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Academic Calendar 2008 UNDERGRADUATE COURSE INFORMATION Comparative Literature and Culture (A)
INTRODUCTION
UNDERGRADUATE SESSIONAL DATES
STUDENT SERVICES
ACADEMIC INFORMATION
STUDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES
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UNDERGRADUATE COURSE INFORMATION
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GLOSSARY
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TABLE OF CONTENTS




Comparative Literature and Culture (A)

Note:  In order to find a course in the new 4 digit numbering system using an old 3 digit number, please refer to the conversion list below. Before registering for courses with the new 4 digit numbering system, please ensure that you have not previously taken the course in its 3 digit form.

Click here for conversion list of former 3-digit course numbers.

Comparative Literature and Culture 1020 - Western Culture across the Ages
A multi-media overview of the major writers, artists, thinkers, and composers that have shaped Western culture from ancient times to the twenty-first century. Figures studied include Homer, Dante, Michelangelo, Cervantes, Goethe, Dostoevsky, Picasso, Kafka, Borges.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 2 lecture hours, 1 tutorial hour, 1.0 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 1021E - African and Asian Cultures Across the Ages
Through the study of literary texts, visual arts, philosophy, music and film, this introductory survey course will cover major developments in the literatures and civilizations of Africa, the Near East, India, China and Japan.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 1.0 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 1023 - Sex and Culture
Drawing on literature, philosophy, art, and cinema, this introductory course will explore fundamental questions about human sexuality (e.g. What is the origin of sex?). Major works of the erotic imagination will be studied in relation to the cultures represented in them.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 1.0 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2100 - The Capitals of Italian Culture
An overview of Italian culture from antiquity to the present day; designed as a tour through Rome, Florence, Urbino, Siena, Trieste, Venice, etc. Each cultural capital will be explored with reference to architecture and city planning, finance and technology, cuisine, literature, music, opera, film, and visual arts. Taught in English.
Antirequisite(s): Italian 2100
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 1.0 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2101 - The Hispanic Experience
An interdisciplinary survey of Spanish and Latin-American societies, oriented toward trans-Atlantic contacts and conflicts. Topics covered include history, religion, politics, philosophy, literature, visual arts, and popular culture. Taught in English.
Antirequisite(s): Spanish 2101
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 1.0 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2110F/G - Utopias and Visions of the Future
The course will deal with visions of "the good place" from Genesis to Orwell's 1984.
Antirequisite(s):
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Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2115F/G - The Irrational in 20th-Century Literature and Art
An interdisciplinary study of surrealism in European literature and art, and of magic realism in Latin American fiction. Special emphasis will be placed on their relationship with contemporary psychological and anthropological thought. Readings will include Freud, Jung, Breton and García Márquez. Examples of surrealism in art will be shown.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2120F/G - The Grotesque
The reading will concentrate on absurd and irrational views of human existence. The role of black humour and supernatural elements in Poe, Gogol, Kafka and others will be studied. Examples of the grotesque in art will also be shown.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2130F/G - International Children's Literature
This course surveys the children's novel of the 19th and 20th centuries. Works of pure fantasy as well as realistic novels are read. Novels for young readers and teenagers from a variety of non-English-speaking countries are covered. All works are read in English translation.
Antirequisite(s): The former CLC 191G if taken in 2002/03
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2150F/G - The Languages of Europe
A linguistic survey of Western and Eastern Europe with emphasis on the principal structural features of the contemporary languages and the main lines of their historical and cultural development. Among the issues discussed: language vs dialect, language classification and typology, the development of writing systems. No previous training in linguistics required.
Antirequisite(s): Linguistics 2250F/G
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2188F/G - The Comic in European Literature
A survey of the comic, satiric, grotesque, and carnivalesque in European literature. Emphasis will be placed on the sociopolitical context of literature and the use of the comic as a subversive device.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2191F/G-2194F/G - Special Topic in Comparative Literature and Culture
Please consult department for current offering.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2204F/G - Research Methods
Mandatory for students in CLC Honors Specialization, Major and Specialization modules. This course will consider how to do research and write academic papers in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.
Antirequisite(s): German 2204F/G and Spanish 2204F/G
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2205F/G - Introduction to Literary Theory
Mandatory for students in CLC Honors Specialization, Major, and Specialization modules. Students will study different methods of literary interpretation with emphasis on 20th century critical theory and engage in literary analysis.
