Modern Languages (MLAL)

MLAL 1010. Spanish Colonialism Through Film. (3 Credits)

This course examines the diverse (personal, social, and national) narrations of one essential time period in the history of the Americas: the age of Spanish colonization of the New World. In particular, the course considers the recounting of this era through literary and visual means, through mainstream (the conquerors) and alternative (the conquered) perspectives, and through modern and traditional media.

Attributes: EP2, LAHA, LALS, MANR, SL, TC.

MLAL 1100. Introduction to Linguistics. (3 Credits)

An introduction to linguistics, the study of language. The course surveys the core domains of theoretical linguistics including phonology, syntax, and semantics as well as select areas of applied linguistics. Taught in English.

Attributes: CLAS, COLI, ENGL.

MLAL 1400. Introduction to Sociolinguistics. (3 Credits)

This course introduces students to the field of sociolinguistics, which studies how language and language use are shaped by social and cultural contexts. The course will provide a survey of important topics in sociolinguistics, including language variation and change; language contact and multilingualism; language standardization; and language ideologies. We will also explore the development of sociolinguistics as a discipline from first wave single-variation studies to third-wave studies on social meaning expressed through language style.

Attribute: LING.

MLAL 1500. Introduction to Psycholinguistics. (3 Credits)

An introduction to psycholinguistics, also called the psychology of language. The course focuses on how the mind and brain acquire and process language across the lifespan and in different populations. Taught in English.

MLAL 1999. Tutorial. (1 Credit)

Independent research and reading with supervision from a faculty member.

MLAL 2000. Texts and Contexts. (3 Credits)

This course provides an introduction to the literary analysis of texts and the cultural and historical contexts within which they are produced and read. Significant class time will be devoted to critical writing and to speaking about literature. Each section of Texts and Contexts will have a focus developed by the individual instructor and expressed in its subtitle. This course fulfills the Core Curriculum requirements for the second Eloqentia Perfecta seminar. Taught in English.

Attributes: EP2, TC.

Prerequisite: ENGL 1102.

MLAL 2025. "You talk like a ____": Language, Identity and Stereotype. (4 Credits)

What does it mean to “talk like a ____?” Can you tell where someone is from by listening to them? Can you guess their race, ethnicity, gender, or social class? This course will explore how language is used in the creation of identity and social difference. Through a variety of linguistic anthropological and sociolinguistic texts, we will look at how ways of thinking about language (language ideologies) affect ways of thinking about people who speak language. We will analyze how language and linguistic difference intersects with authority, power, identity, and performance. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ANTH.

MLAL 2100. Advanced German Grammar. (4 Credits)

The course is designed to help students gain more insight into the structure of the German language and to further develop and strengthen their knowledge of German grammar. Survey and practice of German grammar as well as more advanced features of German syntax and style. Course will be conducted in English with readings and exercises in German. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: GERM.

Prerequisite: GERM 2001.

MLAL 2601. Russian Conversation and Composition. (4 Credits)

This course provides intensive practice of spoken and written language with an emphasis on vocabulary building and idiom fluency. The course uses various media from film to news sources in order to expand students' familiarity with contemporary Russian culture. Recommended for students interested in pursuing upper-level Russian literature and culture courses. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

MLAL 2755. Performing Dante. (4 Credits)

In this course, students undertake an in-depth study of Dante's Divine Comedy through the use of performance and a close reading of the text; social and historical contexts are emphasized. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, ITAL, ITMA, THEA.

MLAL 2820. German Texts on Film. (3 Credits)

Subtle: Paralles and doppel ganger. Thix course investigates identity through paralles lives and uncanny encounters .

Attribute: COLI.

MLAL 2999. Tutorial. (2 Credits)

Independent research and reading with supervision from a faculty member.

MLAL 3000. Gender and Sexuality Studies. (4 Credits)

This course investigates contemporary theories of gender and sexuality from a range of disciplinary perspectives. The course explores how gender and sexuality function as dimensions of social identity, difference, inequality, and power. Students will be introduced to a range of theoretical schools that concern a range of identities, respond to earlier theoretical formulations, and engage activism and historical experiences. Students will be introduced to concepts such as the social construction of gender, queerness, gender difference, intersectionality, universalism, identity politics, reproductive justice, materialist and/versus symbolic theories, masculinity studies, critical race theory, sex positivity and pornography studies, and a range of feminist accounts of gender. The course foregrounds feminist, queer, critical race, postcolonial, and other critical scholarly literatures and methods. While it focuses on the contemporary period (after 1975), the course surveys a range of theories, situating them in social and political context. Disciplinary focus may vary from year to year, but the interdisciplinary character of the field will be retained. Taught in English. Coursework in Spanish for credit toward the Spanish major or minor. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, BEHR, COLI, LAHA, LALS, PLUR, SPAN, WGSS.

MLAL 3001. The Italian American Experience in Literature and Film. (4 Credits)

The Italian American experience has found cogent and compelling expression in numerous works of fiction, poetry, drama and cinema. The rich documents left by immigrants from the earliest times to the contemporary writers provide a rich body for exploring styles, achievements, traditions and, generally, the life of Italian Americans and their changing status and civic concerns. The course discusses the representation of Italian American identity, stereotypes, family relationships, sexual mores, political and social values. The contribution of Italian Americans to the various art forms of the American world will be highlighted. The discussions will include theories from the most recent ethnic studies. Authors and critics to be studied are Di Donato, Tusiani, Mangione, Ardizzone, Puzo, Barolini, Stella, Gardaphè, Marazzi, Scorsese, among others. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ACUP, ADVD, AMST.

MLAL 3003. Intercultural Theory. (4 Credits)

In this course, we will explore the "contact zone" as a theoretical concept and a site of encounters, conflicts, and negotiations. In her book Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation (1992), Mary Louise Pratt describes the contact zone as "...the space in which peoples geographically and historically separated come into contact with each other and establish ongoing relations, usually involving conditions of coercion, radical inequality, and intractable conflict". Like Pratt, the contact zones as we study them will not only stress ideas of co-existence and interaction, but also insist on "asymmetrical relations of power". Over the course of the semester, we will focus in particular on the following themes: home/displacement, temporality, personhood/community, translingualism/transculturation/translation, and recycling/adaptation/appropriation/imitation. In this course, not only will we study the contact zone but we also envision the classroom as a multilingual, multicultural and multidisciplinary contact zone that fosters creative responses through a series of activities and collaborative projects. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: COLI, FREN, SPAN.

MLAL 3005. Themes in Latina/o and Latin American Studies. (4 Credits)

This course allows students to explore ways to synthesize key topics in Latin American and Latina/o Studies (LALS) as an interdisciplinary field of study. It will compare the distinct approaches to these topics of the different disciplines represented by the LALS faculty (including History, Literature, Film Studies, Theology, Art History, Sociology, and Anthropology). Conducted in English. Coursework in Spanish for credit toward the Spanish major and minor. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ACUP, ADVD, ALC, AMST, CCUS, COMC, COMM, IPE, LAHA, LAIN, LALS, SPAN.

