Literature Course Catalog

Not all courses are offered each year.  Please see the Literature Class Schedule for current offerings.
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Course #
Course Title
Course Level
Units
LIT 1
Literary Interpretation
Lower Division
5 units
Close reading and analysis of literary texts, including representative examples of several different genres and periods. An introduction to practical criticism required of all literature majors; should be completed prior to upper-division work in literature. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. Enrollment is restricted to first-year students and sophomores, or literature and proposed literature majors and literature minors. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 42D
Student Directed Seminar: Critical Engagement with Capitalism Through Literature and Media
Lower Division
5 units
Familiarizes students with key topics in socioeconomic and societal critique of capitalism through a variety of readings. By the end of the course, students will engage with important concepts through a variety of literature and media in order to provide a multifaceted introduction to literary modes of social criticism and analysis. . Enrollment limited to 32.
LIT 61C
Devils, Dervishes, and Bawdy Tales from Baghdad to Canterbury: The Story within the Story
Lower Division
5 units
A story within a story, the frame tale is a playful and enduring literary genre. Focuses on frame tales of the global middle ages, tracing their movement from the Indian subcontinent to the British Isles. Readings include selections from Fables of Bidpai, The Arabian Nights, Libro de Buen Amor, and The Canterbury Tales. (Formerly The Frame Tale.) (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 61F
Introduction to Reading Fiction
Lower Division
5 units
Close reading of short stories and some novels with the aim of developing critical methods for the analysis and interpretation of prose fiction. Topics include character, plot, narrative structure, and the poetics of prose. The course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 61H
Reading the Movies
Lower Division
5 units
Introduces techniques for the close reading of film (shot-by-shot analysis, etc.), with particular attention to what makes film different from other media. Films studied will cohere around a specific theme, geography, or genre, like film noir. (Formerly Introduction to Film Analysis.) . (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 61J
Introduction to Jewish Literature and Culture
Lower Division
5 units
Surveys 3,000 years of Jewish literature and culture. Themes include origins of the Jews in the ancient world; formation and persistence of the Jewish diaspora; coherence and diversity of Jewish experience; Jewish narrative and textual traditions; interaction between Jews and other cultures; tensions between tradition and modernity. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 61K
Introduction to the Fairy Tale
Lower Division
5 units
Introduces the fairy tale as a genre, including historical, cultural, and political contexts; relation to identity, performance, transnationalism; contemporary transformations of tales and their expression in other media (e.g., film, art, theater); and current scholarship. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 61L
True Stories: Memoir
Lower Division
5 units
Historical overview of the genre from Augustine to contemporary experiments in memoir. Student write weekly creative-critical responses and a final creative-critical paper. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 61M
Approaches to Classical Myth
Lower Division
5 units
Introduction to Greek myths, including selected ancient texts and visual artifacts, historical and cultural context of their creation and reception, modern theoretical approaches such as structuralism and psychoanalysis, and interpretations in various media. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 61N
Introduction to Children's Literature
Lower Division
5 units
Introduction to children's literature as a literary genre, including historical, cultural, and political considerations of the genre's relationship to gender, race, sexuality, nationalism, colonialism, and popular culture through primary texts, secondary criticism, and other media (e.g., film, illustration, comics). (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 61P
Introduction to Reading Poetry
Lower Division
5 units
An introduction to selected modes and forms of poetry with an emphasis on close textual analysis. Examples will be taken from different historical periods and poetic traditions. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 61R
Race in Literature
Lower Division
5 units
An investigation into the various uses and abuses of "race" in literature. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 61S
Sacred Texts
Lower Division
5 units
Studies religious texts held sacred by different cultures and communities around the world, concentrating primarily on their literary dimensions. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 61T
Travel Narratives
Lower Division
5 units
Travel narratives may be of many types: odysseys of self-discovery, adventures in nature, or journeys to exotic lands off the beaten track. This course examines travelers' accounts drawn from periods ranging from the Middle Ages to the contemporary. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 61U
Introduction to Speculative Fiction
Lower Division
5 units
Examines speculative and science fiction (SF) texts to develop critical methods for the analysis and interpretation of SF as a critique of science, technology, and culture. Themes include encounters across species; novelty and change; expanded concepts of life; and the role of technology in human development. (General Education Code(s): PE-T.)
LIT 61W
Writing and Research Methods
Lower Division
5 units
Intensive training in the practice of literary analysis and the writing of polished research papers. Topics include manuscript sources, variant editions, reading techniques, publication technologies, web research. Workshop format. Strongly recommended for majors and/or transfer students who have completed LIT 1 or its equivalent. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 61X
Tragedy: Learning Through Suffering
Lower Division
5 units
Reading representative Greek tragedies with attention to history, form, and content. Course examines how Greek tragedy responds to the fact of human mortality, i.e., to the myriad and culturally specific ways in which characters in tragedy accept, evade, or deny death. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 61Y
Arthurian Romance
Lower Division
5 units
Reading of selected Arthurian romances in verse and prose from the French, Welsh, and English traditions. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 61Z
Introduccion a generos literarios de Espana y America Latina
Lower Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. The study of poetry, drama, and prose in Spain and Latin America. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 80B
Monsters and Literature
Lower Division
5 units
Every age has the monsters it needs. From medieval marvels to GMO chimeras, monsters serve as figures of a culture's deepest fears, anxieties, and hidden desires. This course takes a multidisciplinary, transhistorical approach to the problems and promises of monsters, and introduces "monster theory." (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 80D
Literary Traditions of India
Lower Division
5 units
Introduces the fundamental questions of interpretation and cultural analysis through engagement with varying literary and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent since antiquity. Emphasis is on language, communicative media, literary form, memory, transmission, interpretive approaches, and translation. The course topics change; please see the Class Search for the current topic. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 80E
Animals and Literature
Lower Division
5 units
Examines the copresence in literary works (fiction and non-fiction prose and poetry) of nonhuman and human animals from antiquity to the present across a variety of cultures. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 80H
The Politics of Fashion
Lower Division
5 units
Surveys the politics of fashion, focusing on how style has shaped ideology, culture, power, revolution, resistance, and a variety of identities, including nation, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 80I
Topics in American Culture
Lower Division
5 units
A history of one or more cultural genres in written, visual, and/or musical forms. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 80K
Topics in Medical Humanities
Lower Division
5 units
Medical Humanities designate an interdisciplinary field of humanities (literature, philosophy, ethics, history, and religion) concerned with application to medical education and practice. The humanities provide insight into the human condition, suffering, personhood, and our responsibility to each other; and offer a historical perspective on medical practice. (General Education Code(s): PE-T.)
LIT 80L
The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry
Lower Division
5 units
Focus is on the destruction of the Jews of Europe by Nazi Germany. Issues are historically grounded, and include works of literature, social sciences, philosophy, and film. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 80M
China in the Post-Reform Period
Lower Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Mandarin Chinese required. Lectures, discussions, writing assignments, and all readings in Chinese. An investigation of Chinese culture, society, and politics in the post-1978 period through literature, film, critical essays, and internet media. Topics include labor, gender, generational divisions, family, urban life, social media, nationalism. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 80N
Latino Expressions in the U.S
Lower Division
5 units
An introduction to Latino literature and culture in the U.S. A study of the creative expressions of Chicanos/as, Nuyoricans, Cuban Americans, and other Latin Americans in the U.S. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 80O
Love, Anarchy, Revolution
Lower Division
5 units
Considers love, anarchy, and revolution as three modes of liberation. Concentrating on the contemporary period, with explorations of philosophy, literature, film, popular culture, political movements and manifestos, and personal or collective experience, this course considers these variant, but overlapping, scenes of the dialectics of liberation. (General Education Code(s): PR-E.)
LIT 80Q
Jane the Virgin: Latinx Readers and (Latin) American Literature
Lower Division
5 units
What does a telenovela spoof about a virgin Latinx mother and aspiring romance novelist have to do with literature? Course explores Jane the Virgin as a commentary on the tastes, identities, and politics of 21st-century Latinx readers and writers. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 80T
Literature and Magic
Lower Division
5 units
Explores the history of magic in relation to the written word. Concerns include the gendering of magic; interconnections among Judaic, Arabic, and Christian worlds; magic in the age of rationalism; and the recent popular fascination with magic. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 80U
Introduction to Contemplative Reading
Lower Division
5 units
Combines contemplative practice, including meditative practice, with close reading of literary works to provide students with a more precise ability to interpret and respond to texts, both literary and non-literary. Works include poetry, imaginative prose, and essays. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 80V
Literature and History
Lower Division
5 units
Examines literature's relationship to the past and to the experience of history. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 80W
Captive Minds: The Literature of Pre-modern Slavery
Lower Division
5 units
Examines the literary production of slave societies by looking at the literatures of several pre-modern slave societies; also develops a cultural-historical narrative that explains the origins of genocidal forms of plantation slavery in the Americas by tracing their origins back to Greece and Rome. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 80X
Global Narratives
Lower Division
5 units
A survey of global narratives, with a focus on the novel over several centuries, traditions, languages, and cultures. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 80Y
Harry Potter
Lower Division
5 units
From The Sorcerer's Stone to The Deathly Hallows, this course approaches the Harry Potter books and films from a variety of critical angles, using the analytical tools of literary and cultural studies to shed new light on this dizzying phenomenon. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 80Z
Introduction to Shakespeare
Lower Division
5 units
Study of representative plays. No previous experience with Shakespeare is assumed. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 81A
Homer's Odyssey
Lower Division
5 units
Introduction to Homer's Odyssey, its hero, and its world. An epic tale of a man who abandons his family to fight in the Trojan War, then returns two decades later, the Odyssey was a profound influence on the culture of ancient Greece and Rome, and continues to shape our self-understanding today. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 81B
Literature and Photography
Lower Division
5 units
Explores the close relationship between photography and literature, from the origins of photography to 19th-century realism and the contemporary photographic novel, interpreting photographs and literature to study how these fields influence each other and how their forms of representation relate. . (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 81C
The Novels of Toni Morrison
Lower Division
5 units
Examines novels by Toni Morrison, including The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Sula, and Jazz, as sites of discontent and transformation, while also considering literary techniques such as form, voice, metaphor, and narrative structure. Includes discussion of Morrison's ideas about the intersection of race and sexuality, blackness as a shifting signifier, the role of the artist in society, and uses of literature for re-imagining the relationships between history, culture, and individuality. . (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 81D
The Prophet and the Qur’an
Lower Division
5 units
Introduction to the life of the Prophet Muhammad as a literary text and as a primary hermeneutic framework for understanding the Qur'an, including its relationship to a deep narrative prophetic tradition shared with other Abrahamic traditions. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 81E
Social Media and Society
Lower Division
5 units
Introduction to social media's evolving impact on society. How are social media changing communication, politics, identity, privacy, and what we believe? Materials include critical texts and real-world case studies, as well as films and short fiction. (General Education Code(s): PE-T.)