Antirequisite(s): The former French 132a/b, French 3700F/G and Spanish 2205F/G, German 2205F/G.
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2210E - Mediterranean Studies
An introduction to the interactions among the diverse cultural, religious, ethnic, linguistic, and political communities of the Mediterranean world. Topics covered will be drawn from textual and material culture (literature, thought, art, architecture, science, clothing, cuisine, etc.).
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, 1021E, the former CLC 1021, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 1.0 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2211F/G - Mediterranean Cultures: Special Topics
A study of cultural, religious, ethnic, linguistic, and political communities in the Mediterranean Basin, and of the interactions brought about by contact, conflict, and geographic mobility.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, 1021E, the former CLC 1021, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2212F/G - Mediterranean Cultures: Special Topics
A study of cultural, religious, ethnic, linguistic, and political communities in the Mediterranean Basin, and of the interactions brought about by contact, conflict, and geographic mobility.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, 1021E or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2218F/G - Spanish Civilization
An introduction to the historical evolution of Spain accompanied by selected political and philosophical texts, artistic products, and other materials.
Antirequisite(s): Spanish 2218F/G
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2219F/G - Spanish American Civilization
An introduction to the cultural evolution of Spanish America accompanied by selected literary, political, and philosophical texts, artistic products, and other materials.
Antirequisite(s): Spanish 2219F/G
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2236F/G - Literature and Culture of the Middle Ages
Medieval European literature from its heroic beginnings to its first great coming of age in the works of chivalry and romantic love is examined in its cultural context. All works are read in modern English translation.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2240F/G - Culture of the Renaissance in Europe
A survey of major works of literature and art by men and women in the social and political context of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2250F/G - Reality and Illusion: Baroque Culture in 17th Century Europe
The dynamics of a period of crisis are revealed in its literature, art and philosophy. Among the figures studied are Bernini, Calderon, Velazquez, Descartes and Galileo.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2260F/G - Culture of the Enlightenment
A survey of artistic and literary manifestations of 18th century European culture. Works by Goldoni, Voltaire and Lessing are among the texts studied.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2270F/G - The Romantic Period
A study of the literature, art, and music of the period 1770-1850 in Europe. Major themes include individualism, Romantic heroism, revolution, and the revival of interest in medievalism, folklore, childhood and nature.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2271F/G - Nineteenth-century Culture
The development of Western literature, philosophy, and aesthetics during the second half of the nineteenth century, in the context of music, painting, and social movements. Authors studied may include: Leopardi, Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Marx, Nietzsche, Ibsen, Dostoevsky, Strindberg, Freud.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2272F/G - Modernism
A study of the literary, artistic, cinematic, and intellectual dimensions of Western modernism, and of their importance as a response to radical changes in human experience occurring between ca.1890 and 1930. The poetry, cinema, prose, and painting of such figures as Pirandello, Joyce, Marinetti, Lang, Kafka, Pessoa, Rilke, Proust, Klee, and Woolf will be studied.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2273F/G - Postmodernism
An approach to the most significant developments in late modern and postmodern Western culture. Authors studied may include Cortázar, Butor, Foucault, Pynchon, Borges, García Márquez, Bacon, Vonnegut.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2275F/G - Dostoevsky
The course involves reading most of Dostoevsky's major fiction, and traces his intellectual and artistic development from his literary debut in 1846, through his Siberian imprisonment, to the publication of Brothers Karamazov in 1880.
Antirequisite(s): Russian 2158F/G and Russian 2258F/G.
