Different topics are offered and, in a number of cases, cross-listed with other departments. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours on different topics. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Through close readings of masterpieces of French medieval and Renaissance literature in conjunction with contemporary criticism and theory, explores the contexts of medieval and Renaissance France. Readings in French. May be taught in English to accommodate students in other programs. May be repeated up to 12 total credit hours on different topics. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Close readings of tragedies by (among others) Corneille and Racine, placed in the context of baroque and neoclassical political and artistic culture as illustrated by philosophy, painting, and science. Drawing on recent criticism and theory, explores heroic drama's role as a symptom and agent of early modern French social and intellectual history. Readings in French, but may be taught in English. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Close readings of major works by, e.g., Descartes, Pascal, La Fayette, La Rochefoucauld, and La Bruyere. Themes include 17th century theories of self, early modern epistemology, notions of honnetete and the critical analysis of human motives and behavior, the emerging novel, and the critique of heroic idealism and of the monarchic absolutism of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Readings in French, but may be taught in English. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Close readings of the comedies in context with the works of, e.g., Corneille, Rotrou, Cyrano, Boileau, and La Fontaine. Themes include Moliere and the institution of literary authorship, comedy's role as social critique, the deconstruction of the early modern subject, and the cultural politics of the scandals surrounding L'ecole des femmes and Tartuffe. Readings in French, but may be taught in English. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Focuses on the uses of literature to address the revolutionary philosophical, scientific, religious, and/or sociopolitical questions of the day. Explores Diderot and d'alembert's Encyclopedie, Voltaire and Diderot's philosophical tales and dialogues, Rousseau's Discours, and other writings. Discusses the development of specific literary forms to promote the ideas and goals of the philosophers to reach a changing and diverse readership and to fight censorship. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Focuses on the study of a specific literary genre (e.g., theatre, the novel) or on the global production of a major author (e.g., Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau). Discussion stresses both the uniqueness of the genre/writer and their significance as representatives of the century's changing society and culture. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours during a student's graduate career. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Taught in French and English. Focuses on literary structures proposed by author to reader as games. Considers critical texts, both practical and theoretical, with a view toward defining the relation between criticism and its objects. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
May be repeated up to 3 total credit hours, except with permission of the director of graduate studies. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
All doctoral students must register for no fewer than 30 hours of dissertation credit as part of the requirements for the degree. For a detailed discussion of doctoral dissertation credit, refer to the Graduate School section. Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