Prerequisite: SPAN 2500.

MLAL 3007. Spanish Linguistics. (4 Credits)

This course focuses on the linguistic study of the Spanish language. The course surveys the formal domains of linguistics - including phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and sociolinguistics – with an exclusive focus on the Spanish language. The course is taught in Spanish. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ASSC.

MLAL 3010. Politics and Poetry in the Middle Ages: The Rise of Vernacular Culture in the Mediterranean. (4 Credits)

This course analyses the development of vernacular culture and literature in the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages. Students will explore the political, historical, and linguistic context within which vernacular languages and cultures emerged between the XI-XIII centuries. Following Dante’s On Vernacular language - the first linguistic and poetic “map” of the Middle Ages- students will retrace the interrelations linking the Italian vernacular culture to the other traditions within the “romance” domain in the Mediterranean. With the imperial court of Frederick II in Sicily, the Pope in Rome, and the most powerful centers of trade and finance in Florence and other Italian city-states, the Italian peninsula provides a special standing point for the analysis of the relationship between poetry and power in different political contexts: the court of the emperor Frederick II and the powerful communal republics in center and northern Italy will be the focus of the course. Among the texts, authors, and movements included are: Provencal and Italian trobadours; the “Sicilian School” and the encyclopedic culture at the court of the emperor Frederick II (poetry, law, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, translations); religious literature and the Tuscan School of poetry (S. Francis, Jacopone da Todi, Guittone d’Arezzo); the “New Sweet Style” (Guido Guinizzelli, Guido Cavalcanti, Dante Alighieri). Fulfills the Advanced Literature requirement of the core and satisfies the requirement of Minor and Major in Italian. Cross-listed with MVST and COLI. Taught in English with coursework in Italian for credit in Italian. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, AMCS, COLI, ITAL, MVLI, MVST.

MLAL 3012. Medieval Storytelling. (4 Credits)

In this course, students explore the various forms of literacy that accompany the development of medieval society: chronicles, travel diaries, storytelling, writing practices, and textual culture. The focus is on religious and secular narrative traditions in medieval Italy, from Gregory the Great's Dialogues Novellino to Boccaccio, with comparative readings from other European traditions such as Chaucer and Christine de Pizan. This course is taught in English. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, AMCS, COLI, EP3, IPE, ITMA, MVLI, MVST.

MLAL 3020. Culture and Critique: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud. (4 Credits)

In this course, we will critically examine the theories of three of the most influential thinkers in Western modernity and ask what has become of their ideas in the present. In focusing on the revolutionary—and often failed—attempts of Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud to change the world, we will read their work in its historical context, while also tracing its critical revision and continuing influence in the present. Throughout the course, we will think not simply about their ideas but also with them, applying and testing their theories in numerous current contexts ranging from advertising, artificial intelligence, the climate crisis, and social justice issues to literature, film, and art. Taught in English. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, GERM.

MLAL 3030. Masterpieces of Chinese Film: Theory and Texts. (4 Credits)

This course provides an introduction to Chinese film, focusing on important genres, directors and movements. We will follow two parallel (often times intersecting) threads throughout the course: "politics of film" as well as "poetics of film." The former explores Chinese film's engaging dialogue with Chinese sociopolitical issues whereas the latter investigates key terms of film theory such as spectatorship, gaze, apparatus theory, and authorship.

Attributes: ALC, CNST.

MLAL 3031. Chinese Cultural Concepts. (4 Credits)

This course introduces students to the complexity and diversity of China and Chinese culture through a range of topics, such as family and kinship, popular religion, women and gender, gift exchange and guanxi networks, economic and social reforms, Maoism, post-Maoism, and globalization. We will approach these issues through anthropological, sociological, and historical texts. This course aims to deepen students’ knowledge of contemporary Chinese society and provide them with a nuanced understanding of cultural differences. Conducted in English with English and Mandarin texts in translation. Coursework and readings in Mandarin for credit toward the Mandarin minor. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ANTH, CNST, COLI, GLBL, INST, ISAS.

MLAL 3033. Prison Literature from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King. (4 Credits)

Prison literature is the literature that emerges from, records, or imaginatively engages the experience of incarceration irrespective of reason or justification. This course explores it as an integral feature of literary history, as a reflection of social justice, and as a site of gender and racial consciousnes. We will read authors who were incarcerated for the religious/political beliefs they already held (Martin Luther, M.L. King, Nelson Mandela) or which they developed while in prison (Adolf Hitler, Malcolm X). Next to them, we will study individuals who were confined for who they were, such as Queen Elizabeth I, the Marquis de Sade, Oscar Wilde, and Anne Frank. This is a CEL course with a service component. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, AMCS, COLI, ENGL, ENRJ, GERM, INST, IPE, ISIN, SL.

MLAL 3035. From Rust Belt to Green Belt: Germany's Ruhr Area. (4 Credits)

This course will study the rich history of the Ruhrgebiet and its transition from coal and steel to ecology and high tech. It will be offered in cooperation with the University Alliance Ruhr and is of interest to students in German, biology, business, environmental studies, history, international studies, urban studies, et al. TAUGHT IN ENGLISH. NO KNOWLEDGE OF GERMAN REQUIRED. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, BIOE, HIST, ISEU, URST.

MLAL 3043. Aesthetics and Politics: Modern Chinese Literature. (4 Credits)

What impact did enlightenment and scientism have on the Chinese mind at the turn of the 20th century? How has it altered the sense of history, self, and the function of literature (the perennially and uniquely human way of understanding and conjuring the world)? This course examines canonical works of fiction, films, and visual materials that span the May Fourth Movement to contemporary China. We begin with Lu Xun’s allegory of the iron house and end with Liu Cixin’s science fiction novel "The Three-Body Problem," praised by Barack Obama as “wildly imaginative.” We explore not only the existential questions of change, trauma, and memory but also the historical questions of developmentalism, technology, and morality, and the tortuous path of China’s pursuit of modernity. All readings are in English (students may opt to read in Chinese). No previous knowledge of China or Chinese is required. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, CNST, COLI, GLBL, INST, ISAS.

MLAL 3045. Women in Chinese Literature and Society. (4 Credits)

ln this course we will examine issues of gender and representation in the context of Chinese society. We will explore the roles that women have played in China, how women are portrayed in various Chinese texts and genres - poetry short stories and novels, and films - and how Chinese women write about themselves and others. This course is taught inEnglish and no prior knowledge of Chinese is required. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, INST, ISAS.

MLAL 3047. Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism: Chinese Thought and Literature. (4 Credits)

This foundational course is an introduction to the three systems of thought in China: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. A constellation that brings key philosophical texts in conversation with one of the four classics of Chinese literature, this course will survey major texts such as the Analects, Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi, the Heart Sutra, and the Platform Sutra, and culminate in the fantastical world of Journey to the West, an epic tale populated with monsters. We explore the intersections, interwovenness, and tensions of these three strands of thought as they manifest in the novel and other aesthetic afterlives. All readings are in English. No previous knowledge of China or Chinese is required. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, CNST, COLI, GLBL, INST, ISAS.

