST 408C, CLASSART 108, CLASSART 208, MUSIC 208C, MUSIC 408C, REES 408C, RELIGST 208C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
RELIGST 2:
Is Stanford a Religion?
This course seeks to introduce students to the study of religion by posing a two-part question: What is a religion, and does Stanford qualify as one? Scientific, pragmatic, seemingly secular, Stanford may not seem at all similar to religions like Christianity, Judaism or Buddhism, but a deeper look reveals that it has many of the qualities of religion--origin stories, rituals and ceremonies, sacred spaces and times, visions of the future, even some spirits. By learning some of the theories and methods of the field of religious studies, students will gain a better understanding not just of Stanford culture but of what motivates people to be religious, the roles religion plays in people's lives, and the similarities and differences between religious and secular culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 13Q:
Mystical Journeys: Beyond Knowing and Reason
What makes a mystic a mystic? This question has many sides. Why do we call someone a mystic? Is there such a thing as mystical experience? Do experiences make a mystic? Do beliefs? Practices? Many religious traditions have records of visionaries whose lives and writings open windows on the more hidden and aspirational aspects of belief and practice. These writings also take many forms: poem, letters, teachings, and accounts of visions, which we will encounter in the course of the quarter. Readings for the course will cover a cross-section of texts taken from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Native American sources.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
RELIGST 17N:
Love, Power, and Justice: Ethics in Christian Perspective
From its inception, the Christian faith has, like all religions, implied an ethos as well as a worldview, a morality and way of life as well as a system of beliefs, an ethics as well as a metaphysics. Throughout history, Christian thinkers have offered reasoned accounts of the moral values, principles, and virtues that ought to animate the adherents of what eventually became the world's largest religion. We will explore a variety of controversial issues, theological orientations, and types of ethical reasoning in the Christian tradition, treating the latter as one 'comprehensive doctrine' (John Rawls) among many; a normative framework (actually a variety of contested religious premises, moral teachings, and philosophical arguments) formally on par with the religious ethics of other major faiths as well as with the various secular moral theories typically discussed in the modern university. We will learn to interpret, reconstruct, criticize, and think intelligently about the coherence and persuasiveness of moral arguments offered by a diverse handful of this religious tradition's best thinkers and critics, past and present.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 21:
Religion in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Science fiction and fantasy create alternate worlds that incorporate religious institutions and beliefs that illuminate how we think about religion now and for the future. Texts work off diverse religious traditions: Islam, Buddhism, Catholic and Protestant forms of Christianity, ancient Sumerian and Mayan religion, and Voudou are some that appear. Themes of free will and determinism, immortality, apocalypse and redemption. Myth, ritual, prophecy, the messianic hero, monasticism and mysticism. Texts like Dune, Snow Crash, Count Zero and the like explore religion in the contemporary imagination. Main assignment: write a short story.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
RELIGST 31:
The Religious Life of Things
Temples, prayer beads, icons, robes, books, relics, candles and incense, scarves and hats, sacred food and holy water; objects of all sorts play a prominent role in all religions, evoking a wide range of emotional responses, from reverence, solace and even ecstasy, to fear, hostility and violence. What is it about these things that makes them so powerful? Is it beliefs and doctrines that inspire particular attitudes towards certain objects, or is it the other way around? Many see a tension or even contradiction between religion and material pursuits and argue that the true religious life is a life without things. But is such a life even possible? This course adopts a comparative approach, drawing on a variety of traditions to examine the place of images, food, clothing, ritual objects, architecture and relics in religious thought and practice. Materials for the course include scholarship, scripture, images and at least one museum visit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 61:
Exploring Islam
Introduction to the most important features of the Islamic religious tradition in the premodern period. The ways in which Muslims have interpreted and practiced their religion. The main subjects of discussion include the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, law, ritual, mysticism, theology, politics, and art, with reference to their historical contexts. Topics include abortion, gender, war, and the visual vocabulary of paintings. Important theories and methods in the academic study of religion. No prior knowledge of religion required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 62S:
Philosophy of Religion (PHIL 77S)
Key philosophical questions concerning the nature of the divine and the religious through a close reading of some classic philosophical texts, while aiming to develop critical thinking about these issues. Topics include: the existence and nature of God, the problem of evil, the justification of religious belief, the nature of and relationship between faith and reason, and the function(s) of religion. Key texts will include Plato, St. Anselm, Hume, and Nietzsche.
Last offered: Summer 2012
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 65:
The Future of Christianity
Developments affecting the world's largest religion in the new millennium: shifting demographics leading to declining numbers in mainline Christian denominations in North America and Europe and the emergence of 'global Christianity' in Africa, Asia, and South America; the explosion of international Pentecostalism and other new Christianities; Christianity, global politics, and the global economy; Christian Muslim relations and conflicts. Will Christianity have a future? What kind of future?
