Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature

Students on Summer 2020, Fall 2020, or Spring 2021 requirements CMLTBA

The Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature introduces students to the study of literature and other arts across national, historical, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries. Courses trace themes, problems, ideas, and techniques across these borders while instructing students in the methods and theories of comparative literary study. Courses also investigate relationships between literature and the visual arts, film, music, and other performance arts, and between literature and other disciplines such as philosophy, history, and religious and cultural studies. Majors may tailor their coursework to suit their particular interests by selecting from a wide range of course offerings.

View Degree MapA semester-by-semester path to completing degree and major requirements

Requirements

The major requires at least 30 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.

Essentials.
1. Introduction to Literary Analysis. One (1) course:
  - CMLT-C 205 Comparative Literary Analysis
  CMLT-C 205 Comparative Literary Analysis
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to basic concepts of literary criticism through comparative close readings of texts from a variety of literary genres--fiction, poetry, drama, essay--from diverse traditions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated once for credit with a different topic.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
2. Methods and Theory. One (1) course:
  - CMLT-C 305 Comparative Approaches to Literature: Theory and Method
  CMLT-C 305 Comparative Approaches to Literature: Theory and Method
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to modern critical theory based on the study of literary texts and of critical and theoretical works.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
Explorations.
1. Global Engagement. One (1) course:
  - CMLT-C 147 Images of the Self: East and West
  - CMLT-C 262 Cross-Cultural Encounters
  - CMLT-C 320 World Literature before 1500
  - CMLT-C 340 Women in World Literature
  - CMLT-C 360 Diasporic Literatures
  - CMLT-C 363 Black Paris
  - CMLT-C 365 Japanese-Western Literary Relations
  - CMLT-C 370 Comparative Studies in Western and Middle Eastern Literatures
  - CMLT-C 375 Imagining China, Translating China
  - CMLT-C 377 Topics in Yiddish Literature
  - CMLT-C 457 Capitals, Crosscurrents and Borders
  - CMLT-C 464 French Language Literature of Africa and the Americas
  CMLT-C 147 Images of the Self: East and West
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Topics such as the individual in society, the outcast as hero, and artistic sensibility, examined in selected works of Western and Eastern literature from ancient to modern times.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  CMLT-C 262 Cross-Cultural Encounters
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Encounters between different cultures explored in the literature, art, film, and music resulting from various forms of cultural contact (travel, colonization, religious diffusion, print and electronic technologies). Topics include transformation of cultural institutions, processes of cross-cultural representation, globalization of the arts and culture, development of intercultural forms. Historical and regional focus may vary.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  CMLT-C 320 World Literature before 1500
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Survey of selected genres of literature from earliest written texts through the end of the Middle Ages, covering the major centers of world civilization--the Mediterranean, India, and East and West Asia.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  CMLT-C 340 Women in World Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Study of literature by women from different ages and societies. Consideration of issues such as the relationship to literary tradition and cultural context, the creation of an authoritative voice, or the representation of women in literature. Course may focus on one genre or mode (such as drama, lyric, autobiography, or satire).
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 360 Diasporic Literatures
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Study of literature by writers of different regional and religious diasporas, with particular attention to issues relating to cultural identity and location. Consideration of closely related categories and concepts such as immigrant, ethnic minority, hybridity, and deterritorialized cultures.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 363 Black Paris
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  The common and divergent experiences of African American, Afro-Caribbean, and African travelers to the "City of Light," from 18th-century New Orleans Creoles to 21st-century youth of African descent, as seen through literature, performance, film, and other arts. Issues of colonization, expatriation, immigration, exile, the Harlem Renaissance and "negritude," race and diaspora, transnationalism.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of AAAD-A 304 or CMLT-C 363.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 365 Japanese-Western Literary Relations
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Japanese influences on Western poets and dramatists: color prints, haiku, and Noh plays. The Western impact on Japanese literature: the Japanese adaptation of movements such as romanticism, realism, naturalism, and symbolism, with special emphasis on the Japanese traits that these movements acquired.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 370 Comparative Studies in Western and Middle Eastern Literatures
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Literary exchanges and influences between Western and Middle Eastern traditions in Arabic, Persian, or Turkish. Period and topic vary.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 375 Imagining China, Translating China