LIT 81F
Ghosts of Slavery, 1960-80s/2000-20s
Lower Division
5 units
Why does the history of slavery reappear at certain moments in literary and popular culture? Course focuses on the 1960s and the 2000s, when slavery was frequently featured in popular and academic history, fiction, film, and television, in both imaginative and documentary forms. . Satisfies American History and Institutions Requirement. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 81G
The Good Life
Lower Division
5 units
Do current social, political, and psychological conditions make it more difficult to live a good life? Drawing on the broad tradition of critical theory and utopian imaginings, the course aims to give practical and theoretical guidance toward achieving a good life. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 81H
Literature and Pandemic: The World at the End of the World
Lower Division
5 units
Surveys some of the most famous accounts and representations of historical and fictional pandemics in the history of literature, mostly from the Western tradition. Students read excerpts from works by Thucydides, Lucretius, Boccaccio, Manzoni, Poe, Camus, London, and Elkhadem. Conversation centers on the question of how Western literature have attempted to both document and investigate the destruction of human society, but also to recreate it. . May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 81I
Engineering California
Lower Division
5 units
Online course using literary and artistic texts to investigate the history and engineering of California, and to imagine a virtual, material, and cultural infrastructure for California's future. Course begins and ends with the Internet, and includes topics such as cyberspace, the Gold Rush, Spanish/Mexican missions, wartime development, and early cybernetics. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 81J
The 1001 Nights
Lower Division
5 units
An exploration of the great story tradition of the Arabian Nights, or, closer to its Arabic title, The 1001 Nights. Course traces the tales' origins and diffusion through world literature, focusing on its cultural contexts and powerful exploration of folk, mythical, and psychological themes of fate, gender, jealousy, and the act of telling stories. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 87
Introduction to Literary Topics
Lower Division
2 units
Introduces topics in literature. The course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 90
Introduction to Creative Writing
Lower Division
5 units
Introduction to the crafts and techniques of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction, identifying and exploring traditional and non-traditional literary forms and genres while working on individual creative writing projects. An author reading and two workshop sections per week. Prerequisite: satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing requirement. Enrollment is restricted to first-year students, sophomores, and juniors. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 90X
Introduccion a la Escritura Creativa/Introduction to Creative Writing
Lower Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish is required. Explores creative writing from a bilingual (Spanish-English) perspective, and considers bilingualism in the literary arts (como el ejercicio de una identidad), as a way of thinking and a way of being, as a creative lens (el pensamiento de frontera), as a framework, as a border (que quiere ser cruzada). Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing requirement. Enrollment is restricted to first-year, sophomore, and junior students. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 91A
Intermediate Fiction/Prose Writing
Lower Division
5 units
An intermediate-level course in fiction designed for prospective applicants to the creative writing concentration. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 91B
Intermediate Poetry Writing
Lower Division
5 units
An intermediate-level course in poetry designed for prospective applicants to the creative writing concentration. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 101
Theory and Interpretation
Upper Division
5 units
Contemporary approaches to literary and cultural theory, with emphasis on how theoretical perspectives advance and broaden the reading of literary texts. Introduction to important new theoretical developments and their antecedents. Literature majors should complete this course as early as possible. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 102
Translation Theory
Upper Division
5 units
Promotes the understanding of translation and its role in redefining meanings across epochs and cultures, in establishing common norms, and in advancing mutual intelligibility; but also providing encounters with absolute alterity. Actual translations are used as case studies. Prerequisite(s): one year of college-level, non-English language study or the equivalent reading ability in a non-English language. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 110A
The Traditional British Canon, Part I
Upper Division
5 units
The constitution of the "canon" of English literature from Chaucer to Cowper. Critical approach designations: Canons. Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 110B
The Traditional British Canon, Part II
Upper Division
5 units
Explores poetry and prose from 1800 to 1950 through extensive reading in the Romantics, Victorians, Moderns, articulating the connections among them, and connecting their work to key social, political, scientific, and technological moments defining these eras. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry.
LIT 110C
The Traditional U.S. Canon: Beginnings to 1900
Upper Division
5 units
Major works from the colonial and early national periods to 1900, with attention to their social and cultural context. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 110D
The Traditional U.S. Canon, 1900 to the Present
Upper Division
5 units
Major works from 1900 to the present, with attention to their social and cultural context. Critical approach designation: Canons, Histories.
LIT 111B
Geoffrey Chaucer
Upper Division
5 units
Close study of Chaucer's poetry, with some attention to relevant cultural, philosophical, and historical issues in the context of the late medieval period. Particular emphasis on "The Canterbury Tales." Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 111C
John Milton
Upper Division
5 units
Selected poetry and prose. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750, Poetry. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 111D
William Shakespeare
Upper Division
5 units
Study of representative works by William Shakespeare. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Media. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 111E
Edmund Spenser
Upper Division
5 units
Studies in Spenser's major poetry: "Faerie Queene, Book I; Epithalamion; Mutabilitie Cantos." Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 112A
Jane Austen
Upper Division
5 units
Representative Austen novels within political, historical, and cultural context; considers form and genre, nationalism, feminist, postcolonial, and other critical readings. Examines poetry and other writings that illuminate cultural issues of the period, as well as film and other adaptations of Austen's novels. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories.
LIT 112C
Charles Dickens
Upper Division
5 units
Study of representative work by Charles Dickens. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 112E
Bob Dylan as Poet: From Folk Hero to Electric Messiah
Upper Division
5 units
Focuses primarily on the poetry and poetics of Dylan's by now substantial canon of works--early, middle, and late. Stresses poetic syntax, various lyric genres, surrealist imagery, and narrative tactics used, as well as the more socially expansive dynamics of how Dylan forged his prophetic/visionary imagination. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 112G
William Faulkner
Upper Division
5 units
A survey of Faulkner's early fiction; focus on development of theme and technique. Also considers Faulkner as a Southern historian, stressing the relationship between personal and regional experience in time. Critical approach designations: Canons, Geographies.
LIT 112I
Kafka in Translation
Upper Division
5 units
An intensive study of the works of Franz Kafka, with reference to the literary, social, and historical context in which his work emerged. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Geographies. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 112K
Herman Melville
Upper Division
5 units
Study of representative work by Herman Melville, including novels and short stories. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. (General Education Code(s): PE-E.)
LIT 112M
Twain
Upper Division
5 units
A chronological survey of Twain's major works, with an emphasis on the development of style and content. Among other works, The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, Life on the Mississippi, and Huckleberry Finn are considered. Critical approach designations: Canons, Power and Subjectivities.
LIT 112P
Gwendolyn Brooks
Upper Division
5 units
An examination of the major works of Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize (in 1950), with particular attention to questions of race, gender, and class as modes through which to consider questions of form and content. Critical approach designations: Canons, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Poetry. . (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 112Q
The Deep Read: Special Topics
Upper Division
5 units
Small, discussion-based seminar held in conjunction with The Humanities Institute's community reading initiative, The Deep Read. The Deep Read aims to bring together UCSC undergraduates, faculty, and alumni to discuss and think deeply about a text and its key themes and issues. Course is a comprehensive study of The Deep Read book, the author's work, and its relevant contexts. While the textual analysis framework remains consistent every year, the topic, author, and key text changes each year. (Also offered as Porter College 151. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) Enrollment limited to 30. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 114A
"Orlando Furioso"
Upper Division
5 units
Reading the 46-canto Italian Renaissance adventure poem of Ludovico Ariosto, the most popular book of its century and a classic of humanist literature, students consider literary tradition, Renaissance humanism, and how entertainment literature may articulate moral and political criticism. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 114B
Don Quixote de la Mancha
Upper Division
5 units
A close study of Books I and II of the Cervantes novel together with an examination of some of the criticism on this work written in English throughout the centuries. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 114C
Dante's Divine Comedy
Upper Division
5 units
Reading of the Inferno, the Purgatorio, and selected canti of the Paradiso, along with selections from Dante's lyrics and from medieval Italian and French poetry. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 114D
Goethe's "Faust"
Upper Division
5 units
An intensive study of Goethe's "Faust," Parts I and II. All works are read in English. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry.
LIT 114E
One Way Ticket to Hell … and Back: Exploring Dante’s Inferno
Upper Division
5 units
Focuses on the Inferno, the first cantica of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Examines different uses of metamorphosis in Dante's representation of Hell, including the relationship between the ancient idea of human metamorphosis and Dante's representation of the Christian contrappasso (retribution), and the medieval concept of imago Dei (in God's likeness). Critical approach designations: Canons, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 114F
Finding Dante: A Reader’s Guide to Getting Out of Hell
Upper Division
5 units
An epic poem about a journey of self-discovery, Dante's Comedy challenges all assumptions about literary genres, styles, and the meaning of narrative and of life. Course covers Purgatory and Paradise. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 116B
Encountering Antiquity
Upper Division
5 units
Introduces selected modes and forms of poetry with emphasis on close textual analysis. Considers uses of Greek and Roman antiquity in English/Anglo-American poetic practice from early to post-modernity by historicizing the reproduction of antiquity through poetic forms. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Poetry, Pre-1750. Enrollment limited to 32.
LIT 116C
Ancient Myth/Modern Poetics
Upper Division
5 units
Reading of Greek and Roman texts (in English translation) which utilize mythic material juxtaposed with later poems written in response to them. Readings from Homer, Sappho, Greek drama, Petrarch, modern poets; discussion of concepts of myth, strategies of response. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 116F
Knights, Ladies, and Werewolves: Medieval French Literature in Translation
Upper Division
5 units
Medieval French literature appeared rather suddenly in the the age of castles, Crusades, knights, and chivalry, and spawned a remarkable array of genres: epic, romance, lyric, lais, saint's lives, fabliaux (bawdy tales), drama, histories, and more. This course provides a sampling of the variety of this rich tradition. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 116G
Victorian Monsters
Upper Division
5 units
Through an examination of monsters in literature, course explores anxieties, fears, and ideals of Victorian society, paying close attention to issues of gender, sexuality, class, race, empire, scientific, and technology. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 116I
Philosophy in India
Upper Division
5 units
Investigates various facets of premodern Indian thought. Emphasis of the course rotates and may fall upon metaphysics, epistemology, ontology, ethics, hermeneutics, or basic categories of Indian traditions (dharma, karma, samsara, moksha, etc.). Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 117A
Old Iranian Literature
Upper Division
5 units
The pre-Islamic literature of Iran is one of the world¿s richest literary traditions, and forms part of the Indo-European poetic heritage. Course offers an overview of and introduction to indigenous Iranian literary traditions. The course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 118A
Hebrew Bible
Upper Division
5 units
Introduction to textual, source, redaction, historical, and literary criticism of individual books of the Hebrew Bible and to exegesis as science and ideology. Covers texts and iconography of neighboring mythological traditions (Mesopotamian, Ugaritic, Egyptian, Greek) when appropriate. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 120A
Topics in Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Close reading--critical and creative--of poetry. Examines how poets teach, through their writing, to radically attend to reading. The course topics changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 120B
Poetry of the 17th Century
Upper Division
5 units
Readings in the works of Donne, Jonson, Herbert, Herrick, Marvell, and others. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 120C
Victorian Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
A reading of the major Victorian poets from Tennyson to early Yeats. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 120D
Nineteenth-Century American Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
The major figures and important movements from Poe to Emerson through Whitman and Dickinson. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Poetry.
