Fall 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n A senior Literature seminar, this is an interdisciplinary course examining fictional and non-fictional literature on American law. Much of American philosophy and culture are embedded in its literature, and the literature of the law is a particularly rich site for studying American life and its legal culture. The field of literature and law recognizes how essentially stories shape the field of law, how an understanding of the ambiguity inherent in studying literature can assist anyone examining the law, and how such literary acts as character analysis and inference, among others, span the two disciplines. This movement includes law as<\/u> literature, which we will also examine but which will not be our principal focus. <\/span> Fall 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n This is an interdisciplinary, literature-based course examining fictional and non-fictional literature on American law. There is an emerging field of literature and law which recognizes how essentially stories shape the field of law, how an understanding of the ambiguity inherent in studying literature can assist anyone examining the law, and how such literary acts as character analysis and inference span the two disciplines. Much of American philosophy and culture are embedded in its literature, and the literature of the law is a particularly rich site for exploring the meaning of American life and its legal culture. In this class we will examine the work of one author in detail. Our goal is to understand the work of this author in a During the semester we will be looking at Arthurian literature. The first half of the course will focus on the origins of the Arthurian legend and its medieval developments; in the second half we will consider retellings of the legend in later centuries. Through a series of linked assignments culminating in a research paper, students will explore how the legend changes as it is taken up by different authors and cultures.<\/p>\n The Graphic Narrative studies the rise and development of what some consider a “new” literary form: the graphic novel Time<\/strong>: 9:45-11:15 am Days<\/strong>: MR Time<\/strong>: 9:45-11:15 am Days<\/strong>: TF Time<\/strong>: 2:00-3:30 pm Days<\/strong>: MR Time<\/strong>: 8:00-9:30 am Days<\/strong>: MR Time<\/strong>: 6:00 pm – 9:15 pm \/Days<\/strong>: T Time<\/strong>: 11:30 am – 1:00 pm\/Days<\/strong>: MRLITR 414 AMERICAN LITERATURE AND LAW<\/h4>\n
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<\/div><\/p>\nLITR 295 TOPICS IN POPULAR LITERATURE: Gothic Literature<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div><\/div>\nLITR 319 AUTHOR STUDIES: Toni Morrison and Virginia Woolf<\/h4>\n
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In very different cultural contexts, Toni Morrison and Virginia Woolf tell and retell personal and collective stories in such a way that asks readers to explore their own lives in terms of larger stories of compassion and survival. In the telling of stories, Morrison and Woolf rely on memory as central to understanding one\u2019s identity and place in history. In this course, we will closely read their texts and analyze both the differences and similarities that bind together and separate these two great twentieth century writers. We will look at the historical and intellectual currents that have influenced these writers\u2019 works. At the same time, we will examine their narrative strategies, their use of language, and their thematic concerns.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div><\/strong><\/p>\nLITR 414 Literature Seminar: American Literature and Law<\/h4>\n
\n<\/div><\/p>\nLITR 414 Literature Seminar: The Performance of Everyday Life<\/h4>\n
![\"97805202714561-200x300\"](\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/hgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2014\/09\/97805202714561-200x300.jpg\")
Prior to the twentieth century, most people assumed that \u201cgreat art\u201d was defined by its ability to transcend the concerns and constraints of popular, everyday life. However, the twentieth century welcomed a number of artists, philosophers and activists who challenged the sacred line separating \u201cart\u201d from \u201creal life.\u201d These vanguard artists and scholars challenged traditional definitions of art by asking: What happens if we apply what we know about literary interpretation to the world outside of the book? If all the world is truly a stage, can we analyze that stage the way we analyze dramatic performances? What props and what settings shape the variety of characters we perform in our daily routines? How are theatrical rituals related to other social rituals, and how are these related to quotidian habits (e.g. ordering food, making jokes, puttering, or walking through the city)? How is the line separating art from everyday life constructed and maintained by institutions such as schools, churches, museums, galleries, and courts? This course will introduce students to an interdisciplinary field known as \u201ceveryday life studies,\u201d a growing field that combines the methods and insights of literary studies with those of theatre and performance studies, anthropology, psychoanalysis, political theory, cartography, architecture, the visual arts, and sociology. The main text in the class will be the everyday life and world of the students, but we will also read essays by writers who have blurred the distinction between the \u201caesthetic\u201d and the \u201ceveryday.\u201d Such writers may include Walter Benjamin, Bertol Brecht, Michel de Certeau, Siegfried Kracauer, Sigmund Freud, Roland Barthes, Erving Goffman, Richard Scheckner, Guy Debord, J.L. Austin, Jacques Derrida and Slavoj \u017di\u017eek.<\/p>\n\n
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\nSpring 2017<\/strong><\/p>\nLITR 319 AUTHOR STUDIES: Mark Twain<\/h4>\n