MLAL 3048. Political Thought in Modern Asia. (4 Credits)

The study of political theory in the United States has been accused of being Western-centric: We tend to focus on intellectual traditions from Plato to NATO, while ignoring the vast world of non-Western societies and the ways they think about politics and public life. To rectify this deficiency, this course aims to explore three Asian traditions and their perspectives on politics: Confucianism, Hinduism, and Islam. We will focus on the modern period (19th-21st centuries) and the ways intellectuals in these societies respond to the challenge of modernity and Western superiority. Special attention is given to how these intellectuals conceive of the relationship between modernity and their respective traditions: Are they compatible or mutually exclusive? In which ways do intellectuals interpret these traditions so as to render them (in)compatible with modernity? Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: CNST, INST, IPE, ISAS, POPT, POSC.

MLAL 3049. Modern Chinese Political Thought. (4 Credits)

This course will explore political thought in modern China from the late Qing dynasty to our time. Attention will be given to how Chinese thinkers since 1895 conceive of China's place in the world, how they use Western political ideas to transform China, how they creatively transform Chinese traditions to meet the challenges of modernity, and, most importantly, how they advance political ideals that claim to be able fix the problems in the West (such as imperialism and capitalism). We will also learn how Western thinkers are responding to the challenges from China. This course is taught in English. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ASSC, CNST, INST, IPE, ISAS, POPT, POSC.

MLAL 3050. Becoming Germany—German Literature, Film, and Popular Culture after World War II. (4 Credits)

In this course, we explore Germany’s cultural history after World War II and the Holocaust. We follow the trajectory of the country’s national identity by examining autobiographical texts and graphic novels, films, and television series, monuments and art projects, soccer events, and political speeches. We will ask how these various “texts” helped shape the public discourse in Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Texts include "Peeling the Onion" by Günter Grass, "Fatelessness" by Imre Kertész, the U.S. television series "Holocaust" with Meryl Streep, the recently published graphic novel "Belonging" by Nora Krug, and the soccer documentary "Deutschland, ein Sommermärchen." This course is taught in English. Knowledge of the German language is not required. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, GERM, IPE, ISEU, PJRC, PJST, URST.

MLAL 3057. Medieval German Literature: Potions, Passions, Players, and Prayers. (4 Credits)

This course will introduce students to the rich literary and cultural heritage of Medieval Germany. The texts will all be read in English translation, but we will go over some passages in their original languages in class to catch some of the flavor of the Medieval German. Topics covered will include pre-Christian charms, the epic of the Nibelungs, love poetry, and urban carneval plays. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, GERM, MVLI, MVST.

Prerequisite: GERM 2001.

MLAL 3059. Gender Benders. (4 Credits)

This course serves as an introduction to the theme of “German Speaking Gender Icons,” and it will investigate constructions of gender identity, histories of embodied differentiation, and “cultural practices” in various German-speaking contexts. The course also aims to take a closer look at lives of gender non-conformists and their relationships to migrant communities. As many left their homes to seek a better future, this course will investigate how gender identities shaped their quests for improved living conditions, which ultimately impacted their respective communities and institutions. Students will engage with historical and theoretical readings by German-speaking authors to promote reflection and critical engagement. They will also create an original research portfolio related to the content of the class. This course is taught in English. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI.

MLAL 3060. Magic and Reality in Russian Literature. (4 Credits)

Explores the traditions of Mysticism and the Fantastic in Russian literature. By analyzing magical motifs both as an exploration of the inexplicable and as an artistic means to counter social and ideological oppression, students will develop their understanding of different periods and aspects of Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet culture. Selected readings include works by Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov, Petrushevkaya and Pelevin, among others. Conducted in English. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, INST, ISEU, OCST.

MLAL 3065. Dostoevsky. (4 Credits)

This course explores the oeuvre of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881), one of the greatest Russian novelists and world literature’s most insightful psychologists. Select texts include: The Gambler, The Idiot, The Adolescent, The Brothers Karamazov (dubbed by Freud “the most magnificent novel ever written”), several short stories, etc. TAUGHT IN ENGLISH. May count toward Minor in Russian if course work is completed in Russian. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: OCST, RUSS.

MLAL 3067. Dostoevsky and Race in America. (4 Credits)

Dostoevsky and Race in America is a comparative course that begins with three Dostoevsky novels paired with three great works of American fiction that engage the question of race in America. Michelle Alexander’s "The New Jim Crow" is paired with notes from "The House of the Dead," Ralph Ellison’s "Invisible Man" with "Notes From Underground," and Richard Wright’s "Native Son" with notes from "Crime and Punishment." The course culminates with contemporary American thinkers: Cornel West’s readings of Anton Chekhov, Ta-Nehisi Coates’s reading of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and hip-hop artist Black Thought’s interpretation of "Crime and Punishment" in his song “Dostoevsky.” Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, RUSS.

MLAL 3070. Russian Visions: The Interplay Between Russian Literature and Art in Mid-19th/Early 20th Century. (4 Credits)

This interdisciplinary course explores the interaction between the Russian visual arts and Russian literature during two artistically flourishing periods of Russian and early Soviet history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first is the rise of the daguerreotype in Russia (and photojournalism shortly thereafter) in conjunction with the rise of the Natural School in Russian literature in the 1840s. The second is the pinnacle of the Russian avant-garde (1917-1932: and visual art from several movements such as Constructivism, Zaum, Russian Cubism and Cubo-Futurism) in conjunction with the brilliant work of dissident Soviet writers during this time. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, ENGL, INST, ISEU, OCST, RUSS.

MLAL 3075. Gender and China. (4 Credits)

This course provides a survey of issues of gender and sexuality in China, from imperial China to the present through literature, film, ethnography, history, and cultural studies. We will ask questions such as, what was it like to be a woman in late Qing-era China, or during the Cultural Revolution? How was gender formative to the creation of modern China? How are gender and sexuality conceived of in a Chinese cultural context? Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ANTH, CNST, GLBL, INST, ISAS, MLL, WGSS.

MLAL 3076. Great Russian Minds: Mikhail Bakhtin. (4 Credits)

Mikhail Bakhtin sculpts psychology, literature, phenomenology, Judeo-Christian theology, class ideology, the history and theory of the novel, and cultural theory into a uniquely humanist philosophy. For Bakhtin, truth is dialogic. Multiplicity and difference thrive in the novel, the perpetually evolving, "unfinalizable," form that allows for the fullest individual and communal expression. We read from "Rabelais and His World," "The Dialogic Imagination," "Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics," and "Art and Answerability." The scholarship situates Bakhtin's works in their philosophical and theological contexts. All works in English. Russian track available.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, OCAH, RUSS.