Last offered: Spring 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 71:
Exploring Judaism (JEWISHST 71)
Introduction to the varied beliefs, ritual practices, and sacred stories of Judaism, moving from foundational texts like the Bible and the Talmud to recent changes in Jewish religious life that have arisen in response to secular and feminist critiques, the Holocaust, and the emergence of the State of Israel.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 86:
Exploring the New Testament (CLASSGEN 86)
The New Testament is many things to many people. Around the globe, it is and has been for two millennia a source of culture, law, and faith. It has been used both to undergird battles for civil rights and to fight against them. It has been used both to justify wars and to argue that all war is unjust. Yet, many people haven¿t read the New Testament and still more haven¿t looked at it from historical, sociological, comparative and literary frameworks. This course will provide you the opportunity to read the New Testament and to study it closely. We will ask questions of the New Testament about the early Jesus movement, how it fits into its historical context and how it developed. We will look at the range of opinions and views about Jesus present in this literature. We will explore the different genres used by early Christians. We will examine how this set of Early Christian texts came to be considered the canon.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 93:
Exploring Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism was once considered one of the great religions of antiquity. It was the state religion of the Persian Empire and its theological influence has been traced in Graeco-Roman mystery cults, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Yet, today it is one of the least understood of living religions. This introductory class will introduce and analyze Zoroastrianism through some of its defining themes, including an examination of the figure of the prophet Zoroaster, modes of transmitting sacred knowledge, the nature of good and evil, and the importance of ritual practice and practitioners. We will also discuss how Zoroastrianism views the individual with respect to the body, the life cycle, and issues of gender and sexuality. Finally, this course will also examine the intersection of religion and ethnicity that has defined Zoroastrianism from its origins in the 2nd millennium BCE up to the present.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 106:
Religion and the Environment: The Moral Meanings of Nature
What does it mean to live in "harmony" with nature? What do humans seek and find in nature and our relationship to it? How have understandings of nature oriented human actions and values and given "place" to humanity in the cosmos? From religious texts to Deep Ecology, American conservationism to Buddhist and Romantic nature poetry, naturalist critics of religion to religious naturalists, and finally debates over the role of religion in dealing with environmental crisis, this course is designed as a general introductory survey of the topic of religion and the environment. It will be guided by the question of how conceptions of nature have been a source of reflection on the goals of life and the ways in which humans are to understand their existential "lot". Readings will include primary texts from major religious traditions, poetry, and scholarly and philosophical texts from figures including, among others, Descartes, Goethe, Nietzsche, J.S. Mill, Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Gary Snyder, and Peter Singer.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 108:
Indian Epics: Past and Present (COMPLIT 148B)
The Mahabharata and the Ramayana, the two great epics of India, have been crucial texts in South Asian literature and culture for millennia. In this course, we will explore the diverse forms and impacts of both epics from their Sanskrit versions, first composed more than 2,000 years ago, into retellings through newer media forms well into the twenty-first century. We begin with abridged translations of both the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavadgita) and the Ramayana. We will discuss the major literary, religious, and social themes of each text as well as subsequent retellings in Sanskrit and vernacular languages. Throughout the course we will also investigate the modern lives of the Indian epics, including their transformations into Indian television serials, film versions of both narratives (from India and America), and invocations of the epic stories in contemporary political disputes. In addition to gaining exposure to some of the foundational texts for the study of South Asia, students will cultivate the ability to fruitfully analyze texts and stories from different cultures.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 109:
Emperor, Explorer, and God: Alexander the Great in the Global Imagination (CLASSGEN 109)
This course will survey the changing image of Alexander the Great from the Hellenistic world to the contemporary. We shall study the appropriation of his life and legend in a variety of cultures both East and West and discuss his reception as both a divine and a secular figure by examining a variety of media including texts (primary and secondary) and images (statues, coins, mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, film, and TV) in the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Jewish, Islamic, Medieval, Renaissance, and Early Modern contexts. In concluding the quarter, students will evaluate contemporary representations in film and popular culture, such as Alexander directed by Oliver Stone and Pop Art in order to better appreciate his enduring legacy.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 113C:
Asceticism: The Discipline of Desire
Asceticism is an intense negotiation of the self with its desires, usually taking the form of the attempt to repress or curtail desire. Asceticism is often understood as a radical response to the problem of obsessive desire. Excessive attachments to food, money, and sex are among the most common of these concerns¿today we refer to these as addictions¿both in the contemporary world and to those living in a pre-modern context. In this course, we will discuss the experiences of ascetic figures throughout history not as relics of history but as intelligible responses to the problem of obsessive desire common to all ages. We will comparatively examine case studies from the ancient Christian world and the modern Indian world. The first part of the course will be devoted to understanding some of the most notable theoretical approaches to ascetic behavior in the field of religious studies while the second part of the course will be devoted to close readings of the cases in light of these theoretical approaches. Cross-cultural comparison and contrast will also be stressed. In the final part of the course, we will turn to modern philosophical reflections on ascetic behavior, attempting to answer the question, does the ascetic response to obsessive desire make sense in the world we live in today?
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
RELIGST 114:
Yoga Ancient and Modern (RELIGST 214)
Originating in ancient India, yoga went through many developments over more than 4000 years in India and other parts of Asia. Having migrated to Euro-America in the late nineteenth century, today yoga is everywhere--studios, schools, gyms, malls, resorts, ashrams, retreat centers. It comes in many flavors¿austere, with meditative instructors and Sanskrit chants; stylish, in 105-degree heat, with portable-miked instructors loudly motivating students to go through poses with speed and intensity; niche-crafted to meet the needs of busy professionals, pregnant women, senior citizens, or people with back problems. It may appear as a spiritual path or as a heavily marketed commodity. It generates lawsuits as teachers dispute ownership of certain styles, or as some Americans oppose its teaching yoga in public schools. In the first half of the course we will study the history of yoga in India, reading primary texts composed between about 500 BCE and 1600 CE. In the second half we will learn about yoga¿s globalization in the last century. Participating in a yoga class is recommended. 4 units without yoga class, 6 units with yoga class and weekly short reflections on the experience.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-6
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 117:
Christianity in 21st-century America
As the largest religion practiced in the United States, Christianity not only shapes the lives of a large number of its citizens but also impinges on public discourse, policies, and debates. This course investigates the ways in which Christianity in America is changing and what these changes bode for its role in the public and private spheres. Issues include shifting demographics lead to declining numbers in 'mainline' denominations; the polarization of Christian conservatives and religious 'nones'; interfaith toleration and cooperation alongside interreligious conflict; the rise of 'spiritual, not religious' young adults; the effects of immigration; religion and science.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 119:
Gandhi and His Legacy: Violence and Nonviolence in the World and in Ourselves (RELIGST 219)
Gandhi, the pioneer of nonviolent political struggle in the first half of the 20th century, is used as a springboard to study violence more broadly¿what it is, what it does to individuals and societies, how it can be addressed and transformed. Special attention to connections between (non)violence on an individual/personal level and in the larger world. New format includes both academic study and experiential workshops
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 124:
Sufi Islam
The complex of Islamic intellectual and social perspectives subsumed under the term Sufism. Sufi mystical philosophies and historical and social evolution. Major examples include: Qushayrî, Râbi'a, Junayd, Hallâj, Sulamî, Ibn al-'Arabî, Rûmî, Nizâm al-Dîn Awliyâ'. Social and political roles of Sufi saints and communities. Readings include original prose and poetry in translation, secondary discussions, and ethnography.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 126:
Protestant Reformation
16th-century evangelical reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli) and reform movements (Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist) in their medieval context.