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Topics may include comparison of Chinese and European philosophical traditions, Western representations of China, East-West contact in the larger historical context, and the translation of literary works across cultures. Readings by authors such as Marco Polo, Voltaire, Pound, and Sigrid Nunez.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 377 Topics in Yiddish Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Selected topics focusing on Yiddish fiction and drama (1810-1914) or twentieth-century Yiddish fiction, drama, and poetry. Taught in English. No prior knowledge of Yiddish required. Topics vary.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours for any combination of CMLT-C 377 and GER-E 351.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 457 Capitals, Crosscurrents and Borders
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The role of capitals in the development of literary and artistic culture. Capitals as sites of cultural encounter, where immigrants and minorities interact with local populations and where such interaction shows the permeable nature of borders. Comparisons between cultural and political capitals. Examines three capitals per semester (e.g., Paris, New York, Rome).
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 464 French Language Literature of Africa and the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Literary texts and films, their poetics and historical contexts. Particular consideration of the tension surrounding the use of French language in Africa and the Caribbean and the creation of French language literatures, their relationship to local oral traditions and metropolitan French literature. Course will be conducted in French.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
2. Foundations. One (1) course:
  - CMLT-C 216 Science Fiction, Fantasy, and the Western Tradition
  - CMLT-C 217 Detective, Mystery, and Horror Literature
  - CMLT-C 219 Romance and the Western Tradition
  - CMLT-C 261 Introduction to African Literature
  - CMLT-C 266 Introduction to East Asian Fiction
  - CMLT-C 311 Drama
  - CMLT-C 313 Narrative
  - CMLT-C 315 Lyric Poetry
  - CMLT-C 317 Epic: Heroes, Gods, and Rebels
  - CMLT-C 318 Satire
  - CMLT-C 321 Medieval Literature
  - CMLT-C 325 The Renaissance
  - CMLT-C 329 The Eighteenth Century
  - CMLT-C 333 Romanticism
  - CMLT-C 335 Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism
  - CMLT-C 337 The Twentieth Century: Tradition and Change
  - CMLT-C 338 Literature Today: 1950 to the Present
  - CMLT-C 364 The Caribbean: Literature and Theory
  - CMLT-C 378 Topics in Yiddish Culture
  - CMLT-C 415 Medieval Lyric
  - CMLT-C 417 Medieval Narrative
  - CMLT-C 445 Early Traditions of Christian Literature
  - CMLT-C 446 Traditions of Christian Literature II
  CMLT-C 216 Science Fiction, Fantasy, and the Western Tradition
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Historical and comparative survey of science fiction and fantasy narrative from antiquity to the present. The origin of scientific narrative in ancient Greek literature, its relation to ancient myths, and its history and development. Emphasis on philosophical, cognitive, and scientific aspects of the genre.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 217 Detective, Mystery, and Horror Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Origins, evolution, conventions, criticism, and theory of the detective and mystery story; history of the Gothic novel; later development of the tale of terror; major works of this type in fiction, drama, and film.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 219 Romance and the Western Tradition
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Origins, evolution, conventions, criticism, and theory of the romance, from antiquity to the present; representative texts from Apuleius to modern pulp fiction.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 261 Introduction to African Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Oral and written poetry, epic, fiction, drama, and film from around the continent with reference to historical and cultural contexts, and debates on language choice, "authenticity," gender, and European representations of Africa.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  CMLT-C 266 Introduction to East Asian Fiction
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Readings from the major novels of East Asia, such as "Monkey," "Story of the Stone," "The Tale of Genji," and "The Cloud Dream of the Nine," along with shorter fictional forms (both vernacular and classical). Exploration of issues such as self and society, desire and enlightenment, the relationship between fictional and other genres, historical development of fiction, and comparison with Western conceptions of narrative.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 311 Drama
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Analytical and historical study of various forms of dramatic literature emphasizing differences between drama and other literary genres. Survey of periods and dramatic conventions, close reading of selected plays, some concern with theoretical problems.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 313 Narrative
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Historical and analytical study of various forms of narrative literature. Examination of narrative as a primary literary genre and analysis of such diverse forms as myth, folktale, epic, romance, gospel, saint's life, saga, allegory, confession, and novel.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 315 Lyric Poetry
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Close reading of exemplary poems with an emphasis on interpretation and on the interplay between literal and figurative language. Topics will include the way poems are shaped, their ambiguous status as private and public statements, and their relation to tradition, to their readers, and to one another.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 317 Epic: Heroes, Gods, and Rebels