MLAL 3077. The Great Russian Minds: Russian Personalism. (4 Credits)

The fascinating philosophical tradition of Russian personalism defends human dignity, freedom, and respect for the individual. We use the late great scholar Sergei M. Polovinkin's (1935-2018) classifications to survey N. Lossky's intuitive personalism, N. Berdyaev's eschatological personalism, S. Bulgakov's sophianic personalism, P. Florensky's Christian personalism, and S. Frank's antinomical monodualism. Original texts in English translation. Lecture and discussion in English. No knowledge of Russian is required. Texts are available in Russian for those pursuing Russian credit. This is an OCS-accredited course. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: COLI, OCST, RSTE, RUSS.

MLAL 3078. The Great Russian Minds: Late Soviet Personalism (1953-1991). (3 Credits)

Late Soviet (1953-1991) Russian philosophies reflect psychologically profound, ethically oriented, humanist personalisms that prize freedom, human rights, and relational independence. These diverse metaphysicians generate brilliant, pluralist, humanizing meaning in defiance of cruelty and censorship, drawing inspiration from naturalism, historicism, psychology, literary theory, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Taoism. All texts are in English translation, and the course will feature English lecture and discussion. No Russian knowledge is required. Russian track available. OCS accredited.

Attributes: COLI, OCST, RUSS.

MLAL 3080. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and the Meaning of Life and Death. (4 Credits)

We will read two works – one large book on Russian family life, one short meditation on death – from each of Russia’s two most famous authors: Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. We will read Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1878) and The Death of Ivan Ilych (1886) and Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (1880) and The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877). Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are each profound psychologies and religious philosophers. While Tolstoy masters interpersonal and societal relations, Dostoevsky illuminates the extreme ranges of the human psyche. Tolstoy’s Levin in Anna Karenina asks “What is the meaning of life?” and Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karamazov struggles to reconcile God’s creation with the suffering of innocent children. The two novels were written in close proximity of 4each other and bear fruitful comparisons. Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych explores the mind of a prestigious court official who is terminally ill. Dostoevsky’s The Dream of a Ridiculous Man reveals the story of a man who dreams his own death. These two great authors are often pitted against each other, but Dostoevsky himself described Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina as “flawless,” and Tolstoy adored Dostoevsky’s religious teachings in The Brother’s Karamazov expressed through the character of Father Zosima. This course shows how the works of the great Russian writers compliment our understanding of life and death. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, OCST.

MLAL 3085. The Russian Icon in Literature, Theology, Avant Garde Art, Film, Music, Museums and Politics. (4 Credits)

A multimedia modern history of the Russian icon beginning with theological and liturgical background (Lazarev’s The Russian Icon: From It’s Origins to Sixteenth Century, Flroensky’s “Reverse Perspective,” as well as modern scholarship of Uspensky’s Semiotics of the Russian Icon, and Theology of the Russian Icon), examining how it shaped literature 19th: Chekhov- the St. George and the Dragon as a plot structuring device for a series of short stories); Dostoevsky-selected scenes from Notes From the Dead House, “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man," and The Brothers Karamazov. Then we'll track the icon's dynamic influence on the Russian Avant-garde (Constructivism, Russian Cubism and Suprematism), continuing with it’s incorporation into Soviet film (Askoldov and Tarkovsky), and bringing it up to modern times with Putin’s repeated use of the Theotokos Icon in photography as a propaganda device. Our course will incorporate a field trip to Rutgers to visit the Zimmerli Museum, a local Russian Orthodox Church, MoMA and Met Breuer. Come contemplate infinity and visit liminal realms. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: INST, ISEU, OCST, REST, THEO.

MLAL 3090. 100 Years of War and Peace. Revolution in Russia and Soviet Literature: Tolstoy, Bulgakov and Bely. (4 Credits)

This course explores three masterpieces of Russian and Soviet revolution that reflect the ongoing war and peace of the Russian psyche. We'll begin with Tolstoy's War and Peace (1867), continue with Andrei Bely's Petersburg (1913), and end with Bulgakov's Master and Margarita (1967). Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

MLAL 3095. The Apocalypse Course: Russian and American Revelations. (4 Credits)

This interdisciplinary course explores the revelatory moment that reverberates through historical and personal time. The course is rooted in John's Book of Revelation according to Russian religious philosophy. Comparative studies include the following: Last Judgement Icons with Michelangelo and Kandinsky's apocalyptic masterpieces; Blok's "The Twelve" and T.S Eliot's "The Hollow Men"; Gogol's "The Portrait" and O'Connor's "The Enduring Chill"; Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" and Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five"; Tarkovsky's "Sacrifice" and HBO's "The Leftovers"; Scriabin's Second Symphony and Bob Dylan's "Hard Rain." Fulfills Orthodox Christian minor. Taught in English, Russian track available. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, OCST, RUSS.

MLAL 3096. Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. (4 Credits)

Dostoevsky's final novel, "The Brothers Karamazov," written at his creative zenith, masterfully orchestrates philosophy, psychology, criminology, asceticism, nihilism, and theology into what he called "higher realism." Explore humanity's mettle in the striking contrasts of these profound siblings, where Dostoevsky's penetrating insight and poignant emotionality burn hot. Read, lectured, and discussed in English. Russian track available. OCS accredited. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, OCST, RUSS.

MLAL 3100. History of Language. (4 Credits)

This course examines the change of language structure through time. Special attention is paid to language contact and the socio-historical contexts that created language changes as well as the syntactic and phonological rule systems that govern language change. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: LING.

MLAL 3110. Anti-Racist Pedagogy. (4 Credits)

Striving to embody anti-racist practices, this course will systematically examine materials, activities, and practices used in language classes offered by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Group members will attend and observe language classes at different levels in the language sequence throughout the semester. They will explore models developed by other institutions across different educational contexts. Informed by their personal experiences and on-the-ground observations, by their discussions and readings, students are tasked with (re)imagining an anti-racist language curriculum that responds to the needs, the fundamental values, and the aspirations of Fordham, particularly as it embarks on its “Educating for Justice” strategic plan. Students and faculty will begin the course by receiving anti-racist training and reading foundational texts in anti-racist and anti-oppression pedagogy. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: CNST, FREN, GERM, ITAL, PJRC, PJST, SPAN.

MLAL 3116. Social Issues in Italian Literature and Film. (4 Credits)

Focusing on various aspects of visual language and verbal narratives, this course explores in depth the ethical and moral aspects of historical and socio-political events as evidenced in cinematic and literary works by such authors and directors as Fellini, Pirandello, Lampedusa, Visconti, Salvatores, Carlo Levi, Elsa Morante, Sorrentino, and Camilleri, among others. Taught in English. Italian studies majors and Italian minors in the course are expected to complete the readings as well as writing assignments in Italian. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ITAL, ITMO.

MLAL 3200. Machiavelli's Utopia. (4 Credits)

In this course we will analyze The Prince as well as Machiavelli's creative work (e.g., his theatrical piece The Mandrake Root and his short story Belfagor. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach for the examination of both the historical and the artistic context in which Machiavelli lived, we will address the question of how and why The Prince was misinterpreted by Italian and European intellectuals and humanists of Machiavelli’s time, leading to a misperception of many of the text's core ideas in an historical moment in which Europe was steadily transforming itself into a domain of absolutism (we will read Reginald Pole, Innocent Gentillet, Erasmus, Montaigne, among others). We will retrieve the original cultural context in which Machiavelli wrote: a climate of strong limitation of political creativity and liberty, which lead Machiavelli to compose The Prince (1513 ca.) inspired by an utopian desire for a new leader who could reconcile all the contradictions of Italy. Course taught in English. Coursework in Italian for credit in Italian. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, ITAL.