LIT 120E
Early- to Mid-20th-Century American Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Poets include Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, Langston Hughes, T.S. Eliot, and others, with attention to leading movements and critical issues. Critical approach designations: Canons. Genres. Distribution requirement: Poetry.
LIT 120F
Topics in Modern Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Survey of modern poetry; includes a variety of poetic forms. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Distribution requirement: Poetry. . May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 120H
American Poetry Since World War II
Upper Division
5 units
Major poets since World War II, with attention to leading movements and critical issues. The course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 120J
Contemporary American Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Surveys contemporary poetry with attention to race, sex, and gender; includes a variety of poetic forms. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 121A
The Heroic Epic
Upper Division
5 units
A survey and analysis of primary epic: Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and Exodus. Distribution requirement: Poetry, Pre-1750. .
LIT 121D
Medieval Epic
Upper Division
5 units
Medieval reworkings of stories and motifs drawn from the "barbarian" or Germanic tradition including "Beowulf," "The Song of Roland," "Nibelungenlied," Snorri Sturlason: "King Harald's Saga" from "Heimskringla," and "Njal's Saga." Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 121G
The Idea of Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Focus is on the theories of rhetoric and poetry written between 1580 and 1620. Texts include English, Italian, French, and Spanish works. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 121H
Classical Poetics in Elizabethan Verse
Upper Division
5 units
An introduction to Elizabethan poetry and poetics, with emphasis on shorter lyrics (sonnets, ballads, etc.), pastoral, erotic epyllia, devotional poetry, etc. Examines various Classical and Continental strains of influence at play in the production of English verse in the later 16th century, including Classical rhetoric, Ovidian mythology, and Petrarchanism. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 121J
Medieval Romance
Upper Division
5 units
A study of representative texts from the 12th through the 15th centuries. Questions of subjectivity, sexuality, and history in romance narratives are addressed. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 121K
Radical Moderns/Poetry International
Upper Division
5 units
Focuses on a generation of early 20th-century poets from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and beyond. Studying their poetic output through the lens of modernism and other genres, students discover a truly global moment in literature/politics. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 121L
Green Ache: Ecopoetics, Race, and Material
Upper Division
5 units
Examines ecopoetics as theory, politic, and field of discourse. Focuses on literary and artistic production across a variety of texts that explore the role of race and representation, including literary theory, film, and visual art. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Poetry. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 121M
Blue and Brown: Race, Gender, and Blackness
Upper Division
5 units
Examines Blackness as race, identity, politic, field, and discourse. Exploration guided by poetry, narrative fiction, video, film, music, and the daily news. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Poetry. . (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 121N
RAGE: Race and Performance
Upper Division
5 units
Explores race, gender, and form in an interrogation of rage, and how it functions across an array of works by writers and artists in how they render rage's effects and configurations through poetry, prose, and performance. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Poetry. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 121O
Body Theories and Embodied Poetics in Contemporary American Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Course investigates the body as a site of political and theoretical significance in contemporary American poetry. Considers how and when corporeal poetics succeed (and fail) at capturing elusive and/or precarious subjectivities of race, sex, gender, grief, and violence. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. Distribution requirement: Poetry. .
LIT 121Q
Queer Lyrics: A History of LGBTQ Poetry in the United States
Upper Division
5 units
Considers theories of sexuality and the lyric side-by-side, through readings, lectures, class discussions, and writing assignments. Questions of language, community, and self-hood inform discussions of a wide range of poets. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Poetry. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 123C
History of the Essay: From Seneca to Solnit
Upper Division
5 units
Chronologically charts the essay's arc from the age of antiquity to the contemporary period. Considers how the genre has changed through time with attention to its form, language, and content. . (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 124A
Masters of Modernist Short Fiction
Upper Division
5 units
Acquaints students with the main stylistic features of modernism through the close reading of short stories. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories.
LIT 124B
The Contemporary Latin American Short Story
Upper Division
5 units
An exploration of the genres, forms, and history of the Latin American short story. Focus includes contemporary women writers and writers of color from throughout Latin America in dialogue with the Latin American short story tradition. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirement: Global. . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 125A
Ancient Novel
Upper Division
5 units
Roman prose fiction--the ancient novel and texts from other genres--in relation to the history of the novel. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirements: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 125B
Studies in the English Novel
Upper Division
5 units
From the 18th to the 20th century. The course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 125C
Great French Novels
Upper Division
5 units
Provides an introduction to important French novels of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. All works are read in English. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies.
LIT 125D
Modern and Contemporary German Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Selected readings from the novel and novella in modern and contemporary German literature. All works are read in English. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. (Modern German Fiction.) . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 125H
Modern Arabic Novel
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the literary and cultural production of the modern Arab world, with an emphasis on the novel since the 1950s. Includes discussion of film, poetry, and mass culture. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 125I
What is the Novel?
Upper Division
5 units
A survey of global narratives, focusing on the novel over several centuries, traditions, languages, and cultures. Examines the novel as a particular genre of literary expression; also examines its formative relationship with historical, social, cultural, and political processes. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 125J
French Science Fiction
Upper Division
5 units
Considers several French literary and cinematic examples of contemplating the present through the future—and the past—that paint a shifting picture of how time makes us human. Course also examines the French novel as it has developed in conversation with scientific thought since the late-19th century. All works are read in English. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 126A
International Cyberpunk
Upper Division
5 units
Cyberpunk, considered a subgenre within science fiction, has achieved international prominence and presents interesting interpretative challenges. Course examines some issues as manifested in representative texts. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): PE-T.)
LIT 126F
Speculative Fiction As Cultural Theory and Practice
Upper Division
5 units
Readings of contemporary and historical speculative fiction, including examination of representational practices, technologies, and politics that emerge from and/or circumscribe their interrelations. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 126G
Science Fiction and the Sublime: Science, Technology, and Subjectivity
Upper Division
5 units
Studies the sublime encounter in works of science fiction literature and film. Lyotard defined the sublime as the ''presentation of the unpresentable.'' By examining what and who constitutes the sublime, we can explore relationships among fundamental concepts like knowing, being, and embodiment. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 126H
Artificial Intelligence and Human Imagination
Upper Division
5 units
Uses a humanistic framework to study the promises and perils of artificial intelligence technosystems (AI). Studies cultural depictions of AI, co-creates cultural artifacts using AI, and analyzes the ''anatomy'' of specific AIs. (UCSC General Education Code: CC) (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 127D
Travel Writing
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the genre of travel writing and the critical and cultural issues it engages. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirements: Global.
LIT 130A
Ancient Literature in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Upper Division
5 units
Comparative approaches to the study of ancient literature and culture. Topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global, Pre-1750. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 130B
Travel Writing and Intercultural Relations in the Middle Ages
Upper Division
5 units
Provides a historically-based and theoretically-informed introduction to medieval and early modern European contacts with other cultures. Readings include fourth through 17th-century writings about travel, discovery, and conquest in Asia, Africa, and America. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global, Pre-1750.
LIT 130D
The Global Middle Ages
Upper Division
5 units
Examination of texts from the global Middle Ages in a range of world cultures and traditions, with attention to their historical and social contexts. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Satisfies the Global and Pre- and Early Modern distribution requirements. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 131A
Problems
Upper Division
5 units
Considers a range of phenomena from a critical world perspective: subject formation; human activity on a global scale; questions that demand a worlded answer. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 131B
Space/Time
Upper Division
5 units
The world as understood through spatial and temporal divisions: regions, nations, empires, periods in a worlded perspective. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 131C
Worldings
Upper Division
5 units
How to think about the world as a whole: representations, networks, systems, taxonomies, versions of globalization. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 131D
Literature in a Global Context
Upper Division
5 units
Comparative examination of fiction in the modern world and of fictional responses to social change and crisis. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirements: Global. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 132A
Germany in War and Peace
Upper Division
5 units
Study of selected texts reflecting German society at war or in that ambiguous state called "peace." Attention is given to the place of literature in German cultural life and its special role in the formation of national identity. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities.
