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Visit the Online Catalog for current information on courses offered in the Literature Major. To get to the Online Catalog, visit the Web for Students page. From there, go to "Class Schedule." From there, the system will lead you to this and next semesters' offerings. |
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BELOW IS THE INFORMATION REGARDING MAJOR AUTHOR (LITR 319) AND LITERATURE SEMINAR (LITR 414) SECTIONS BEING OFFERED IN SPRING 2008.
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CATLOG ADDENDUM FALL 2008 |
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RECURRING
COURSES WITH UNIQUE SECTION DESCRIPTIONS |
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FALL 2008
MAJOR AUTHORS
LITERATURE SEMINAR
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MAJOR AUTHORS (Fall 2008) |
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| FULFILLS:MAJOR AUTHOR REQUIREMENT FOR LITERATURE
MAJORS 300-LEVEL WRITING INTENSIVE REQUIREMENT FOR LITERATURE MAJORS |
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LITR 319 - MAJOR AUTHORS: James Joyce Instructor: Donald Fucci (dfucci@ramapo.edu) James Joyce has been recognized as one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. The course will crically examine most of his works including The Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and selections from Finnegans Wake. A significant portion of the course will be devoted to a close reading of Ulysses. The class will also consider Joyce’s influence on Irish history and culture as well as his contribution to modern literature.
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MAJOR AUTHORS: Woolf/Morrison
The Novels of Toni Morrison and Virginia Woolf In very different cultural contexts, Toni Morrison and Virginia Woolf tell and retell personal and collective stories in such a way that asks readers to explore their own lives in terms of larger stories of compassion and survival. In the telling of stories, Morrison and Woolf rely on memory as central to understanding one’s identity and place in history. In this course, we will closely read their texts and analyze both the differences and similarities that bind together and separate these two great twentieth century writers. We will look at the historical and intellectual currents that have influenced these writers’ works. At the same time, we will examine their narrative strategies, their use of language, and their thematic concerns.
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LITERATURE SEMINAR (Fall 2008) |
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| FULFILLS:CAPSTONE REQUIREMENT FOR LITERATURE MAJORS 400-LEVEL WRITING INTENSIVE REQUIREMENT FOR LITERATURE MAJORS |
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LITR 414 Literature Seminar: The Working Class & American Literature Various attempts have been made to capture the “authentic” voice of the American working people. Visual artists, performing artists, and literary artists even create fictional personae for themselves, so they will be identified with “real Americans.” This course will examine works by several such American artists. Readings will ask students to question notions of “authenticity” and national identity, as well as ideas of class, race, and gender. Some of our readings will be canonical work by literary artists: John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Other readings will include more polemical pieces, like Mike Gold’s Jews Without Money. We will read work by what we might term “outsider artists”: Lead Belly’s ballads, or Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads. We may also look at how these themes and characters have permeated the culture, as in John Ford’s film Grapes of Wrath, Bob Dylan’s The Times They are A’Changin’ and Bruce Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Through free verse poetry; dialect fiction; folk, blues, and rock lyrics; and even comic strips, American writers share a desire to capture what they believe to be the “voice of the people.”
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LITR 414 Literature Seminar: Arthurian Literature This seminar course is the capstone of the Literature Major. During the semester we will be looking at Arthurian literature. The first half of the course will focus on the origins of the Arthurian legend and its medieval developments; in the second half we will consider retellings of the legend in later centuries.
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Summer 2008 Courses from Literature Professors
Summer session one: May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE - 30115 - LITR 101 – 10
An introduction to the study of language and literary form intended for the general student and those who are considering a Literature major. Students will encounter a number of themes, authors, texts, and literary strategies in poetry, fiction, drama, non-fiction, and mixed genres, across periods and cultures, with the aim of exploring the ways writing structures and articulates experience and engages us as readers in the process of giving it meaning. Exercises in close reading and critical writing will help students develop disciplined skills and become increasingly comfortable with the vocabulary and range of analytic approaches to the criticism of literature. Instructor: Vassiliki Flenga E-mail: vflenga@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 1:00 pm - 4:20 pm TWR May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE - 30239 - LITR 101 – 20
An introduction to the study of language and literary form intended for the general student and those who are considering a Literature major. Students will encounter a number of themes, authors, texts, and literary strategies in poetry, fiction, drama, non-fiction, and mixed genres, across periods and cultures, with the aim of exploring the ways writing structures and articulates experience and engages us as readers in the process of giving it meaning. Exercises in close reading and critical writing will help students develop disciplined skills and become increasingly comfortable with the vocabulary and range of analytic approaches to the criticism of literature. Instructor: Robert J Janusko E-mail: rjanusko @ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE I - 30112 - LITR 202 – 10