MLAL 3202. Ariosto to Galileo: The Invention of Modernity in Renaissance Italy. (4 Credits)

Ariosto and Galileo represent two chronological ends of a revolutionary intellectual period in the Italian Renaissance culture. Between the years 1516 (date of the first edition of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso) and 1610 (date of edition of Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius), Italian civilization contributed significantly to the shaping of a new idea of reality. The course is dedicated to the study of this particular period in which masterpieces such as the Furioso, Torquato Tasso’s pastoral poem Aminta, and his epic poem Jerusalem Delivered, as well as Galileo’s works (Sidereus Nuncius, Copernican Letters, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems) become the founding texts of a new realism that questioned and distrusted appearances and, by doing so, prepared the intellectual background where Galileo could develop his new scientific method and discover intellectual models useful for his innovative comprehension of the natural world (with strong implications about the separation of theology and science). Recent scholarship insists on the deep influence that literary humanism had on Galileo’s mind who, no surprise, was a reader, a writer of literature and also a literary critic (for example he wrote about Ariosto and also an incomplete commentary on Tasso’s Jerusalem). The course is therefore dedicated to the study of the relationship of literature to the History of Science with close reading of the above mentioned works and also following an interdisciplinary approach devoted to the exploration of the artistic civilization around Ariosto, Tasso, and Galileo. Taught in English with coursework in Italian for credit in Italian. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

MLAL 3203. Dante and His Translators. (4 Credits)

According to the conservative estimates, there are hundreds of translations into English of The Divine Comedy. Which one is the real Dante? Umberto Eco wrote a book on translation entitled Saying Almost the Same Thing. Comparing a few of these translations, such as those of Ciardi, Singleton, and Mandelbaum, may actually reveal aspects and meanings of the original that the translations slightly altered or that may be missing altogether. So which Dante are we reading? How do translations influence interpretations? This course will discuss the various translations as well as theories of translation in or order to deepen our understanding of the Divine Comedy. Taught in English. If you are counting this course towards your Italian major or minor, the coursework must be done in Italian.Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ITAL, MVLI, MVST.

MLAL 3210. Islam and Italy. (4 Credits)

From Medieval Sicily to the Renaissance and the modern world, the involvement of Arab culture in Italy has been both varied and enduring in nature. This course examines interaction between these two cultures from the 900s to today. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ISTP.

MLAL 3220. The Stage and Society. (4 Credits)

This course focuses on the social issues, class relationships, ideals and ideologies, gender issues, justice and diversity issues, and the human emotional and cultural universe as they are represented in the dramatic works of authors/playwrights from Machiavelli (Renaissance) to Dario Fo (21st century). Features of dramatic language, such as stage setting, organization of scenes, and character development, among others, will be discussed. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, ITAL, THEA.

MLAL 3250. Culture and Society in Italian Cinema. (4 Credits)

A study of the social, political, and cultural conditions in Italy from 1945 (post-World War II) to today as interpreted by the visual language of significant film directors such as Rossellini, Visconti, Fellini, Antonioni, and Sorrentino, among others. Taught in English with coursework in Italian for credit in Italian. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, ITAL, ITMO.

Prerequisite: ITAL 2001 (may be taken concurrently).

MLAL 3300. Literatures and Cultures of Modern Israel. (4 Credits)

The course will explore major themes in modern Israeli literature, film, art, and popular culture. Among topics discussed will be the social and cultural dynamics of Israeli history and contemporary life, constructions of identity, questions of ethnicity, nationality, gender, war, and conflict, and more. Texts and assignments will be in English. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attribute: ALC.

MLAL 3307. Germany and Migration. (4 Credits)

Migrants have played a role in many countries' culture. Germans started coming to the U.S. in the 17th century, and about 17% of Americans have German ancestry. Migrants entered Germany starting around the turn of the 20th century, and today about 21% of Germany's population has a migration background. How do migrants assimilate and learn the language of their new country? What influences do migrants have on a country's culture and language? In the first part of the semester, we will examine the migration of Germans to the United States, and in the second part we will focus on migration into Germany. Taught in ENGLISH. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ADVD, ALC, AMST, ASSC, COLI, INST, ISEU, ISIN.

MLAL 3325. ‘The Gatekeepers?’ Documentary Cinema in Israel. (4 Credits)

The course presents a survey of Israeli documentary cinema from the 1940s to the present. Topics covered include: early Zionist documentary, the shadow of the Holocaust, The Occupation, militarism and war, Orthodox Judaism and other minority groups, social protest and its cinematic representation. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, INST, ISME, JWST.

MLAL 3333. Eunuchs, Dwarves and Dragon Ladies: The Universe of Game of Thrones. (4 Credits)

This course will discuss issues of race, gender, and diversity through the lens of the fictitious universe of "Game of Thrones." The reading will focus on the concept of physical alterity (the monstrous races), sexual practices (incest, bastards, rape), and the series' obsession with blood and bloodlines. The texts supporting the analysis will mostly be medieval: the Nibelungenlied, the Edda, blood charms, Beowulf, Poor Heinrich, plus excerpts from Pliny, Ibn Fadlan, Marco Polo, Abaelard, Beauty and the Beast, et al. Taught in English. No prior knowledge of medieval literature required. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ENGL, GERM, MVST, WGSS.

MLAL 3350. Promised Land: Israeli Culture Between Utopia and Dystopia. (4 Credits)

From its inception, Zionism was imbued with utopian energies. Tel-Aviv, the first Hebrew city is named after a utopian novel, Herzl's Altneuland (Old-New Land). The Kibbutz phenomenon is often studied as an example of a concrete, real-life utopia. Since the 1973 October War, however, we have seen also a marked increase in the production of Hebrew literary dystopias, usually depicting the destruction of the Jewish State. This course explores Israeli culture through the prism of utopia/dystopia. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, INST, ISME, JWST, MEST.

MLAL 3402. Introduction to Russian Drama. (4 Credits)

this course examines the modern Russian theatrical tradition from the nineteenth century to the present and explores a range of plays that include works by Pushkin, Gogol, Ostrovsky, Chekhov, Bulgakov, Shvarts, Petrushevskaya, Pelevin, Grishkovets, among others. Conducted in English. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, INST, ISEU, OCST.

MLAL 3405. Masterpieces of Russian Film. (4 Credits)

Examining some of the most critically acclaimed works of Russian, Soviet, and post-Soviet cinema, students will gain an insight into a variety of historical, cultural, and social contexts through the creative lens of Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky, Alexander Sokurov, Kira Muratova, Larissa Shepitko, and other Russian-language directors. The course focuses on analyzing cinematic "texts" through critical watching, reading, thinking, and writing. Taught in English. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, INST, ISEU, OCST.