Last offered: Autumn 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 129:
Modern Jewish Thought (JEWISHST 129)
From 1870 to the late twentieth century, Jewish thought and philosophy attempted to understand Judaism in response to the developments and crises of Jewish life in the modern world. In this course we shall explore the responses of figures such as Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Hermann Cohen, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Joseph Soloveitchik, Emil Fackenheim, and Emmanuel Levinas. Central topics will concern ethics and politics, faith and revelation, redemption and messianism, and the religious responses to catastrophe and atrocity. We shall discuss Judaism in European culture before and after World War I and in North America in the postwar period and after the Six Day War. A central theme will be the ways in which attempts to understand Jewish experience are related to history.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 132D:
Early Christian Gospels (CLASSGEN 132)
An exploration of Christian gospels of the first and second century. Emphasis on the variety of images and interpretations of Jesus and the good news, the broader Hellenistic and Jewish contexts of the gospels, the processes of developing and transmitting gospels, and the creation of the canon. Readings include the Gospel of John, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary and other canonical and non-canonical gospels.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 144:
John Calvin and Christian Faith
Close reading and analysis of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion as a classic expression of Christian belief.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 156:
Music and Religious Experience in the Contemporary World (MUSIC 186A, MUSIC 286A, RELIGST 256)
Explores the central role of music in the performance and experience of religion, positioning music not as an adjunct to silent rituals and liturgy, but as the catalyst and carrier of religious experience, indeed as religious experience itself. Topics include: trance, spirit possession, heightened religious experience, sacred sound and chant, shamanism, politics, and identity. Musical traditions include: Zimbabwean mbira music, African-American church music, Southeast Asian Buddhist ritual music, South Asian Hindu and Islamic devotional music, shamanistic music of Southeast Asia.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 174:
Religious Existentialism-Kierkegaard
Existentialism is often understood to be a secular or anti-religious philosophy of life, a substitute for Christian ethics in a post-theistic world come of age. Yet this twentieth-century philosophical movement owes many of its concerns and much of its vocabulary to the hyper-Protestant Danish thinker Soren Kierkegaard, and much of the best Christian and Jewish thought in the 20th-century (Bultmann, Buber, Tillich) adopted existentialism as the 'best philosophy' for making sense of these traditions in a secular age. This course will examine the origins of existentialist thought in the writings of Kierkegaard and its appropriation by a handful of influential 20th-century religious thinkers.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 201:
Classical Islamic Law (RELIGST 301)
Emphasis is on methods of textual interpretation. History of premodern Islamic law, including origins, formation of schools of law, and social and political contexts. Laws of sale, marriage, divorce, and the obligation to forbid wrong.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 205:
Religious Poetry
Religious poetry drawn from the Islamic, Christian, Confucian and Daoist traditions. Limited enrollment or consent of the instructor required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 208C:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 208C, ARTHIST 408C, CLASSART 108, CLASSART 208, MUSIC 208C, MUSIC 408C, REES 208C, REES 408C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
RELIGST 224:
Classical Islamic Texts (RELIGST 324)
Readings in key genres of pre-modern Islamic scholarship. Genre-specific historical research methods. The 'ad'th literature, tafs'r, biographical dictionaries, fiqh, ta'r'kh, and geographical works. Reading knowledge of Arabic is required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
RELIGST 233:
The Ethics of Religious Politics (RELIGST 333)
Is it possible for a deeply committed religious person to be a good citizen in a liberal, pluralistic democracy? Is it morally inappropriate for religious citizens to appeal to the teachings of their tradition when they support and vote for laws that coerce fellow citizens? Must the religiously committed be prepared to defend their arguments by appealing to 'secular reasons' ostensibly accessible to all 'reasonable' citizens? Exploration of the debates surrounding the public role of religion in a religiously pluralistic American democracy through the writings of scholars on all sides of the issue from the fields of law, political science, philosophy, and religious studies.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 235:
Religion in Modern Society: Secularization and the Sacred (RELIGST 335)
What is the status of religion in modern life? Is the modern world "secular" in some fundamental, irreversible way and what does this mean? This course will explore these questions through variety of readings from leading sociologists, philosophers, and anthropologists. Our goal will be to understand in what ways industrialization, political liberalization, the rise of technology, and the success of modern science have been used to support the "secularization" thesis that the modern West rendered religion a thing of the past. A central question to be asked will be: do assessments of the place of religion in modernity necessitate a philosophy of history i.e., a theory not only of historical change, but of the meaning of this change as well?n The course will begin by looking at the origins of the theory of secularization from its beginnings in Enlightenment attempts to understand the meaning of history. We will then turn to contemporary debates over the term "secular" against its counterpart, "religious", and the problems with their application to non-Western societies. We will read works by Talal Asad, Saba Mahmood, Max Weber, Charles Taylor, Jürgen Habermas, and Pope Benedict XVI.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
RELIGST 236:
European Reformations (HISTORY 231G, HISTORY 331G, RELIGST 336)
Readings in and discussion of theological and social aspects of sixteenth century reformations: Luther, Radical Reform, Calvin, and Council of Trent, missionary expansion, religious conflict, creative and artistic expressions. Texts include primary sources and secondary scholarly essays and monographs.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
RELIGST 271A:
Dante's Spiritual Vision
Poetry, ethics, and theology in Dante's Divine Comedy. Supplementary readings from classical authors such as St. Thomas Aquinas, and from modern writers, such as Jorge Borges. Fulfills capstone seminar requirement for the Philosophy and Literature tracks. Students may take 271A without taking 271B. Consent of the instructor required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 273:
Historicism and Its Problems: Ernst Troeltsch, the Study of Religion, and the Crisis of Historicism (RELIGST 373)
Examination of the early twentieth-century historian of religion, philosopher of culture, sociologist of religion, Christian theologian, and philosopher of history, Ernst Troeltsch, within the context of the late nineteenth-century "crisis of historicism," i.e., the historicization and relativization of religious, ethical, social, and political norms. Attention to seminal theorists of history (Herder, Kant, Ranke, Hegel, Nietzsche) in the post-Enlightenment German intellectual tradition and the attempts of Christian and Jewish thinkers in the Weimar era (Barth, Gogarten, Rosenzweig, L. Strauss) to "overcome" the crisis wrought by a radically historical approach to human culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 274:
From Kant to Kierkegaard (RELIGST 374)
(Graduate students register for 374.) The main currents of religious thought in Germany from Kant's critical philosophy to Kierkegaard's revolt against Hegelianism. Emphasis is on the theories of religion, the epistemological status of religious discourse, the role of history (especially the figure of Jesus), and the problem of alienation/reconciliation in seminal modern thinkers: Kant, Schleiermacher, Hegel, and Kierkegaard.
Last offered: Spring 2006
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 290:
Majors Seminar
Required of all majors and joint majors. The study of religion reflects upon itself. Representative modern and contemporary attempts to "theorize," and thereby understand, the phenomena of religion in anthropology, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and philosophy. WIM.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
SIMILE 91:
Science In the Making an Integrated Learning Environment
SIMILE is a new residentially-based program organized around the question of when something we might call "science" identifiably began, what it became, and what it might become. While we may believe that science, technology and medicine represent some of the powerful tools we have for making a difference in the world, SIMILE challenges students to consider these as dynamic and changing fields of knowledge which must be understood in their historical, cultural and social contexts. Only then can we consider how new ideas, interpretations, technological artifacts and systems respond to societal needs within the limits of what is possible but also, importantly, in light of what might even become plausible.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
SIMILE 92:
Science in the Making Integrated Learning Environment
SIMILE is a new residentially-based program organized around the question of when something we might call "science" identifiably began, what it became, and what it might become. While we may believe that science, technology and medicine represent some of the powerful tools we have for making a difference in the world, SIMILE challenges students to consider these as dynamic and changing fields of knowledge which must be understood in their historical, cultural and social contexts. Only then can we consider how new ideas, interpretations, technological artifacts and systems respond to societal needs within the limits of what is possible but also, importantly, in light of what might even become plausible.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 77Q:
Russia's Weird Classic: Nikolai Gogol
Preference to sophomores. An investigation of the works and life of Nikolai Gogol, the most eccentric of Russian authors and the founder of what is dubbed Fantastic Realism. Our investigation will be based on close reading of works written in various genres and created in various stages of Gogol's literary career. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 78N:
Poetry to Prose: The Birth of the Great Russian Novel in Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin
Devoted to a close reading and detailed discussion of Alexander Pushkin's masterpiece in the context of XIX century Russian and continental literary history. Pushkin (1799-1837) is the founder of modern Russian literature; his place in it is comparable to that of Shakespeare in Britain. Taught in English.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 145:
Age of Experiment: Russian Literature in 1820-1845 (SLAVIC 345)
The course investigates the transition from poetry to prose and the rise of Russian novel and discusses Alexander Pushkin's novel in verse, "Eugene Onegin", his "Tales of Belkin" and "The Captain's Daughter", Mikhail Lermontov's psychological novel, "A Hero of Our Time", and Nikolay Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" and "Dead Souls". Taught in English. Graduate students will have the opportunity to work with texts in original.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 146:
The Great Russian Novel: Theories of Time and Action (SLAVIC 346)
Connections of philosophy and science to literary form in War and Peace, Brothers Karamazov, Chekhov stories: alternative shapes of time, perception, significant action. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 148:
Dissent and Disenchantment: Russian Literature and Culture since the Death of Stalin (SLAVIC 348)
Russian culture and society since 1953 through literature (in English translation). Topics: opposition and dissent; generational conflict; modernization; everyday life, gender, ethnicity, class, citizenship, exit from communism. Literature of the "Thaw," state-published and samizdat, "village" and "cosmopolitan," the new emigration, Sots-Art, and the Russian "post-modern." Solzhenistyn, Shalamov, Trifonov, Siniavsky-Tertz, Erofeev, Dovlatov, Brodsky, Petrushevskaya, Pelevin, Ulitskaya, Sorokin. Requirements: three reaction papers and final exam (UG); research paper for graduate credit (extra section for graduate students; may register for SLAVLIT 399)
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSGEN 81, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track: majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. Issues may include authorship, selfhood, truth and fiction, the importance of literary form to philosophical works, and the ethical significance of literary works. Texts include philosophical analyses of literature, works of imaginative literature, and works of both philosophical and literary significance. Authors may include Plato, Montaigne, Nietzsche, Borges, Beckett, Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas, Pavel, and Pippin. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 190:
Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in Dialogue with Contemporary Philosophical, Social, and Ethical Thought (COMPLIT 190, COMPLIT 390, SLAVIC 390)
Anna Karenina, the novel as a case study in the contest between "modernity" and "tradition," their ethical order, ideology, cultural codes, and philosophies. Images of society, women and men in Tolstoy v. those of his contemporaries: Marx, Mill, Nietzsche, Weber, Durkheim, Freud. Open to juniors, seniors and graduate students. Requirements: three interpretive essays (500-1000 words each). Analysis of a passage from the novel; AK refracted through a "philosophical" prism and vice versa (30% each); class discussion and Forum (10%).