LIT 133D
Topics in the Literatures and Cultures of Southern Asia
Upper Division
5 units
Provides in-depth analysis of literary and cultural phenomena of southern Asia. The course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 133E
Contemporary Chinese Society, Culture, and Politics
Upper Division
5 units
Focuses on contemporary China: society, politics, culture, and the economy. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. (Formerly Topics in Asian Modernism.) . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 133F
Pacific Rim Discourse
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the rise of the idea of the Pacific Rim: its historical background, ideological assumptions, and various forms of its cultural manifestations. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 133G
The Nuclear Pacific
Upper Division
5 units
Examines a range of cultural representations, literature, and films that chart the transnational history and representational legacy of uranium and nuclear power. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 133H
Haunted by the Forgotten War: Literature and Film of the Korean War
Upper Division
5 units
The Korean War has the dubious distinction of being known as "the Forgotten War" in a U.S. context. Course examines novels, short stories, film, popular visual narratives, and historical accounts of the Korean War and its often-circuitous legacies. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 133I
Global Japan: Literatures of the Japanese Diaspora
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the fiction of ethnic Japanese writers who are located outside of Japan. How do these writers situate themselves vis-a-vis Japan and the countries in which they were born or reside? How does their status as outsiders enable them to view Japan's social problems and colonial history? Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 134A
Caribbean Literature
Upper Division
5 units
A study of major writing from the English-speaking Caribbean, with attention to the historical and cultural context out of which it arises and to which it responds. Critical approach designations: Canons, Geographies. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 135A
Topics in African Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Thematic and stylistic linkages: classical texts, oral traditions, and modern developments in African literature. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 135E
The Historical Imaginary
Upper Division
5 units
A survey of historical literature in the Americas that examines fictional attempts to re-imagine New World histories. Readings focus on secret or mangled histories, the legacies of slavery and colonialism, gendered critiques of national histories, and U.S. imperialism. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 135F
Empire and After in the Anglophone Novel
Upper Division
5 units
Examines fiction written in English, 1883 to 1948, in order to consider the complex relations--complicit, resistant, both--between literary and imperialist discourses. Likely novelists for study are Schreiner, Haggard, Conrad, Kipling, Forster, Hilton, Paton. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 135G
Postcolonial Writing
Upper Division
5 units
Introduces students to a selection of postcolonial theory and texts. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 135H
African Futurisms
Upper Division
5 units
Explores expressions of African futurism in a range of creative media--novels, short stories, and films--and analyzes them in conversation with theoretical texts. Recognizes African cultural producers and theorists as central to conversations about anti-colonialism, revolution, futurity, and the nonhuman and beyond human. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. . (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 136B
Beat Literature and the World
Upper Division
5 units
Explores the sources and context of Beat writing, emphasizing the Beats' intense interest in and engagement with the world at large. Includes works by major and minor Beat writers. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Poetry. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 137A
Global Cities
Upper Division
5 units
Examines cities as social spaces and as local spaces in the global economy and global imaginary. Focus is interdisciplinary, including literature, film, cultural studies, history, and sociology. Topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 137C
Imagining Paris
Upper Division
5 units
Examines ways in which Paris, France, a mecca of literature and art for the last two centuries, has spurred imagination, and has itself been the product of global imagination. Exploration of landmarks, monuments, and iconic aspects of Parisian culture via literary and artistic imaginings. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Media. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 138A
Culture and Nation
Upper Division
5 units
Course explores the role of literature and culture in the production of national communities. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 138B
Regions in American Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Examines development of regional writing in the U.S. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 138C
Modern Turkish Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Explores the formation of modern Turkish literature from the late-Ottoman tale to the postmodern novel. Introduces key critical concepts/debates (orientalism, canon formation, belatedness/modernization, national allegory) used in the study of non-Western literatures. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 139A
Topics in American Literature and Culture
Upper Division
5 units
Studies in American literature and culture, with attention to historical context. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 139B
Los Angeles Circa 1992
Upper Division
5 units
In response to the acquittal of white police who brutally beat black motorist Rodney King, thousands of people took to the street. This course examines cultural narratives that arose in the lead-up to and aftermath of the 1992 L.A. uprising. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. . (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 141A
Early Mediterranean Cultures
Upper Division
5 units
Examination of representations of medieval and early modern Mediterranean history. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global, Pre-1750. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 141B
Classical Chinese Culture and Literature, 10th Century B.C.E. through Sixth Century C.E
Upper Division
5 units
Survey of writing and culture from the 10th century B.C.E. through the sixth century C.E., focusing on poetry, philosophical and historical writing, supernatural fiction, Buddhist/Taoist texts in contexts of fragmentation, empire building, dynastic collapse, rebellion, eremitism, and courtly society. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry, Pre-1750. (Also offered as History 141A. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 141C
Classical Chinese Culture and Literature, Sixth Century through 16th Century
Upper Division
5 units
Survey of writing and culture from the Tang through early Ming dynasties (sixth century C.E. through 16th century C.E.). Themes include literary, religious, and philosophical innovation; courtly life; cultural contacts with non-Chinese people; and transformations of state and society. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry, Pre-1750. (Also offered as History 141B. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 141D
Classical Arabic Literature and Islamic Civilization
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the development of classical Arabic literature in historical context, including the appearance and importance of major genres and their broad relationship to the social and cultural history of the Arab-Islamic world. Distribution requirements: Global, Pre-1750. (Formerly Arab-Islamic Literatures I: 500-1200.) . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 141E
Arab-Islamic Literatures II: 1200-1900
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the evolution of Arabic and Islamic literatures and cultures through the late-Medieval and early-modern periods. These periods produce much of the body of literature and texts that survive today, and is profoundly influential. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 141G
Granada: The Moor's Last Sigh and the Muslim's Frontier: The City in the Mediterranean Imagination
Upper Division
6 units
Traces the development of Granada from its first rise to prominence as Muslim city in the Ṭāʾifa Period (11th century) through its transformation into a Christian city in early modern Spain. Special emphasis is placed on its role as a point of contact between Spain and North Africa (or the Latin West and the Muslim Mediterranean more broadly) and the city's privileged position in the social and literary imaginaries of Muslims, Christians, and Jews, as a place of memory and intercultural contact. Distribution requirement(s): Pre-1750. . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 144A
Continental Renaissance
Upper Division
5 units
Introductory survey of great prose writings of the continental Renaissance in their cultural and historical contexts. Authors include: Machiavelli, Castiglione, Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne, and Cervantes. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 145A
Colonial American Literatures
Upper Division
5 units
Surveys representations of the Euro-Amerindian encounter in the pre-national period. Readings include collective stories of indigenous peoples, European captivity narratives, reflections about spirituality and religion, poems, and a contemporary novel. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 146A
Studies in Romanticism
Upper Division
5 units
A survey of major Romantic themes and authors between 1780 and 1820. Explores relationships to pre-Romantic and post-Romantic authors. The main goal is to achieve familiarity with a wide range of individual poems in the general context of Romanticism. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 146B
Victorian Literature
Upper Division
5 units
British Victorian literature (1830-1901) featuring representative texts and authors. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 146C
Victorian Prose
Upper Division
5 units
Victorian prophecy, Victorian criticism: an examination of some major writings of 19th-century nonfiction prose by Carlyle, Mill, Ruskin, Newman, Arnold, Pater, and Wilde, with a glance at the social context and the minor fictional forms of the era. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories.
LIT 146D
Nineteenth-Century American Fiction
Upper Division
5 units
Examination of selected fiction written between the end of the 18th century and the Civil War, with attention to historical and cultural as well as literary issues. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 146F
The Dissenting Tradition in America
Upper Division
5 units
Antislavery writing of the 19th century profoundly shaped a resistant strain in American writing. By reading speeches, essays, and life writing along with more traditionally literary work, students examine what gives language the power to move people and to change the world. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 146G
Queer(y)ing Victorian Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Examines mid- to late-19th-century English representations of non-normative gender and sexuality in popular culture. Considers how these figures in fiction conform to or resist established perceptions of gender, sexuality, race, and empire. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 147A
Twain, Slavery, and the Literary Imagination
Upper Division
5 units
Using Mark Twain's later writings and other literary/non-literary materials, explores responses to popular and legal discourse on "blood," race, sex, resurgence of racism, and imperialism. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 149A
Behind the Berlin Wall
Upper Division
5 units
Examines cultural life in the German Democratic Republic between 1946 and 1992 through films from the state-owned DEFA film studios. Topics include: socialist realism and international modernism in cinema; the representation of collective labor; the status of women; youth culture; and the texture of everyday life and consumer culture in socialism. Critical approach designations: Histories, Media. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 149B
Contemporary American Literature
Upper Division
5 units
A selective examination of major writings since World War II, with attention to literary issues and historical context. Critical approach designation: Geographies, Histories. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 149C
The 1960s
Upper Division
5 units
An interdisciplinary study of the cultural and social movements of the 1960s. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. Enrollment limited to 276. (General Education Code(s): PR-E.)
LIT 149D
Topics in Modern Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Study of 19th- and/or 20th-century literature, with attention to its literary and historical context. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 149E
Modern Fiction and Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Survey of modern fiction and poetry. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 149F
Contemporary Mexican Narrative
Upper Division
5 units
Examines 20th and 21st century Mexican literature, with attention to literary critical issues as they relate to cultural, historical, and political contexts. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 149G
War in Contemporary American Culture
Upper Division
5 units
Considers the treatment of war in American literature since World War II. Close attention paid to both literary form and historical context. Also provides perspectives on, and critical tools for thinking about, contemporary armed conflict. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 149H
The Future
Upper Division
5 units
Examines modes of thinking and imagining the future throughout human history, and considers the fate of the future today. Topics include apocalyptic religion, utopia and dystopia, progress, revolution, finance, and everyday life. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (Also offered as History of Consciousness 149H. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) (General Education Code(s): PR-E.)
LIT 149I
Contemporary Medievalisms
Upper Division
5 units
Explores contemporary representations of medieval cultures by considering questions of historical memory, limits of adaptation, and the power of satire. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 149J
The Good Life
Upper Division
5 units
The social, affective, and psychic structures of our neoliberal era make it difficult to live a good life. Drawing on the broad tradition of critical theory and utopian imaginings, the course aims to give practical and theoretical guidance toward achieving a good life. . (Also offered as History of Consciousness 149. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 150D
The Power of Writing: Books and Libraries 600-1500
Upper Division
5 units
Surveys the history of the book in the West from ca. 600-1500. Concentrates on the medieval illuminated manuscript and the first years of printing, and focuses on the relationship between text and image. Critical approach designations: Histories, Media. Distribution requirements: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 150E
Letters, Literature: A Correspondence Course
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the form and function of the letter in literature from antiquity to the contemporary moment. Considers all writing, from the most expressly public to the most seemingly private, as a form of correspondence, and we will contribute our own letters, in both creative and critical modes, in an effort to expand our capacities for critical analysis of texts. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 151B
The Phenomenon of Tragedy
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the theory of tragedy from Aristotle to Nietzsche, while inviting students to read and discuss classic dramatic pieces to which the label "tragedy" was applied. Relies on student presentations and contributions, and teaches skills both in handling theory and in practical literary criticism. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 151G
English Drama: 1576-1642
Upper Division
5 units
Study of representative plays. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Media. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 151K
Gender, Race, and Disability in American Drama
Upper Division
5 units
An investigation of how American playwrights represent and criticize the concepts of gender, race and disability. Analysis of the genre of drama as a contact zone of gender, race, and disability by studying how American playwrights have critically responded to historical and social alienation, sexism, racism, and ableism in their works about ''disabled'' bodies. Students cannot receive credit for this course and CRES 114. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. . (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 151L
Theater in India
Upper Division
5 units
Historical introduction to the theatrical forms and dramatic performance styles that have characterized the Indian tradition at different times and places. Critical approach designations: Canons, Media. Distribution requirements: Global, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 154B
Literature and the Arts
Upper Division
5 units
Literature and art challenge, collaborate with, and use each other as inspiration. Course examines the boundaries of and connections between literature and art; focuses on the relationship between self-expression, identity, and politics in art and literature. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. . (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 154C
Hip Hop Hi Art
Upper Division
5 units
Explores the U.S. born and now global phenomenon hip hop as poetic discourse, and analytical frame by examining questions of race, gender, and sexuality via analysis of rap lyrics, music, visual art, video, film, and performance. Satisfies the Poetry distribution requirement. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 154D
Literature and Sound (and Soundscapes)
Upper Division
5 units
This course listens to 20th-century speculative fiction through a series of key words in sound study and themes in genre study. Topics include: sound and Afrofuturism, psycho-acoustic technologies in film, and extra-terrestrial musical voyages. . (General Education Code(s): PE-T.)
LIT 155A
Cinema and Subjectivity
Upper Division
5 units
An examination of the ways in which the technological and institutional practices of cinema construct modes of modern and contemporary subjectivity. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 155C
New German Cinema
Upper Division
5 units
Surveys the work of Fassbinder, Kluge, Herzog, Schlöndorff, von Trotta, Reitz, Straub, Sanders-Brahms, and others. Major themes include post-fascism and the problems of history, the burden of memory, mass culture, gender, social class, and migration in postwar Germany. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Media. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 155D
Italian Cinema and Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Explores the rich history of Italian cinema. Special attention is given to the links between literacy and visual narratives, Italian films and Italian novels, autobiographies, and short stories on which the films are based. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Media. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 155E
Cinema and Social Change in Latin America
Upper Division
5 units
Surveys selected Latin American and Latino feature and documentary films. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 155H
The Horror Film
Upper Division
5 units
Shifting definitions of horror in the movies from the late silent period to the present through close analysis of representative films and critical texts. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 155J
The Films of John Carpenter
Upper Division
5 units
Study of development and central themes of preeminent genre director of the "post-Hollywood" era, concentrating on central core of major works in horror/science fiction genres from "Halloween" to "In the Mouth of Madness," with attention to the comedies and action films. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media.
