ARAB 1001 Elementary Arabic (4 Credits)

The elementary Arabic three-quarter sequence aims at building practical communication skills to interact with speakers of Arabic and participate in multilingual communities, with a focus on interpersonal and interpretive communication. Considering the diglossic nature of Arabic, students learn to speak in the Levantine dialect and read and write in Modern Standard Arabic, just like native speakers do. Students will also explore and reflect on Arabic cultural practices and perspectives to develop cultural insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness and understanding. Learners that complete the beginning Arabic sequence will have the linguistic skills and foundational cultural knowledge to navigate straightforward situations and manage familiar tasks in an Arabic context, operating at the novice high to intermediate low proficiency level. Arabic 1001 is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Arabic. Students with experience with the Arabic language should complete the placement test to determine the appropriate course level for their background.

ARAB 1002 Elementary Arabic (4 Credits)

The elementary Arabic three-quarter sequence aims at building practical communication skills to interact with speakers of Arabic and participate in multilingual communities, with a focus on interpersonal and interpretive communication. Considering the diglossic nature of Arabic, students learn to speak in the Levantine dialect and read and write in Modern Standard Arabic, just like native speakers do. Students will also explore and reflect on Arabic cultural practices and perspectives to develop cultural insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness and understanding. Learners that complete the beginning Arabic sequence will have the linguistic skills and foundational cultural knowledge to navigate straightforward situations and manage familiar tasks in an Arabic context, operating at the novice high to intermediate low proficiency level. Prerequisite: ARAB 1001 or equivalent.

ARAB 1003 Elementary Arabic (4 Credits)

The elementary Arabic three-quarter sequence aims at building practical communication skills to interact with speakers of Arabic and participate in multilingual communities, with a focus on interpersonal and interpretive communication. Considering the diglossic nature of Arabic, students learn to speak in the Levantine dialect and read and write in Modern Standard Arabic, just like native speakers do. Students will also explore and reflect on Arabic cultural practices and perspectives to develop cultural insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness and understanding. Learners that complete the beginning Arabic sequence will have the linguistic skills and foundational cultural knowledge to navigate straightforward situations and manage familiar tasks in an Arabic context, operating at the novice high to intermediate low proficiency level. Prerequisite: ARAB 1002 or equivalent.

ARAB 1350 From Iraq to Morocco: Arabic Culture and Society Through Film (4 Credits)

This course examines cultural and societal aspects of the Middle East and North Africa and presents this vast area as a broad and diverse region with diverse history, religion, and culture. Students will learn how to approach films ethnographically by subjecting each movie to a rigorous social analysis. Among topics covered are colonialism and its lasting effects, child trafficking, religion, wars, Arab-Israeli conflict, and women in the Middle East. Screening of Arabic films with English subtitles is a central part of the course. Assigned readings are designed to provide background on the particular historical and cultural contexts in which the films are produced. The course will bring awareness and/or shatter the multiple stereotypes surrounding the Arabs; but additionally, the discussions will transcend national borders and uncover social issues that may be more severe in the Arab world, but are universal and certainly not unique to the Middle East and North Africa. The course is in English and open to all interested. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

ARAB 1351 Tales from the Arabian Nights: Reading across Time and Space (4 Credits)

No doubt that through their magical transformations and marvelous plots, the stories of the Arabian Nights, also known as One Thousand and One Nights, have a great entertainment value and that the imaginary setting of the tales has fascinated and inspired many authors and artists. However, this collection of stories has also significantly contributed to how the West views the Middle East: an exotic world populated by negative images such as conniving and manipulating harem women and violent and unscrupulous Arab men. The Tales of the Arabian Nights provide a unique platform for the discussion of current issues such as orientalism, stereotyping, and gender discrimination. In this course, we will select a handful of stories to serve as a catalyst for inquiry to show how this shared narrative passed on from generation to generation, has contributed to the creation of an ‘exotic’ East invented by the colonial West. We will show that the Middle East, like the rest of the world, is in a state of flux and the text is not a historical account of the medieval Arab world and cannot be viewed a-historically. We will unveil all the stereotypes that have been subtly, or not so subtly, implanted in the mind of the west through an often-erroneous portrayal of the Arab world. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

ARAB 2001 Intermediate Arabic (4 Credits)

Continued study of Arabic language with an enhanced cultural component. Two quarter sequence. Prerequisite: ARAB 1003 or equivalent.

ARAB 2002 Intermediate Arabic (4 Credits)

Continued study of Arabic language with an enhanced cultural component. Two quarter sequence. Prerequisite: ARAB 2001 or equivalent.

ARAB 2100 Conversation & Composition (4 Credits)

This is the third quarter of the second year. Intensive practice in oral skills and grammar review. Writing, discussion and reading based on a topic or topics in Arabic language and culture. Increased attention paid to writing skills. Prerequisite: ARAB 2002, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

ARAB 3700 Topics in Arabic (1-4 Credits)

ARAB 3701 Topics in Arabic (1-4 Credits)

ARAB 3702 Topics in Arabic (1-4 Credits)

ARAB 3703 Topics in Arabic (1-4 Credits)

ARAB 3704 Topics in Arabic (1-4 Credits)

ARAB 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

CHIN 1001 Elementary Chinese (4 Credits)

An introductory course in Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) designed to develop students’ ability to communicate in Mandarin Chinese in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways. This course adopts a task-supported and proficiency-based curriculum, so it focuses on both engaging students in the learning process through real-life tasks and helping students reach the learning outcomes. This course counts towards the Language requirement of the Common Curriculum.

CHIN 1002 Elementary Chinese (4 Credits)

An introductory course in Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) designed to develop students’ ability to communicate in Mandarin Chinese in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways. This course adopts a task-supported and proficiency-based curriculum, so it focuses on both engaging students in the learning process through real-life tasks and helping students reach the learning outcomes. This is the second course in a three-quarter sequence. This course counts towards the Language requirement of the Common Curriculum. Pre requisite: CHIN 1001 or equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

CHIN 1003 Elementary Chinese (4 Credits)

An introductory course in Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) designed to develop students’ ability to communicate in Mandarin Chinese in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways. This course adopts a task-supported and proficiency-based curriculum, so it focuses on both engaging students in the learning process through real-life tasks and helping students reach the learning outcomes. This is the third course in a three-quarter sequence. This course counts towards the Language requirement of the Common Curriculum. Prerequisite: CHIN 1002 or equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

CHIN 1516 Contemporary China in Literature and Films (4 Credits)

This course investigates, through critically examining the representative literary and filmic texts produced by Chinese as well as foreign writers and filmmakers, the many complicated aspects of some much-talked about issues. This includes the diminishing rural life and landscape, urbanization, migration/dislocation, the changing roles of women, social equality, as well as the balancing act of preserving tradition, the environment, and economic development. The in-depth examination and diverse approaches this course applies enables students to gain greater understanding of not only the challenges that contemporary China has raised, but also the complexities of the increasingly globalized world in which we are living. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

CHIN 1616 Asian Ecocinema and Ecoliterature (4 Credits)

Following decades of economic boom, continuing industrial development, and expansion of urbanization, many Asian countries, especially China and India, are now facing unprecedented environmental crises. The list of ecological woes in Asian countries include air, water, and soil pollution; flooding and drought, deforestation and desertification, epidemics of diseases, coal mine accidents, the loss of land to urban expansion, and mass migration. Asian ecoliterature and ecocinema, both in documentary and feature film form, have functioned as responses to, and critical reflection of, the urgent environmental crises, as well as broader cultural, historical, and social issues that caused environmental and ecological problems. Through critically examining the representative literary and filmic works, this course will 1) introduce students to ancient Asian concepts about Nature and critical events that have reshaped the historical course of development of the concerned countries; 2) demonstrate and explain primary themes presented in the ecocinema and literature, such as hydro-politics of air, water, forests and development; bio-ethics and green culture; eco-aesthetics and the representations of Nature; migration and urbanization. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

CHIN 2001 Intermediate Chinese (4 Credits)

A three quarter sequence of courses continues to build students’ basic skills and to advance them to intermediate level proficiency. Prerequisite: CHIN 1003, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

CHIN 2002 Intermediate Chinese (4 Credits)

A three quarter sequence of courses continues to build students’ basic skills and to advance them to intermediate level proficiency. Prerequisite: CHIN 2001, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