MLAL 3410. Arab Cinema: History and Cultural Identity. (4 Credits)

This course provides a comprehensive overview of cinema in the Arab world, tracing the industry’s development from colonial times to the present. It analyzes the ambiguous relationship with commercial Western cinema, and the effect of Egyptian market dominance in the region. Tracing the influence on the medium of local and regional art forms and modes of thought, both classical and popular, the class shows how indigenous and external factors combine in a dynamic process of “cultural repackaging.” We will focus on Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine while exploring problematic issues such as European coproduction for Arab art films, including their relation to cultural identity and their reception in the region and abroad. Class discussions will be in English. All readings will be in English translation. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ARAB, CCUS, COLI, COMC, INST, ISME, MEST.

MLAL 3440. Arabic Literature in English Translation. (4 Credits)

A survey of Arabic literature from the sixth century A.D. to the present, this course will explore the development of the literary genres of the Arabic canon while keeping a keen (and critical) eye on the political, cultural, religious and social circumstances that have accompanied—and, in many cases, given rise to—their development. What is considered literature in the Arabic canon? What is the relationship between literature and politics? What impact has the Quran had on Arabic literature? What is the role of women in the Arabic literary tradition? What kind of dialogue has there been between Arabic and Western literatures? What is commitment in contemporary Arabic literature? Class discussions will be conducted in English. All readings will be translated into English. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ARAB, COLI, GLBL, INST, ISME, MEST, MVLI, MVST.

MLAL 3442. Arabic Culture and the News Media. (4 Credits)

The American news media portrays the Arab world as one of endless political upheaval and repression, with a culture shaped strictly by Islam. This course broadens students' understanding of contemporary Arab societies through the study of Arab TV/radio/print/internet news as well as propaganda and cartoons from government-run outlets, national-resistance activists, democracy-promoting movements, and even jihadists. In this course, the news is used to investigate cultural issues—including authority and decision-making, religion, gender, and family dynamics—in Arab societies as well as to explore American-Arab relations. Through a study of media, students can compare Arab culture as portrayed by American media and American culture to how it is portrayed by the media in the Arab world. This class is conducted in English, with materials in English or Arabic with English subtitles. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ACUP, ADVD, ALC, AMST, ARAB, COLI, INST, ISIN, ISME, MEST.

MLAL 3450. The Arab Spring in Arabic Literature. (4 Credits)

A survey of Arabic literature from 2011 to the present, this course will explore the development of the literary genres of the Arab Spring in the Middle East. What is the relationship between literature and politics? We will read short stories, poetry, graphic novels, blogs, and the Facebook pages of prominent literary and social figures, redefining and modernizing the notion of what is literature in order to work out whether the revolution could have been predicted and how it took place. Class discussions will be in English. All readings will be in translated into English. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ARAB, COLI, INST, ISME, PJRC, PJSJ, PJST.

MLAL 3474. The Arab Israeli Conflict: Cultural Perspectives. (4 Credits)

The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the longest and most controversial conflicts in the world. Through careful analysis of Israeli literature and film, this course provides a nuanced cultural and political history of Arab-Israeli relations. Our texts emphasize the dialectic relationship between art and politics, representation and history, as well as aesthetic and ethics. The course thus explores the effect of art on politics, and the effect of politics on art. Specifically, we examine how art is instrumental in producing 1) "imagined communities" with stable national identities and 2) political resistance that disrupts these hegemonic metanarratives. We also consider the internal dynamics of Israeli society as represented in literature and film, especially tensions between the Jewish-Arab, Ashkenazi-Mizrahi, and religious-secular communities. By analyzing canonical and more contemporary stories, poems, and films (including those by S. Yizhar, Amos Oz, Said Kashua, Mahmoud Darwish, among others) we explore the dialectic between art and politics in Israeli society since 1948.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, INST, ISME, JWST, MEST.

MLAL 3475. Oppositional Thought in Islamic Literature. (4 Credits)

This class will explore various schools of thought and practice in Islamic liteature. Works will range from the writings of early Islamic scholars like Al-Ashari, Mutazila, Al-Ghazali, and Rumi to the resurgence of the literalist approach to Islamic scripture in the contemporary Arab world. The course will be taught in English. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ARAB, COLI, INST, ISAC, ISME.

MLAL 3492. Climate Change and Sustainable Development in the Francophone World. (4 Credits)

This course will examine how climate change is affecting societies, cultures, and economies in the Francophone world, with a focus on Africa. Through case studies, we will explore the challenges of environmental transformations and the solutions proposed, both by the international community and by local populations. We will examine debates surrounding solutions to climate change, as well as related issues including water scarcity, food insecurity, migration, conflict, and urbanization. Course taught in English. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: AFAM, ANTH, ENST, ESEJ, ESEL, ESHC, GLBL, HPSE, HUST, PJEN, PJST.

Mutually Exclusive: FREN 3492.

MLAL 3500. Writing Under German Censorship: A Culture of Banned Books. (4 Credits)

This course examines the politics of censorship of literature in German society during the twentieth century. Books, articles, pamphlets, and magazines have been classified threatening to the regime, they have been seized from libraries and bookstores across Germany, they have been burned on bonfires during nighttime parades, and they were eliminated from all media. Writers and creators have been infiltrated and observed, fined, jailed, tortured or killed in the name of governmental censorship. We will examine a range of systems and orchestrated campaigns of censorship of the Nazi regime as well as the government of the former German Democratic Republic. We will look at the implementation of censorship, and we will read important authors who have been banned or self-censored within the larger context of twentieth-century Germany. Taught in English. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, GERM, INST, ISEU.

MLAL 3504. Study Tour: Berlin Tales: Germany's Kiez. (4 Credits)

This course will take us on a journey-a journey that will start in the urban sphere of New York City in a classroom reading historical texts and cultural narratives on the metropolis Berlin. But during Spring Break 2012, we will also have a truly unique opportunity of traveling together to discover the actual streets of Berlin, the center of modernity in Germany itself. We will read authors who present conflicting views and engaging perspectives on four distinct Berlins: The Jewish Berlin of the Weimar Repyblic, Berlin during the Third Reich, the City as the Capital of East Germany, and lastly, Berlin as booming Metropolis of the 21st Century. And together, we will visit Berlin to discover different life styles, the pulse of minorities, and the nostalgic feeling of Ostaglie or present day Berlin. TAUGHT IN ENGLISH. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, GERM, INST, ISEU.

MLAL 3515. Food for Thought. (4 Credits)

This course analyzes literature (in English translation) from German-language countries that showcases the whole range of food comsumption, from excess, such as in the myth of the Schlaraffenland (The Land of Cockaigne), to starvation as in Franz Kafka's Hungerkünstler (Starvation Artist), and cannibalism (Der Fan by Eckhart Schmidt). The miraculous sustenance provided to saints in their vitae as well as the ultimate inspiration for many of them, the Last Supper, will receive special attention. This course is being developed in collaboration with the Center for Community Engaged Learning and will include the opportunity to volunteer in a local soup kitchen. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, GERM, SL.

