Fall 2009

Lower Division Courses

COM 1: Great Books of Western Civilization - The Ancient World (4 Units)

STAFF (Sec. 1, MW 10:00-11:50, 267 Olson) CRN 17302
STAFF (Sec. 2, MW 12:10-2:00, 229 Wellman) CRN 17303
Patricia Mackinnon, Lecturer (Sec. 3, TR 10:00-11:50, 7 Wellman)* This section is strictly for students under the Davis Honors Challenge

Course Description: An introduction, through class discussion and frequent written assignments, to some of the great books of western civilization from The Epic of Gilgamesh to St. Augustine's The Confessions. This course may be counted toward satisfaction of the English Composition Requirement in all three undergraduate colleges.

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 4 hours. Limited to 25 students per section; pre-enrollment is strongly advised. Emphasis is on classroom discussion of the readings, supplemented by occasional lectures. Students write frequent short papers and take a final examination.

Textbooks (vary from section to section):
The New Oxford Annotated Bible; Homer, The Odyssey; Virgil, The Aeneid; Plato, The SymposiumThe Epic of Gilgamesh;
St. Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions; Sophocles, Antigone; Salvatore Alloso, A Short Handbook for Writing Essays about Literature.


COM 2: Great Books of Western Civilization - From the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment (4 Units)

STAFF (Sec. 1, MW 12:10-2:00, 235 Wellman) CRN 17305
STAFF (Sec. 2, MW 2:10-4:00, 105 Wellman) CRN 17306
STAFF (Sec. 3, TR 10:00-11:50, 227 Wellman) CRN 17307

Course Description: An introduction to some major works from the medieval period to the "Enlightenment"; close readings and discussion, supplemented with short lectures to provide cultural and generic contexts. May be counted toward satisfaction of the English Composition requirement in all three undergraduate colleges.

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 4 hours. Limited to 25 students per section; pre-enrollment is strongly advised. Emphasis is on classroom discussion of the readings, supplemented by occasional lectures. Students write frequent short papers and take a final examination.

Textbooks (vary from section to section):
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote; Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method; William Shakespeare, OthelloDante, The Inferno of Dante;
Beowulf; Salvatore Alloso, A Short Handbook for Writing Essays about Literature.


COM 3: Great Books of Western Civilization - The Modern Crisis (4 Units)

STAFF (Sec. 1, MW 8:00-9:50, 117 Olson) CRN 17308
STAFF (Sec. 2, MW 10:00-11:50, 7 Wellman) CRN 17309
STAFF (Sec. 3, TR 12:10-2:00, 103 Wellman) CRN 17310
STAFF (Sec. 4, TR 2:10-4:00, 103 Wellman) CRN 17311

Course Description: An introduction, through class discussion and the writing of short papers, to some of the great books of the modern age, from Goethe's Faust to Beckett's Waiting for Godot. This course may be counted toward satisfaction of the English Composition Requirement in all three undergraduate colleges. GE credit: (ArtHum, Wrt).

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 4 hours. Limited to 25 students per section; pre-enrollment is strongly advised. Emphasis is on classroom discussion of the readings, supplemented by occasional lectures. Students write frequent short papers and take a final examination.

Textbooks (vary from section to section):
J.W. von Goethe, Faust (Part 1); Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents; Franz Kafka, The Trial; Mary Shelley, Frankenstein;
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground; Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own; Salvatore Alloso, A Short Handbook for Writing Essays about Literature.


COM 4: Major Books of the Contemporary World (4 Units)

STAFF (Sec. 1, MW 2:10-4:00, 103 Wellman) CRN 17312
STAFF (Sec. 2, MW 4:10-6:00, 125 Wellman) CRN 17313
STAFF (Sec. 3, TR 8:00-9:50, 167 Olson) CRN 17314
STAFF (Sec. 4, TR 2:10-4:00, 101 Wellman) CRN 17311

Course Description: Comparative study of selected major Western and non-Western texts composed in the period from 1945 to the present. May be counted towards satisfaction of the English Composition requirement in all three undergraduate colleges.

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 4 hours. Limited to 25 students per section; pre-enrollment is strongly advised. Emphasis is on classroom discussion of the readings, supplemented by occasional lectures. Students write frequent short papers and take a final examination.

