Courses and Descriptions
LIT 250 Masterworks of Western Literature I 3 Credits
Introduces the classical heritage and the development of a connected Western literary tradition as reflected in the classics of Western literature from the Greeks to the Renaissance. This course focuses particularly on the qualities, which make each work great. Works by Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes, Virgil, St. Augustine, Dante, and Shakespeare are read and discussed in English. Required for all foreign language majors.
LIT 251 Masterworks of Western Literature II 3 Credits
Introduces modern world literature and the further development of the Western literary tradition from the Enlightenment, through Romanticism, to the contemporary period. Major writers such as Moliere, Racine, Voltaire, Rousseau, Goethe, Tolstoy, Baudelaire, Yeats, Rilke, Ibsen, Mann, Kafka, and Borges are read and discussed in English. Required for all foreign language majors.
LIT 310 Russian Literature 988-1850 3 Credits
A reading and discussion of some of the greatest Russian writers of the first half of the 19th century. Writers include Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, and Tolstoy. Classes are in English. No knowledge of Russian required. Required for majors.
LIT 311 Russian Literature 1850-1917 3 Credits
A reading and discussion of some of the greatest Russian writers of the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century. Writers include Dostoevsky, Leskov, Chekhov, Bunin, Gorky, Blok, Bely, and Sologub. Classes are in English. No knowledge of Russian required. Required for majors.
LIT 312 20th Century Russian Literature 3 Credits
A reading and discussion of some major Russian writers from 1917 to 1970. Writers include Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Babel, Bulgakov, Pasternak, Mayakovsky, and Evtushenko. Classes are in English. No knowledge of Russian required. Required for majors.
LIT 315 Tolstoy 3 Credits
Reading and discussion of selected works of Tolstoy including his fables; novellas, such as Master and Man and The Kreutzer Sonata; and either Anna Karenina or War and Peace. Classes are in English. No knowledge of Russian is required.
LIT 317 Dostoevsky 3 Credits
Reading and discussion of selected works of Dostoevsky, with special emphasis on Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. Classes are in English. No knowledge of Russian required.
LIT 322 German Literature & Film in English Translation 3 Credits
Reading and discussion in English of German literary masterpieces and their film adaptations. The material varies from year to year, e.g., German-Jewish writers, German Romanticism, German literature to 1700, modern fiction, or 20th-century women’s literature and film. No knowledge of German required.
LIT 325 The Folk Tale 3 Credits
Introduction to the study of folk tales from a literary point of view, to the place of folk tales in European culture, and to the contrast between folk tales and written fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast and Cupid and Psyche.
LIT 330 Russian Culture 3 Credits
Readings highlighting both the uniqueness of Russian culture and the ways Russian culture has had the greatest impact on Western culture in general. The course is divided into topics such as folklore, religion, painting, music, ballet, and film. Readings from Russian literature will be used to illustrate significant aspects of Russian culture. Classes are in English. No knowledge of Russian is required.
LIT 340 Hispanic Literature & Film in English Translations 3 Credits
This course explores literary and cinematic masterpieces in English translation. Attention is focused on their relationship to the intellectual, artistic, and historical background of Spain, Latin America, and/or United States Latino cultures. No knowledge of Spanish is required. Open to Spanish majors, but no credit given toward the specific requirements of the major.
LIT 370 European Short Novel 3 Credits
Introduces students to the study of the novella as a distinct literary genre in Europe. Discusses various theories of the novella and the history of the novella in Europe. Will read and discuss such masterpieces of the novella as O, The Queen of Spades, A Simple Heart, and Death in Venice.
LIT 390 The Bible As Literature 3 Credits
This course takes a literary approach to the Bible: only one, of course, of the many possible approaches to this rich and fascinating text. Nevertheless this approach to the Bible is justified both because the Bible is a literary masterpiece and because such an approach provides a clear focus for students. Students will read and discuss selections from the three major divisions of the Bible: the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha. Students will also read famous stories such as Joseph and his Brothers, Moses and Exodus, Samson and Delilah, Jonah and the Whale, Susanne and the Elders, The Raising of Lazarus, and The Trial and Execution of Jesus.