From their very foundations, the activities of thinking about the world and representing it in words have been so closely intertwined that the disciplines of “philosophy” and “literature” are sometimes still indistinguishable from each other. In this seminar, we will examine both philosophical works that employ literary means and literary works that develop philosophical ideas across a range of -isms, including (but not limited to) Platonism, Romanticism, Marxism, Freudism, existentialism, and feminism. At the same time, we will consider competing notions of what literature is for and how we can use it to develop a greater understanding of the world and our own place in it.

Writers discussed in this seminar will include Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Shakespeare, Camus, Spivak, Ngugi, and Carson, among others.

Coursework will focus on developing and presenting students’ individual projects (capstones, theses, etc.).

Course Requirements:

Very active discussion and debate; an in-class presentation of the student’s individual project; a final working paper (4000-5000 words) developing the student’s individual project.

Intended Audience:

This course is primarily intended for advanced undergraduates in Comparative Literature and allied Humanities fields.

Class Format:

This course meets in a seminar format.