61 - 69 of 69 results for: ITALIAN

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.

What does it mean to say the personal is the political, or, in the case of Arendt, that the personal is not political, especially if you are woman? This course explores how De Beauvoir, Arendt, and Caverero contend with this question and how all three of them think, each in her own way, outside the box of philosophy, of political science, of ethics, and of feminism. Particular attention will be given to the role of art in directing social change and personal transformation, and to the enduring relevance of these women's thought today. Texts include The Second Sex, The Ethics of Ambiguity, The Human Condition, Between Past and Future, Stately Bodies, and Relating Narratives.

A history of literary theory for entering graduate students in national literature departments and comparative literature.

This course will probe the thought of nothingness in various European writers and thinkers. The main authors include Giacomo Leopardi, Nietszsche, Michelstader, Heidegger, Beckett, and Emile Cioran.

One hundred years ago, artists feared their work was incompatible with modern economic systems, secular bourgeois values, and materialist science. Accused of being decadent, they took up this term of derision and made it into a program of rebellion that has shaped modern art. This course explores decadent rebellion, with an eye toward how the last turn of the century might be similar to our current one. Writers include Huysmans, Poe, Mallarmé, Nietzsche, Nordau, d'Annunzio, Valéry, Ungaretti, Marinetti, and Breton; we will also consider parallels in the visual arts.

Discussion of one contemporary or historical text from the Western philosophical tradition per quarter in a group of faculty and graduate students. For admission of new participants, a conversation with H. U. Gumbrecht is required. May be repeated for credit. Taught in English.

Enrollment is limited to French/Italian Ph.D. students. Course is designed for French/Italian Ph.D. students to prepare for department milestone exams.

Repeatable for Credit