Credit: 3 hours.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for a
Literature and the Arts course.

Explores a combination of western and non-western literature through the focus on a shared theme, exploring differences in treatment both within and among different cultures. Two such thematic focuses are offered in rotation; one on concepts of love and one on ways of writing about death. Both themes introduce students to a wide array of famous texts from different cultures and also offer some varied perspectives for their own inevitable thoughts on these major topics. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 hours if topics vary. Students may register in more than one section per term.

Section Information
CRN	Type	Section	Time	Days	Location	Instructor
45988	lecture- discussion	AV	10:00 AM - 10:50 AM	MWF	room 282 Bevier Hall	Vivancos Alvarez, A
3 hours Literature and the Arts course. Spanish Culture in Film: Constructing contemporary Spain What is "Spain"? A number of images and stereotypes inform a multifaceted collage that conform the international image of this country. This course will seek to build a more complex understanding of its cultures and contemporary issues. These will include questions like nationalisms, immigration, notions of gender and sexuality, the memory of the Civil War and the Franco regime, and the transition to a democratic government. To be able to analyze Spanish culture, we will work mainly with films. We will also use literature, but "Literature" will be considered broadly and will include fiction, but also articles from the press and scholarly articles. Our aim will be not only to understand the construction of contemporary Spain, but to get tools that allow us to analyze cultural materials, and to be able to apply them critically both inside and outside the classroom.
48055	lecture- discussion	NB	11:00 AM - 12:20 PM	TR	room G24 Foreign Languages Bldg	Blake, N
3 hours Discovery, and Literature and the Arts course. TOPIC: CWL 151 Love and Death: from novel to film This discovery course will compare literary works from around the world to their film adaptations. We will analyze the specific means the different media use to convey a message. What is lost and what is gained in the transfer? By looking at films made in a different country from the original source in the book, we will ask how cultural tradition influences the film industry. Another concern will be the relative cost of production and how that factor shapes the producer?s vision of a target audience. Works to be examined include Jane Austin?s Sense and Sensibility and the film directed by Ang Lee, Thomas Mann?s Death in Venice and the film directed by Lucchiono Visconti, Raise the Red Lantern by Su Tong and the film of the same name by Zhang Yimou, Patricia Highsmith?s The Talented Mr. Ripley and two film versions, one French and one American. We will also study the case of a writer Yukio Mishima who directed and acted in his own film version of one of his best known fictions. There will be class screenings and the films will also be available in the undergraduate library for individual study. Students will be evaluated on class participation and will write short response papers as well as give class presentations. There will be a midterm and a final examination.

View schedules for

CWL 151Cross-Cultural Thematics

CWL 151
Cross-Cultural Thematics