This course surveys and analyzes Canadian children's literature historically in relation to the national culture and the sub-cultures of authors and illustrators, as well as with respect to the nature and significance of the children's culture that received it.
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to some of the most distinctive literary and cinematic approaches to collective and individual memory and its representation in pre- and postwar Europe.
How did inadequate education, greed, power struggles and rapid change produce Renaissance high culture? Was it a return to classical education, culture and institutions? A religious renewal? Or new social, political and economic patterns shaping the modern world?
Investigates Celtic culture and its artistic expression, which includes both the early medieval amalgamation of the Irish and Anglo-Saxon traditions in the British Isles, and its later manifestation during the Celtic Revival of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
An experiential learning course on the study of memory from a cultural perspective. Topics include: collective vs. individual memory; memory and trauma; memory and media; historical memory; oral memory and testimony.
An experiential learning course on the study of memory from a cultural perspective. Topics include: collective vs. individual memory; memory and trauma; memory and media; historical memory; oral memory and testimony.
An examination of the various modes, models, functions and traditions of fantasy, this course includes consideration of mythology and folklore material, utopian and dystopian literature, romance and horror, psychological studies, and speculative fiction. Historical contexts are examined in detail, drawing on appropriate theoretical materials and classic fantasy texts.
Introduces students to some of the major themes of existential thought through the narrative media of literature (novels, plays, short stories) and film. Topics include: religion and its relationship to morality, nihilism, freedom, authenticity, bad faith, and the relationship between self and other. Authors may include: Dostoyevsky, Sartre, Camus, and deBeauvoir.
An interdisciplinary introduction to the culture and society of the United States from pre-Revolutionary times to today.
Probes the role of pleasure, desire and power in contemporary consumer culture, especially around objects of consumption, such as so-called designer goods or iconic products such as the Kitchenaid mixer or the Ipod.