This course examines ideas surrounding the gothic and horror genre across American literature and film. What makes us terrified of the dark? What stylistic techniques do writers and directors use to convey our fears? And what are their intentions? Possible materials include Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories, Henry James’s novella The Turn of the Screw, the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and the films The Others, Halloween (1978), and Alien.

This course will offer a survey of contemporary Latin American literature and film. The selection of works introduces students to pertinent issues addressed across cultures in Latin America such as coming of age, migration, Magical Realism, immigration, gender roles, and racial conflicts. Possible materials include stories from Julia Alvarez’s How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and Junot Díaz’s Drown, Laura Esquivel’s novel Like Water for Chocolate, poetry by Pablo Neruda, and the films Maria Full of Grace and Coco

Flash fiction is a genre of fiction characterized by its brief nature, usually consisting of only several hundred words. In this course, we will read several dozen examples of flash fiction, including but not limited to the micro-memoirs of Beth Ann Fennelly (Heating & Cooling), and the weird, awesome, and often unsettling flash fiction of Etgar Keret (The Girl on the Fridge). We will look at the importance of word choice and tone when length is so limited, as well as take a stab at crafting our own flash fiction collection.

Apocalyptic literature reveals the author’s vision of “End Times,” that is, what happens to humanity when traditional ways of life come to an end. In this course, we will look at the apocalypse as it is envisioned by a variety of authors. Possible texts include McCarthy’s The Road, Mandel’s Station Eleven, and Oliva’s The Last One. While all texts in this course expose a haunting post-apocalyptic world, we will ask (and answer) some important questions about what an apocalypse might mean for the future. Moreover, what if an apocalypse happens and we don’t know? Though the stories all different in nature, each carries several common threads of perseverance, tenacity, and strength.

Do you recognize this language? Written in Sanskrit, an ancient Hindu language (almost 3,500 years old!) this line loosely translates to “All that I have to learn is within me.” In the last 100 years, many South Asian authors have emerged on the global literary scene. And yet, often, their work is classified as ‘exotic’ or ‘different’ and not as important or lasting as more classical western literature. Yet as the Sanskrit quote indicates, many would argue that South Asian authors capture the unique parallel experience of being an insider and also an outsider in their post-colonial landscapes. In this advanced level course, students will explore several different works by authors such as Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, as well as others, all why asking the question, “What does it mean to remake worlds in literature?”

Wendell Berry boldly asserts, “If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are.” During our trimester together, we will explore this idea of a fundamental connection between self, community, and place. This discussion-based course presents an opportunity to read and respond to literature that explores the relationship between people and the natural world. We consider a variety of topics: What is nature? What are our obligations to the natural world, and how do those obligations inform–or conflict with–our obligations to one another? What constitutes a sense of place, and what role does this concept play in developing a sustainable relationship with the land? As we consider the way writers have viewed nature, we will examine and shape our own attitudes and beliefs about the relationship between the written word and the world around us. Analytical and creative writing assignments will provide opportunities both for analysis of the readings and for introspection, and this class will frequently take us outside.

This course will focus on powerful women who were, in many ways, pioneers as they each sought to rebel and seek a life outside of a masculine society. Looking at these texts in translation (from Greek and Norwegian), students spend time looking at the development of Drama from the 5th century tragedians to modern day and where these two plays fall on that spectrum. We will look at a variety of English translations of these two plays, write analytically, engage with literary criticism, and act out small scenes. If possible, we will try to see a professional production as well.