CHIN 2003 Intermediate Chinese (4 Credits)

A three quarter sequence of courses continues to build students’ basic skills and to advance them to intermediate level proficiency. Prerequisite: CHIN 2002, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

CHIN 2100 Advanced Intermediate Chinese (4 Credits)

This single-quarter course is one of the transitional courses from intermediate Chinese to advanced Chinese. The course materials, while continuing from the CHIN 2001-2002-2003 sequence, give students more opportunities to synthesize vocabulary and grammatical patterns they have learned from previous courses. The introduction of major grammatical patterns is completed by the end of this course. Prerequisite: CHIN 2003, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

CHIN 2301 Chinese Conversation and Composition I (4 Credits)

This single quarter course is particularly designed to develop further students' speaking and writing skills beyond intermediate level. Prerequisite: CHIN 2100, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

CHIN 2302 Chinese Conversation and Composition II (4 Credits)

This single quarter course is particularly designed to develop further students' speaking and writing skills beyond intermediate level. Prerequisite: CHIN 2301, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

CHIN 2516 Literary Chinatown: Stories of Chinese in America (4 Credits)

As the oldest diasporic enclave of Chinese in the United States, Chinatown has been both a physical and historical site where Chinese immigrants have built a community and a continually contested symbolic space represented in Chinese American literature. Literary Chinatown explores the intersection of history, geography, and literature through the myriad ways of Chinatown stories by major authors in Chinese American literature across the period from the early 20th century until the contemporary moment. The focus lies on unraveling the intricate relationship between space, place, and identity, tracing the complexities of being Chinese in America at pivotal historical junctures that shed light on the U.S. nation-building process—its rejection, accommodation, and incorporation of Chinese lives. These literary works set the stage for examining the impact of war, imperialism, (neo)colonialism, and globalization on immigration, alongside domestic issues of race, class, gender, and ethnicity. We aim to unravel the Chinese American experience as portrayed in its literary recreations of Chinatown memory, fantasy, narrative, and myth within Chinese American literature. We also brought scholarly discourse on the intersectional and comparative approaches to the study of race, culture, politics, and place in Chinese American literature. The course will entail a class walking tour of the historical Chinatown area in Denver. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

CHIN 3300 Chinese Society in Transition (4 Credits)

Through studying selected texts and focusing on topics about various aspects of Chinese society in transition, this class aims at strengthening and further developing students’ overall skills, in particular, skills of reading comprehension, presenting information and one’s opinions, and debating with other people. Prerequisite: CHIN 2003 plus study in China OR CHIN 2302; or permission of instructor.

CHIN 3400 Chinese Cinema and Chinese Society (4 Credits)

This advanced class is designed to strengthen and to develop further students’ overall Chinese proficiency and in-depth understanding of the contemporary societies of greater China, including mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, by means of studying the representative Chinese language films produced in these three areas. Prerequisite: CHIN 2302 or above, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

CHIN 3650 Chinese-English Translation I (4 Credits)

This seminar is designed for students with advanced-level proficiency in Chinese and English to learn basic translation theories and to develop fundamental skills in translating, from Chinese to English and vice versa, texts which primarily deal with general social needs and everyday communications. Prerequisite: CHIN 3300 or above, equivalent, or permission of instructor.

CHIN 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

FREN 1001 Français élémentaire (4 Credits)

Connect with the diverse population around the world that uses French by developing practical communication skills and by learning about other cultural perspectives than your own to develop global insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness. Acquire the necessary competencies to interact in French with people from other countries, and from your own. In each unit, students will assume the role of a job applicant related to the material studied and will use their French communication skills in fun, practical, hands-on ways both in and out of class. First quarter in a three-quarter sequence. FREN 1001 is designed for students with no previous French experience. Students with more than 2 years of high school French must take the placement exam and enroll in a higher-level course.

FREN 1002 Français élémentaire (4 Credits)

Connect with the diverse population around the world that uses French by developing practical communication skills and by learning about other cultural perspectives than your own to develop global insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness. Acquire the necessary competencies to interact in French with people from other countries, and from your own. In each unit, students will assume the role of a job applicant related to the material studied and will use their French communication skills in fun, practical, hands-on ways both in and out of class. Second quarter in a three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: FREN 1001 or equivalent.

FREN 1003 Français élémentaire (4 Credits)

Connect with the diverse population around the world that uses French by developing practical communication skills and by learning about other cultural perspectives than your own to develop global insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness. Acquire the necessary competencies to interact in French with people from other countries, and from your own. In each unit, students will assume the role of a job applicant related to the material studied and will use their French communication skills in fun, practical, hands-on ways both in and out of class. Third quarter in a three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: FREN 1002 or equivalent.

FREN 1988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

FREN 2001 Français du deuxième degré (4 Credits)

Grammatical structures, conversation and reading of cultural and literary materials. First quarter of a three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: FREN 1003 or equivalent.

FREN 2002 Français du deuxième degré (4 Credits)

Grammatical structures, conversation and reading of cultural and literary materials. Second quarter of a three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: FREN 2001 or equivalent.

FREN 2003 Français du deuxième degré (4 Credits)

Grammatical structures, conversation and reading of cultural and literary materials. Third quarter in a three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: FREN 2002 or equivalent.

FREN 2100 Ecrire, lire et parler (4 Credits)

Writing, discussion and reading based on a topic or topics in French and Francophone cultures. Close attention paid to paper-writing skills. Prerequisite: FREN 2003 or equivalent.

FREN 2301 Capitalism vs. Socialism: Emile Zola (4 Credits)

This course analyzes the complex interrelationship between the economic ideologies and practices of capitalism and socialism in the works of the nineteenth-century French novelist Émile Zola. Three novels in which these themes are a major driving force of the action will be studied. In the first, Germinal, the capitalist system is viewed from the outside by poor, oppressed workers who feel victimized by it. In the second novel, Money, the author delves into capitalism at its very heart, the Stock Exchange of Paris. He explores all its machinations but also shows the growing cracks in the system as socialist protestations make inroads at the top. The third work, The Ladies Paradise, proposes a possible reconciliation of capitalism and socialism, inspired in part by the writings of French socialist thinkers earlier in the century. In a new era department store, workers’ rights and commercial profit are seen to be mutually beneficial. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

FREN 2302 The French Shakespeares: From Feudalism to Absolutism in 17th-Century France (4 Credits)

This course studies the works of the three leading French playwrights of the seventeenth century: the tragedians Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine and the comic genius Molière. Each of these authors explores various forms of power play that played an important role in the society of their time. These include competitions for political dominance between the feudal aristocracy and an increasingly absolutist monarchy, between the same aristocracy and an emerging middle class, allied with the monarchy, between women and men in their conflicting assertions of rights and privileges, between traditional religion and modern secularism, between the established church and Protestants, between rival liberal and conservative factions within the established church, and between Christian Western Europe and the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Students will read and analyze two plays by each of the three dramatists. This course counts toward the fulfillment of the Analytical Inquiry- Society and Culture requirement.

FREN 2303 Victor Hugo: Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (4 Credits)

The course deals with two famous novels by Victor Hugo: Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Though written in the nineteenth century, these works explore themes that are relevant in contemporary society, like racism, sexism, injustice, marginalization, and poverty. Les Misérables is the story of a man, Jean Valjean, a victim of social injustice who redeems himself to become a generous humanitarian, saving himself and everyone around him. This novel explores many social issues and calls out for reform. Discrimination against women and their mistreatment by a paternalistic system is a major theme. The inhuman exploitation of the poor, the homeless, and the marginalized is another major subject. This exploitation can lead to extreme suffering for some people and to criminal behavior for others. Hugo emphasizes the influence of the spiritual in human life. Individuals, even emperors like Napoleon, are invited in different ways to respond to divine love, but some are more able to do so than others. Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre-Dame to inspire the French public to save the famous cathedral, almost destroyed recently, from demolition back in the 1830s. He tells the story of Esmeralda, a beautiful, kindhearted, and talented young woman, who is a victim of discrimination and persecution because she is a woman and a person of color. She is loved by four men, each of whom contributes, wittingly or unwittingly, to her ultimate destruction. The cathedral itself and the Blessed Lady for whom it is named (Our Lady of Paris) are also major characters. The author shows that the same injustices, inequalities, and prejudices that he tried to combat in his own time already existed in the Middle Ages. Students will refine their critical reading and writing skills as well as substantially develop their argumentative skills. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

FREN 2400 Communication à l'écrit et à l'oral (4 Credits)

This course features intensive practice in spoken and written French, combined with study of a topic in French and Francophone literature and culture. The course also serves as an introduction to critical analysis and appreciation of French and Francophone literary texts. Courses at the FREN 2400 through 2701 level combine introductory study of a topic in literature and/or culture with grammar review and advancement in French language skills. Prerequisite: FREN 2003 or equivalent.