LIT 155L
Vampire Film
Upper Division
5 units
Examines development and central themes of vampire film from the silent era to the present. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 155N
Cinema in India
Upper Division
5 units
Examines cinema in India from the silent era to the contemporary production of Bollywood films. Attention is given to the rise of the culture industry in urban centers such as Mumbai, and the dialectical relationship between socio-political change and cultural form. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Media. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 155O
Women In/As Horror: Critical Approaches to the Horror Film
Upper Division
5 units
What does horror film have to say about women? In treating horror film as text, students gain the necessary tools to read these movies as narrative; students also identify how race, class, gender, and genre function to create complex and challenging texts. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. . (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 156A
The Gothic Imagination in Fiction, Film, and Theory
Upper Division
5 units
Readings include theoretical essays by Freud and Lacan and such fictions as "The Monk," "Frankenstein," "Dracula," "Maus," "The Yellow Wallpaper," and "Beloved." Films change each year. Critical approach designations: Histories, Media. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 156E
Mapping Fictions: Geocritical Approaches to Cultural Studies
Upper Division
5 units
Studies how literature maps the world and in what ways our experiences of the world are informed by literary maps. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Media. Distribution requirement: Global. . (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 157A
Modern Ancient Drama
Upper Division
5 units
The study of 20th- and 21st-century productions and adaptations of ancient Greek drama in theater, dance, music, and film, including Stravinsky, Graham, Pasolini, Breuer, and von Trier, discussing artists' goals, the sociopolitical context, ideas of authenticity, and audience response. Critical approach designations: Histories, Media. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 157C
Representations of Hamlet
Upper Division
5 units
Examination of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" from various perspectives, including as a literary and historical object, and as a mirror of socio-political concerns. Readings include both precursors to Shakespeare and modern adaptations and revisions of the "Hamlet" story. Critical approach designations: Canons, Media. Distribution requirements: Pre-1750.
LIT 157E
Greek Drama/Modern Film
Upper Division
5 units
A reading of ancient Greek plays along with contemporary films similar to them in theme, form, and effect. Students discuss different definitions of tragedy; genre as a critical tool; and similarities and difference between the media of literature, drama, and film. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 159M
The Curse of the Mummy
Upper Division
5 units
Relying on the collaborative expertise of an Egyptologist and a Victorian studies scholar, this course explores aspects of ancient Egypt that exploded into popular Western literature, art, film and other media in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Satisfies the literature major Pre-1750 distribution requirement. . (Also offered as History 159M. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.)
LIT 160C
Cruelty: Enjoying the Pain of Others
Upper Division
5 units
Cruelty is the unmotivated infliction of pain on someone else. This course investigates the notion of cruelty cultures raised by Claude Levi-Strauss through the literatures of ancient Rome and 15th-16th century Mexico as well as contemporary world literature. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirements: Global, Pre-1750. . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 160E
Theorizing Race and Comics
Upper Division
5 units
Examines comics' origins in the United States' legacies of racial caricature and political cartoons about slavery, Asian exclusion, yellow journalism, and imperial expansion. Analyses of graphic novel's 20th-century evolution around human-rights violations and post-atrocity representational strategies around race, nationalism and minority status. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 160F
Topics in Cultural Studies
Upper Division
5 units
Investigates the ways in which cultural texts--literary, aesthetic, visual, performative, and a variety of "popular" forms--create and transform individual experiences, everyday life, social relations, and power. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 160G
Topics in Literary Theory
Upper Division
5 units
Examination of major issues in contemporary theory, with emphasis on key concepts. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 160I
Race, Militarism, and Empire in Asia and the Pacific
Upper Division
5 units
Theoretical and historical inquiry into the relationship between race, militarism, and empire; a comparative examination of the Japanese and U.S. empires in the Asia-Pacific region; and a consideration of how liberal ideologies around race were wielded as a tool of imperial governance. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 160J
Exile, Diaspora, Migration
Upper Division
5 units
Analyzes how the figure of the refugee, migrant, and other travelling communities are produced, engaged and represented in literary texts, cultural texts, and theories. Course materials include fiction, memoir, essay, legal tracts, and film. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 160K
Race, Labor, and Migration
Upper Division
5 units
Examines racialized labor from the mid-19th century to the present, including the racial protest novel as a cultural form. Investigates race, gender, and citizenship as technologies used to regulate labor and to circumscribe labor's power. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 160L
Literature and Philosophy
Upper Division
5 units
Provides critical insight into the complex dynamics that define our historical moment through an investigation of literary and philosophical treatments. Readings include novels, plays, philosophical essays, and political commentary. The course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 160M
The War on Terror
Upper Division
5 units
Investigates the logic of U.S. imperialism, with a specific focus on the War on Terror. Includes texts in critical race and ethnic studies, history, and literature, and a diverse, range of media; novels, poetry, film, graphic literature, and music. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 160N
John Brown: Prophet or Fanatic?
Upper Division
5 units
John Brown was a 19th-century advocate of the use of armed insurrection to overthrow the institution of U.S. slavery. Why has a man dismissed as a fanatic been taken up as the subject of novels, biographies, popular songs, films, and even internet memes for the past 160 years? Course explores this question through readings in literature, history, and theory. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. . (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 160Q
(Gender)Queer Theories
Upper Division
5 units
Examines theory and practice of (gender) queer- and trans-ness in the present historical moment. Drawing primarily on critical theory from trans and queer studies, alongside literary texts and popular culture, the course introduces intellectual and affective resources for navigating questions about gender non-normativity. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 160R
Gangsters, Bandits and Rogues: The Image of the Outlaw from the Middle Ages to the Present
Upper Division
5 units
Is the outlaw a revolutionary defender of the people? Or a pillager of the defenseless poor? A social outcast or a folk hero? This course explores the ambivalences and ambiguities of “the outlaw” in popular, literary, and historiographic representation. Distribution requirements: Pre-1750. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 160S
Cultures of Socialism
Upper Division
5 units
Emphasizes socialism as an important aspect of modernity. Beginning with an overview of the left avant-gardes of the early 20th century, students look at the debates about the political implications of realism, modernism, and socialist realism. . (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 160T
Reading Torture
Upper Division
5 units
Course grapples with the ethical, political, aesthetic, racial, and cultural implications of torture. While the course analysis is grounded in looking at torture as practice—as a brutal manifestation of American nation- and empire-building—students will think conceptually about torture and pain. Materials draw heavily on writing from the U.S., but adopt global perspectives. The course is structured to begin with a theoretical introduction to the concept of torture before working through some historical examples, understanding how to “read” and interpret torture as represented in cultural production (literature, art, film), and finally devoting the last few weeks to our contemporary era and the so-called “war on terror.” The class works to uncover the underlying logic of torture that links histories of racism and war to its institutionalized present. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 161A
African American Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Examination of African American writing and cultural representations, with attention to the historical, cultural, and general literary contexts out of which they emerged and upon which they commented. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 161B
African American Women Writers
Upper Division
5 units
Explores the cultural, aesthetic, political, and feminist issues in select works by African American women. Through close analysis of the works, students develop an understanding of the intersections that race, gender, and class play in the literary imaginations of these writers. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 162A
Asian American Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Examination of Asian American literary works (fiction, poetry, dramatic essays) in the context of the historical presence of Asian Americans in the United States since the 1850s. Emphasis on comparison of select works from ethnic Asian writings. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 162B
Literature of the Asian Diaspora
Upper Division
5 units
Study of literature of the Asian diaspora, attempting to discover and define a growing body of contemporary writing under this rubric, including immigrant/migrant histories, memories of exile and refuge, as well as the fiction of imagined homelands. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 162C
So Many Little Lives: Representations of Trauma in Asian American Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Explores representations of trauma in contemporary Asian American literature. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 163A
American Indian Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Explores works of fiction, creative non-fiction, drama, and poetry written by American Indians. Focuses on historical and political issues within the text as well as on formal and thematic structures. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 164A
Jewish Travel Narratives
Upper Division
5 units
Exploration of the idea of the Diaspora as a "moving" condition, and of the multli-dimensional character of global Jewish culture, covering authors who traveled across the Jewish world from medieval times to the present. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 164B
Hebrew Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Hebrew poetry-Biblical, medieval, modern-explores cultural and literary issues central to our contemporary world. Texts and discussion focus on Jewish and Israeli literary traditions. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Poetry. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 164C
Global Jewish Writing
Upper Division
5 units
Comparative analysis of modern Jewish writers from Western and non-Western diasporas. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 164D
Jewish Diaspora, Ethnicity, and Urban Life
Upper Division
5 units
Focuses on modern Jewish diaspora, ethnicity, and urban life. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 164G
Literature and the Holocaust
Upper Division
5 units
Reading and analysis of fiction and poetry, focusing on Holocaust literature as a problem in critical theory, cultural studies, and literary history. Though most of the works are read in translation, some knowledge of European languages is helpful. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 164H
Jewish Writers and the European City
Upper Division
5 units
Interrogates the master narrative of a specific European city and discusses the ways in which Jewish life and Jewish actions helped to shape that story and were shaped by it. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 164J
Jewish Writers and the American City
Upper Division
5 units
An examination of some major Jewish writers and their responses to the American city. Major writers: Henry Roth, Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud, J. Kaplan, Philip Roth. A look at Yiddish and other minority writers, and including sociological and historical materials on the American city. The course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 164K
Jewish Comedy
Upper Division
5 units
Examines literary, theatrical, cinematic, and televised representations of Jewish culture, focusing on the ways in which Jews have negotiated the transition to modernity via comedy and humor. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 165A
Chicanx/Mexican American Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Considers the historical, current, and future directions of Chicano/a literary culture within the context of the long-standing exchanges of culture and politics across the U.S.-Mexican border and the challenges of globalization. Includes novels, essays, and films. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (Formerly Chicano/Mexicano Geographies.) . (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 165B
Latino Fictions of the Americas
Upper Division
5 units
Writers in the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean have been drawn repeatedly to the theme of intercultural conflict as they recall the traumatic history of the hemisphere. Examining fiction, poetry, and film expands the horizons of American literature. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (Formerly Latin/o American Fiction.) (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 165C
Mesoamerican Indigenous/Indigenista Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Analyzes literature about and by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica: traces the construction of racialized categories of identity, such as indio and mestizo in Mesoamerican cultures and examines how they interact with definitions of the human that dominate in the West. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 166A
Representations of Gender in Medieval Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Explores medieval literature alongside major contributions to queer and trans theory in order to understand how gender, sex, and sexuality were constructed in premodern Europe. Focuses in particular on erotic expression, courtly tradition, and queer textuality: Chaucer, Gawain, and Heldris de Cornuälle. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 166B
Early Modern Representations of Gender
Upper Division
5 units
Explores representation of gender in early modern literature, with attention to contemporary aesthetic, cultural, and theoretical contexts. Texts include drama, poetry, and prose. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 166C
Early Modern Italian Women Writers
Upper Division
5 units
In early modern Italy several factors converged to foster a boom in women's writing and publication. Course addresses the context and content of these writings, dealing with key theoretical and historical issues surrounding women's entry into authorship in Europe. Knowledge of Italian not required. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 166E
Women's Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Works by women from the 18th century to the present, with special attention to the relationship of literature to history, psychology, and aesthetics. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 166J
Women Modernists
Upper Division
5 units
Readings of a selection of British and U.S. women writers writing from 1920-1940, now critically framed and unearthed by feminist scholarship of the 1980s. Readings include: Jessie Redmon's The Chinaberry Tree, Vita Sackville-West's All Passion Spent, H.D.'s Asphodel, and Djuna Barnes' Nightwood. Also includes a selection of almost totally eclipsed female poets—reading selections of the poetry and prose of women writers including Dorothy Parker, Sarah Teasdale, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Marianne Moore, Louise Bogan, and Elinor Wylie. Discussion includes the varieties of modernism, canonicity, female literary collaboration and lesbian salons, and women writers' various negotiations of gender, race, and class intersectionality. .