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variety of contexts. While we want to be able to appreciate the works for their individual merits, we also want to approach the work in historical and biographical contexts. Through intensive study of one author, we hope to gain insight into his artistic project, and to become \u201cexperts\u201d on a major literary figure. The writer whose work we will examine is virtually synonymous with American for much of the world. Mark Twain was one of first American literary celebrities nationwide and abroad. A southerner who went west, and later settled in Connecticut, Twain could represent the nation in a way that few other writers could. He was also perceived abroad as, in Twain\u2019s words \u201cNot an American,\u201d but \u201cthe American.\u201d Through a reading of Twain\u2019s fiction and non-fiction, we will grapple with a writer whose savage wit and literary daring still shocks and delights readers almost a century after his death.<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\nLITR 319 AUTHOR STUDIES: Franz Kafka<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/d\/d3\/Franz_Kafka_1917.jpg\")
Kafka, a Central European author, is internationally known and of influence, especially in the early 20th century. His novels, prose, and short stories are widely taught and shared, most commonly \u201cThe Metamorphosis\u201d and The Trial. Not only does his creative form contribute to the literary world, but his narrative art captivates Central European society, history, and political tension during his lifetime. His thematic elements of isolation, personification, methodology, and allegory create a background for his German heritage and hometown in the Czech Republic, Prague. Required course readings will cover some of the most well-known writings of Franz Kafka as well as writings on Kafka major literary critics have produced.<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\nLITR 414 Literature Seminar: Arthurian Literature
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<\/div>\nLITR 279 The Graphic Narrative<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"graphic-narrative-page-001\"](\"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/hgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2014\/09\/graphic-narrative-page-001.jpg\")
<\/a>(or graphic narrative, or sequential art, or comic book). Of course, this “new” art form is at least a century old. In this course, we will consider the graphic narratives primarily as literary texts. Of course, graphic narratives are also works of visual art. Comics are filled with pictures, but these are not illustrations in the traditional sense\u2014they are part of the language of the form. Students will need to negotiate two symbol systems\u2014cartooning and language\u2014and determine how they work together to create meaning. While many think of the graphic novel as an American form, it has become an international phenomenon. We will read comics from around the globe and consider them in cultural, historical, and literary contexts. To help us with this analysis, students will be asked to apply various theoretical concepts to the comics, including Cultural and Marxist Criticism. We will also read works in theory and criticism, as well as traditional literary texts.
\n<\/div><\/p>\n<\/h5>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
319-01 AUTHOR STUDIES: WOOLF\/MORRISON<\/h4>\n
\nProfessor<\/strong>: Lisa Williams (liwillia@ramapo.edu<\/a>)
\nDescription:<\/strong> In very different cultural contexts, Toni Morrison and Virginia Woolf tell and retell personal and collective stories in such a way that asks readers to explore their own lives in terms of larger stories of compassion and survival. In the telling of stories, Morrison and Woolf rely on memory as central to understanding one\u2019s identity and place in history. In this course, we will closely read their texts and analyze both the differences and similarities that bind together and separate these two great twentieth century writers. We will look at the historical and intellectual currents that have influenced these writers\u2019 works. At the same time, we will examine their narrative strategies, their use of language, and their thematic concerns.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n319-02 AUTHOR STUDIES: AUGUST WILSON<\/h4>\n
\nProfessor<\/strong>: Donald Fucci (dfucci@ramapo.edu<\/a>)
\nDescription:<\/strong> The course will study August Wilson’s monumental contribution’s to 20th century American theater. We will focus on the “Pittsburgh Cycle,” Wilson’s 10 play series that charts the African American experience throughout the 20th century, decade by decade. Plays to be examined include “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson” among others.
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\n<\/div><\/p>\n414-01 SEMINAR: ARTHURIAN LITERATURE<\/h4>\n
\nProfessor<\/strong>: Yvette L Kisor (ykisor@ramapo.edu<\/a>)
\nDescription<\/strong>: During the semester we will be looking at Arthurian literature. The first half of the course will focus on the origins of the Arthurian legend and its medieval developments; in the second half we will consider retellings of the legend in later centuries. Through a series of linked assignments culminating in a research paper, students will explore how the legend changes as it is taken up by different authors and cultures. LITR 41402 INTERNATIONAL MODERNISM: This course will look at modernism–the artistic period taking place between the two world wars–from an international perspective. We will look closely at both the form and content of literary texts as we analyze how different writers contributed to this movement. The effects of World War I, as well as the discoveries of Freud and Einstein, radically changed how people responded to the world around them. We will examine how artists, particularly writers, reacted to the great upheavals of the early 20th century.<\/p>\n414-02 SEMINAR: INTERNATIONAL MODERNISM<\/h4>\n
\nProfessor<\/strong>: Lisa Williams (liwillia@ramapo.edu<\/a>)
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\nEmail Professor Williams if you have any questions regarding the class.