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
SLAVIC 194:
Russia: Literature, Film, Identity, Alterity (SLAVIC 394)
How do Russian literature and film imagine Russian identity ¿ and, in contrast, the ethnic or national Other? Does political and literary theory analyzing national identity and the literary imagination elsewhere hold true in the Russian context? Texts include works by Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Blok, Mayakovsky, Platonov; Soviet and post-Soviet films; theory and history. Recommended for returnees from Moscow, Slavic majors, and CREEES MA students. Accepted for IR credit. Readings in English and films subtitled; additional section for Russian readers. Taught in English.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
SLAVIC 200:
Proseminar in Literary Theory and Study of Russian Literature
Introduction to advance study of Russian literature and culture: profession, discipline, theoretical perspectives. Variety of approaches, from semiological to psychoanalytic, phenomenological, historical, and sociological; practical exercises in the analysis of verse, narrative, and visual representation in literature and art. Three short essays (800 words) and a review of a recent monograph on Russian literature and culture. Required for graduate students and honors seniors in Russian; first-year graduate students must enroll during their first quarter. Prerequisites: Knowledge of Russian language and literature
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 242:
Artists and Power: Eastern European Literature and Film from 1945 to 1991
During the Cold War, the highly diverse region of Eastern Europe was largely united by a common political allegiance to the USSR. The oppressive politics of the Eastern Bloc regimes meant that artists were frequently compelled to respond to political pressure in their works. This situation has been interpreted according to the logic of the Cold War: artists were either courageous dissidents who opposed the regime or brainwashed conformists. In this course we will consider examples that conform to this frame--literature and film of political reform as well as models of Socialist Realism. In addition, however, we will also consider works of self-reflection, escapism, and every-day life under Socialism, in order to arrive at a more complete understanding of the cultural history of the era. The course will include literature and film produced by artists from Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. All readings will be in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLE 91:
Structured Liberal Education
Three quarter sequence; restricted to and required of SLE students. Comprehensive study of the intellectual foundations of the western tradition in dialogue with eastern, indigenous, and postcolonial perspectives. The cultural foundations of western civilization in ancient Greece, Rome, and the Middle East, with attention to Buddhist and Hindu counterparts and the questions these traditions address in common. Texts and authors include Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Greek tragedy, Sappho, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, Saint Augustine, and texts from Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 8
| UG Reqs: College, GER:DB-Hum, GER:IHUM-1, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing SLE
SLE 92:
Structured Liberal Education
Three quarter sequence; restricted to and required of SLE students. Comprehensive study of the intellectual foundations of the western tradition in dialogue with eastern, indigenous, and postcolonial perspectives. The foundations of the modern world, from late antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution. Authors include Dante, Descartes, Shakespeare, and texts from Chinese and Islamic traditions.
