SUMMER 2010
SUMMER I: May 24-July 2, 2010
ENGL 2001.31D INTRO TO LIT STUDIES
WEB
Schiffman
This course introduces students to the study and practice of literature. An ever-expanding category,
literature encompasses not only the standard print genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, or the short story
but now film, the graphic novel, the comic strip and even ‘newer media’, interventions made possible on
account of the internet (blogs) or even television (sit-coms), could be the focus of study. While we read
different kinds of literature we will also understand how to begin to talk and write about literary texts by
careful study of analytic language and criticism. Our method will be close readings. Students will write
short papers and one longer, final one.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102
This course is fully online.
ENGL 2005.31D
WEB
INTRO TO SHORT STORY
Fader
The short story can be claimed as an American art form, created by writers who began to develop the
genre at the beginning of the 19th century. This introductory-level course is designed to develop a
student’s appreciation of and understanding of the short story by examining representative works and
drawing upon literary theory and biography to supplement the literary analysis.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102
This course is fully online.
ENGL 3048.31D ETHNIC AMERICAN LIT
WEB
Benson
This course focuses on the discourse of ethnicity in America and how creative writers have challenged,
affirmed, or redefined their identities in terms of that discourse. “Ethnic” is a word with a dubious
etymology and a troubled past. How has it come to pass that some segments of American society
(including Native Americans) are seen as “ethnic,” while others have managed to define themselves as
constituting a cultural mainstream? Is ethnicity just another name for power and social status? Why must
some writers first defend or come to terms with their family’s ethnic and cultural identity while others can
comfortably assume that their origins are ordinary, normative, accepted, sacrosanct? We will focus on
writers who share a preoccupation, in their writings, with issues of ethnic and cultural identity. What
does it mean to say that someone is a Jewish-American, Bengali-American, Dominican-American,
Chinese-American, or Native-American writer? In what ways is that identity both self-defining and selflimiting, both threatened and affirmed? Writers studied will include Bernard Malamud, Bharati
Mukherjee, Leslie Marmon Silko, Chris Abani, and Junot Diaz
.
This course is fully online.
ENGL 3078.31B THE GOTHIC IN FICTION AND FILM
MW
9:00AM-12:30 PM
Bazan-Figueras
Course focuses on a careful analysis of the Gothic narrative from the early nineteen through the midtwentieth centuries and its film adaptations. Through the reading of crucial texts such as The Strange
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, and Mary Reilly, we will
create a working definition of the genre and seek to better understand the place of the Gothic in the
history of literature.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102
ENGW 3002.31D CREATIVE WRITING: FICTION
WEB
Singer
This is a fiction writing workshop for students who want to focus on craft. Since good writing is
entwined with the art of reading closely, we will study fiction by accomplished writers and we will pay
special attention to aspects of narrative such as building tension, constructing character, and creating a
voice. In order to inspire ideas and experiment with different strategies, students will write weekly
exercises. Students will explore the context and form of their own fiction, and by the end of the semester,
students will have written and revised at least one short story.
This course is fully online.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102
ENGW 3003:31D CREATIVE WRITING:POETRY
WEB
Fader
Introductory study and practice of writing poetry. The workshop places the focus on student writing.
Additional reading provides the context for discussion of craft and form. Course concludes with a final
reading of student work.
This course is fully online.
PHIL 2828.61D
WEB
IMMORTALITY AND REINCARNATION
Makridis
Anxiety about what happens after death is perhaps inevitable. Views on this matter span the millennia
and range from reasonable to insane. In a philosophy course, we study arguments, proofs, coherent and
well-formulated positions on this subject. Our texts are written by thinkers, mostly philosophers, who are
used to trying to prove what they want to convince you about. Similarly, in our study of the texts and in
our own written assignments in this course, you subject the texts to conceptual and logical analysis.
This course is fully online.
PHIL 3303.31D
WEB
BIOMEDICAL ETHICS
Makridis
Examination of the moral and ethical questions that advances in biology and medical technology have
raised: e.g., about the beginning and ending of life, genetic engineering and stem cell research.
This course is fully online.
FREN 3051.31D SOCIAL AND SEXUAL MORES IN 17TH & 19TH CENTURY FRANCE
WEB
Pastorino
The course looks at the ways social and sexual manners change in the centuries leading to the French
Revolution and in its aftermath. Plays, novels, films, and essays considered will show how the way the
aristocracy relates to its members differs from the bourgeoisie’s and why. Among the authors we will
read are Moliere, Laclos, Marivaux, Beaumarchais, Stendhal, and Flaubert. The course is taught in
English. Readings should be done in French by French majors.
This course is fully online.
ITAL 3053.31D
CREATING A NATION:ROMANTICISM, OPERA, REALISM
WEB
Pastorino
The course looks at the many factors that contributed to the unification of Italy in 1860 (with the addition
of Rome in 1870). Opera in particular served as a cohesive force, in a country where people did not speak
the same language yet, and literacy was scarce. Among other historical documents, we will read short
stories and novels, read libretti and listen to the music of Verdi in particular (but not just), in order to
understand how the patriotic instinct was fuelled.
This course is fully online.
SPAN 2505.31D SPANISH SPEAKING WORLD
WEB
Bazan-Figueras
Taught in English, course involves online discussion of current and major events in the Spanish-speaking
countries-including the United States. Some of these issues include the impact of demographics shifts in
the United States, the role Hispanics played in the recently-held presidential elections, population and
immigration in Spain, and current relations among Hispanic countries. Students are required to actively
participate in class via the internet and to frequently submit written reports on current Spanish and Latin
American issues.
This course is fully online.