Textbooks (vary from section to section):
Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; Jhumpa Lahari, The Namesake; J.M. Coetzee, Foe: A Novel;
Elfriede Jelinek, Women As Lovers; Tayeb Salih, Season of Migration to the North.


COM 5: Fairy Tales, Fables, and Parables (4 Units)
Brenda Schildgen, Professor

Lecture: TR 12:10-1:30, 1002 Giedt

Discussion Sections:
Sec. 1 (M 4:10-5:00, 110 Hunt) CRN 43937
Sec. 2 (M 5:10-6:00, 110 Hunt) CRN 43938
Sec. 3 (T 5:10-6:00, 1342 Storer) CRN 43939
Sec. 4 (W 4:10-5:00, 141 Olson) CRN 43940
Sec. 5 (R 5:10-6:00, 1342 Storer) CRN 43941
Sec. 6 (F 9:00-9:50, 1128 Hart) CRN 43942

Course Description: Traversing the globe, this course is a “genre” course that discusses the origin and development of the popular (or folk) genres of fables, fairy tales, and parables, and follows their development and evolution into their modern forms. The class surveys the social, political, anthropological, psychological, and literary elements of these genres in their various incarnations throughout time and space primarily as literature that would result in the modern novel.

Grading: You will have two exams, which comprise a midterm and one final, plus two four-page papers. The first paper is a revision of the essay on the first exam. The first exam is worth 15% of your grade, the first paper is worth 20%, the second 30%, and the final is worth 25%. The remaining 10% will be awarded for your participation during discussion sessions that you are required to attend.

Textbooks:

  • G. Basile, Pentamerone
  • William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • The Arabian Nights: Sinbad and Other Popular Stories
  • The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer
  • Carlo Collodi, The Adventures of Pinocchio
  • S. Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories
  • L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz
  • B. Schildgen and G. Van den Abbeele (eds.), A World of Fables
  • Anne Sexton, Transformations

COM 7: Literature of Fantasy (4 Units)
Neil Larsen, Professor

Lecture: TR 3:10-4:30, 1002 Giedt

Discussion Sections:
Sec. 1 (M 6:10-7:00, 105 Olson) CRN 43901
Sec. 2 (T 5:10-6:00, 251 Olson ) CRN 43902
Sec. 3 (W 6:10-7:00, 105 Olson) CRN 43903
Sec. 4 (R 5:10-6:00, 251 Olson) CRN 43904
Sec. 5 (F 12:10-1:00, 235 Olson) CRN 43905
Sec. 6 (F 2:10-3:00, 105 Wellman) CRN 43906

Course Description: The literature of fantasy and the supernatural, although often transporting the reader into another world or a distant past, is a product of modern, urban society. In its Western variations, it dates from not much earlier than the 19th century. The urge for fantasy assumes the existence of a dominant literary realism, and the taste for the supernatural rests on the broad, secular disbelief in its existence. This course will explore this historical and cultural dynamic through a variety of literary texts and films, including works by E.T.A. Hoffmann; Sigmund Freud; Edgar Allen Poe; Lewis Carroll; Henry James; Franz Kafka; Jorge Luis Borges; and Ryunosoke Akutagawa. Films to be viewed include F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu”; Jean Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast”; and Hideo Nakata’s “Ringu.” Comparative Literature 7 is an Introductory General Education course in Civilization and Culture. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.

Course Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Textbooks:

  • Henry James, Turn of the Screw and Other Short Fiction
  • Edgar Allan Poe, The Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe
  • Carroll Lewis, Alice's Adventure in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
  • Borges, Labyrinths: Selected Stories

COM 10N: Master Authors in World Literature (2 Units)
STAFF

Lecture/Discussion Sections:
Sec. 1 (R 4:10-6:00, 1020 Wickson) CRN 17327
Sec. 2 (T 4:10-6:00, 235 Wellman) CRN 17328

Course Description: This course is designed primarily to acquaint the non-literature major with a cross-section of writings by the world’s most important authors; readings in English translation. Authors that will be studied, but not limited to: Rilke/Yeats, Joyce/Woolf, Mann/Céline, Bulgakov/Tanizaki, O’Neill/Brecht, Lorca/Pirandello.