MLAL 3525. Cultures of Sexual Dissidence in Latin America. (4 Credits)

In this course, we will explore an alternative canon of Latin American and Latinx literary and cultural production, created by and about subjects whose sexualities and genders have been positioned, from the colonial period on, as divergent from the heterosexual and cisgendered “norm.” Topics to be covered include theoretical approaches to “queer” studies rooted in the region (and tensions with queerness conceived as a North Atlantic epistemological framework), alliances between radical feminism and LGBTQ movements, debates about the cultural and aesthetic representation of trans people, the pros and cons of political militancy, and the relationship between sexuality and diaspora. Taught in English with Spanish readings in translation. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: LAHA, LALS, SPAN, WGSS.

MLAL 3535. Building the Ideal City: Ethics and Economics Foundations of Realizable Utopias. (4 Credits)

This course introduces students to the investigation of the role that economic concepts such as profit, work, utility, and exchange play in defining the ideal city as a realizable political project. Students will explore ethical and economic concepts and their interrelation in the debate on the best form of State and government that developed from antiquity to modern American utopian communities. This course includes texts from various sources - philosophical, theological, juridical, and literary. Through these readings, students will learn how theoretical and practical ideas on the best form of society developed in time and still influence modern political thought. The course also focuses on the impact of the socioeconomic doctrines of the Catholic Church in shaping the idea of a possible, realizable, ideal city. Among the texts and authors included are Plato, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Boccaccio, Thomas More, Leon Battista Alberti, Tommaso Campanella, Francis Bacon. Taught in English with coursework in Italian for credit in Italian. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ACUP, ALC, AMST, APPI, ASHS, ASRP, INST, ISIN, ITAL, ITMA, ITRE, MVPH, MVST, URST.

MLAL 3600. Women's Voices in German and Austrian Literature. (4 Credits)

This course focuses on the role of women in German and Austrian society in particular on literary and theoretical texts produced by women in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. To articulate their ideas and to establish themselves on a public stage, women writers have used different forms of expression over the course of time such as letters, diaries, poems, novellas, political pamphlets, theoretical articles, dramas and essays. We will study the different genres by exploring questions of gender, authorship, personal, national and transnational identities, and the politicization of the private sphere within the cultural context of Germany and Austria. By analyzing literary texts of authors like Lou Andreas-Salome , Else Lasker-Schuler, Anna Seghers, Ingeborg Bachmann, Marlen Haushofer, Monika Maron, Herta Muller and Julia Franck and drawing on visual arts, film, and feminist theory, we will still situate German-speaking women writers with a global context. Topics to be considered in relation to the literary texts are women as writers and artists, sexuality and bodies, friendship and intimacy, politics and political activism, as well as writing and identities. TAUGHT IN ENGLISH. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, GERM, INST, ISEU, WGSS.

MLAL 3607. Topics in Multilingualism. (4 Credits)

This course discusses the historical and contemporary underpinnings of multilingualism in the globalized world. The course content includes discussion of empirical social and cognitive research on multilingualism as well as multilingual language education and policy. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ASSC, GLBL, INST, ISIN, LALS.

MLAL 3624. Music and Nation in the Arab World. (4 Credits)

Though music is a domain of individual expression, it may alos reflect or respond to social, cultural and historic influences of a time and place. This course explores the ways in which music acts as an exprssion of national identity in the Arab world. It considers this relationship in a region where the idea of nation has multiple meanings, and where conflicting factors such as regional diversity and the notion of pan-Arabism exists. Specifically, the course focuses on how particular types of music, including the Aleppian, Waslah, Al-Qasida al-ghinaiy, and Al-Muwashah, have affected the development and embodiment of national identity in the 20th century. Course materials are presented in English, however students of Arabic language are encouraged to Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ARAB, COLI, INST, ISME, MEST, PJRC, PJST.

MLAL 3701. Villains, Vamps and Vampires: An Introduction to German Cinema. (4 Credits)

Film is a powerful art form and means of communications. The messages embedded in the mesmerizing images often escape us, and we miss the opportunity to understand something about the culture that produced it. With this class we will attempt to explore 20th – and 21st Century ideas and concepts of German identity, culture, history and politics through German film analysis and readings around the topics and genres of villains, vamps and vampires. Each of these genres deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death, our loss identity, and last but not least our often ambiguous relationship to power and sexuality. With this course we intend to read German Cinema through these genres from its inception in the 1890’s until the present. It includes an examination of early expressionist and avant-garde films from the classic German cinema of the Weimar era, fascist cinema, postwar rubble films, New German Cinema from the classic German Cinema from the 1970’s, post 1989 heritage films as well as 21st Century German Films. TAUGHT IN ENGLISH. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ACUP, ADVD, ALC, AMST, ASAM, COLI, GERM, INST, ISEU, WGSS.

MLAL 3710. Fin-De Siecle Vienna: Klimt, Cafes, and Cemeteries. (4 Credits)

Vienna at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century was an important center for intellectuals, artists, architects, the opera and literature as well as the sciences not only for Austria, but for the rising movement of Modernism in Europe at large. In Vienna, this intellectual ferment was played out less in universities or elite salons but rather in the cafes and artist studios of their time. There, the Viennese celebrated life and pleasure but also concerned themselves with death quite happily; they sing and write about it, play with it and build monuments to it. This course will examine various aspects of the Viennese contribution to the birth of Modernism and address the most important authors and artists of their time. We will discuss Jugendstil and Impressionism, the architecture of Adolf Loos and Otto Wagner, authors like Arthur Schnitzler, Robert Musil, and Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and give an introduction to the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, whose "Interpretation of Dreams" and "Studies on Hysteria" left their mark on the period. But most excitingly of all during spring break, we will also have the unique opportunity of traveling together to discover the actual streets of Vienna, visit the "Zentralfriedhof" and marvel at Gustav Klimt’s "Beethovenfries" at the "Wiener Secession". Taught in English. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, GERM, INST, ISEU.

MLAL 3800. Cloisters, Castles, and Kings: Medieval Bavaria. (4 Credits)

This course will explore Medieval secular and church history as it manifested itself in the literature and culture of Bavaria. Includes a study abroad component. Spring break visit to Regensburg and Munich. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI, GERM, MVST.

MLAL 3820. Memory and Identity in Modern Italy. (4 Credits)

This course focuses on the historical and cultural process of nation building in the 19th- and 20th-century Italy. Particular attention will be paid to the formation and conceptualization of an Italian national identity as presented or questioned in literary works by Bufalino, Consolo, Levi, Morante, Sciascia and Tomasi di Lampedusa, and films by Blasetti, Rossellini, Scola, the Taviani brothers and Visconti. Conducted in English. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, COLI.

MLAL 3822. The Arabian Nights. (4 Credits)

This course will examine the cycle of stories, known as the Arabian Nights or 1001 Nights. In the first half of the course we will read some of the major tale cycles and study the relevant historical and cultural contexts. In the second half of the course we will consider a number of adaptations- novels, plays, and films- that have been inspired by the Nights. Class discussion will be in English. All readings will be in English and in Englsih Translation.] Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ALC, ARAB, COLI, MEST.

