A survey of European drama and prose classics from the thirteenth to the twentieth century, this course explores and critically evaluates the shift in worldviews from Dante's Christian humanism to Kafka's and Camus' modern existentialist view of human existence. In order to provide depth to our analysis of the works and to highlight the significance of the shift in worldview, the works will be discussed in their historical, philosophical, and cultural contexts, in combination with close reading and various theoretical interpretative approaches.

Focuses on the rich and varied visionary and mystical literature of the early, high and late Middle Ages, including the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux, Richard of St. Victor, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, Richard Rolle, the author of the Cloud of Unknowing, and Meister Eckhart. The influence of early theologians and philosophers (such as Origen, Plotinus, and Augustine) on these mystics is considered in detail, as is the influence of the medieval mystics on mystical thinkers of Renaissance Europe (including Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross).

Literature has been at the centre of the human story from its beginnings as recorded in ancient sacred texts to its current study as cultural narrative with transformative and transcendent possibilities for interpretation and creativity. This course will explore literary themes integral to the pursuit of Christian spirituality, past and present. The movement to interdisciplinary interpretation and literary hermeneutics demands that students, as readers of text, understand the role that Christian thought and aesthetics have played in their influencing of contemporary literature.

Examines representative works of twentieth century American literary prose and the development of its themes in various historical, political, and socio-cultural contexts, including the major wars and social upheavals in which American society has been involved in the last one hundred years. Students examine the major themes and values that comprise a canon of literature which addresses the literary movements characterized by realism and naturalism and the contexts of modernism and postmodernism to which literature has responded in the American tradition.

A survey of the major interpretive approaches to literature in contemporary theory and practice, considering the social and intellectual context out of which each approach arises.

A study of works written in English by writers from postcolonial nations, focussing on issues related to postcolonialism and literature.

A study of the poetry and nonfiction prose of British writers during the Victorian era, situating these works in their historical and social contexts.

A study of the literary works of the major writers of the eighteenth century.

A study of selected works written by women in seventeenth-century Britain and America, situated in their cultural contexts.

A study of selected works of Renaissance poetry and prose (excluding those by Shakespeare and Milton), situated in their cultural contexts.