LIT 167B
Monsters and Humans
Upper Division
5 units
Focuses on the historical development of what we broadly consider to be the human body from its Humanist instantiations in early modern Europe as seen through its alleged opposite: the monstrous body. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 167C
Metamorphoses: Pre/Post Modern Transformations
Upper Division
5 units
Examines transformations between god, human, and animal from ancient literature to medieval, renaissance, modern, and postmodern (especially science) fiction and poetry. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 167E
The Vampire in Literature and Popular Culture
Upper Division
5 units
Traces the vampire's appearance in different historical moments, cultural contexts, genres, and media to interrogate its place in the shifting cultural politics of gender and sexuality, as well as in relation to race, ethnicity, class, and other identity positions. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 167F
Animals and Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the disruptive presences of nonhuman animals and nonanimal aliens as they appear in a variety of narrative forms: prose fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Organized around central themes relating to the presence of animals in literature, including representation, difference, desire, and subjectivity. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 167G
Reading the Weather: Literature and Global Climate Change
Upper Division
5 units
An overview of climate change and its representations in literary and filmic texts. Asks how climate fiction and non-fiction narratives of climate change can help us to confront issues of environmental justice, inequalities of race and class, vulnerability, land rights, and refugeehood. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): PE-E.)
LIT 167H
Disability in Transnational Asian American Studies
Upper Division
5 units
Investigates U.S. imperialism in the Asia-Pacific region by focusing on race and disability; examines how "disabled" subjects have responded to historical and social alienation. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 167I
The Enviromental Humanities
Upper Division
5 units
Explores how literary works and other cultural products have represented and defined relationships among the living and nonliving in the environment. Topics include the history of ideas about the nature/culture divide, the interconnectedness of life and non-life, and sustainability and reciprocity in ecological crisis. . May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): PE-E.)
LIT 167J
Exhibiting Monsters
Upper Division
5 units
Monsters have long been an integral part of popular culture, reflecting anxieties, desires, and imaginative possibilities across time and space. This course focuses on how students and scholars of monster studies can frame our scholarly explorations of monsters' historical and cultural popularity for a specifically popular audience: how do we transform our monster studies research into public exhibitions about monsters? This in-person, research-based course is simultaneously an introduction to monster studies and an introduction to public humanities work. Specific objects of study for this course rotate. Enrollment limited to 15. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 168A
The Culture of Islamic Law
Upper Division
5 units
Investigates the nature of Islamic law as a set of textual and interpretive practices that change over time and is fully enmeshed with Arabic culture, as well as its representation and role in literature as a force, standard, and context. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 168B
Islamic Law and Society
Upper Division
5 units
Introduction to Islamic Law and its development as a set of discursive practices and institutional formations, from its origins to its transformation by modern state systems. Focuses on development of legal theory as textual interpretation and translation into social practice. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 169A
White Flow(n): Race, Gender, and Material
Upper Division
5 units
Examines the question of whiteness as race, identity, politic, and field of discourse, focusing on cultural literary and artistic production from the 1990s that brought about the field of critical white studies. Includes prose, poetry, literary theory, film, and visual art. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 179A
Advanced Writing: Fiction
Upper Division
5 units
Intensive work in writing fiction. Critical approach designation: Genres. Enrollment is restricted to creative writing literature majors. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 179B
Advanced Writing: Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Intensive work in writing poetry. Critical approach designation: Genres. Enrollment is restricted to creative writing literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 179C
Methods and Materials
Upper Division
5 units
Focuses on a particular process or subject used in the production of a literary text. Course is intended to work as a bridge between invention and scholarship. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 179E
Writing for Transformation
Upper Division
5 units
Introductory cross-genre writing workshop exploring the social and political engagements of a wide array of BIPOC authors’ work. In interactive lectures and small group discussion,students analyze authors’ use of craft and form to inspire creation of our own poetry, flash nonfiction, and flash fiction. Course considers how authors thematize family, community, language, activism, love, culture, health, state and structural violence, relations with our natural environment, and more. . (Also offered as Critical Race & Ethnic Studies 179E. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) Enrollment is restricted to declared and proposed literature and critical race and ethnic studies majors, literature minors, and Black studies minors. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): PR-C.)
LIT 181A
Biblical Hebrew, Part 1
Upper Division
5 units
Grammatical study interspersed with narrative excerpts from the Hebrew Bible. Recommended: previous study of a second language up to the advanced level. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global, Pre-1750.
LIT 181B
Biblical Hebrew, Part 2
Upper Division
5 units
Continuation of grammatical study interspersed with poetic texts from the Hebrew Bible. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry, Pre-1750. Together, Biblical Hebrew 1 and Hebrew 2 fulfill the language prerequisites for LIT 102; together they also satisfy the intensive major second-language course requirements. Prerequisite(s): LIT 181A or the equivalent.
LIT 181C
Coptic
Upper Division
5 units
Intensive introduction to fundamentals of classical Coptic grammar (Sahidic dialect) designed to move rapidly into reading of primary texts. Readings include "The Martyrdom of S. Coluthus, Gospel of Thomas," and the Gnostic treatise "Thunder: Perfect Mind." Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 181D
Reading Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Part 1
Upper Division
5 units
Introduction to Egyptian hieroglyphs as a graphic, conceptual, and communicative system. Covers the basic elements of classical Egyptian grammar, drawing primarily on inscriptions from extant Egyptian monuments. Students read one prose and one poetical text from the Middle Kingdom. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Media. Distribution requirement: Global, Pre-1750. Strongly recommended: two years previous study of a foreign language at the college level or the equivalent. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 181E
Reading Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Part 2
Upper Division
5 units
Advanced Middle Egyptian grammar (two weeks). Close reading of the "Tale of Sinuhe" in Middle Egyptian, selected hymns and love poetry from the New Kingdom. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirement: Global, Poetry, Pre-1750. Together, LIT 181D and LIT 181E, Egyptian Hieroglyphs 1 and 2, fulfill the language prerequisites for LIT 102; together they also satisfy the intensive major second-language course requirements. Prerequisite(s): LIT 181D (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 181F
Reading Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Part 3
Upper Division
5 units
Close reading of the "Tale of Sinuhe" in Middle Egyptian. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry, Pre-1750. Prerequisite(s): LIT 181E.
LIT 181G
Sanskrit, Part 1
Upper Division
5 units
Systematic introduction to the grammar, syntax, and usage of Classical Sanskrit, to the oral dimensions of the language, and to the Sanskrit literary tradition. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 181H
Sanskrit, Part 2
Upper Division
5 units
Continued study of the grammar, syntax, and usage of Classical Sanskrit, and the Sanskrit literary tradition. Students read the entire "Bhagavad-Gita," including key sections in the original Sanskrit. Critical approach designations: Canons, Geographies. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry, Pre-1750. Together, LIT 181 G and LIT 181H, Sanskrit Parts 1 and 2, fulfill the language prerequisites for LIT 102; together they also satisfy the intensive major second-language course requirements. Prerequisite(s): LIT 181G.
LIT 182A
Le Moyen Age
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in French required. Study of 12th- and 13th-century texts, with attention to problems of history and social change. In modern translations with selected readings in Old French or Provencal. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 182E
Etudes de Poésie
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in French required. Emphasizes the close study of a limited number of poetic texts in terms of their linguistic, stylistic, and rhetorical devices. Course topic changes; please see Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirement: Poetry. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 182F
Le théâtre
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in French required. Studies in French drama and theories of theatricality. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 182H
Auteur et culture
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in French required. Designed to provide an in-depth study of a given author's literary oeuvre and its cultural context. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 182I
Littérature d'expression française hors de France
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in French required. A study of texts written in French-speaking cultures: Belgium, Canada, Africa, the Caribbean. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 182J
Theorie
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in French required. A discussion of recent developments in French literary theory. Critical approach designations: Canons, Geographies.
LIT 182K
Textes et contextes
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in French required. Examines implications of social and political change in terms of literary theory and practice. Places equal emphasis on literary and other kinds of cultural texts: historical, political, and cinematic. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 182L
Science-Fiction Française
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in French required. Course considers several French literary and cinematic examples of contemplating the present through the future and the past. Learn how reading across different cultural contexts can blur the distinction between ''science'' and ''fiction''; how to read fictional texts alongside the films they inspire; and how to produce more effective essays and presentations in French. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. . (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 183A
Einführung in der deutschen Literatur
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. Wide reading of works representing the major authors, periods, and genres of German literature. Critical approach designations: Canons, Geographies.
LIT 183B
Themen in deutscher Literatur und Kultur
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. Course studies German literature and culture, with attention to historical context. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 183D
Die deutsche Romantik
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. A study of the emergence and development of German Romanticism. Central concerns are the Romantics' attitude toward the role of the imagination in literature and their attempts to revitalize myth and folklore in their works. Authors read include Tieck, Novalis, Hoffmann, Eichendorff, and Heine. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories.
LIT 183F
Die deutsche Novelle
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. A study of Novellen of the major 19th-century German authors. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres.
LIT 183G
Deutsche Komödie
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. A study of a series of comic works by authors writing in German. In addition to discussing the texts in depth, we also look at theories of humor and laughter developed by thinkers such as Freud, Schopenhauer, and Bergson. Critical approach designations: Canons, Media.
LIT 183H
Das deutsche Drama
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. Selected readings of major German dramatists; attention given to various movements in theater. Critical approach designations: Canons, Media.
LIT 183I
Deutscher Film: Geschichte, Kultur, Gesellschaft
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. Course plots the thematic and formal trajectories of cinema in the German Democratic Republic between 1946 and 1992 to examine the key stress lines of socialist culture in East Germany. Critical approach designations: Histories, Media. (Formerly German Cinema: History, Culture, and Society.) . (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 183K
Moderne deutsche Literatur und Film
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. Discusses a range of modern and contemporary German texts, including poetry, drama, and film. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Media. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 183M
Moderne deutsche Fiktion
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. Selected readings from the novel and novella in 20th-century German literature. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies.
LIT 183N
Modern Deutsche Lyrik
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. Intensive analysis of selected poems is complemented by broader reading in certain authors and periods.Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Poetry.
LIT 183P
Fremdenangst: Ausländerfeindlichkeit in der deutschen Literatur und Kultur
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in German required. Considers recent violence against immigrants and asylum-seekers in Germany, and moves on to examine images of people perceived as "foreign" or alien in German literature and culture from early times to the present. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities.