FREN 2500 Qu'est-ce que la littérature? (4 Credits)

Introduction to critical analysis and appreciation of French and Francophone literary texts. Critical examination and questioning of the conventionally recognized literary genres of fiction, poetry, and theater. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Prerequisite: FREN 2400 or equivalent.

FREN 2501 La Nature et les animaux (4 Credits)

Nature and animals: as seen, imagined, and understood by humans. Literature has long made plants, landscapes, birds, and other animals into part of a human story. Through readings of French and Francophone literary texts, we will reflect on the various relationships that we construct with animals and nature. Works studied may include fables where animals serve to voice social values (La Fontaine) and poetry in which natural elements are symbolic of human concerns. But other works in this course will take a different approach: confusing or toppling the "normal" places occupied by humans and animals. Our discussions will occasionally touch on contemporary issues of environmental concern. This course many be taken in addition to other courses in the 25-series. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Prerequisite: FREN 2400 or its equivalent.

FREN 2502 La France et ses autres mondes (4 Credits)

IFREN 2502 La France et ses autres mondes (4 Credits) This course reexamines the historical relations and power dynamics between France and its “other” worlds. How and why has France built and maintained its empire in Africa, Asia, and the Americas? How do the leaders of the Francophone world cope with the politics of hegemony put in place by the (ex)rulers? How do the former question and reject the latter in their quest for self-affirmation and nation building before, during and after independence? Our wide range of Pan-Francophone textual and filmic selection from prominent writers and filmmakers will help us answer these questions and classic and newly emerging notions of civilizing mission, Francophonie, Francosphere, postcolonialism, neocolonialism, Afropeanism and Afropolitanism. This course is conducted in French. It counts toward Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture. Courses at the FREN 2400 through 2701 level combine introductory study of a topic in literature and/or culture with grammar review and advancement in French language skills.   Prerequisite: FREN 2003 or equivalent. .

FREN 2503 La Satire (4 Credits)

This course is an introduction to satire in French and Francophone literature. A classical literary technique of denunciation, satire has been recently adopted and adapted in popular televised shows (Les Guignols de l’info in France, Kouthia Show in Senegal, SNL in the US) to recapture important sociopolitical events throughout the world. In our selection of literary texts, films, and sketches such as we will analyze why and how authors make use of satire to denounce the most prevailing problems faced by French and Francophone societies at given times of their historical trajectories. Courses at the FREN 2400 through 2701 level combine introductory study of a topic in literature and/or culture with grammar review and advancement in French language skills.   Prerequisite: FREN 2003 or equivalent. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

FREN 2504 La Culture au Cinema (4 Credits)

We will read and interpret contemporary French feature films and other related journalistic or literary texts. We will analyze the ways in which the directors/authors of such films/texts understand and represent a certain notion of "French" culture, in general, and its diverse and varied expressions, in particular. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Prerequisites: FREN 2400, 2500 or any FREN 26XX course.

FREN 2701 Sujets spéciaux (4 Credits)

Selected topics in French or Francophone literature and/or culture. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: FREN 2400 or equivalent.

FREN 2988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

FREN 2988S Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

FREN 3110 La Grammaire à l'oeuvre (4 Credits)

Our most advanced language course, students perfect their knowledge of French grammar in all of its intricacies. Written and oral practice. Prerequisites: FREN 2500, FREN 2501, FREN 2503 or FREN 2701.

FREN 3150 L’Art de la traduction: français-anglais et vice versa (4 Credits)

In this course you will study techniques of translation from French to English and from English to French. There will be lots of practice which will allow a thorough review of French grammar. In addition, by translating texts we become more aware of the complexities of both English and French, and attuned to the working of literary or other styles of language. The course includes some study of theories of translation or commentaries on its cultural implications or its history. There will be time for reflection on the broader implications of translation such as intercultural understanding, differences, the question of what is a “faithful” translation, or the experience of living bilingually or in cultural translation Prerequisites: FREN 2500, FREN 2501, FREN 2503 or FREN 2701.

FREN 3501 L'Afrique aux Antilles (4 Credits)

FREN 3501 L'Afrique aux Antilles (4 Credits) This seminar examines the literary and political enterprises undertaken by Francophone Caribbean novelists, essayists, filmmakers, and artists in re-rooting/routing Africa in the Caribbean. We will particularly focus on how and why the Afro-Caribbean tradition is captured in the distinctive movements of Negritude, Antillanité and Créolité. We will use the latter as standpoints from which to examine the affective, historical, and political implications of Africa in the social lives of Caribbean people. We will also discuss the visions and stances of these writers and theorists on the Black Experience and the correlations that exist between the historical and the fictional in essays as well as novels and films. The seminar is conducted in French and emphasizes discussion, writing and critical thinking. Courses at the FREN 3150 through 3701 level combine a seminar approach to a topic in literature and/or culture with advanced language study, including translation, grammar, or other exercises. Prerequisite: 8 credits of courses numbered 2400-2701 or their equivalent.

FREN 3504 Identité et Altérité (4 Credits)

This course offers an examination of the complex notions of Self and Other in contemporary texts in French and Francophone Studies at a crucial time when the political debate on national identity reemerges in the West in general and in France in particular. Two fundamental questions have been at the center of the national debate in France: “Pour vous, qu’est-ce qu’être français aujourd’hui?” [For you, what does it mean to be French today?] and “Quel est l’apport de l’immigration à l’identité nationale?” [ What is the contribution of immigration to national identity?]. These “controversial” questions subtly divide France into La France française [French France] and La France étrangère [foreign France]. Our textual and filmic selection features writers and filmmakers from France and the Francophone world who address these aforementioned issues by analyzing the power dynamics between the Self and the Other, the Français/es de souche [People of French descent] and the Immigré/es français/es [French Immigrants].

FREN 3505 Masques du moi (4 Credits)

Qui suis-je??? The question of self, identity, and discovering "who I am" has preoccupied many writers, filmmakers, or other artists. Identity, or one's sense of self, can be shaped by families, personal experiences, or social and historical forces. Writers might recount the "true" facts of their lived experience or mix in some fictions as they fashion a story of the self. This course will explore the diverse ways that autobiography and others ways of "writing the self" represent the relation of self, world and word. Examples will come from French and Francophone contexts. The class is conducted all in French and emphasizes discussion, writing, and critical thinking. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Prerequisite: Two courses in the 25XX series or their equivalent.

FREN 3507 Auteures classiques (4 Credits)

A comprehensive and analytical study of women authors of France from the Middle Ages to 2000. Courses at the FREN 3150 through 3701 level combine a seminar approach to a topic in literature and/or culture with advanced language study, including translation, grammar, or other exercises. Prerequisites: 8 credits of courses numbered 2400-2701 or their equivalent.

FREN 3701 Séminaire (4 Credits)

Selected authors, literary movements and genres in French-speaking world. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: FREN 2500.

FREN 3980 Internship (1-4 Credits)

FREN 3988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

FREN 3991 Independent Study (1-4 Credits)

FREN 3998 Undergraduate Honors Thesis (1-4 Credits)

GERM 1001 Elementary German (4 Credits)

Basic speech patterns, grammar and syntax; emphasis on oral skills; introduction to German culture. First quarter of three quarter sequence.

GERM 1002 Elementary German (4 Credits)

Basic speech patterns, grammar and syntax; emphasis on oral skills; introduction to German culture. Second quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: GERM 1001 or equivalent.

GERM 1003 Elementary German (4 Credits)

Basic speech patterns, grammar and syntax; emphasis on oral skills; introduction to German culture. Third quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: GERM 1002 or equivalent.