SPAN 2506.31D SPANISH CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
WEB
Corces
This course will be taught in English. It focuses on the culture of Spain through an interdisciplinary
approach. It provides an excellent overview on the development of Spanish society. It may be linked to
study abroad to Spain. This course fulfills the cultural requirement. Students interested in study abroad
must contact the department.
This course is fully online.
SUMMER I: May 24-June 17, 2010
SPAN 1001.31 BEGINNING SPANISH I
TWTH
10:00 AM -1:00 PM
Staff
This beginner’s course focuses on spoken Spanish and includes simple writing assignments. Class time is
used for constant drilling and other exercises. Students will learn to express themselves in a variety of
situations essentially in the present tense. They will have the opportunity to dialogue with other students
in Spanish as an integral part of the instruction.
SPAN 1001.61 BEGINNING SPANISH I
TWTH
5:30-8:30 PM
Staff
This beginner’s course focuses on spoken Spanish and includes simple writing assignments. Class time is
used for constant drilling and other exercises. Students will learn to express themselves in a variety of
situations essentially in the present tense. They will have the opportunity to dialogue with other students
in Spanish as an integral part of the instruction.
SUMMER II: June 14-July 24, 2010
ENGL 3052.31D JANE AUSTEN: FICTION AND FILM
WEB
Schiffman
Through film and fiction, the 20th and 21st centuries have not stopped re-inventing and interpreting Jane
Austen. The goal of this course is to return to the original six novels published during and after her
lifetime and to understand them in the context of 18th Century Literature, the Regency Era in Britain, and
Romantic movements in Europe.
This course if fully online.
ENGL 3009.31D WORLD FOLK LIT: TALES OF WONDER
WEB
Ghosh
Study of fairy tales, marchen, wonder tales, and legends from diverse cultures; examination of universal
patterns in folk narrative; differences in oral vs. written storytelling; roles of the storyteller; function of
folk tales in children’s psychological development; modern critical evaluation of folk literature; influence
of folk literature in contemporary culture.
This course is fully online.
Prerequisite: ENGW 1102 or equivalent
ENGL 3072.31D DETECTIVE FICTION
WEB
Pastorino
Formulaic literature is often regarded as “not quite as serious” as Literature. This course aims at
dispelling that myth, by examining how the formula of detective novels works, how writers from different
countries deal with the genre, which are their politics, and how they use well-honed literary tricks (such
as Dickensian cliffhangers) in order to keep their readers interested. All readings will be in English.
This course is fully online.
ITAL 3502.31D ITALIAN TRANSLATION: Advanced Italian Class
WEB
Pastorino
A course designed to fine tune students’ understanding of grammar and syntax, while translating different
texts (articles, short stories, one-act plays, poems, etc.). The course will also include discussion of
different existing translations of published texts in order to analyse translators’ choices and liberties taken
with the texts, and lessons on the use of the dictionary. Conducted in English and Italian.
This course is fully online.
SUMMER II: June 22-July 15, 2010
SPAN 1002.31 BEGINNING SPANISH II
TWTH
10:00 AM -1:00PM Staff
This is the second level of Beginning Spanish. Students continue to build their vocabulary in Spanish and
to perfect their writing skills. They will learn to communicate with basic phrases through practice in
class.
SPAN 1002.61 BEGINNING SPANISH II
TWTH
5:30-8:30 PM
Staff
This is the second level of Beginning Spanish. Students continue to build their vocabulary in Spanish and
to perfect their writing skills. They will learn to communicate with basic phrases through practice in
class.
SUMMER III: July 6-August 15, 2010
ENGL 3041.31D BIBLE AS LITERATURE
WEB
Benson
This course focuses on the importance of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible for understanding the
poetry, drama, fiction, and other forms of creative expression in the English speaking world during the
three thousand years since the oldest portions of the Bible were written. Since this is a literature course,
not a Sunday school Bible study group, we will read the Bible as we would any other text, trying to
understand it on its own terms, to fathom its definitions of spiritual identity, its conflicts, language, and
forms of expression. We will consider the Bible’s historical context and sources in other cultures’ sacred
texts. Our main purpose will be to understand how the Bible gave English writers a set of aesthetic,
social, and spiritual assumptions, as well as a source of creative inspiration. We will also read literary
works from a variety of different eras and cultures that have been influenced by the Bible, including
everything from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress to Ngugi wa thiong’s’s Matigari. The reading list is
demanding. It could hardly be otherwise. The Bible itself is complex and eclectic. Its influence extended
across the whole history of Western culture and ultimately became global.
This course is fully online.
ENGL 3063.31D
WEB
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN DRAMA
Benson
This course focuses on American drama from the 1960s through the first decade of the new millennium.
Many of the plays are available on video as well as in print versions and students are encouraged to see
the plays performed as well as to read them. For at least two of the plays studied during the semester you
will be required to watch the play in performance or on video. We will read plays by seven playwrights,
focusing on what makes them uniquely American, uniquely contemporary, and uniquely dramatic in their
structure and means of conveying themes and conflicts. Dramatists covered include Tracy Letts, Edward
Albee, Margaret Edson, David Henry Hwang, and August Wilson.
This course is fully online.
SUMMER III: July 12-August 14, 2010
SPAN 2507.31D
LATIN AMERICAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
WEB
Staff
This course focuses on the cultures of Latin America through an interdisciplinary approach. Readings
and discussions are used through the entire course to help understand how culture and Latin American
history addressed the creation of national identities. Contemporary issues, music, cinema, art as well as
popular culture are studied to better understand how cultural identities evolved and are constantly being
reshaped. Course taught in English.
This course is fully online.