In this class we will examine American literature from the early European colonization of the Americas to the late 19th century. From the legal, religious, and historical works of Puritan writers to the Romantic works of the American Renaissance, we will consider what kinds of stories Americans wrote about themselves and we will seek to interpret these texts. We will read at least one novel, as well as poetry, short fiction, and works from other genres. We want to consider these texts as works of art in their own right and as products of a grander American literary tradition that we can trace from the 17th century to the present. Instructor: Edward A. Shannon E-mail: eshannon@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 1:00 pm - 4:20 pm TWR May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE I - 30046 - LITR 203 – 10
A chronological study of some of the poetry, essays, fiction and drama of the English speaking peoples of the British Isles. The course will survey a representative sample of texts and writers from the Anglo-Saxon period to about 1780. The course seeks to provide students with an overview of the historical epochs in which writers worked and the variety of traditions and genres which shaped their artistry. Recommended for students with liberal arts interest in the humanities and for students planning further study in language and literature. Instructor: Yvette L. Kisor E-mail: ykisor@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 SHAKESPEARE PLAYS - 30114 - LITR 208 – 10
Open to all students who wish to develop greater understanding and critical appreciation of Elizabethan theater practices, Shakespeare's development as a dramatist, and his contributions to the development of the western imagination. Lectures and discussions will emphasize the treatment of Shakespeare's plays as text and script. The course will include the viewing and discussion of key 20th century expositions of Shakespeare's plays through cinematic and video media. Instructor: Yvette L. Kisor E-mail: ykisor@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 1:00 pm - 4:20 pm TWR E Building 212 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 MODERN EUROPEAN DRAMA - 30111 - LITR 212 – 10
A survey of modern trends in dramatic literature from realism and naturalism to the "Theater of the Absurd." Students will read and discuss plays by such major authors as Ibsen, Chekhov, Shaw, Pirandello, Beckett, and Ionesco. Instructor: Vassiliki Flenga E-mail: vflenga@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR A Building 100 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 READINGS IN POETRY - 30110 - LITR 215 – 10
An exercise in poetry appreciation. Because poetry is little appreciated in today's prose-oriented culture, the course will approach it as if students have never studied it previously and will seek means to form a sensitive response. Readings will range from Elizabethan to modern, studied for what students can get out of them without a knowledge of the period or the history of literature. The course will develop a perception of what poetry is about, what happens in the poem, and what the quality called "poetic" really is. Instructor: Monica Pelaez Email: mpelaez@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR A Building 101 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 LITERATURE AND FILM - 30047 - LITR 239 – 10
This class will examine the treatment of narrative as practiced in both literature and film. Students will explore the relationship between the two forms and consider which narrative devices and techniques are common to both and which are exclusive to one form or the other. Students will develop a range of critical skills to enable them to examine and discuss narrative as practiced in both literature and film. The specific topic of this course (which genres, regions, periods, etc. covered) as well as which readings and screenings will be considered will change from semester-to-semester, as well as from instructor-to-instructor. Instructor: Rosetta Dangelo 4.000 Credits Class 1:00 pm - 4:20 pm TWR A Building 105 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE - 30368 - LITR 258 – 10
The course suggests an acquaintance with National Riches of Russia both in literature and art. A study of famous Pushkin's verse and a poem, Chekhov's stories; a survey of modern Russian literature (K. Paustovskly, A. Akhmatova). The second part introduces students to folk art: painting, music, decorative, trades. The students will discuss Russia, its people, traditions, past and contemporary life. Instructor: Tatiana A Ivouchkina 4.000 Credits Class 6:00 pm - 9:20 pm TWR A Building 107 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 SURVEY OF DRAMA - 30113 - LITR 264 – 10
The course will survey varieties of dramatic literature from the classical period to the 20th century. In addition to students with interests in literature and the theater arts, it is intended for other liberal arts students who wish to acquire a survey understanding of world dramatic literature. We will read and discuss drama, in both verse and prose, drawn from a variety of historical periods and cultural epochs. The course will emphasize the literary development of the dramatic form, the cultural context of theater production and consumption, and the manner in which drama, as the most social of the literary genres, allows us to view a society watching itself. Instructor: Peter Scheckner E-mail: pscheckn@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 1:00 pm - 4:20 pm TWR A Building 106 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 LATINO LITERATURE OF THE USA - 30122 - LITR 341 – 10
The course offers an in-depth study of some outstanding fiction and non-fiction works of the extensive Latino literature written in English in the U.S.A. This course will focus on the importance of understanding Latino culture; the choice of language, themes, and style of writing; cultural differences; literary techniques as well as the social and political aspects reproduced in these creations. Fiction and non-fiction works have been chosen representing the Cuban-, Colombian-, Dominican-, Chicano- and Puerto Rican-American writers. Instructor: Niza E Fabre E-mail: nfabre@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 6:00 pm - 9:20 pm TWR A Building 216 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 THE VICTORIANS - 30176 - LITR 342 – 10
