Tales of love, lust, and betrayal; greed, jealousy, and murder; revenge, mercy, and redemption—welcome to the world of Shakespeare! You’ll discover how Shakespeare’s characters have beguiled audiences for over 400 years. We’ll read two comedies, a history play, a tragedy, and a romance:  A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Richard III, Hamlet or Othello, and The Tempest.

Assignments include weekly discussion posts and reading quizzes, two Zoom conferences, two papers, and a creative project on Shakespeare’s relevance in the 21^st century.  

Taught by Teresa Nugent ONLINE during B-term (July 7 - August 7, 2020).

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Poetry is alive. Poets have written for more than a thousand years and continue to study, write and perform poetry today. Poetry is not meant to wither and die in dusty pages on forgotten shelves. It is meant to be heard, read and voiced—aloud and alive. This course will introduce you to a great variety of poems written and composed in English from the very beginning of the English language until recently, and provide you with tools to help understand them. We will discuss terminology, themes, forms and formal innovation, as well as the many ways that poetry lives in the world now--from sonnets and sestinas to concrete poetry and epic poetry, from slam to Instagram. Representative poets: Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare, Phillis Wheatley, Sharon Olds, Lucille Clifton, Jamaal May, Joy Harjo, Natalie Diaz, Gabriel Hirsch, Patricia Smith, Myung Mi Kim, Fatimah Ashgar, Kiki Petrosino, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Rupi Kaur, Mark McMorris, TS Eliot, Gertrude Stein, many others.

Taught ONLINE by Khadijah Queen during B-term (July 7 - August 7, 2020).

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The period of history known as Georgian England runs from 1714-1837, a period that encompasses a period of extraordinary change.  Great Britain became by 1800 the most powerful nation in the world and during this period it gained and lost an empire; its cities, especially London, grew explosively, the industrial revolution begins, the novel as a literary genre is born, women and the working classes begin to assert their rights, and much else besides.  Literature and the arts—in poetry, in fiction, in painting, in music, and drama and architecture—are at a pinnacle.  

Using thematic modules such as Politics, Crime and Punishment, Love and Marriage, and Romanticism, we will explore the period’s fascinating history and literary greatness.  Readings will include such writers such as Swift, Austen, Wordsworth, Johnson, Wollstonecraft, and Keats, as well some primary source material. We will also examine the rich visual legacy of the time.

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Close study of significant 20th-century poetry, drama, and prose works. Readings range from 1920s to the present.

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Introduction to Shakespeare. Introduces students to 6-10 of Shakespeare's major plays. Comedies, histories, and tragedies will be studied. Some non-dramatic poetry may be included. Viewing of Shakespeare in performance is often required.

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Introduction to Shakespeare. Introduces students to 6-10 of Shakespeare's major plays. Comedies, histories, and tragedies will be studied. Some non-dramatic poetry may be included. Viewing of Shakespeare in performance is often required.

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