GERM 1022 German Cinema: An Introduction to German Culture, History, and Politics through Film (4 Credits)

This course is taught in English. It is an invitation to German film-making since the end of the First World War. In this class we will explore 20th-century German identity, culture, history, and politics through film analysis and readings. Studying the most famous and influential films in the history of German cinema, we will explore numerous topics (including “The Golden Twenties”, nationalsocialistic propaganda, post-WWII German nation states, terrorism, reunification, multiculturalism, education and youth, the arts, gender, and class) and investigate how a popular culture medium like film can capture the political, social, and economic atmosphere in society at different times in German history. This courses fulfills the Analytical Inquiry-Society and Culture requirement.

GERM 1416 German Civilization: History, Politics, and Culture (4 Credits)

This course is an introduction to intellectual and cultural currents in German civilization from the Enlightenment to the present, emphasizing the arts in the context of history and philosophy from the late 18th century to around the mid-20th century. Readings include excerpts from such thinkers as Kant, Fichte, Marx, Nietzsche, Weber, as well as poetry and short fictional works by Heine, Jünger, Remarque, Borchert, and others. The readings are supplemented by films that students are expected to have watched at the beginning of each week. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

GERM 1417 Recasting German Identity: Germany since the End of the Cold War (4 Credits)

Recasting German Identity: Germany since the end of the Cold War examines how Germany, a once divided nation in the heart of Europe held responsible for two World Wars, has wrestled to overcome forty years of division between a capitalist West- and communist East Germany. Our class will examine both the pains and gains of 30+ years of unity in the ‘Berlin Republic’. We will analyze the so-called “normalization” of Germany’s contemporary internal and international affairs. At the center of our class are various political, historical, but mostly cultural developments (& intellectual debates) that have reshaped German identity in profound ways given the country’s exceptionally violent 20th century history. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

GERM 1988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

GERM 2001 Intermediate German (4 Credits)

Continuation of German 1003. Taught in German. In this course, you will strengthen your communicative skills, intercultural competencies, and knowledge of German-speaking cultural history. Discussing a variety of shorter texts and visual arts, you will learn more advanced grammatical structures, expand our lexical repertoire, practice intercultural comparison, and develop an appreciation for diversity. Prerequisites: GERM 1003 or placement exam.

GERM 2002 Intermediate German (4 Credits)

Continuation of German 2001. Taught in German. In this course, you will strengthen your communicative skills, intercultural competencies, and knowledge of German-speaking cultural history. Discussing a variety of shorter texts and visual arts, you will learn more advanced grammatical structures, expand our lexical repertoire, practice intercultural comparison, and develop an appreciation for diversity. Prerequisites: GERM 2001 or placement exam.

GERM 2005 Reading and Conversation (4 Credits)

Continuation of German 2002. Taught in German. This class introduces you to more complex cultural topics, materials, and communicative settings. Reading a variety of texts, you will expand your vocabulary and gain a deeper understanding of German grammar, syntax, and inclusive language. You will also practice various oral communication tasks and scenarios, increasing your confidence and ability to communicate effectively with different audiences. This course prepares you for cultural discussion and literary analysis in our lower-level, content-based seminars. Prerequisites: GERM 2002 or placement exam.

GERM 2100 Conversation and Composition (4 Credits)

Taught in German. In this course, you will refine your writing and speaking skills through a variety of fun speaking and writing prompts. You will discuss sociopolitical, historical, and cultural topics, enhancing your critical and analytical thinking skills, intercultural competence, and appreciation for diversity. This course will help you communicate more freely, accurately, and creatively and produce detailed texts on a wide range of subjects. Prerequisites: GERM 2005 or placement exam.

GERM 2350 German-Speaking Film and Media (4 Credits)

Taught in German. This course explores the German-speaking media landscape. Engaging with film and media theory, we will examine the multi-faceted role of media in society and discuss how people choose, consume, and are consumed by media at various times in history and in different political systems. We will analyze selected cultural topics and their representation in German-speaking media (television, news media, digital media, film, etc.) and draw comparisons to their media coverage in other cultures. This course also introduces you to the history of German-speaking cinema, discussing movies from the beginnings of film to the present. Prerequisites: GERM 2005 or placement exam.

GERM 2701 Topics in Literature & Culture (4 Credits)

Taught in German. This course explores authors, topics and/or movements in the German-speaking world. Topics vary. Repeatable if topic differs. Prerequisites: GERM 2005 or placement exam.

GERM 2800 Advanced German Grammar and Composition (4 Credits)

Taught in German. This course offers an in-depth grammar review. We will practice advanced grammatical structures and inclusive language through quizzes, writing assignments, cultural projects, and presentations. This course will help you advance all four skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking), developing a high level of grammatical accuracy and complexity. Prerequisites: GERM 2005 or placement exam.

GERM 2900 Comedy, Humor, Satire In German-Speaking Cultures (4 Credits)

In this course, we will analyze comedy, humor and satire as tools to expose political issues or social injustices and to raise existential, religious, and philosophical questions. We will examine various German, Austrian, and Swiss works (drama, poetry, prose, films, cartoons, paintings, theoretical and autobiographical texts), discussing topics such as ethno-comedy, Jewish humor, satire in the visual arts, famous German-speaking humorists and comedians, escapist humor in the GDR, theories of humor and laughter.

GERM 2910 Contemporary Trends and Tensions in the German-Speaking World (4 Credits)

This course focuses on sociopolitical, economic, and cultural trends and tensions in contemporary German-speaking societies. Critically analyzing various authentic materials (newspaper articles, literary texts, caricatures, art, talk shows, documentaries, films), we will deepen our cultural knowledge and draw comparisons to other cultures. Topics include gender identities, religions, multiculturalism, poverty, sports, climate, economic trade, health, regional traditions, and topics that students suggest.

GERM 2920 (Multi)Cultural Identities and Values in the German-Speaking World (4 Credits)

Social roles and groups shape and/or are defined by shared cultural knowledge and history. This course explores historical and contemporary (constructions of) social identities in German-speaking societies. We will analyze the depiction of various social identities in literary, political and theoretical texts, films and other visual media, art and music and relate them to societal norms, expectations, and power hierarchies at the time. Topics include East and West German identities, youth cultures, multiculturalism, race, gender roles and identities, class, education, and topics that students suggest.

GERM 2988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

GERM 3050 Advanced Conversation and Composition (4 Credits)

This course focuses on fluency, accuracy, and inclusive language in oral and written communication. Completing numerous writing and speaking projects, you will enhance your language confidence, intercultural competence, and appreciation for diversity. We will discuss complex cultural topics in various communicative settings and experiment with different writing styles, genres, and registers. This course will prepare you for cultural discussion and literary analysis in our upper-level seminars.

GERM 3325 Die Weimarer Republik: German Culture & Society 1918-1933 (4 Credits)

This course analyzes how violence, economic and political volatility, technology, and changing moral codes affected German society and culture (literature, visual arts, film and music) from the onset of the First World War to the rise of Nazism. Germany's first experiment in democracy, the Weimar Republic, can be viewed both as a prelude to Fascism (and therefore a failure) and as a period of radical socio-cultural change, experimentation, and even progress. This course is taught primarily in German, but occasionally we discuss particular texts in English. Prerequisite: GERM 2003 or equivalent.

GERM 3425 Nachkriegsdeutschland: German Culture & Society 1945-1990 (4 Credits)

This course introduces the student to crucial aspects of the immediate postwar years: Germany's 'Stunde Null"; denazification & reeducation; occupation; 'Americanization' of Germany; 'Berliner Blockade'; the divided memory in East and West Germany; democracy in Germany; the Cold War and 'Berliner Mauer.' Via film, literature, and historical studies we explore how both Germanies (East and West) dealt with the legacy of World War II and the Holocaust. During the first third of the course we have a close look at the concerns of the immediate postwar years 1945-49. Most Germans considered these years of occupation, hunger, homelessness, and despair in a vastly destroyed homeland as much worse than the war that preceded them. Then we investigate critiques of the so-called 'normalization' of Germany's internal and external affairs between the founding of two separate German states and the ensuing 'economic miracle' in West Germany (1949-61). Finally, we trace the development of this 'divided nation' until collapse and reunification in 1989/90. Prerequisite: GERM 2100 or equivalent, or another 2000-level GERM class beyond 2003.

GERM 3701 Topics Literature & Culture (1-4 Credits)

Taught in German. This course explores authors, topics, and/or movements in the German-speaking world. Topics vary. Repeatable if topic differs. Prerequisites: GERM 2005 or placement exam.

