101 MWF 11:00-11:50 Professor Paul Gagliardi
102 MWF 12:00-12:50 Professor Paul Gagliardi
Course Title: Global Literature: Literature of the City
Course Description: This course examines novels, poems, plays, and films from different historical and cultural backgrounds that explore the concept of the city. We will consider how the idea of the city has changed from the late-nineteenth century to the present day, as well as how major social and economic movements -- mass production, mechanization, colonialism -- have impacted cites and the people who live in them. In addition, we will also consider how the urban space influences both shared experiences and depersonalization. We will trace these relationships between the city and its people across class difference, gender, race, nationality, and other concepts. In addition, we will discuss if and how these texts propose solutions to economic and social inequality in the city, and if such ideas can be adopted by us for social change.
Readings: Zadie Smith, White Teeth, Fydor Dostoyevsky, Notes from the Underground, Nathanael West, Day of the Locust, Teju Cole, Open City
103 MWF 8:00-8:50 Professor Sherri Hoffman
Course Title: Global Literature – African Voices
Course Description: In the past, the global perspective of African literature has been largely shaped by colonialist or European-centric authors as indigenous voices have been suppressed, dismissed, or rendered inaccessible without translation. This course will embrace authors indigenous to the continent, tracing the development of African literature in its own diverse voices. The scope of work reveals rich cultural traditions against the influences of colonialism, revolution, wars, modernizing technologies, and the developing globalized institutions of a rapidly changing world.
Readings: Multi-genre—fiction, poetry, drama, film, and memoir—with works from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and others. Authors represent a broad variety of race, gender, and culture. Some of the works will be in translation
Assignments: Weekly reading responses, midterm exam, class presentation, two critical papers.