MLAL 3993. Advanced Spanish Immersion in Granada. (3 Credits)

Students will take an upper-level content course at the University of Granada and engage in a number of cultural excursions within Granada, a recognized World Heritage Site by UNESCO and one of the most beautiful cities in the world and a center of flamenco culture. Students will also participate in two short trips to Sevilla and Córdoba. All course activities are organized by the instructors who also supervise the academic progress of students and comment on their weekly reflections. Note: Only participants in Fordham in Granada can register for this class.

Attribute: ALC.

Prerequisite: SPAN 2001.

MLAL 3999. Tutorial. (3 Credits)

Independent research and reading with supervision from a faculty member.

MLAL 4005. Queer Theory and the Americas. (4 Credits)

Drawing from the often divergent traditions of Anglo and Hispanic America, this course will take an interdisciplinary approach to queer methodologies for cultural and literary studies. Students will encounter foundational queer theoretical texts (both historical and contemporary) as well as novels, plays, and films, and will explore, for themselves, what queerness means and does. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ACUP, ADVD, AMST, ASHS, COLI, ICC, WGSS.

MLAL 4006. Dante's Cosmos: Medieval Science, Theology, and Poetry in the Divina Commedia. (4 Credits)

This course investigates Dante's cosmos in the Divine Comedy through medieval science, theology, and poetry. Disentangling the context of the Comedy from Dante's encyclopedic culture through reading in the disciplines of his time will lead students to a deeper comprehension of the multidimensionality of Dante's universe than is possible through any singular disciplinary. The course will broaden students' perception of the medieval cosmos in contrast with contemporary notions of cosmology. Taught in English with readings in Italian and English translation. Coursework in Italian for Italian majors and minors. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: COLI, ICC, IPE, MVLI, MVST.

MLAL 4007. Oral History, Literature & Film. (4 Credits)

This course adopts a multimedia approach to analyzing and interpreting knowledge about the past as it is reconstructed in oral histories, literature, and film. We will study histories of Italian Americans in the Bronx in the 20th century in memoir, in fictional and autobiographical film, and in the video and audio oral history interviews housed in the archives of the Bronx Italian American History Initiative and the Bronx African American History Project. Our guiding questions of inquiry include: What forms does memory take in oral histories, literature, and film? How do different forms of remembering construct meaning? What characteristics constitute feminist practices of memoir writing and filmmaking? What types of digital technologies allow us to fully explore and create new meanings? Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ACUP, AMST, ASAM, COLI, ICC, NMDD.

MLAL 4010. Anni Di Piombo/Years of Lead: Culture, Politics, and Violence. (4 Credits)

The period from the late 1960s to the early 1980s in Italy, known as “anni di piombo” or years of lead, was characterized by intense social and political unrest, and terrorist activities. The 1969 bombing in Piazza Fontana in Milan and the 1980 bombing of the train station in Bologna serve as the tragic bookends of a decade of political violence culminating in the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades in 1978. In this course, we will study these years by closely examining the cultural production of the time – literature, film and other media. We will pay particular attention to the social and political motivations underlying extremist activism, both left- and right-wing, as represented in literature and the popular press, and to writers’, filmmakers’ and intellectuals’ diverse responses to politically motivated violence, whether to criticize the terrorists themselves or to question the state-sponsored “strategy of tension”. We will also discuss the ways in which these experiences have been revisited and reimagined in recent years, and their relevance for today’s Italy. Taught in English with texts in Italian and English translation. Coursework in Italian for credit toward the Italian major or minor. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: COLI, EP4, ITAL, VAL.

MLAL 4011. Anni Di Piombo/Years of Lead: Culture, Politics, and Violence. (4 Credits)

Attributes: COLI, EP4, IPE, ITMO, VAL.

MLAL 4016. Rewriting the Mediterranean (20th and 21st Centuries). (4 Credits)

Historically the Mediterranean has been a region where different ethnicities, cultures and religions have emerged, dissolved or coexisted. The enduring encounter of East and West, North and South on its shores and in its waters, however, has been far from peaceful. In this seminar, we will discuss contemporary writers and intellectuals from the Mediterranean, who build on the rich artistic heritage and vital cultural traditions of the region to confront the legacy of centuries-old political and religious divisions. We will analyze the modern construction of the ideas of “Mediterranean culture” and “Mediterranean identity” in the current post-national context by examining fiction and essays by Vincenzo Consolo, Assia Djebar, Juan Goytisolo, Amin Maalouf, Orhan Pamuk and Abraham B. Yehoshua, among others. By telling stories set in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean – from Italy and Spain to Turkey, Israel and the Middle East – these writers reimagine early civilizations and recast their histories in the present to critique modernity’s narratives of socio-economic and political control, cultural domination and religious exclusion, and offer novel forms of cultural production and critical practice fostering cross-cultural interaction and intercultural understanding. We will conduct our analyses within the conceptual frameworks provided by historians Fernand Braudel, Iain Chambers, David Abulafia and Ian Morris, anthropologist Talal Asad, sociologists Franco Cassano and Edgar Morin, economist Serge Latouche, literary scholar Predrag Matvejevic, and cultural critic Edward Said. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: INST, ISEU, ISIN, ISME, ITAL, MEST, OCST, PJRC, PJST.

MLAL 4100. Speaking For/As the Other. (4 Credits)

What are the implications of giving voice to those who are "voiceless"? This course explores the role of writing and speaking during the encounter of black, Indian, mestizo and Hispanic cultures in Latin America and Latina/o United States. By examining these cultural encounters, the course examines the political and ethical implications of speaking for and as the other. Conducted in English with texts in Spanish and English translation. Coursework in Spanish for credit toward the Spanish major and minor. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: COLI, EP4, IPE, LAHA, LALS, SPAN, VAL, WGSS.

MLAL 4347. Latinos: Fact and Fiction. (4 Credits)

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the experiences of Latin Americans and Latinos. It employs literature and history to introduce students to the benefits of using multiple ways of acquiring knowledge. It then relies on other academic areas such as art and sociology to reinforce its interdisciplinary. As a capstone course, it allows students to incorporate disciplines from their own academic foundation. It covers topics such as politics, social justice, race, gender, and identity. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

Attributes: ADVD, AMST, GLBL, ICC, LALS.

MLAL 4998. Chinese Studies Senior Research Paper. (4 Credits)

The Chinese studies major culminates in a senior research paper addressing a topic, question, problem, or other body of materials within the field of Chinese studies. Majors work closely with faculty for this research paper. There is a public presentation/roundtable for these papers, which enables students to think about their research in a larger context and in dialogue with others. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.

MLAL 4999. Tutorial. (4 Credits)

Independent research and reading with supervision from a faculty member.

MLAL 5016. Rewriting the Mediterranean (20th and 21st Centuries). (3 Credits)

MLAL 8999. Independent Study. (0 to 4 Credits)

Independent Study.