GERM 3910 Nature, Environmentalism and Sustainability in German-Speaking Cultures (4 Credits)

This course critically analyzes the reputation and self-perception of German-speaking countries as ‘green leaders’ and models of engaged (local and global) citizenship. We will explore interrelations between three central manifestations of environmental awareness in German-speaking cultures: the long aesthetic tradition of depicting nature (as idyllic refuge, agent, inspiration, scientific object, or powerful threat) in literature, art and film, the history of green politics and contemporary environmental debates, practices and protests. Furthermore, we will search for bridges between the Sciences and the Humanities and compare Western interpretations of the non-human world with non-Western epistemologies, such as Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

GERM 3920 Border Crossings: Exile, Migration, Travel (4 Credits)

This course explores the importance of border crossings in contemporary and historical German-speaking cultures. Using a variety of cultural materials (images, music, film, political, theoretical and literary texts, travelogues, autobiographies), we will discuss the various reasons, challenges, and opportunities for border-crossers at various times in history and analyze how exile, travel, and migration experiences changed individual and cultural perceptions of Self and ‘Other’. Furthermore, we will examine the impact that German-speaking border-crossers had on the lives, cultures, and lands of native populations. Topics include diasporic and national belonging, asylum, acculturation, integration, settler colonialism, Indianthusiasm, work migration, gender, race, construction of ‘Otherness’.

GERM 3930 Rebels and Revolutionaries in the German-Speaking World (4 Credits)

The right to protest is essential in a democracy; protest is a form of political participation that can be a catalyst for social change. This course explores historical and contemporary protest movements in German-speaking cultures. We will analyze diverse cultural materials (political, theoretical, literary and autobiographical texts, movies and documentaries, paintings, songs) to discuss various revolutionary movements and their motivations, ideologies, goals and impact on German-speaking societies at different times in history. Topics include workers’ movements, colonialism, resistance during dictatorships, terrorism, student protests, civil disobedience, climate activism.

GERM 3940 Health, (Dis-)Ability and Well-Being in German-Speaking Cultures (4 Credits)

In this course, we will analyze health, (dis-)ability, and well-being as key concepts in cultural identity constructions, not only for the imagination of the nation as a ‘fit body’ (body politic), but also for the definition and exclusion of presumed disposable, disabled/disabling, and worthless ‘Others’. Analyzing various cultural materials, we will discuss the central role that health discourses played in the past (in European colonial ambition, in the establishment of democracies, in Nazi ideology and in socialist propaganda). We will also examine health(care) discussions in contemporary German-speaking cultures, focusing on topics such as healthcare systems, integration, women’s health, refugees, climate, and other current topics that students suggest. Finally, we will compare Western understanding of health with other, non-Western epistemologies, such as Indigenous definitions of well-being.

GERM 3950 Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice (4 Credits)

Religion is a central cultural practice. As a unified system of beliefs and practices, religion influences individual, communal and national perceptions, values, behaviors and concepts of belonging. This course explores the histories of various religions in the German-speaking world: Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism), Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. Analyzing political, theoretical, literary, autobiographical texts and visual arts, we will discuss topics such as migration and integration, holidays and practices, persecution and resistance, church and state, violence and war, science and ideology, spirituality and social justice, missions and colonialism.

GERM 3988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

GERM 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

GERM 3997 Internship in German (1-4 Credits)

GERM 3998 Distinction in German (1-5 Credits)

ITAL 1001 Elementary Italian (4 Credits)

Build practical communication skills to interact with speakers of Italian and participate in multilingual communities, with a focus on interpersonal and interpretive communication. Explore and reflect on Italian cultural practices and perspectives to develop cultural insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness and understanding. Learners that complete the beginning Italian sequence will have the linguistic skills and foundational cultural knowledge to navigate straightforward situations and manage familiar tasks in an Italian context, operating at the novice high to intermediate low proficiency level. Italian 1001 is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Italian. Students with experience with the Italian language should complete the placement test to determine the appropriate course level for their background.

ITAL 1002 Elementary Italian (4 Credits)

Build practical communication skills to interact with speakers of Italian and participate in multilingual communities, with a focus on interpersonal and interpretive communication. Explore and reflect on Italian cultural practices and perspectives to develop cultural insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness and understanding. Learners that complete the beginning Italian sequence will have the linguistic skills and foundational cultural knowledge to navigate straightforward situations and manage familiar tasks in an Italian context, operating at the novice high to intermediate low proficiency level. Prerequisite: ITAL 1001 or equivalent.

ITAL 1003 Elementary Italian (4 Credits)

Build practical communication skills to interact with speakers of Italian and participate in multilingual communities, with a focus on interpersonal and interpretive communication. Explore and reflect on Italian cultural practices and perspectives to develop cultural insight and the foundations of intercultural awareness and understanding. Learners that complete the beginning Italian sequence will have the linguistic skills and foundational cultural knowledge to navigate straightforward situations and manage familiar tasks in an Italian context, operating at the novice high to intermediate low proficiency level. Prerequisite: ITAL 1002 or equivalent.

ITAL 1988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

ITAL 2001 Intermediate Italian (4 Credits)

Intermediate Italian is a 2-part intermediate communicative sequence in Italian. It is designed for students who have completed Italian 1003 or the equivalent. The aim of the course is further to develop listening, reading, writing and speaking skills through communicative in-class activities and at-home assignments. The sequence presents new grammatical and vocabulary functions as well as review patterns already presented in the elementary sequence. Intermediate Italian also includes the study of contemporary cultural and literary readings that will serve as the basis both for at-home work and in-class discussion. Prerequisite: ITAL 1003 or equivalent.

ITAL 2002 Intermediate Italian (4 Credits)

Intermediate Italian is a 2-part intermediate communicative sequence in Italian. It is designed for students who have completed Italian 1003 or the equivalent. The aim of the course is further to develop listening, reading, writing and speaking skills through communicative in-class activities and at-home assignments. The sequence presents new grammatical and vocabulary functions as well as review patterns already presented in the elementary sequence. Intermediate Italian also includes the study of contemporary cultural and literary readings that will serve as the basis both for at-home work and in-class discussion. Prerequisite: ITAL 2001 or equivalent.

ITAL 2005 Reading and Conversation (4 Credits)

In Reading and Conversation, students learn the ease of expression in Italian through the intermediate-level reading of cultural and literary materials and through the study of vocabulary. Readings and contemporary issues are discussed in class. Prerequisite: ITAL 2002 or equivalent.

ITAL 2201 Italy: Modern History, Culture (4 Credits)

This course provides a historical and cultural approach to modern Italy. Students refine their critical thinking skills as well as substantially develop their argumentative skills. This course centers on selected authors, literary movements, genres and historical and contemporary cultural phenomena in Italy. Topics may include film, TV, poetry, short stories, fascism and the resistance movement, Italian women, etc. Each week a new decade is discussed in a historical context and supplemented with cultural artifacts that are either centered on the decade in question or produced during the period. This course is taught in English. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

ITAL 2355 Images of Rome in Literature & Film (4 Credits)

The city of Rome has been a major protagonist on the stage of history for several millennia. In 2,500 years of existence, Rome has seen more of the world’s history unfold at its doorsteps than any other capital in the western world. It has been the site of the building and the expansion of a vast and powerful Empire, the center of a major world religion, and a magnet for the arts throughout the centuries. This course focuses on late 19th- and 20th-Century Rome from the point of view of selected works of Italian literature (poetry, short stories, and novels or selections from novels) and films in which the city of Rome plays a prominent role. Students demonstrate the ability to identify, interpret, and analyze the connections between the texts and films. This course is taught in English. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

ITAL 2500 Introduction to Italian Literature (4 Credits)

Introduction and overview of Italian literature from13th century to present; works representing major authors, periods, themes and forms. Prerequisite: ITAL 2005, equivalent, or instructor’s permission.

ITAL 2750 Italian Jewish Literature and Cinema (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with JUST 2750 and offers an overview of Italian Jewish literature and cinema from the Middle Ages to the present. Students will read and discuss prose and poetry, essays and articles, as well as watch and discuss films that address issues such as religious and cultural identity, the right to difference, anti-Semitism and the Shoah. The course will also give students an overview of the formation and transformation of the Jewish community in Italian society. In addition to well-known Jewish Italian writers like Primo Levi and Giorgio Bassani, students will read pertinent works by non-Jewish writers like Rosetta Loy. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

ITAL 2988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

ITAL 3010 Advanced Conversation and Composition (4 Credits)

This course continues to refine students’ oral and written skills while enhancing their cultural awareness. Concepts, such as contemporary Italian politics, economy, and gastronomy, are introduced through authentic texts. Specific emphasis is placed on written skills--providing students with the necessary writing skills for continued study in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 2005, equivalent, or instructor’s permission.