Terms: Win
| Units: 8
| UG Reqs: College, GER:DB-Hum, GER:IHUM-2, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing SLE
STS 1:
The Public Life of Science and Technology
Focus on key social, cultural, and values issues raised by contemporary scientific and technological developments through STS interdisciplinary lens that encompasses historical dimensions (e.g., legacy of scientific revolution); technological impact (e.g., affordances of new tools and media); economic and management aspects (e.g., business models, design and engineering strategies); legal and ethical elements (e.g., intellectual property, social justice); and societal response and participation (e.g., media coverage, forms of activism). Discussion section is required and will be assigned the first week of class.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
STS 200D:
Text Technologies: A History (ENGLISH 184H)
Beginning with cave painting, carving, cuneiform, hieroglyph, and other early textual innovations, survey of the history of writing, image, sound, and byte, all text technologies employed to create, communicate and commemorate. Focus on the recording of language, remembrance and ideas explicating significant themes seen throughout history; these include censorship, propaganda, authenticity, apocalypticism, technophobia, reader response, democratization and authority. The production, transmission and reception of tablet technology, the scroll, the manuscript codex and handmade book, the machine-made book, newspapers and ephemera; and investigate the emergence of the phonograph and photograph, film, radio, television and digital multimedia.The impact of these various text technologies on their users, and try to draw out similarities and differences in our cultural and intellectual responses to evolving technologies. STS majors must have senior status to enroll in this senior capstone course.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
STS 200E:
Technology, Nature, and Environmentalism
Humans have long shaped and reshaped the natural world with technologies. Once a menacing presence to conquer or an infinite reserve for resources, nature is now understood to require constant protection from damage and loss. Humanity's relationships with the environment have changed over time and differed across societies. In this course, students (1) explore diverse ways in which people in different historical and cultural settings have conceptualized nature and their relationships with it, with a focus on the role of technology; and (2) learn the basics of STS research and conduct an original study that addresses this human-nature-technology nexus. First class attendance mandatory. STS majors must have senior status to enroll in this senior capstone course.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
TAPS 1:
Introduction to Theater and Performance Studies
What brings together a contemporary company such as Google and an experimental theater such as The Wooster Group? What sets them apart? Approaching theater as presentational form of organization, this class shifts study of theater from the context of literature to that of performance. It offers an overview of performance across disciplines: from theater and other performing arts, to law, management, sports, and new technologies. In this interdisciplinary exploration, performance emerges as a model that cuts across diverse branches of contemporary culture, from sports events, to social dances, to political protests, to the organization of a workplace. It is designed to serve students who may go on to major or minor in Theater and Performance Studies including the Dance division and also students for whom this knowledge is a general contribution to their liberal arts education or to their own field of study. It integrates scholarly research and practical use of performance. No previous performing arts training or skills are required.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
TAPS 11N:
Dramatic Tensions: Theater and the Marketplace
Preference to freshmen. The current state of the American theater and its artists. Conventional wisdom says that theater is a dying art, and a lost cause, especially in an age of multi-media entertainment. But there are more young playwrights, actors, and directors entering the field today than at any other time in American history. Focus is on the work of today's theater artists, with an emphasis on an emerging generation of playwrights. Students read a cross-section of plays from writers currently working in the US and UK, covering a spectrum of subjects and styles from serious to comic, from the musical to the straight play. Hits and misses from recent seasons of the New York and London stages and some of the differences of artistic taste across the Atlantic. Hands-on exploration of the arts and skills necessary to make a play succeed. Students develop their own areas of interest, in guided projects in design, direction or performance. Conversations with playwrights, designers ,and directors. Labs and master classes to solve problems posed in areas of creative production. Class meets literary managers and producers who are on the frontlines of underwriting new talent. Class trips include two plays at major Bay Area Stages.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
TAPS 13N:
Law and Drama
Preference to Freshmen.Beyond the obvious traits that make a good (court room) drama, theater and jurisprudence have much more in common. Just as drama is engaged not only in entertainment but also in examination of social conventions and mechanisms, so law is not only concerned with dispensing justice but with shaping and maintaining a viable human community. In this class we will read and discuss a series of plays in which court proceedings are at the center of dramatic action and concluding with an investigation of the new genre of documentary drama.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
TAPS 41N:
Inventing Modern Theatre: Georg Büchner and Frank Wedekind (GERMAN 41N)
The German writers Georg Büchner (1813-1837) and Frank Wedekind (1864-1918). Many of the most important theater and film directors of the last century, including Max Reinhardt, G. W. Pabst, Orson Welles, Robert Wilson, and Werner Herzog, have wrestled with their works, as have composers and writers from Alban Berg and Bertolt Brecht through Christa Wolf and Thalia Field. Rock artists as diverse as Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Duncan Sheik, and Metallica have recently rediscovered their urgency. Reading these works in translation and examining artistic creations they inspired. Classroom discussions and written responses; students also rehearse and present in-class performances of excerpts from the plays. The aim of these performances is not to produce polished stagings but to creatively engage with the texts and their interpretive traditions. No previous theatrical experience required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
TAPS 151T:
Great Books: Dramatic Traditions (TAPS 351)
The most influential and enduring texts in the dramatic canon from Sophocles to Shakepeare, Chekhov to Soyinka. Their historical and geopolitical contexts. Questions about the power dynamics involved in the formation of canons.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
TAPS 157:
World Drama and Performance (TAPS 357)
This course takes up a geographically expansive conversation by looking at modern and contemporary drama from nations including Ghana, Egypt, India, Argentina, among others. Considering influential texts from the Global South will also enable us to explore a range of themes and methodologies that are radically re-shaping the field of Performance Studies. We will examine the relationship between colonialism and globalization, empire and capital, cosmopolitanism and neoliberalism. Re-situating our perspective from the Global South and the non-western world, we will 'provincialize Europe' and probe the limits of its universalizing discourses.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 159:
Introduction to Game Studies