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2280F/G - The Great Age of the Novel
Masterpieces of European fiction during the period 1830-1900 and their context within the art and history of the times. Each year a specific topic will be examined in the light of selected readings. Past topics include: Love and Politics, the Adulterous Wife, the Pastoral, the Family, and the Historical Novel.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2285F/G - The Sagas of the Vikings
This early European literary tradition will be approached primarily through the Family Sagas (c. 1225-1325). Among the issues investigated are the heroic ethic, the role of women, the outlawed hero, pagan vs Christian elements.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2290E - Alienation, Protest and Rebellion in Modern European Culture
A study of selected works by some major European writers and artists, expressing criticism of modern life and society, and often pointing to alternative values. Readings will include works by Dostoevsky, Camus, Sartre, and others.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 1.0 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2291F/G-2294F/G - Special Topic in Comparative Literature and Culture
Please consult Department for current offering.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2295F/G - The Modern Short Story
The course will concentrate on selected masterpieces of 19th- and 20th-century short fiction. The genre will be illustrated in such authors as Kleist, Chekhov, Conrad, Mansfield, Hemingway, Cortázar, and will be examined as a relatively stable genre within the framework of changing literary trends, including Romanticism, Realism, Modernism.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 2296F/G - Special Topic in Comparative Literature and Culture
Please consult department for current offering.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course
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Comparative Literature and Culture 3301F/G - Special Topics in Comparative Literature and Culture
Please consult the department for current offerings.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture/tutorial hours, 1 2-hour film screening, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 3302F/G - Special Topics in Comparative Literature and Culture
Please consult the department for current offerings.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s):
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture/tutorial hours, 1 2-hour film screening, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 3333F/G - Dante's Inferno
A study of Dante's Inferno, along with background topics such as medieval theology, cosmology, poetics, and politics.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 3334F/G - Dante's Purgatorio
A study of Dante's Purgatorio, along with background topics such as medieval theology, cosmology, poetics, and politics.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 3335F/G - Dante's Paradiso
A study of Dante's Paradiso, along with background topics such as medieval theology, cosmology, poetics, and politics.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 3370F/G - Documents of German Intellectual History
Texts selected from the intellectual canon of the period from the Reformation to the twentieth century, by such authors as Luther, Kant, Goethe, Schiller, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, and Arendt. The course examines the historical meanings and contexts of these texts.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 3380F/G - Medieval Literature and Modern Cinema
The course studies medieval writings in tandem with films based on them, while also examining other cinematic attempts to recreate a 'real' Middle Ages. Included are the Story of the Grail, Death of King Arthur, Tristan, The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales; and films by Dreyer, Cocteau, Pasolini, Rohmer, and Bresson.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 lecture hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 3391F/G-3394F/G - Special Topic in Comparative Literature and Culture
Please consult Department for current offering.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 4410E - Undergraduate Honors Thesis in Comparative Literature and Culture
The thesis will be written in the fourth year and will be directed by a member of the Modern Languages and Literatures faculty.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): 80% average in preceding year and permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 1.0 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 4411F/G - Mediterranean Cultures: Advanced Topics
Advanced study of cultural, religious, ethnic, linguistic, and political communities in the Mediterranean Basin, and of the interactions brought about by contact, conflict, and geographic mobility.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 2210E, or permission of the Department.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 4470F/G - Author, Authorship, Autobiography in the Middle Ages
Beginning with a study of St. Augustine's Confessions, this course explores the first-person textualization of the authorial self in writings up to 1300. Specific attention will be given to both medieval and modern theories of the author and autobiography.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): Restricted to fourth year students in the CLC Honors Specialization or Major module.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 4471F/G - Autobiography and Pseudo-autobiography of the Late Middle Ages
This course explores the autobiographical "literature of the self" by men and women writing in the late Middle Ages. Texts will be read in light of both medieval and modern theories of autobiography, authorship, pseudo-autobiography and 'autofiction'.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): Restricted to fourth year students in the CLC Honors Specialization or Major module.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 4491F/G-4492F/G - Advanced Topic in Comparative Literature and Culture
Seminar course; please consult Department for current offering.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020 and one other CLC course.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 seminar hours, 0.5 course.
Limited Enrolment.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 4493F/G - Directed Studies in Comparative Literature and Culture
The subject will be selected by students in consultation with an instructor.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020 and at least one honors level CLC course.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 0.5 course.
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Comparative Literature and Culture 4494F/G-4495F/G - Advanced Topics in Comparative Literature and Culture
Seminar course: please consult Department for current offerings.
Antirequisite(s):
Prerequisite(s): CLC 1020 and one other CLC course.
Corequisite(s):
Pre-or Corequisite(s):
Extra Information: 3 hours, 0.5 course.
Limited enrolment.
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Academic Calendar 2008 UNDERGRADUATE COURSE INFORMATION Comparative Literature and Culture (A)
Decision Academic