LanguagesEnglishLiterature in English

This course explores the idea of storytelling through reading the works of some of the short story’s most prominent writers. It deals with fundamental questions like: Why do people need to tell, read, write and listen to fictional stories? By examining the aesthetics as well as the politics of storytelling, the course aims at shedding some light on the different themes generated by narration and revealing the void that lies beneath man’s sense of identity.

The short 9-hour course aims to provide all who are interested in literature, particularly, teachers who are interested in using literature in their language classrooms, with the chance to appreciate and to critique the works of 9 African poets in American history.

The course aims at examining the politicized nature of ethnic representations and how they affect social relations and the ethno-symbolic network. Investigating the links between media, society and culture, it falls into the following main themes: Silencing the Asiatic, the White/Black division, the Caribbean subaltern, the Arab and Muslim others, and the symbolic American other. Exploring forms, practices, and politics of representation, we will discuss the importance, as well as the futility, of representational ethnic struggles.

The course introduces some of Shakespeare’s tragedies in an attempt to crystallise unifying ideas about his thoughts on the human condition as well as analyse and debate notions like sexuality, war, fear, women, identity, the tragic hero, body, space, stage, guilt, language, and madness through Shakespeare’s literature. Tragedy works include Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear.

This 15-hour course is for those who are interested in literature and philosophical writings.  The course explores the nature of aphorisms, parables and allegories as literary forms across the writings of Nietzsche, Benjamin, Adorno, Kafka, Donne, Poe, and Bukowski.

In this course, we will read the works of three of the most important dramatists in American literature.Each session will concentrate on one play.
Session 1: Eugene O’Neill:  Long day's journey into night
Session 2: Arthur Miller: The Crucible
Session 3: Tennessee Williams: Night of the Iguana

Looking at different works of art, this course investigates the problems of the fundamental human impulse to interpret art as a mode of social or political resistance to power as compared to the apolitical enjoyment of the aesthetics of art as such. It aims to analyze our present postmodern experience of art in which the art consumer is radically divided between possible erotics of art and a violent return to the tradition of interpretation.

In this course, we will focus on a few narrative genres in the Old Testament:
biography, cycle stories, tragedy, and comedy.
 
The texts we will look at include the following:
 
Session 1
 
Biography: The life of Jacob (Genesis 25:19 – 35:29)
Cycle story: Gideon’s story (Judges 6:1- 8:32)
Comedy: David and Abigail (I Samuel 24, 25)
        The Book of Esther
 
Session 2
 
Biography: The story of Aaron (Several chapters from Exodus and Numbers)
Cycle story: Samson’s story (Judges 13 – 16)
Tragedy: Samuel, Saul, and David (I Samuel 8:1 – 31:13)

In this course, we will look at two poetic books in the Old Testament, as well as a number of Psalms.
 
The texts we will use include the following:
 
Session 1
 
Poetic book: Songs of Songs
Psalms: 4, 16, 19, 25, 37, 51, 73, 120 - 134
 
Session 2
 
Poetic book: Lamentations
Psalms: 79, 90, 100, 103, 105, 106, 119, 137, 139

What is feminist literary theory? Why is it important to the study of literature?  This course aims to introduce some of the rudiments of feminist literary theory, its development, and application to criticism. To facilitate discussion of the theories by various feminists and thinkers, relevant literary texts will be studied and examined with a focus on their impact and legacy.