ENGL 194 A-Z - Special Topics: Junior/Senior SeminarSemester Hours: 3-4
Fall, Spring
Intensive consideration of critical issues in literary history and interpretation. Topics vary.
Current Special Topics
ENGL 194A, Jr/Sr Seminar: The Imaginary Museum: Art in Literature
Ekphrasis is the evocative Greek term for “a detailed description of a work of visual art” in a literary text. In this course, ”The Imaginary Museum: Art in Literature,” artworks make their appearance in works of literature in both expected and unexpected ways—namely, inside the galleries of real museums as well as in the galleries of wholly imaginary museums, whose collections of art are conjured up through the feverish dreams, projections, and musings of writers, artists, and other visionaries. Our course readings will also take us into grand museums located in the art capitals of the world—the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the National Gallery in London, and the Louvre in Paris–as well as off the beaten path to micro-museums consisting of a single artwork or of a solitary cabinet of curiosity filled with an eclectic array of art and artifacts. With W.H. Auden’s poem “Musee des Beaux-Arts” serving as a point of departure, we will read a series of novels and novellas that cover a sweeping span of time, from the late nineteenth century up through the present day, and then further into an imagined, post-apocalyptic future, including Oscar Wilde’s Portrait of Dorian Gray; Vera Caspary’s Laura; Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca; Rachel Pastan’s Alena; Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist; Brian Selznick’s Wonderstruck; Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye; E.L. Konisburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with A Pearl Earring; and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven.
Prerequisite: WSC 001. Required course for English majors in the Literatures in English concentration. May not be taken on a Pass/D+/D/Fail basis
Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
WSC 001 . Required course for English majors in the Literatures in English concentration. May not be taken on a Pass/D+/D/Fail basis. As individual subjects are selected, each is assigned a letter (A-Z) which is affixed to the course number. Specific titles and course descriptions for special topics courses are available in the online class schedule. (Formerly Junior/Senior Seminar.)
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