http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33993 Literature (21L) Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:07:01 GMT 2013-06-19T23:07:01Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77985 21L.011 The Film Experience, Fall 2007 Thorburn, David This course is an introduction to narrative film, emphasizing the unique properties of the movie house and the motion picture camera, the historical evolution of the film medium, and the intrinsic artistic qualities of individual films. The primary focus is on American cinema, but secondary attention is paid to works drawn from other great national traditions, such as France, Italy, and Japan. The syllabus includes such directors as Griffith, Keaton, Chaplin, Renoir, Ford, Hitchcock, Altman, De Sica, and Fellini. Sat, 01 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77985 2007-12-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75798 21L.448J / 21W.739J Darwin and Design, Fall 2009 Paradis, James In the Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin gave us a model for understanding how natural objects and systems can evidence design without positing a designer: how purpose and mechanism can exist without intelligent agency. Texts in this course deal with pre- and post-Darwinian treatment of this topic within literature and speculative thought since the eighteenth century. We will give some attention to the modern study of feedback mechanisms in artificial intelligence. Our reading will be in Hume, Voltaire, Malthus, Darwin, Butler, H. G. Wells, and Turing. Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75798 2009-12-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/71173 21L.451 Introduction to Literary Theory, Spring 2004 Raman, Shankar This subject focuses on the ways in which we read, providing an overview of some of the different strategies of reading, comprehending and engaging with literary texts developed in the twentieth century. The course is organized around specific theoretical paradigms. In each case our task will be, first, to work through the selected reading in order to see how it determines or defines the task of literary interpretation; second, to locate the limits of each particular approach; and finally, to trace the emergence of subsequent theoretical paradigms as responses to the achievements and limitations of what came before. The literary texts and films that accompany the theoretical material will serve as concrete cases that allow us to see theory in action. In general, then, each week we will pair a text or film with a particular interpretative approach, using the former to explore the strengths of the theoretical paradigm under discussion. Our task will not be to provide a definitive or full analysis of the literary or filmic work, but to exploit it to understand better theories of literary interpretation. Tue, 01 Jun 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/71173 2004-06-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65089 21L.000J / 21L.010 / 21W.734J Writing About Literature, Fall 2006 Kelley, Wyn Writing About Literature aims: To increase students' pleasure and skill in reading literary texts and in writing and communicating about them. To introduce students to different literary forms (poetry, fiction, drama) and some tools of literary study (close reading, research, theoretical models). To allow students to get to know a single writer deeply. To encourage students to make independent decisions about their reading by exploring and reporting back on authors whose works they enjoy. The syllabus includes an eclectic mix: William Shakespeare, Herman Melville, Henry James, Michael Frayn, and Jhumpa Lahiri. We'll explore different ways of approaching the questions readers have about each of these texts. Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65089 2006-12-01T00:00:00Z