LIT 184A
Introduction to Greek Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Ancient Greek required. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 184B
Greek Drama
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Ancient Greek required. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Histories, Media. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 184C
Greek Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Ancient Greek required. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 184D
Prose Authors
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Ancient Greek required. Course topic changes; see Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 184E
Special Topics in Greek Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Ancient Greek required. Readings in selected ancient Greek texts. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Focus is on translation and interpretation; requirements normally include translation exams and interpretive essays. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirements: Global, Pre-1750. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 185B
Letteratura e cultura italiana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. In-depth examination of a topic in Italian literary and cultural studies. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 185H
L'Opera italiana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. Explores Italian opera as dramatic and spectacular cross-cultural phenomenon beginning in 1590s Florence through the 19th and 20th centuries. Attention to opera's function as a medium of cultural translation and political critique. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. Prerequisite(s): Two years of university study of Italian language, or equivalent proficiency. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 185I
Teatro italiano
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. Survey of Italian theater from its beginnings in medieval ritual through the development of Renaissance staged comedy and the commedia dell'arte, pastoral and tragicomedy, opera, melodrama, and 20th-century avant-garde and political theater. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media.
LIT 185J
Poesia moderna
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. Study of development of the Italian lyric from romanticism to present, with close stylistic and thematic analyses of works of Leopardi, D'Annunzio, Ungaretti, Quasimodo, Pavese, and Montale. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Poetry.
LIT 185L
La novella italiana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. Surveys short fiction in Italian, from bawdy medieval novellas to folk tales edited in the 19th century, to psychological and character studies. Focuses on the formal properties that distinguish short fiction from romances and novels and the social functions these writings can perform. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 185M
Fascismo e resistenza
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. The relationship between literature and Italian fascism is explored, including the rise and myths of fascism, critique and censorship, the persecution of minorities, the Resistance, the role of the intellectual. Authors include Borgese, Vittorini, Bassani, Pavese. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 185N
Le donne nell'Italia moderna
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. Explores the specificity of Italian women's writing and studies their literary activities in historical and social context. Readings include Italian feminist and some history as well as literary texts. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities.
LIT 185O
''I need a hero:'' Ariosto's (Un)Epic Renaissance
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. In this course, we will study the Italian Renaissance adventure poem by Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1532) and we will use it to penetrate the cultural, spiritual, and political tensions that marked the passage from pre- to early-modernity in the West. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 185P
Boccaccio: Decameron
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. Critical study of "The Decameron." Critical approach designation: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 185Q
Dante: "Divina Commedia"
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. Reading of the "Inferno," the "Purgatorio," and selected canti of the "Paradiso," along with selections from Dante's lyrics and from medieval Italian and French poetry. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 185S
Petrarca
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Italian required. The transition from medieval to Renaissance modes of poetry in the works of Francesco Petrarca. Readings in the "Rime Sparse," the "Trionfi," and the prose works. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 186A
Introduction to Latin Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Latin required. Course topic changes; see Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 186B
Roman Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Latin required. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 186C
Prose Authors
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Latin required. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 186D
Special Topics in Latin Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Reading proficiency in Latin required. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 188A
Literatura medieval
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Focuses on Spanish medieval literature, broadly covering the 12th to the 15th centuries. Examines and contextualizes literary genres developed in this period. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (Formerly Medieval Spanish Literature.) (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 188B
Literatura peninsular: de los orígenes al siglo XVIII
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. A critical study of several representative texts from the early period of Spanish literature in their sociohistorical context. Included among the readings are "El Poema del Cid," the "Romancero," "La Celestina," "Lazarillo de Tormes," and a Golden Age play. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Pre-1750.
LIT 188E
Teatro del Siglo de Oro español
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Studies in Spanish Golden Age theater. Critical approach designations: Histories, Media. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 188F
Cuentos del Siglo de Oro español
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Focuses on the prose in the Renaissance period and the different genres that flourished before the creation of Cervantes' "Don Quixote." Chosen texts constitute an amalgam of Renaissance ideology, and provide examples of 16th-century literature, including the picaresque novel, pastoral novel, the Byzantine novel, and the chivalresque novel. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 188G
Literaturay vida en Don Quijote y otros textos cervantinos
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. A close reading of the works of Cervantes, with particular attention to Don Quijote, in an attempt to discover how these works reflect the conflictive period in which the author lived. Also looks closely at the Cervantine view of the relationship of literature to life, as manifested in the works under study. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 188H
Erotismo y Mistica
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Examines the connections between erotic literature and mystical literature through poetic representations of sublime where Eros and Thanatos meet. As symbolisms of mystical and erotic experiences fuse and confuse each other, we are able to establish connections between Sufi, Hindi, and Judeo-Christian mystical poetry. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 188I
La novela picaresca
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. The picaresque novel of 16th-century Spain considers the fictive environment as reality in order to introduce its protagonist as a rebel against social dominion. The picaresque novel is the only literary genre comparable to what is now called "literature of social protest." Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 188L
Literatura de la guerra civil española
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Examines literature related to the period of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and the Franco years (1939-75). Includes works by Spanish writers in exile during this period; also examines literary texts written prior to the outbreak of the war. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities.
LIT 188M
Literatura peninsular: siglos XIX y XX
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. A critical study of several representative texts from this period of Spanish literature. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories.
LIT 188R
Humanidades Ambientales
Upper Division
5 units
Considers salient aspects of environmental aesthetics and ecological thinking in Latin America in a variety of genres including memoir, children's literature, graphic literature, documentary film, and visual arts. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. . (General Education Code(s): PE-E.)
LIT 188Z
Literatura de España
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Examines works by Spanish authors with attention to historical and cultural as well as literary issues. Course topic changes, see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 189A
De la conquista a Sor Juana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. A study of Hispanic American and Peninsular literatures from the chronicles of the conquest through the 17th century. Readings deal with transformations in both the idea of empire and the rights of the conquered. Includes the works of Colon, Cortes, El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, and others. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Global, Pre-1750. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 189B
El Siglo XIX en America Latina: cultura, política y sociedad
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Follows the literary manifestations of the growing consciousness of the Latin American writer: discovery of native themes, comparative analysis of Spanish American and Peninsular European models, search for a "new language" literally and figuratively. Relates historical events with literary movements. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 189C
Introducción a Spanish Studies
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish is required. Explores the social, cultural, economic, and political changes that connect Latin America, Spain, and the United States Latina/o communities. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (Also offered as Spanish 105. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) Prerequisite(s): SPAN 6 or SPHS 6 or permission of instructor. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 189D
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. An in-depth examination of the life and work of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, a 17th-century nun, poet, playwright, and woman of genius and intellectual prowess whose ideas and accomplishments were ahead of her time. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Pre-1750.
LIT 189E
Cuba
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Examines Cuban literature and culture, with attention to historical context. Course topic changes: please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 189F
Literaturas Latinas en los Estados Unidos: en inglés, español y Spanglish
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Spanish-based, English/bilingual inclusive overview of Latino/a writing in the U.S. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 189G
Cine y Literatura
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Analysis and interpretation of Spanish-language films derived from literary works by Latin American and Spanish authors. Topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. Distribution requirement: Global. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 189H
La Globalizacion en/del Cine Latin/o Americano
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Examines globalization of Latin/o American cinema as a cultural industry. Classical issues of cultural politics and political economy are revisited from the viewpoint of current global processes. Also provides access to the representation of different aspects of globalization in Latin/o American cinema. Critical approach designations: Media, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): IM.)
LIT 189I
Literatura e indigeneidad
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Course examines the history, representation, and politics of Indigeneity and Indigenous literature in Latin America by analyzing novels, short stories, transcribed oral tradition, film, and radio. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global. . (General Education Code(s): ER.)
LIT 189K
El ensayo latinoamericano
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. A study of the essay in Spanish America from Sarmiento to the present, concentrating on problems of national or cultural identity. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189L
Poesía latinoamericana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Poets from "modernismo" to the present in Spanish America. Studies how this poetry attempts to define Latin America, its past, its present history, and its vision for the future. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirements: Global, Poetry. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 189M
Prosa contemporánea hispanoamericana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Examines contemporary Spanish American prose. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 189N
Latinoamericano testimonio
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Contemporary non-fiction testimonial literature of Latin America. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189O
El Cuento Hispanoamericano: Variedades esteticas de la literatura breve en America Latina
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Explores various aesthetics of the Latin American short story including fantastic, detective, metaliterary, social critique, historical, and philosophical writings. Critical approach designations: Canons, Genres. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189P
Las mujeres en la literatura latinoamericana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Literary and sociological writings by and about women in Latin America-in Hispanic, indigenous, and African-Latino communities; in rural and urban settings; in historical and contemporary periods. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189Q
Ficción y marginalidad
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Marginalized perspectives take center stage in this course that studies ways Latin American/Latino authors textually contest dominant representations and realities, opening symbolic spaces for emergent historical subjects who gain agency and authority by re/presenting unmapped terrains. Texts include chronicles, "testimonios," writings of the self, and novels. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189R
La Novela de la Dictadura
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. An analysis of novels which focus on the theme of dictators and the rhetoric of dictatorships in Latin America. Texts are studied as literary manifestations of particular historical and political periods. Critical approach designations: Genres, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189S
La cultura popular en la narrativa latinoamericana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Explores short stories and novels that have been greatly influenced by popular culture, not only in theme, but also by appropriation of popular forms of language and modes of representation. Includes works by authors from Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, and Colombia. Critical approach designations: Genres, Geographies. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 189T
Historia de la lectura y los lectores: Recepcion y consumo cultural en el mundo Latino Americano
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Explores historical readers and reading practices in at least three different formations: colonial, national-popular, and transnational. Proposes a historical-theoretical reconstruction of the place of reading and readers at key moments in the history of culture in Latin America. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189U
Modernidad y literatura: El Boom de la novela latinoamericana
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish required. Explores the relationships between literature and mass culture, modernization, and globalization through the study of the so-called Boom of Latin American narrative. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189V
Andean Indigenismo
Upper Division
5 units
An introduction to the indigenista movement in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay, and to the literary and ideological debates surrounding it. Authors include Mariategui, Gonzalez Prada, Arguedas, Icaza, Alegria, and Vallejo. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Global.
LIT 189X
Estudios mediaticos
Upper Division
5 units
Investigates film, radio, video games, new media, and other newly emergent forms of cultural production in the Spanish-speaking world. Topics may include the historical study of media, media-focused analysis of literary texts, and new media translation. The course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Media. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 189Z
Literatura de Chile
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficienty in Spanish required. Focusing on narrative and poetry in Chile and their transformations during the 20th century, course examines the relationships between literature, nation, and representation. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Global. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 190A
Topics in Pre- and Early Modern Studies
Upper Division
5 units
Examination of individual authors or critical problems in ancient, medieval, or early modern/Renaissance literature. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirements: Pre-1750, Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190F
Studies in Poetry
Upper Division
5 units
Studies in English-language poetry. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirements: Poetry, Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190I
Individual Authors
Upper Division
5 units
Intensive examination of works by individual authors. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Genres, Histories. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190J
Studies in English Language Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Studies of selected authors or issues in English language literature. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior Literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190K
Studies in U.S. Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Intensive examination of issues in U.S. literature. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190L
Topics in World Literature and Cultural Studies
Upper Division
5 units
Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirements: Global, Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190N
Studies in 19th-Century British Literature
Upper Division
5 units
Study of selected authors or issues in 19th-century British literature. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190O
Studies in Slavery, Race, and Nation in the Americas
Upper Division
5 units
Compares literatures and histories of slavery, abolitionism, and nationalism in 19th-century Cuba and the U.S. Readings include slave narratives and antislavery novels. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirements: Global, Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors.