\n<\/div><\/p>\nLITR 319-01: AUTHOR STUDIES: MARK TWAIN<\/h4>\n
\nProfessor<\/strong>: Edward A. Shannon (eshannon@ramapo.edu)
\nDescription:<\/strong> In this class we will examine the work of one author in detail. Our goal is to understand the work of this author in a variety of contexts. While we want to be able to appreciate the works for their individual merits, we also want to approach the work in historical and biographical contexts. Through intensive study of one author, we hope to gain insight into his artistic project, and to become \u201cexperts\u201d on a major literary figure.
\nThe writer whose work we will examine is virtually synonymous with American for much of the world. Mark Twain was one of first American literary celebrities nationwide and abroad. A southerner who went west, and later settled in Connecticut, Twain c
\nould represent the nation in a way that few other writers could. He was also perceived abroad as, in Twain\u2019s words \u201cNot an American,\u201d but \u201cthe American.\u201d Through a reading of Twain\u2019s fiction and non-fiction, we will grapple with a writer whose savage wit and literary daring still shocks and delights readers almost a century after his death.
\nThis course fulfills either the Author Studies requirement, or the American Literature requirement of the English & Literary Studies Major. It also counts as one of the three 300-level courses English & Literary Studies Majors must take. At the same time, it can fulfill the American Literature requirement for secondary Teacher Education Content Area Requirements (Literature).<\/strong>
\n<\/div><\/p>\nLITR 414 -01: SEMINAR: Jerseyana: New Jersey Literature and Culture<\/h4>\n
Time: <\/strong>8:00 am – 9:30 am\/ Days:<\/strong> MR
\nProfessor<\/strong>: Patricia M. Ard
\nNew Jersey has been called the \u201cmost American state,\u201d by former United States Poet Laureate and New Jersey native Robert Pinsky. The state has a long history of attracting and creating artists, including writers. The most densely populated of the fifty states, it packs a rich diversity of topography, including the Jersey Shore and the Pine Barrens, as well as ethnicities, into its small borders. Often the target of jokes from its neighbors Pennsylvania and New York, the Garden State has in the recent several decades gained an appreciative world wide audience for its quirky, proud character. This multi-disciplinary senior seminar will explore the state\u2019s essence through its authors, literature, history and culture, using books, poems, essays, music, TV and film.
\nThis course can fulfill either the Capstone OR American Literature requirement of the English & Literary Studies Major. At the same time, it can fulfill one of the American requirements for secondary education English certification.<\/strong>
\n<\/div><\/p>\nFALL 2013: LITR 319 AUTHOR STUDIES & LITR 414 LITERATURE SEMINAR & NEW COURSES<\/strong><\/h4>\n
LITR 319-01: AUTHOR STUDIES: CHAUCER<\/h4>\n
\nProfessor<\/strong>: Yvette L. Kisor (ykisor@ramapo.edu)
\nDescription:<\/strong> This course focuses on some of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. The majority of the course (9 weeks) will be spent examining The Canterbury Tales. We will study a generous selection of the tales in some detail, as well as examine the work as a whole. In addition, several weeks will be spent focusing on Troilus and Criseyde and The Legend of Good Women, as well as some of the shorter poems. We will read Chaucer in the original Middle English, and will focus on the language as part of our study, as well as consider relevant social and political contexts of Chaucer\u2019s day, and examine some of the critical and interpretive issues that have especially concerned scholars This course focuses on some of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. The majority of the course (9 weeks) will be spent examining The Canterbury Tales. We will study a generous selection of the tales in some detail, as well as examine the work as a whole. In addition, several weeks will be spent focusing on Troilus and Criseyde and The Legend of Good Women, as well as some of the shorter poems. We will read Chaucer in the original Middle English, and will focus on the language as part of our study, as well as consider relevant social and political contexts of Chaucer\u2019s day, and examine some of the critical and interpretive issues that have especially concerned scholars.
\nThis course fulfills either the Author Studies requirement OR the pre-1800 Literature requirement. It also counts as one of the three 300-level courses English & Literary Studies Majors must take. At the same time, it can fulfill the British Literature requirement for secondary Teacher Education Content Area Requirements (Literature).<\/strong>
\n<\/div><\/p>\nLITR 319-02: AUTHOR STUDIES: Edwidge Dantica<\/h4>\n