Games are not new; they are older than civilization. But in the past 50 years or so, we have seen an explosion of creativity in the development of new games, many of which, especially video games, complicate older understandings of what games are. This explosion of creativity has been matched by the increasing visibility and ubiquity of new games and ways of seeing games: as video games, televised professional sports, and even distributed urban events.n nGames are not a simple object of study. There are many ways to understand them: as social practices, as formal systems, as representative artwork, as modes of learning, and many more. We will start by considering games as a mode of performance, considering games in relation to theater and other forms of aesthetic performance. However, we will take a deeply interdisciplinary approach to the study of games, and will draw on perspectives from design, philosophy, education, and the emerging discipline of video game studies. We will also, of course, draw on a variety of games, both online and offline. As we bring in these perspectives, we will begin to consider games in at least two other fundamental ways: as designed experiences and as composed systems or artworks.nnThis course is less an attempt to provide a survey of the entire field of games. It is more an attempt to provide a basic toolbox for critically examining and analyzing games. These tools are potentially useful for anyone who interacts with games: whether as a consumer of entertainment, a critical analyst of play, a user of serious games, or a game designer.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
TAPS 160:
Rethinking the Ballerina (DANCE 160, TAPS 260)
The ballerina occupies a unique place in popular imagination as an object of over-determined femininity as well as an emblem of extreme physical accomplishment for the female dancer. This seminar is designed as an investigation into histories of the ballerina as an iconographic symbol and cultural reference point for challenges to political and gender ideals. Through readings, videos, discussions and viewings of live performances this class investigates pivotal works, artists and eras in the global histories of ballet from its origins as a symbol of patronage and power in the 15th century through to its radical experiments as a site of cultural obedience and disobedience in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 167:
Introduction to Greek Tragedy (CLASSGEN 110)
Gods and heroes, fate and free choice, gender conflict, the justice or injustice of the universe: these are just some of the fundamental human issues that we will explore in about ten of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
TAPS 170:
Directing & Dramaturgy: Composition and Adaptation for Theatre (TAPS 370)
This course explores dramaturgy and directing in the research and production of theatre primarily through practical creative projects with secondary readings on dramaturgy as a discipline. In this course we will consider the role of the dramaturg in its broadest sense, running across theatrical production from research to playwriting, adaptation, choreography, devising and directing. Students will work individually and in small groups researching, adapting, crafting and workshopping material.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
TAPS 170B:
Directing Workshop: The Actor-Director Dialogue (TAPS 372)
This course focuses on the actor-director dialogue. We will work with actors and directors developing approaches to collaboration that make the actor-director dialogue in theater.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
for credit
TAPS 179:
Chicano & Chicana Theater: Politics In Performance (CHILATST 179, TAPS 379)
This is a practicum course, where the basic tenets and evolving politic and philosophies of Chicano and Latin American liberationist theater are examined through direct engagement with its theatrical forms, including, social protest & agit-prop, myth & ritual, scripting through improvisation, in-depth character and solo work, collective conceptualization and more. The course will culminate in an end-of-the quarter play performance in the Nitery Theater (Old Union) and at a Mission District theater in San Francisco.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
TAPS 248:
Family Drama: American Plays about Families (ENGLISH 148)
Plays written by 20th century writers that concentrate on the family as the primary source of dramatic conflict and comedy. Writers include Williams, O'Neill, Wilder, Albee, Vogel, Parks, Lindsay-Abaire, and Hwang.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
TAPS 262S:
The Total Work of Art (GERMAN 262)
Frequently associated with the work of Richard Wagner, The Total Work of Art (or Gesamtkunstwerk) is a genre that aims to synthesize a range of artistic forms into an organic unity, a unity that both models and helps to forge an ideal state. This seminar will examine the history of the Gesamtkunstwerk from its roots in German Romanticism to the present day, focusing on the genre's relations with technology and mass culture across a wide range of media. Creations we will consider include Wagner's Festival Theatre at Bayreuth, Walter Gropius' plans for a Totaltheater, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's radio-oratorio The Lindbergh Flight, Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, Walt Disney's theme parks, Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and Bill Gates' "home of the future." Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
THINK 2:
The Art of Living
Where do our ideals for living come from, and how should they be structured? How do we justify them in the face of criticism? What role do great works of art play in this creative process?nnnOur lives are not simply given to us, but also something we make: as we examine the circumstances of our existence, recognizing certain facts as immutable and others as subject to our control, each of us faces the challenge of fashioning out of them a way of living that is both meaningful and justifiable. The Art of Living will explore different ways to think about the nature of that challenge ¿ how to accommodate conflicting demands and values, how to make our choices ¿artfully,¿ how we might use works of imaginative literature to inspire us. We will read important works of literature and philosophy, each of which implies a different value by which to live, whether reason, authenticity, community, art, or faith. In each case, you will be presented with different perspectives and asked to work out for yourself what you find most persuasive, thereby fine-tuning skills essential to your own lifelong project of self-construction.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 7:
Journeys
Is death final or only the beginning of another journey? How do the mysteries of destination give rise to our most basic questions of purpose, meaning, and faith, and challenge us to consider our proper relation to others?nnn nnJourneys will examine works written across a span of some 2,300 years, from Chinese philosophy to American short stories. Each of these forms and genres presents some essential aspect of the journey we all share, and of the various passages we make within that one great journey that relentlessly challenge and transform us even as we advance toward what the poet Thomas Gray called our "inevitable hour." By reading, discussing, and interpreting these works, we will ask you to consider how each text compels us, by the penetration of its vision and the power of its art, to make part of our own journey in its company.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 8:
Sustainability and Collapse
What does it mean to live sustainably? How do our different definitions of nature ¿ scientific, literary, cultural, and historical ¿ shape the way we answer that question? nnnSustainability and Collapse will explore what people in different places and periods of time have envisioned as successful ways of living with nature and how such ways of life have come under pressure. We will focus particularly on the interface between scientific and humanistic approaches to questions of environmental sustainability through a study of novels, historical texts, and works of biogeography. You will learn to ask how textual and visual images inform our ideas about what it means to live sustainably. We will then consider whether those ideas are in accordance with or in conflict with scientific understandings of human uses of nature. This course takes on some of the fundamental problems that presently confront our global community.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
THINK 9:
Technological Visions of Utopia
