Fantasies provide escape into strange realms where time and space are not our own. Class reading focuses on fantastic voyages to explore human desires, dreams, and fears, as well as the realities they grow out of. Texts range from early tales from Arthurian literature and A Thousand and One Nights to contemporary stories and films. International and interdisciplinary perspectives on fantasy and the forms it takes. Honors credit available. (Gen.Ed. AL)

Selected medieval women writers from the point of view of current theoretical perspectives. Writers include Heloise, Marie de France, Christine de Pizan, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete, Margery Kempe, and others. Themes to be discussed include love and desire in women's writing; representations of women in medieval literature and philosophy; gendered representations of sanctity; and critical approaches derived from Marxist and feminist theory.

In this course we will analyze fictional and non-fictional accounts of shipwreck and/or captivity, from the 16th century until the present. We will examine a range of narratives from the Spanish, English, German and American traditions and also discuss some recent films. The analytical focus will be on the ideological underpinnings of these accounts: What is the relationship between these texts and the political/social/economical context in which they were produced? How do they construct the "other"? What do they reveal about the narrator's sense of self?

This course is structured around six social and professional domains in which interpreting and translation play a significant role (Healthcare, Business, Court/Police, Refugee/Asylum, Human Rights Commissions, and the Military). Students will work on understanding the institutional structures and discursive practices of these particular domains; gain relevant vocabulary; and continue to practice translating, sight translating and interpreting relevant texts.

Exploration of stories of inner experience, the growth of self-awareness, the dark night of the soul, and the role of suffering in individuals' lives. Reading from a variety of spiritual autobiographies from around the world, by both believers and non-, we will explore the meaning of storytelling and how our various beliefs can shape our understanding of the world. Assignments include autobiographical writing as well as more traditional essays. (Gen.Ed. AL, DG)

Russian, Czech, German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, American, and Latin-American stories from Romanticism to the present. Fantastic tales, character sketches, surprise endings; main types of the short story. (Gen.Ed. AL)

Our course begins with the premise that contemporary American comedy is informed by the histories of ethnic American groups -- African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans and U.S. Latinos/Latinas -- along with issues of race, class, sexuality and citizenship. American comedians, independent filmmakers, feminists and transgendered comics deploy the language of comedy to invoke serious social matters in contemporary American life: racism, heterosexism, homophobia, class biases against the poor and the undocumented, misogyny, war and other burning issues of the day.

Our course begins with the premise that contemporary American comedy is informed by the histories of ethnic American groups -- African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans and U.S. Latinos/Latinas -- along with issues of race, class, sexuality and citizenship. American comedians, independent filmmakers, feminists and transgendered comics deploy the language of comedy to invoke serious social matters in contemporary American life: racism, heterosexism, homophobia, class biases against the poor and the undocumented, misogyny, war and other burning issues of the day.

This course will explore the concepts of Good and Evil as expressed in philosophical and theological texts and in their imaginative representation in literature, film and television, photography, and other forms of popular media. Cross-cultural perspectives and approaches to moral problems such as the suffering of the innocent, the existence of evil, the development of a moral consciousness and social responsibility, and the role of faith and spirituality will be considered.

This course will explore the concepts of Good and Evil as expressed in philosophical and theological texts and in their imaginative representation in literature, film and television, photography, and other forms of popular media. Cross-cultural perspectives and approaches to moral problems such as the suffering of the innocent, the existence of evil, the development of a moral consciousness and social responsibility, and the role of faith and spirituality will be considered.