Great Books of the Western Tradition: 1600 to the present (LTCS1006)
Course level
Undergraduate
Units
2
Duration
One Semester
Class hours
2 Contact hours
Incompatible
CLCS1010
Assessment methods
Reading diary (60%) submitted 4 times through semester; essay (40%) submitted at the end of semester.
Course enquiries
Study Abroad
This course is pre-approved for Study Abroad and Exchange students.
This course is not currently offered, please contact the school or faculty of your program.
Course description
The course aims to introduce students to the international dimension of the Western literary tradition. Throughout this history, readers & writers were familiar with works in a variety of languages, & the great books all arise within a multilingual context. The course will draw on literatures written in English, French, German, Russian & Spanish, & the texts to be studied all register this context in some way. The course aims to build up a sense of this broad context, & to give students the opportunity to read some "great books" with the understanding that this brings. Some of these books will be old, & some very recent: we will read the recent ones in the light of the long tradition to which they belong, showing how they renew & sometimes change it radically. All texts will be studied in translation; the course does not presuppose any prior knowledge of any of the languages.