Textbooks:

  • Henry James, The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels
  • William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
  • Samuel Beckett, Endgame

COM 53A: Literature of China and Japan (3 Units)
Jing Nie, Lecturer
(MWF 11:00-11:50, 90 Social Science & Humanities) CRN 17329

Course Description: Introduction to representative masterpieces of East Asia with readings from such works as The Story of the Stone, The Peach Blossom Fan, T’ang and Sung poetry, classical Japanese poetry, drama, and travel diaries, and The Tale of GenjiGE Credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.

Course Format: Lecture - 2 hours; Discussion - 1 hour.

Textbooks:

  • Shimazaki Toson, Broken Commandment
  • Golden Days
  • Shikibu, Tale of the Genji
  • Abe, Woman in the Dunes
  • Yu Hua, To Live
  • A Course Reader

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Upper Division Courses

COM 120: Writing in Nature - 1750 to the Present (4 Units)
Scott McLean, Lecturer
(TR 12:10-1:30, 108 Hoagland) CRN 17334

Course Description: Study of representation, descriptions and discussions of humankind's problematical relationship with the  non-human world in texts written in a variety of European and American traditions between 1750 and the present.  GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement and at least one course in literature.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • A Course Reader

COM 138: Gender and Interpretation (4 Units - Cross-listed with Italian 141)
Juliana Schiesari, Professor
(TR 4:40-6:00, 113 Hoagland) CRN 43911

Course Description: This course examines the representation of gender roles and gender hierarchy in early modern texts from various periods, societies, and cultures in light of research and theory on gender, with attention to gender as a topic for literary interpretation. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement and at least one course in literature.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • Laura Stortoni, Women Poets of the Italian Renaissance
  • Danielle Clarke, Isabelle Whitney, Mary Sidney, and Amelia Lanyer: Renaissance Women Poets
  • Louis Labe, Complete Poetry & Prose: A Bilingual Edition
  • Leon Alberti, The Family in Renaissance Florence (Book III)
  • Juliana Schiesari, Refiguring Woman: Perspective on Gender and Italian Renaissance
  • Petrarca, Canzoniere: Selected Poems

COM 142: Critical Reading & Analysis (4 Units)
Scott McLean, Lecturer
(TR 3:10-4:30, 192 Young) CRN 43907

Course Description: This course is close reading of selected texts; scrutiny of very limited amount of material, with attention to the problems of texts in translation.

Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • Milosz, Book of Luminous Things
  • Rothenberg, Poems for the Millennium: Volume 1
  • Rothenberg, Poems for the Millennium: Volume 2
  • Rothenberg, Poems for the Millennium: Volume 3
  • Forche, Against Forgetting

COM 152: Literature of the Americas (4 Units)
Marc Blanchard, Professor
(R 3:10-6:00, 217 Olson) CRN 17335 NEW TIME/LOCATION

Course Description: Study in the various stylistic, historical, economic, social and cultural factors that contribute to a hemispheric vision of American literature, encompassing works by Canadian, United States, Caribbean, Brazilian, and Spanish-American writers.  This exciting course is taught by Professor Marc Blanchard. No books required. Texts available on line. Students may not cut classes and must actively engage in class work.  No tourists please! Enroll early. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement and at least one course in literature. 

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • A Course Reader

COM 160B: The Modern Drama (4 Units)
Gail Finney, Professor
(TR 3:10-4:30, 108 Hoagland) CRN 43912

Course Description: The course seeks to familiarize students with the phenomenon of modernism in the theater through close study of selected plays, criticism, and theoretical writings by some of its major representatives. Readings will include the following plays: Henrik Ibsen, The Wild Duck; Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest; Anton Chekhov, The Three Sisters; August Strindberg, A Dream Play; Elizabeth Robins, Votes for Women!; Susan Glaspell, Trifles; Bernard Shaw, Heartbreak House; Eugene O’Neill, The Emperor Jones; Luigi Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author; Tennessee Williams, The Glass MenagerieGE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement or consent of instructor.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbook:

  • William Worthen, Modern Drama: Plays/Criticism/Theory (Volume 1)

COM 164D: The Enlightenment (4 Units)
Julia Simon, Professor of French
(MWF 11:00-11:50, 207 Wellman) CRN 43918

Course Description:This course will explore the emergence of a form of writing in the eighteenth century that sought to express the inner-workings of the self. We will read both fictional and autobiographical accounts in our analysis of the appearance of new discourses of subjectivity that coincide with the rise of the novel and of the middle class.