How do science and technology shape the frameworks for imagining utopian or dystopian societies? nnnSir Thomas More gave a name to the philosophical ideal of a ¿good society¿ ¿ a word that is now a part of common language: utopia. In the almost 500 years since More¿s Utopia appeared, changes in society ¿ including enormous advances in science and technology ¿ have opened up new possibilities for the utopian society that More and his predecessors could not have envisioned. At the same time science and technology also entail risks that suggest more dystopian scenarios ¿ in their most extreme form, threats to humanity¿s very survival. We will look at several works that consider how literary visions of society have evolved with the progress of science and technology. The readings begin with More and include examples of more technologically determined visions of the late 20th century, as imagined in works of fiction.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 14:
From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe: Science, Philosophy and Religion
How and why did the Copernican revolution in astronomy ¿ which placed the Sun at the center of the solar system rather than the earth ¿ have such a profound effect on the relationship between science, philosophy, and religion? How did it ultimately lead to the secularization of modern society?nnnThis course examines the defining moments when western science, philosophy, and religion became disentangled from one another, eventually leading to the development of our modern secular culture. As background for understanding the Copernican revolution and its aftermath, we begin with a brief examination of Plato and Aristotle, and how these two Ancient Greek thinkers were later taken up in the medieval period, resulting in a synthesis in which science, philosophy, and religion were intimately interconnected. Against this background we will then focus on the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries and encounter thinkers who during their lifetimes defied easy categorization: Were Galileo and Newton philosophers or scientists? What about Descartes and Leibniz? In reading texts that we now understand as belonging to one or the other category, we will see how the two disciplines eventually became sharply distinguished from one another ¿ which then led, in turn, to the modern separation between science and religion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
THINK 20:
Ultimate Meanings: The Stories Buddhists Tell
Does human existence have some ultimate meaning or purpose? What are we here for, and how should we live our lives? Can the stories used by the world¿s religions help us answer these questions? nnnFor a religion which teaches that we have no selves, Buddhism has produced many great stories with many great characters. In this course students will read and think about some of these stories, drawn from the Buddhist tradition in the many forms which it developed as it spread across Asia. We will look at the biography of the founder, the Buddha, the tales of his previous lives, the stories of his disciples, and of later saints and heroes, religious practitioners and ordinary folk. In reading these stories we will investigate how they elaborate a persuasively constructed world of meaning in terms of which people can make sense of their own personal histories, and from which they can learn how to lead a good and meaningful life.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 21:
Folklore and Literature in Russia and Beyond: Vampires, Talking Cats, and Frog Princesses
What is ¿folklore¿ and what is its purpose? How do we decide if something is authentically ¿folk¿ and does it matter? Why are Eastern Europe and Russia associated with the idea of folklore?nnnFor the past two centuries, elite writers, composers, and artists have found inspiration in the stories, songs, and beliefs of their grandparents, their servants (or their slaves), and their neighbors. This class asks what ¿folklore¿ means and what purposes ¿ political and philosophical as well as artistic ¿ it can serve. We begin with examples from around the world: the German Brothers Grimm as well as the Americans Alan and John Lomax. Then we turn to Eastern Europe and the role it has played in the Western European and American imagination as the home of the archaic and the authentic, from the vampires of Transylvania to the oral epics of the Bosnian Serbs to the nostalgic idea of the Jewish shtetl to the fantasy of Soviet communism as a survival of a pre-capitalist order. Students will analyze both folk and elite texts, and will experiment with gathering oral texts and transforming them just as the writers we study did.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
THINK 24:
Evil
What is evil? Are we naturally good or evil? How should we respond to evil?nnThere are many books and courses that focus on the good life or the virtues. Yet despite their obvious apparent presence in our life and world, evil and the vices are rarely taken as explicit topics. We will read philosophical and literary texts that deal with the question of evil at an abstract level and then use other readings that help us focus on more practical implications of the meaning and consequences of evil. By exploring the issue of evil, we will confront larger questions about the nature of humans, the responsibility to address evil as a society, and the moral and ethical ways we might begin to define what is evil.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 28:
Media and Message
How do different media embody information? What are the implications for the ways we understand the world and our place in it?nnVisual media are conduits for information and narrative but are experienced very differently. We will explore a range of historical and contemporary media, with an emphasis on the ways that different media present, organize, and structure information as forms that are ¿read¿ or experienced. You will be asked to compare, for example, how different media explore the same or similar content: examples might be viewing the film version of Hellboy as compared to reading the comic book, or considering how a historical event such as the D-Day landings is understood differently via photography, film, and interactive games. We start with considerations of the illuminated book, print, painting, and photography and move to the more recent cinema, television, and interactive and computational media.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
THINK 31:
Reimagining America: Cultural Memory and Identity Since the Civil War
We will focus on how Americans negotiated issues of cultural memory and national identity through a close analysis of historical texts, novels, poems, films, paintings, cartoons, photographs, and music. Our interpretations will foreground the particular themes of race and nationhood; freedom and citizenship; and changing notions of individual and collective identity. Our assumption in this course is that history is not available to us as a set of events - fixed, past, and unchanging. Rather, history is known through each generation's interpretations of those events, and these interpretations are shaped by each generation's lived experience. What stories get told? Whose? And in what ways? The stories we choose to tell about the past can shape not only our understanding of the present, but also the kind of future we can imagine and strive to realize.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
THINK 41:
The Conscious Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Consciousness, Memory, and Personal Identity
How do our common-sense conceptions of the mind and of ourselves hold up against the growing body of psychological and neurobiological knowledge of the brain? How is your mental life anchored to your physical self?nnYou wake up from a dreamless sleep and suddenly everything's buzzing with color and sound. Somehow your brain sustains this rich landscape of experience, integrating it with a repertoire of memories to constitute yourself. This course probes the neurobiological bases of these familiar yet miraculous facets of the mind. You'll learn to analyze primary philosophical and scientific texts, using basic knowledge of the brain to assess and even innovate experiments that could shed light on the nature of consciousness and personal identity.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-SMA
