English
Literature and the Land
English
Literature and the Land
In this course, students will participate in outdoor excursions that prompt them to contemplate their relationship to the natural world. Drawing on an array of classical and contemporary environmental writers, including Edward Abbey, Gretchen Legler, Henry...
Shakespeare in Stratford
English
Shakespeare in Stratford
This course is the centerpiece of the Stratford Program. Students attend performances of the plays produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace. The reading list is designed around the offerings of the...
Beats, Rhymes and Narrative
English
Beats, Rhymes and Narrative
Hip-hop music’s influence on popular culture, literature, entertainment and politics is undeniable. This course will examine the relationship between hip-hop and storytelling. Course texts will consist of weekly listening sessions, scholarly articles on...
Literature in Stratford
English
Literature in Stratford
One of the advantages of the Stratford Program is the opportunity to study literature in the very places that inform the settings, themes, characters and concerns of the texts. The specific topic for this course varies from year to year and is dependent upon...
Literature of California
English
Literature of California
In his apocalyptic novel, The Day of the Locust, Nathanael West’s main character surmises that most people “had come to California to die.” The state’s literary inheritance, however, is alive and well, and this class will launch forays...
Art of Protest
English
Art of Protest
From the grittiness of rap to the density of civil disobedience, this course examines a variety of literary-artistic protests. The approach is multicultural and interdisciplinary. Possibilities include poets of color, gay playwrights, feminist novelists and...
Queer Literature
English
Queer Literature
This course explores the experience and self-definition of several major queer writers – in fiction, poetry and memoir. The course is intended for any students who want to deepen their understanding of queer identity as expressed in literature and film....
Looking for Zora
English
Looking for Zora
In this course, we will examine the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston, “A Genius of the South.” While she is best known for the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, she published more than 50 short stories, essays and plays. She was also an...
Kazuo Ishiguro
English
Kazuo Ishiguro
Topically, the fiction of Japanese-born British Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro is elusive, whether he is evoking the complexity and trauma of post-war Japan, improvising with Arthurian legend or flirting with dystopian science fiction. He’s a...
Cormac McCarthy
English
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy once wrote, “If it doesn’t concern life and death, it’s not interesting.” Not surprisingly, his novels abandon the domestic in favor of the epic. They explore the inevitability of conflict, the nature of evil and our...