LIT 190T
Topics in Modern Literary Studies
Upper Division
5 units
Selected authors or issues in modern literary and cultural studies. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designation: Histories. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190U
Topics in Theory
Upper Division
5 units
Advanced work in theory (e.g., cultural, ideological, literary, social). Course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Canons, Histories. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors and minors. (General Education Code(s): TA.)
LIT 190V
Fiction Senior Seminar
Upper Division
5 units
Satisfies the Creative Writing Literature concentration; also satisfies the senior seminar distribution requirement. Critical approach designation: Media. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior creative writing literature majors.
LIT 190W
Poetry Senior Seminar
Upper Division
5 units
Satisfies the Creative Writing Literature concentration; also satisfies the senior seminar distribution requirement. Critical approach designation: Media. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior creative writing literature majors.
LIT 190X
Temas de la literatura y cultura espanolas y latinoamericanas
Upper Division
5 units
Speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in Spanish is required. Examines authors or issues in Spanish and Latin American literature and cultures. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Spanish studies majors may use this course to satisfy the Spanish studies senior exit requirement. (Also offered as Spanish 190A. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) Prerequisite(s): LIT 101. Enrollment is restricted to senior literature majors. May be repeated for credit. (General Education Code(s): CC.)
LIT 190Y
Topics in Jewish Literature and Culture
Upper Division
5 units
Study of selected authors or issues related to modern Jewish literature and culture. Topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Histories, Power and Subjectivities. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. Jewish Studies majors may use this course to satisfy the Jewish Studies senior exit requirement. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements, and LIT 101 (for literature majors). Enrollment is restricted to senior literature and Jewish studies majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 190Z
Topics in German Literature and Culture
Upper Division
5 units
Study of selected authors or issues related to German literature and culture. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Critical approach designations: Geographies, Histories. Distribution requirement: Senior Seminar. German studies majors may use this course to satisfy the German studies senior exit requirement. Prerequisite(s): LIT 101 and satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements. Enrollment is restricted to senior German studies and literature majors. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 191
Methodologies of Teaching
Upper Division
3 units
This three-credit course provides students with the theoretical and practical knowledge to help others become more careful, sensitive, and sophisticated readers of complex texts. Enrollment by permission of the instructor. (General Education Code(s): PR-S.)
LIT 200
Proseminar
Graduate
5 units
The proseminar provides a common experience for entering students, facilitates exchange of ideas and approaches to literary and extra-literary texts, critical issues, and theoretical problems. It focuses on broad aspects of the history of theory and criticism, on the students' critical writing, and on aspects of professional development. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 201
The Pedagogy of Literature
Graduate
2 units
Provides training for graduate students in university-level pedagogy in general and in the pedagogy of literature specifically. Coordinated by a graduate student who has had substantial experience as a teaching assistant, under the supervision of a faculty member. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 202
Colloquium
Graduate
2 units
Student receives credit for attending a designated number of freestanding lectures, colloquia, symposia, or conferences during the term and reports orally, or in writing, to instructor. Enrollment restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 204
Readings in Literature
Graduate
2 units
Focuses on selected texts or authors in literature and/or theory. Students meet with instructor to discuss readings and deepen their knowledge on a particular author, critic, theorist, or text. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 205
Writing and Publication Practicum
Graduate
2 units
Introduces the methods and practice of dissertation writing and publication in literature. Workshop format. Meets one hour per week. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 206
Critical Writing Practicum
Graduate
5 units
Reinforces writing and revision skills in the discipline of literary and cultural criticism and theory, covering various genres of writing in the profession. Designed for students preparing for QE or dissertation work. Workshop structure. . Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 221
Canons
Graduate
5 units
Considers literary canon formation through the lens of neglected or "lost" works by authors otherwise considered peripheral because of their language, cultural tradition, or regional affiliation. Enrollment restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 222
Topics in English Language Literature
Graduate
5 units
Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 223
Periods and Movements
Graduate
5 units
Examines a particular historical period or literary movement. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 224
Transnational Literatures
Graduate
5 units
Investigation of English language literature which transcends national boundaries. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 230A
Topics in Theory
Graduate
5 units
Explores issues arising in both the modern practice of criticism and in writings on the theory of criticism. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 230B
Narrative Theory
Graduate
5 units
A survey of 20th-century narratology, emphasizing structuralist and poststructuralist theories of narrative. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. Enrollment limited to 6. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 230C
Feminist Theories/Historical Perspectives
Graduate
5 units
A critical examination of feminist and related theories (queer, critical race, post-humanist) and criticism in historical and culturally specific contexts. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 231A
Studies in Literary and Cultural History
Graduate
5 units
Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 232D
An Introduction to Digital Humanities
Graduate
5 units
Critically examines how digital processes are changing scholarly practice and pedagogy in the humanities. Students experiment with how digital media can impact research and communication for textual scholars, museum professionals, archivists, librarians, public historians and educators. . (Also offered as History 208. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.) Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 237A
Modernism
Graduate
5 units
Focuses on modernism and the intellectual and social forces which help illuminate that period. Considers concepts by which the innovative tendencies in 20th-century modernist literature and arts have been theorized and periodized, including high and late modernism, avant-garde and experimental, and the concept of global modernisms. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 240A
Studies in Antiquity
Graduate
5 units
An in-depth study of a topic in Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquity. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 240G
History and Tragedy
Graduate
5 units
Examines history, tragedy, and early science as ways of representing human experience in the Western canon. Topics include truth claims and questions of evidence, the nature of historical events, and tragedy as a political medium. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 243A
Studies in Early Modernity
Graduate
5 units
In-depth examination of a topic in Early Modern Studies. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 243B
Early Modern Colonial Encounters
Graduate
5 units
This course will examine primary texts and interpretations, both fictional and archival, of the "encounter" between western Europe and non-European populations affected by European expansion from the 15th through the 18th centuries. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 246
Individual Authors
Graduate
5 units
Focuses on work of a single author in literary historical and/or historical context. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 250
Theory and Methods
Graduate
5 units
Global theories of history and cultural production. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 251
Topics in Cultural Studies
Graduate
5 units
The course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 254
Religion and Post-Secular
Graduate
5 units
An introduction to religion studies theory with emphasis on areas pertinent to literary and cultural studies and structured around the idea of the sacred text as scripture, as performed ritually and legally in society, and as problematized by post-colonial perspectives. . Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 279A
Methods and Materials
Graduate
5 units
A combined seminar and creative-writing workshop with a concentrated focus on a particular problem, aspect, or genre of poetry or prose writing. Includes reading and analysis of selected texts with critical responses and creative writing. Explores the productive interaction between various practices of scholarship and creative invention. The course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 279B
Writing Studio
Graduate
5 units
In this graduate-level, multi-genre course, students develop their own creative projects of publishable quality under the guidance of the instructor. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students in the creative/critical concentration or by permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 282A
Studies in Literary Genres
Graduate
5 units
An in-depth examination of one genre of French literature. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 282B
Studies in Literary and Cultural History
Graduate
5 units
In-depth examination of one period of French literature. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 282C
Texts and Contexts
Graduate
5 units
The implications of social and political change examined in terms of literary theory and practice. Equal emphasis placed on literary and other kinds of cultural texts: historical, political, cinematic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 282D
Topics in Theory
Graduate
5 units
Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 282F
French Literature Outside France
Graduate
5 units
A study of texts written in French-speaking cultures: Belgium, Canada, Africa, the Caribbean. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 283A
Deutsche Literatur und Kultur
Graduate
5 units
Examination of topics within German literature. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for the current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 285E
Boccaccio
Graduate
5 units
Critical study of the Decameron.
LIT 285H
Studies in Italian Literature and Culture
Graduate
5 units
Reading proficiency in Italian is required. Close examination of a topic in Italian literature and culture. Course topic changes; see the Class Search for current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 288C
"Don Quijote"
Graduate
5 units
Concentrates on the study and analysis of Miguel de Cervantes' major work "Don Quijote," with a three-part structure: life and literature in "Don Quijote;" Cervantes-the father of the modern novel; and madness and "ingenio" in "Don Quijote." Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 288F
Writing and Re-Writing of the Conquest and Colonial Period in Spanish America
Graduate
5 units
Study of 1) the writings (chronicles, memoirs, diaries, letters) comprising European and indigenous accounts of the encounter and indigenous, criolla, and mestiza writings during the colony; and 2) the re-writings of these events in contemporary post-colonial novels. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 288M
Cuba
Graduate
5 units
Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 288O
The Conquest through the Eyes of Contemporary Writers
Graduate
5 units
Analyzes contemporary writers who fictionalize the phenomenon of the conquest of the Americas. These authors, who combine chronicles, biographies, and accounts with fiction, offer an imaginative way to view history.
LIT 288P
The Avant Garde in Latin America
Graduate
5 units
Emerging from a Europe in crisis, this 20th-century avante-garde movement opened a space in Latin/o American literature for the emergence of a post-western aesthetic exploring a cultural identity in difference. A deconstruction of vanguardismo, lo real maravilloso, lo fantástico, lo mítico-antropológico, and realismo mágico. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 288S
Citiscapes
Graduate
5 units
Theories of space/place poetics and politics, and the literary and visual re-presentations of urban spaces in Latin/o America. Questions of identity and location in modernist poetics, and the ways difference (gender, ethnicity, and sexuality) inhabit and imagine the post-modern lettered city. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 288U
Spain in the Eyes/Camera of Pedro Almodovar
Graduate
5 units
Contemporary Spain through the camera of Pedro Almodovar from transgressive enthusiasm, experimentation, and cultural disobedience of the 1980s to more universal themes of human nature and borderline experiences in the pursuit of love, relationships, beauty, and art. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 288W
Becoming European
Graduate
5 units
Course considers the process of globalization as it has affected Spain in the last ten years. Through the study of a variety of cultural texts, it explores the challenges presented to national identity and the emergence of new subjectivities and collective identities. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.
LIT 288Y
Teoria Critica en America Latina
Graduate
5 units
Overview of contemporary theoretical issues in Latin American cultural critique. Course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 288Z
Literatura y sociedad
Graduate
5 units
Analyzes the relationship between Latin American cultural products and their cultural, economic, and political contexts. The course topic changes; please see the Class Search for the current topic. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.
LIT 294
Teaching-Related Independent Study
Graduate
5 units
Directed graduate research and writing coordinated with teaching of undergraduates. Students submit petition to sponsoring agency. Enrollment restricted to graduate students. May be repeated for credit.