ITAL 3701 Topics in Italian Studies (4 Credits)

Selected authors, literary movements, genres, and historical and contemporary cultural phenomena in Italy. Recent topics have included Nord-Sud: Viaggi in Italia, Italian City in Literature and Film, Italian Contemporary Novel, Identità a tavola, Teatro del ‘700, Il fantastico, Love and War in the Renaissance, Performance of Italian Theatre, Boccaccio e la novella, Poeti del romanticismo, Dante. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: ITAL 2005, equivalent, or instructor’s permission.

ITAL 3702 Topics in Italian Studies (1-4 Credits)

Selected authors, literary movements, genres, and historical and contemporary cultural phenomena in Italy. Recent topics have included Nord-Sud: Viaggi in Italia, Italian City in Literature and Film, Italian Contemporary Novel, Identità a tavola, Teatro del ‘700, Il fantastico, Love and War in the Renaissance, Performance of Italian Theatre, Boccaccio e la novella, Poeti del romanticismo, Dante. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: ITAL 2005, equivalent, or instructor’s permission.

ITAL 3703 Topics in Italian Studies (1-4 Credits)

Selected authors, literary movements, genres, and historical and contemporary cultural phenomena in Italy. Recent topics have included Nord-Sud: Viaggi in Italia, Italian City in Literature and Film, Italian Contemporary Novel, Identità a tavola, Teatro del ‘700, Il fantastico, Love and War in the Renaissance, Performance of Italian Theatre, Boccaccio e la novella, Poeti del romanticismo, Dante. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: ITAL 2005, equivalent, or instructor’s permission.

ITAL 3988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

ITAL 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

ITAL 3995 Independent Research (1-10 Credits)

ITAL 3998 Undergraduate Honors Thesis (1-5 Credits)

This course will guide students who are majoring in Italian in the selection of a topic for their honors thesis, research materials, and individual meetings with the professor(s) directing the thesis.

JAPN 1001 Elementary Japanese (4 Credits)

The Elementary Japanese sequence helps students develop communicative competence in basic spoken and written Japanese and explore Japanese cultural practices and perspectives to enrich cultural competence and reflect on their own. First quarter of a three-quarter sequence. Japanese 1001 is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Japanese. Students who have experience with the Japanese language should complete the placement test to determine the appropriate course level for their background.

JAPN 1002 Elementary Japanese (4 Credits)

The Elementary Japanese sequence helps students develop communicative competence in basic spoken and written Japanese and explore Japanese cultural practices and perspectives to enrich cultural competence and reflect on their own. Second quarter of a three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 1001 or equivalent.

JAPN 1003 Elementary Japanese (4 Credits)

The Elementary Japanese sequence helps students develop communicative competence in basic spoken and written Japanese and explore Japanese cultural practices and perspectives to enrich cultural competence and reflect on their own. Third quarter of a three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 1002 or equivalent.

JAPN 1005 Japanese for the Real World (4 Credits)

This fun and challenging intermediate-level, task-based language course develops Japanese language & cultural competency for students preparing to study abroad in Japan or travel to Japan independently. In this course students synthesize and build on their reading, writing, speaking, listening and cultural skills prior to departure in order to maximize their study/travel abroad experience. The task-based curriculum will help students improve their communicative skills in the Japanese language through authentic materials and concrete, task-based language learning. Students also deepen their knowledge about Japanese culture and have online and face-to-face discussions when possible with Japanese native speakers to enhance their cultural competence. Prerequisite: JAPN 1003 or instructor permission.

JAPN 1216 Popular Culture of Japan (4 Credits)

In this course we examine and analyze the emergence of particular forms of mass-produced culture, or culture for mass consumption, in Japan from the early modern period to the present. Using a variety of cultural materials enjoyed from the early modern period (1600-1868,) during which Japanese society underwent extensive urbanization, secularization, and cultural commodification, through to the present, the course focuses on overarching themes: media and information technology (woodblock printing, newspapers, and the internet); entertainment and gender (the all-male kabuki theatre and all-female Takarazuka revue); commodified romance; fiction (illustrated fiction, manga, and novels); anime and television fandom; healer-bots and cyborgs. No knowledge of Japanese required. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JAPN 1416 Postwar Japan: Changing Perspectives in Literature and Culture (4 Credits)

This course explores a range of Japanese cultural perspectives from the end of the Second World War to the present. The main focus is on the analysis and interpretation of Japanese literary texts, but during the course students also examine film, visual art, and other cultural products within a historical framework, to lead to a deeper understanding of the influences and events that have shaped both contemporary Japan and the wider world. Prerequisites: JAPN 1001.

JAPN 1616 Samurai and Merchants: Cultures of Tokugawa Japan (4 Credits)

Introduction to the cultures of Tokugawa, Japan, focusing on the tension between the samurai and merchant classes, the images they construct of self and other, and the morals and mores of their respective worlds. As well as examining Tokugawa fiction, drama, and other cultural artifacts, this course also considers later representation of the period and of its people in twenty- and twenty-first-century text, cinema, and television to understand the importance of contemporary influences on historical representation. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JAPN 1988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

JAPN 2001 Intermediate Japanese (4 Credits)

Continuing study of complex grammatical structures, vocabulary expansion and reading skills. First quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 1003 or equivalent.

JAPN 2002 Intermediate Japanese (4 Credits)

Continuing study of complex grammatical structures, vocabulary expansion and reading skills. Second quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 2001 or equivalent.

JAPN 2003 Intermediate Japanese (4 Credits)

Continuing study of complex grammatical structures, vocabulary expansion and reading skills. Third quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 2002 or equivalent.

JAPN 2101 Conversation and Composition I (4 Credits)

Intensive practice in oral skills, grammar review, reading and writing. Prerequisite: JAPN 2003 and JAPN 1416.

JAPN 2102 Conversation & Composition II (4 Credits)

Intermediate training in speaking, reading and writing. Prerequisite: JAPN 2101 or equivalent and JAPN 1416.

JAPN 2103 Conversation & Composition III (4 Credits)

Advanced-intermediate training in speaking, reading and writing. Prerequisite: JAPN 2102 or equivalent and JAPN 1416.

JAPN 2400 Hey, Girl, Hey: Japanese Girlhood from the Moga to Shôjo (4 Credits)

This course explores the figure of Japanese girlhood from the Moga "modern girl" of the early twentieth century to the contemporary figure of the shôjo . Japanese cultural production has had a significant impact on East Asian girl's media in the pre-war period and again in the post-war to contemporary period. The course will explore the "modern girl" in all her iterations, from European modernism to East Asia, Africa, and the Americas, especially in the contexts of colonialism and nationalism. The course also considers the roles of girls and women in the formation of the modern state(s) and contemporary societies across East Asia, and juxtapose those roles to how girls and women are depicted in fiction and media. Students will trace the transition from the comparative modernisms legible in the figure of the moga to the transnationally circulated figure of the shôjo.

JAPN 2500 Cultures of the Floating World (4 Credits)

During the Edo period (1600-1868), the literature and visual culture of Japan flourished after centuries of devastating warfare. The floating world of kabuki theaters, woodblock print culture, and the pleasure quarters arrested the imagination of the populace and attracted the unwanted attention of governmental authorities. Over the course of the Edo period, the shogunal government expelled Christians from Japan, the city of Edo became the largest in the world, and woodblock print culture spread throughout the Japanese archipelago. Through reading various genres of literary and cultural production, students will explore how society shapes culture and culture shapes societies. Topics include: premodern literary representations of love and eros, the emergence of the “floating world print” (ukiyo-e), Christians as Others, representing landscapes and the past in haikai poetry and prose, early modern comic books, and vendetta stories. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JAPN 2700 Classical Japanese Women Writers: The Poets, Priestesses & Princesses in their Literary Golden Age (4 Credits)

The course explores the extraordinary female-centered belles-lettres of classical Japanese literature, including a myth-history detailing the origins of Japan, the development of the rich poetic tradition, female diaries, zuihitsu and personal essays, the classic Tale of Genji, and literature of religious hermetic and travel diaries. The course will critically consider how women writers were able to flourish in this period and interpret their literary output through a consideration of the cultural and historical context for the texts. This course will also deploy principles of literary analysis and interpretation.