Britain under Queen Victoria (1837-1901), transformed itself into the first urban, industrial, technological, democratic, and imperial modern state. Writers -- men and women alike -- understood the revolutionary character of the times and confronted newly the full range of social realities that continue to beset us now: the alienated workplace, the degraded environment, mass culture, changing sex roles, race, colonialism, and the endangered child. This course will explore the achievement of such writers in all its variety of form, content, and self-expression, from poetry to fiction to journalism to autobiography, to see it not only as a literature but, in its own terms, as a "culture." Instructor: Ellen E Dolgin E-mail: edolgin@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 6:00 pm - 9:20 pm TWR A Building 106 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 LITERATURE OF HOLOCAUST - 30108 - LITR 348 – 10
This course will examine how literature--memoirs, short stories, poetry, cinema, and novels from Africa, the Balkans, and Europe--responded to the Holocaust and other acts of 20th century genocide. The primary focus is how does creative literature and films--in contrast to documentary writing--portray the most horrific and recurrent development of the last century--genocide. Given the specific definition of genocide that follows, these writings are unique and they raise uniquely literary questions. Instructor: Peter Scheckner E-mail: pscheckn@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR G Building 408 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 ENGLISH ROMANTIC POETS - 30109 - LITR 354 – 10
A study of Romantic poetry concepts. In the 50 years stretching from 1780 to 1830, writers in Germany and England made the concept of a creative imagination basic to aesthetics, and developed a theory of the interconnection between mind and nature that made a fundamental contribution to western cultural attitudes. The course will examine works of Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelly, and Keats. Instructor: Ellen E Dolgin E-mail: edolgin@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR E Building 213 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 COMICS AND AMERICAN CULTURE - 30016 - AMER 220 – 10 (American Studies Course)
This course studies the American comic strip and comic book, and will consider these forms in both aesthetic and historical/cultural contexts. The course will attempt to uncover the aesthetic principles of the comics. In this regard, comics will be treated like any artistic work. The course will also consider comics as reflections of the culture which produced them. Since their emergence in the 1930s, comic books have been attacked by educators, librarians, and parents. These public outcries and the comics themselves serve as unique entry points into the American psyche. In the 30s and 40s protesters argued that comics harmed children's eyesight and kept them from "real" literature. In the 1950s, comics were vilified as leading to juvenile delinquency. In the 1960s so called "underground comix" glorified the burgeoning drug culture. The course will look at these comics, as well as the newspaper editorials, senate reports, and psychological studies that followed them. By examining what children were reading and what parents tried to keep children from reading, the course will try to learn something about what America was at these periods and what America wished to be. Comics' emergence as a uniquely American art form is a window into America itself. Instructor: Edward A. Shannon E-mail: eshannon@ramapo.edu Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR B Building 124 May 27, 2008 - Jun 26, 2008 Summer session Two: Jul 08, 2008 - Aug 07, 2008 SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE I - 30118 - LITR 203 – 20
A chronological study of some of the poetry, essays, fiction and drama of the English speaking peoples of the British Isles. The course will survey a representative sample of texts and writers from the Anglo-Saxon period to about 1780. The course seeks to provide students with an overview of the historical epochs in which writers worked and the variety of traditions and genres which shaped their artistry. Recommended for students with liberal arts interest in the humanities and for students planning further study in language and literature. Instructor: Peter Scheckner E-mail: pscheckn@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR E Building 212 Jul 08, 2008 - Aug 07, 2008 READINGS IN POETRY - 30062 - LITR 215 – 20
An exercise in poetry appreciation. Because poetry is little appreciated in today's prose-oriented culture, the course will approach it as if students have never studied it previously and will seek means to form a sensitive response. Readings will range from Elizabethan to modern, studied for what students can get out of them without a knowledge of the period or the history of literature. The course will develop a perception of what poetry is about, what happens in the poem, and what the quality called "poetic" really is. Registration Dates: Mar 31, 2008 to Jul 08, 2008 Instructor: TBA 4.000 Credits Class 9:00 am - 12:20 pm TWR A Building 101 Jul 08, 2008 - Aug 07, 2008 LITERATURE AND FILM - 30119 - LITR 239 – 20
An introduction to the study of language and literary form intended for the general student and those who are considering a Literature major. Students will encounter a number of themes, authors, texts, and literary strategies in poetry, fiction, drama, non-fiction, and mixed genres, across periods and cultures, with the aim of exploring the ways writing structures and articulates experience and engages us as readers in the process of giving it meaning. Exercises in close reading and critical writing will help students develop disciplined skills and become increasingly comfortable with the vocabulary and range of analytic approaches to the criticism of literature. Instructor: Peter Scheckner 4.000 Credits Class 1:00 pm - 4:20 pm TWR A Building 104 Jul 08, 2008 - Aug 07, 2008 Instructor: Peter Scheckner E-mail: pscheckn@ramapo.edu SPANISH RENAISSANCE LITERATURE - 30064 - LITR 328 – 20
Through historical, sociological, religious and cultural approaches, this course analyzes some of the best literary works of the 16th and 17th centuries produced in Spain. Selections "in translation," from Garcilaso de la Vega, San Juan de la Cruz, Fray Luis de Leon, El lazarillo, Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Calderon, Quevedo and Gongora will provide the students with a clear understanding of the ideology and Renaissance Spain's literature. Besides critical discussions of texts, this course includes development of research topics for a term paper. Instructor: Niza E Fabre E-mail: nfabre@ramapo.edu 4.000 Credits Class 6:00 pm - 9:20 pm TWR C Building 211 Jul 08, 2008 - Aug 07, 2008 |
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COURSES AT OTHER NJ AREA INSTITUTIONS, FOR STUDENTS NOT IN THE MAHWAH AREA: |
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