We will begin with the best known of all eighteenth-century representations of the self, Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, which set a new standard for novelistic production both in England and on the continent. The course will explore a variety of works from England, France and Germany to ask questions concerning gendered subjectivity, techniques of self-representation and the workings of memory. Texts will include Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Voltaire’s Micromegas, Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, Rousseau’s Confessions, Graffigny’s Letters of a Peruvian Woman and Goethe’s Sorrows of the Young Werther.

For inquiries, please contact Prof. Simon at &#106simon

@ucdavis.edu.

Prerequisite: Completion of Entry-Level Writing (formerly Subject A) Requirement and at least one course in literature.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • Daniel DeFoe, Robinson Crusoe
  • Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions
  • Graffigny, Letter's of a Peruvian Woman
  • Goethe, Sorrows of the Young Werther

 

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Graduate Courses

COM 210: Enthusiasm/Fanaticism in Transatlantic Perspective (4 Units)
Kari Lokke, Professor
(T 4:10-7:00, 322 Sproul) CRN 17372

Course Description:In an era of focus on Islamic extremism, this course is designed to bring awareness to the history of fanaticism within Western religious and philosophical traditions. We will examine European Enlightenment efforts to define genuine artistic or spiritual inspiration and political idealism against the related dangers of religious zealotry and political extremism. We will also discuss the dialectic in which atheism, materialism, and commitment to philosophical analysis can themselves become matters of fanatical obsession.

The class begins with a survey of eighteenth-century European philosophical discourse on the concept of enthusiasm as religious delusion. We will then move to Anglo-American fictional treatments of religious and political fanaticism as well as French and German depictions of artistic enthusiasts. The concluding week will highlight twenty-first century, post 9/11 dialogue on religious and political extremism.

Readings will be chosen from select works of novels and short stories. We clearly cannot cover the entire list; it is offered here a framework for seminar discussion and source of possible research topics. To view the list, please click HERE.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing in Comparative Literature, English, or a foreign language literature, or consent of the instructor.

Course Format: Seminar - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • E.T.A. Hoffman, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr
  • Sydney Owenson, The Missionary
  • Mary W. Shelley, Valperga
  • James Hogg, Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
  • Jonathan Swift, A Tale of a Tub and Other Works

COM 255: Colloquium (2 Units)
Juliana Schiesari, Professor
(T 12:10-2:00, 422 Sproul) CRN 43653

Course Description: Oral presentation and critique of research papers; discussion of current problems in teaching and research in Comparative Literature. May be repeated for credit.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of the instructor.

Course Format: Lecture/Discussion - 2 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks: None


UWP 390: Teaching Comparative Literature in College/University (3 Units)
Raquel Scherr, UWP Lecturer
(R 3:40-6:30, 396 Voorhies)

Course Description: Methods of teaching Comparative Literature with specific application to the introductory courses 1, 2, and 3, in relation to major cultural and social developments. Discussion also of ways to teach analytical writing.

Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

Course Format: Lecture - 1 hour; Discussion - 2 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks: None


COM 392: Teaching Assistant Training Practicum
Olga Stuchebrukhov, Associate Professor
(T 3:10-4:00, 422 Sproul)

Course Description: Regular consultations between the student instructor teaching Comparative Literature courses and a supervisor. In-class evaluation of teaching. May be repeated for credit after consultation with supervisor.

Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

Course Format: Discussion - 1 hour; Term Paper.

Textbooks: None


COM 396: Teaching Internship in Comparative Literature
Section 1, 17488 (COM 1-4 & 10)  Olga Stuchebrukhov, Associate Professor
Section 2, 17489 (COM 7)  Neil Larsen, Professor
Section 3, 17490 (COM 5) Brenda Schildgen, Professor
 

Course Description: None.

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or consent of the instructor.

Textbooks: None