JAPN 2988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

JAPN 3050 Language and Culture of Japan (4 Credits)

JAPN 3701 Topics in Japanese Culture (4 Credits)

Selected topics in Japanese culture. Texts and films in both Japanese and English, with a focus on modern and contemporary Japanese culture. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: JAPN 3100 or equivalent.

JAPN 3800 Robots and Posthumanism in Japanese Visual Culture (4 Credits)

Automata and robots lumber, glide, rampage and ambulate their way through Japanese visual culture. Robots, cyborgs and other posthuman bodies and subjectivities have offered visions of new future worlds and have critiqued past and present social conditions. In this course, students will investigate representations of robots and posthumans in Japanese visual culture of the 20th and 21st centuries. Completion of JAPN 2003 or equivalent required.

JAPN 3810 Sexuality and Gender in Japanese Culture (4 Credits)

Sexuality and Gender in Japanese Culture is designed for students who have completed JAPN 2001-2003 or the equivalent. In this class, we will focus on developing reading, discussion, speaking, and critical thinking skills centered around representations of gender and sexuality in Japanese culture. Students will read texts by poets, critics, manga artists, and bloggers. In doing so, students will not only expand their critical vocabulary in Japanese, but also critically contend with representations of gender and sexuality in the Japanese context. Prerequisite: JAPN 2003 or equivalent.

JAPN 3820 Frogs in a Pond: Japanese Translation Theory and Practice (4 Credits)

This course takes a multi-pronged approach to literature and translation, considering aspects of translation theory, methodology, and practice; literature in translation; and the function of translation in global dynamics of canon, colonization, power, and literary stylistics. With a language like Japanese, which shares no linguistic roots with European languages, questions of translation are magnified and problematized by linguistic difference, histories of Orientalism and colonization, and fundamentally different literary aesthetics, especially in literatures of premodern Japan and early modern Europe. Questions this course considers include: with what modes of translation practice might we approach Japanese literature? How has the translation of European literature into Japanese impacted Japanese literary aesthetics and vice versa? How might we more equitably represent Japanese literature to a global Anglo audience? By what processes does the business of translation occur and how do those processes impact the actual production of literary canon and study? This class requires Japanese language ability of intermediate and higher. Prerequisites: JAPN 1416 and JAPN 2003 or equivalent required.

JAPN 3988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

JAPN 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

JAPN 3995 Independent Research (1-10 Credits)

CLTR 2100 Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies (4 Credits)

This course is an introduction to the comparative study of literature and culture across the boundaries of language, genre, nation, artistic medium, historical period, and socio-political context. It focuses both on the methods of literary theory and on the practical applications of critical tools to literary and cultural analysis. Texts and topics reflect LL&C’s curricular strengths and include critical theory, film, literature & the other arts, World Literature, European languages and literatures, and translation. Prerequisite is the completion of 1003 or higher in any language taught at DU. Readings in English with a reflective module conducted in the target language. This course provides a critical foundation that supports students’ continued language-specific curricula in the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures. Students will work on developing reflective, interpretive and analytical competencies, in order to apply these competencies in future courses.

CLTR 2200 Journeys in World Literature (4 Credits)

How does literature take readers on voyages around the world and how does it lead us on quests to self-discovery and self-cultivation? Structured around the theme of “journeys,” this course explores the literature and culture of multiple geographic and linguistic regions. Students will become acquainted with important contexts and critical tools to understand a variety of journeys across cultures and time. We will examine journeys both literally and figuratively and may focus on a selection of the following: epic quests, travel literature, immigration narratives, as well as the Bildungsroman, auto-biography, self-writing, and others. Students will also be introduced to the field of digital humanities. This courses provides hands-on training for utilizing Stanford University’s web-based platform, Palladio (https://hdlab.stanford.edu/palladio/). Palladio is an innovative, free research tool used to visualize complex multi-dimensional data. Students will discover and gather data while researching journeys and acquire the skills necessary to create visualizations of this research, further preparing them for DH research in the 21st century. This course provides a critical foundation that supports students’ continued language-specific curricula in the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures. Students will work on developing reflective, interpretive and analytical competencies, in order to apply these competencies in future courses.

RUSS 1001 Elementary Russian (4 Credits)

The elementary Russian sequence provides a comprehensive introduction to Russian language and culture, while ensuring a solid command of fundamental grammatical structures. By the completion of this course, all students are expected to acquire a proficiency level of “Novice High” or better in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In addition, the course offers students meaningful opportunities to analyze and explore common beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral patterns of Russian-speaking people in a global comparative context. As a result, students will develop the capacity to identify their own cultural patterns, compare and contrast with others, and adapt empathetically to unfamiliar ways of being. Russian 1001 is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Russian. Students who have experience with the Russian language should complete the placement test to determine the appropriate course level for their background.

RUSS 1002 Elementary Russian (4 Credits)

The elementary Russian sequence provides a comprehensive introduction to Russian language and culture, while ensuring a solid command of fundamental grammatical structures. By the completion of this course, all students are expected to acquire a proficiency level of “Novice High” or better in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In addition, the course offers students meaningful opportunities to analyze and explore common beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral patterns of Russian-speaking people in a global comparative context. As a result, students will develop the capacity to identify their own cultural patterns, compare and contrast with others, and adapt empathetically to unfamiliar ways of being. Prerequisite: RUSS 1001 or permission of instructor.

RUSS 1003 Elementary Russian (4 Credits)

The elementary Russian sequence provides a comprehensive introduction to Russian language and culture, while ensuring a solid command of fundamental grammatical structures. By the completion of this course, all students are expected to acquire a proficiency level of “Novice High” or better in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In addition, the course offers students meaningful opportunities to analyze and explore common beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral patterns of Russian-speaking people in a global comparative context. As a result, students will develop the capacity to identify their own cultural patterns, compare and contrast with others, and adapt empathetically to unfamiliar ways of being. Prerequisite: RUSS 1002 or permission of instructor.

RUSS 1416 Introduction to Russian Culture: The Wondrous and the Supernatural (4 Credits)

How do we explain the enchanting and mysterious world of Russian Culture? How have Russians imagined their world and themselves? To answer these questions, we will examine the various manifestations of the wondrous and the supernatural in Russian art. We will begin by reading Russian fairy tales to learn about the people’s folk beliefs and their Eastern Orthodox faith. We will then trace the Russian fantastic tradition by studying the works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century writers who wrestled to explain the marvelous and the demonic myths at the foundation of Russian culture. We will focus our attention on Russia’s cultural capitals St. Petersburg and Moscow and discuss how supernatural themes reflected social and historical realities. Authors may include Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Bely, and Bulgakov. No knowledge of Russian is necessary; all class discussions, readings, and writing are in English. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

RUSS 1613 Introduction to Russian Culture and Civilization (4 Credits)

This course surveys Russia's cultural past and present—from the beginnings of the Russian state over a thousand years ago through the Soviet Union and, after its disintegration in 1991, to the Russian Federation. The course surveys the various attitudes of Russian thinkers and authors towards the question of national identity and national destiny. Examples of Russian high culture (literature, art, music, ballet, film) and Russian religious faith (Orthodoxy) are discussed alongisde daily life and folkloric beliefs. By working across disciplines, students will discover the fascinating cultural interconnectedness of Russian politics, art, faith, and national identity. Knowledge of Russian language and history is not required. The course format consists of lectures, slides, video and audio presentations, as well as whole-class and small-group discussions. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

RUSS 1860 The Russian Short Story (4 Credits)

This course will introduce students to Russian literature through some of its shorter “masterpieces” of fiction. Students will explore the lives and ideas of some of Russia’s greatest writers, the literary movements of which they were a part, and the broader cultural and historical periods in which they wrote. Students will read and analyze works from the end of the 18th century to the Post-Soviet era, including stories by Pushkin, Gogol, Chekhov, and others. All course materials in English translation. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. No prerequisites.

