printer friendly pageENGLISH 70N: Shakespeare Unbound
Unbound from classical poetics, or from any strict adherence to the conventions of comedy, tragedy, and history, Shakespeare made¿and still makes¿the stage come to life. The course will focus on some of the more unsettling productions from the hand of the bard, among them
Titus Andronicus, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Troilus and Cressida, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, and
The Winter's Tale.
Last offered: Spring 2018
ENGLISH 71: Dangerous Ideas (ARTHIST 36, COMPLIT 36A, EALC 36, ETHICSOC 36X, FRENCH 36, HISTORY 3D, MUSIC 36H, PHIL 36, POLISCI 70, SLAVIC 36)
Ideas matter. Concepts such as race, progress, and equality have inspired social movements, shaped political systems, and dramatically influenced the lives of individuals. Others, like gender identity, universal basic income, and historical memory play an important role in contemporary debates in the United States. All of these ideas are contested, and they have a real power to change lives, for better and for worse. In this one-unit class we will examine these dangerous ideas. Each week, a faculty member from a different department in the humanities and arts will explore a concept that has shaped human experience across time and space. Some weeks will have short reading assignments, but you are not required to purchase any materials.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Anderson, R. (PI)
ENGLISH 72N: Serial Storytelling
"TV's Lost Weekends," a recent headline says, referring to the modern habit of binge-watching television shows. Such news stories debate the right way to watch TV. They also echo longstanding arguments about how to read books. This course juxtaposes contemporary television with classic serial novels in order to explore different ways of experiencing longform narratives. How do we read or watch when we're forced to wait before the next episode---or, conversely, given the opportunity to binge?
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Bronstein, M. (PI)
ENGLISH 75N: American Short Stories (AMSTUD 75N)
How and why did the short story take root and flourish in an American context? Early works of classic American literature read alongside stories by women and minority writers, stretching from the early nineteenth century to the contemporary period.
Last offered: Autumn 2017
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 76: After the Apocalypse
What happens after the world, as we know it, has ended? In the course of examining classic and newer speculative fictional narratives detailing the ravages of various post-apocalyptic societies and the challenges those societies pose to the survivors, we explore several related questions: What is an apocalypse? What resources does speculative fiction offer for understanding and responding to oppressive societies? Where does the idea of the apocalypse originate? Is an apocalypse always in the future? Or has it already occurred? For whom might apocalypse constitute an ongoing present? In this course, we use the tools of close reading and historical criticism to build an archive of knowledge about the narrative, visual, and aural features of apocalypse. Students will be guided through the creation of a multimedia portfolio over the course of the quarter, for presentation at the end. No written midterm or final exam.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 79N: The Renaissance: Culture as Conflict
Focus is on the Renaissance not as a cultural rebirth but as a scene of cultural conflict. Course materials are selected from Renaissance art, history, philosophy, politics, religion, and travel writing; authors include More, Luther, Erasmus, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Montaigne, Shakespeare. Among the conflicts we will explore are: old (world)/new (world), wealth/poverty, individual/collectivity, manuscript/print, religion/secularism, Catholicism/Protestantism, monarchism/republicanism, femininity/masculinity, heterosexuality/homosexuality.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Lupic, I. (PI)
ENGLISH 80N: Modern "Meanings of Life": Aestheticism, Perfectionism, Ecstasy
This course asks about the "meaning of life" in our time, the 21st century, and over the past 200 years. It proposes that some classic reasons for living, and modes of giving value to life, ethics, religion, family are no longer particularly active; while new, poorly articulated and ill-acknowledged systems of life-evaluation rule our senses of meaning. In particular, the course will discover, try to systematize, and then test a few of these covert modern life philosophies: aestheticism; perfectionism; ecstasy. Representatives of more classic systems of meaning Christian experience, and Aristotelian ethics will offer comparative cases. Students will be challenged to articulate and evaluate their own reasons for living and anticipated meanings of life, and to become skillful interpreters of both art and ideas in texts, learning methods from literature, philosophy, and history. They should also develop richer and more precise understandings of those contested terms, modern and modernity. Readings may include Wordsworth, Thoreau, Flaubert, Aristotle, Thomas à Kempis, Theresa of Avila, Whitman, Dickinson, Sontag, plus contemporary sources.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Greif, M. (PI)
ENGLISH 81: Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
What, if anything, does reading literature do for our lives? What can literature offer that other forms of writing cannot? Can fictions teach us anything? Can they make people more moral? Why do we take pleasure in tragic stories? This course introduces students to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. It addresses key questions about the value of literature, philosophical puzzles about the nature of fiction and literary language, and ways that philosophy and literature interact. Readings span literature, film, and philosophical theories of art. Authors may include Sophocles, Dickinson, Toni Morrison, Proust, Woolf, Walton, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Students master close reading techniques and philosophical analysis, and write papers combining the two. This is the required gateway course for the Philosophy and Literature major tracks. Majors should register in their home department.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Anderson, R. (PI)
;
Holliday, J. (PI)
;
Landy, J. (PI)
...
more instructors for ENGLISH 81 »
Instructors:
Anderson, R. (PI)
;
Holliday, J. (PI)
;
Landy, J. (PI)
;
Koul, R. (TA)
;
Madigan, T. (TA)
ENGLISH 82N: Thinking about Photographs
The course will begin with a short history of photography since the 19th century; followed by both a hands-on exploration of different types of photographs (possibly using the Cantor Collection) and then a more theoretical discussion of some of the acknowledged classics of photographic writing (Susan Sontag's
On Photography, Roland Barthes'
Camera lucida, Linfield's
The Cruel Radiance.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Castle, T. (PI)
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).nNOTE: First priority to undergrads. Students must attend the first class meeting to retain their roster spot.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-CE, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
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