RUSS 1922 The Soviet Experiment in Literature and Film (4 Credits)

Architects of the Soviet experiment claimed to create a radically new type of society and person, superior to all that came before. What were the defining features and founding myths of the Soviet identity, as propagandized by the government? How did this imagined identity clash with realities of life in the USSR? What cultural figures opposed the official discourse, and what artistic modes of resistance did they develop? To explore these questions, we read fiction and poetry by authors central to defining and contesting the Soviet experiment, including Maiakovski, Gladkov, Ginzburg, Pelevin, Dovlatov, and Petrushevskaya, and watch ground-breaking films by Vertov, Tarkovsky, Daneliya and others. All materials are in English. No prior knowledge of Russian literature or culture is required. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

RUSS 2001 Second Stage Russian (4 Credits)

Review of grammar, development of all language and cultural skills. Prerequisite: RUSS 1003 or equivalent. First quarter of two quarter sequence.

RUSS 2002 Second Stage Russian II (4 Credits)

Review of grammar, development of all language and cultural skills. Prerequisite: RUSS 2001 or equivalent. Second quarter of two quarter sequence.

RUSS 2003 Second Stage Russian III (4 Credits)

This course concludes the second-year Russian 2001/2002/2003 sequence designed to develop your proficiency in all language skills. You will continue to acquire conversation, reading, and writing skills at the intermediate level, with an emphasis on everyday situations and communicative contexts. A great deal of attention will be devoted to the learning of grammar in conjunction with the immediate activation of it in conversation. Contemporary texts will acquaint you with Russian culture and life. Literary texts, songs, films, and activities will supplement textbook materials. Prerequisite: RUSS 2002.

RUSS 2110 Russian in a Cultural Context (4 Credits)

Continued development of Russian language and cultural skills with focus on all aspects of Russian culture, particularly Russian literature. Prerequisite: RUSS 2002 or equivalent.

RUSS 2111 Linguistic Politeness and Intercultural Communication (4 Credits)

In this course, students will explore how American and Russian speakers perceive politeness, and how sociocultural values underlying both cultures affect the speakers’ communicative styles, their performance and perception of speech acts, and expression of emotions. Although this course focuses on Russian, other cultures will also be analyzed, such as German and Polish, and those of students’ heritage. This course will help students to improve their communicative competence and deepen their understanding of some European cultures. The course will be conducted in English. Highly recommended for students planning on studying in Russia, Germany, or Poland. The course format consists of lectures, presentations, as well as class and group discussions. Students who major in Russian may get credit by providing coursework in Russian. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

RUSS 2116 Russian 19th-Century Novel: Society, Identity, and the Rise of Prose Fiction (4 Credits)

This course introduces students to classical Russian novels by world-famous authors, including Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy. Students develop an ability to interpret each work with a dual focus on text and context. Students deepen their appreciation of literary texts as works of art through learning to read closely and focusing on literary devices such as the narrator's voice, plot, structure, and figurative language. Students also learn to relate novels to their historical and cultural context, the better to understand how Russian writers responded to their country's intractable problems that included a crisis of cultural identity, the injustices of serfdom, and debates about women's place in society. All readings in English translation. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. No prerequisites.

RUSS 2350 Russian Language and Culture through Film (4 Credits)

Film has played a significant role in the Soviet culture and continues to be an important cultural expression today. Many Soviet comedies also enriched conversational Russian with unforgettable formulaic expressions and sayings. In this course we will work with some of the most famous films produced in the USSR and contemporary Russia. Our goals will be close viewing to understand cultural symbolism of the images, the stylistics of different genres of speech, and the work of the camera and actors. This will allow you to further advance your Russian language skills by expanding your vocabulary and by incorporating more idiomatic expressions and the so-called “precedented” text in your speech. In the area of grammar and syntax, we will continue working on the Russian pronominal case system, verb conjugation, but also develop new skills, such as: composing complex sentences and using correct punctuation. This course is taught in Russian. By the end of quarter, all students are expected to acquire a proficiency level of “Intermediate Mid” or better in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Prerequisites: RUSS 2110 or instructor permission.

RUSS 2461 Russian Science Fiction (4 Credits)

This course studies the fascinating world of Russian science fiction in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Throughout the term, students will examine how Russian and Soviet writers and film-makers reimagined society, science, technology, and space. We will discuss Soviet futuristic utopias, interplanetary voyages, and post-apocalyptic visions. Students will further probe the figure of the alien as a dissident or cultural Other, as Soviet authors grappled with questions of cultural and ideological difference. We will examine how sci-fi writers glorify or critique Soviet society in their visions of space flight, technologically advanced societies, alien worlds, or post-nuclear disasters. Ultimately, we will reflect on the philosophical quandaries that Russian science fiction explores. Works include pre-revolutionary sci-fi texts by Bryusov and Kuprin; Soviet dystopias by Zamiatin and Bulgakov; sci-fi classics by the Strugatsky Brothers; Tarkovsky’s filmic masterpieces; and post-Soviet science fiction by Viktor Pelevin and Sergei Lukyanenko. All readings are in English translation. No prior knowledge of Russian is required. This course fulfills part of the Common Curriculum’s “Ways of Knowing:  Analytical Inquiry:  Society and Culture” requirement. In this class, students will 1) demonstrate the ability to create or interpret the texts, ideas, or artifacts of human culture; 2) identify and analyze the connections between the texts, ideas or cultural artifacts and the human experience and/or perception of the world.

RUSS 2917 Russian Revolution in Literature and History (4 Credits)

The course introduces students to the literature, history, and art of the Russian revolution of 1917. Students examine how Russian literature helped pave the way for the revolution and how literature and film helped Russians make sense of the radical transformation of their society. Students gain insight into the reciprocal relationship of art and politics, learning how literature shaped the revolutionary movement and how the revolution inspired new forms of artistic expression. All readings in English translation. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. No prerequisites.

RUSS 3101 Advanced Conversation & Composition (4 Credits)

Continued improvement of Russian language skills in areas of style and syntax. First quarter of two quarter sequence. Prerequisite: RUSS 2110 or RUSS 2111 or equivalent.

RUSS 3102 Advanced Conversation & Composition II (4 Credits)

Advanced Composition and Conversation focuses on the continued improvement of Russian language skills in areas of style and syntax in all four modalities (speaking, writing, listening, and reading). At an advanced level, the class will focus on developing high-level oral and written communication skills that will enable students to study and critically evaluate authentic materials from the target culture. The textual, audio and video materials used in the course will serve to enrich your understanding and knowledge of Russian culture. Prerequisite: RUSS 2110.

RUSS 3200 Seminar: Russian Short Story (4 Credits)

Russia through the study of selected short stories. Prerequisite: RUSS 2110 or 2111 or equivalent.

RUSS 3232 Russian Avant-Garde (4 Credits)

This interdisciplinary course addresses various manifestations of Russian Modernism and the Russian avant-garde in art, literature, poetry, music, theatre, and film in the late 19th – early 20th century. Its objective is to provide an understanding of the time's rapid, drastic, and often conflicting cultural and artistic transformations by examining in depth major Russian Modernist works. Students will explore such artistic and literary movements as Symbolism, Cubo-Futurism, Neo-Primitivism, Suprematism, Rayonism, and Constructivism in the context of Russian late Imperial, revolutionary, and early Soviet social, political, and philosophical developments. We will pay special attention to the cultural dialogues between Russia and the West and investigate the aesthetic, erotic, and social utopias of Russian Modernism. The course examines philosophical essays, films, plays, poems, short stories, music, and art created during the period, beginning with the first modernist experimentation of the Silver Age (turn of the century) through the imposition of Socialist Realism in the 1930s. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

RUSS 3300 Short Russian Prose (4 Credits)

An advanced conversation and composition course based on Russian prose. Prerequisite: RUSS 3101 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.

RUSS 3650 Soviet and Post Soviet Cinema (4 Credits)

Film course concentrating on the works of Andrei Tarkovskii. Open to non-Russian speaking students. Prerequisite: RUSS 3101 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.

RUSS 3701 Topics in Russian Literature (4 Credits)

Selected topics, authors and movements in medieval, Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet literature. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: RUSS 3101 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.

RUSS 3850 Working with Russian Media (4 Credits)

Multimedia course emphasizing new media in Russian culture and society. Prerequisite: RUSS 3101 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.

RUSS 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

RUSS 3995 Independent Research (1-5 Credits)

RUSS 3998 Honors Thesis (1-4 Credits)