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Historical and comparative survey of one or more traditions of epic poetry. Origins, evolution, conventions, criticism, and theory of the chosen tradition(s) to be studied through readings of selected epics. Some consideration of the social and political roles of individual epics and the genre.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  CMLT-C 318 Satire
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Historical and analytical study of forms, techniques, and scope of satire from antiquity to the Internet. Consideration of the role of ridicule in defending or attacking institutions, values, and beliefs.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of CMLT-C 218 or CMLT-C 318.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 321 Medieval Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Study of works from the major genres of medieval European literature: epic, romance, allegorical narrative, lyric poetry, and drama. Topics may include the relationship of secular and religious traditions, the role of multilingual communities in shaping medieval literature, and the influence of social context on literary production.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  CMLT-C 325 The Renaissance
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Prose fiction, long narrative poems, lyric poems, essays, tracts, and plays written between 1350 and 1650 in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and England. Authors such as Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Machiavelli, More, Castiglione, Rabelais, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Hobbes.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  CMLT-C 329 The Eighteenth Century
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  The dominant literary and intellectual trends of the eighteenth century, such as neoclassicism, rococo, Enlightenment, and preromanticism. Authors such as Pope, Swift, Montesquieu, Richardson, Voltaire, Diderot, Kant, Rousseau, Lessing, and Sterne.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 333 Romanticism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  The rise of romantic tendencies in eighteenth-century Europe; the romantic revolution in early nineteenth-century Western literature. Authors such as Goethe, Chateaubriand, Wordsworth, Byron, Novalis, Hoffmann, Hugo, Pushkin, and Poe.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 335 Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  The rise of realism in nineteenth-century fiction and its development into naturalism and impressionism; the symbolist reaction in poetry; the reemergence of the drama as a major genre. Authors such as Dickens, Flaubert, Tolstoy, Mallarme, Ibsen, Hauptmann, Strindberg, Chekhov.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 337 The Twentieth Century: Tradition and Change
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  The search for forms and language to express new understandings of art and reality in the era of modernism.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 338 Literature Today: 1950 to the Present
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  An exploration of major literary movements, styles, or currents shaping literature after World War II, such as the theatre of the absurd, postmodernism, magical realism, cyberpunk, postcolonialism, and transnationalism.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 364 The Caribbean: Literature and Theory
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Poetry, fiction, drama, musical lyrics, travel literature, and prose from the Anglophone, Francophone, Hispanophone, and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. Discussion of major currents affecting literary production and interpretation. Topics such as immigration, diaspora, Rastafarianism, Voudoun, tourism.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 378 Topics in Yiddish Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Selected topics on history of Ashkenazic Jews; Old Yiddish and premodern Yiddish folklore and popular culture; history and sociology of Yiddish; modern Yiddish culture; and centers of modern Yiddish culture. Taught in English. No prior knowledge of Yiddish required. Topics vary.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours for any combination of CMLT-C 378 and GER-E 352.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 415 Medieval Lyric
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Comparative study of religious and secular lyric poetry in medieval Europe. Exploration of cultural contexts and formal concerns, such as the development of medieval rhetorical theory. The continuation and transformation of classical poetic conventions, and the interplay of musical and verbal texts.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 417 Medieval Narrative
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Comparative analysis of traditions of narrative in medieval Europe. Works studied within their cultural contexts and in reference to narrative theory. Topics and works vary, but may include the allegorical narrative, romance, fabliaux, saint's life, and dream vision.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 445 Early Traditions of Christian Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Imaginative religious literature by Christian authors to the twelfth century; relationship to Jewish, classical, and Muslim cultural traditions; emergence of new genres; development and transformation of early themes and forms.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 446 Traditions of Christian Literature II
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Religious literature of the later Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the baroque, and the transformation of its themes and forms in more recent writings. Close reading of individual texts as well as consideration of their cultural and theological contexts.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
3. Literature and Ideas. One (1) course:
  - CMLT-C 160 What's Good About Good Books?
  - CMLT-C 240 Linguistics and Literature: Sound, Meaning, Style
  - CMLT-C 343 Literature and Politics
  - CMLT-C 345 Literature and Religion
  - CMLT-C 347 Literature and Ideas
  - CMLT-C 349 Literature and Science
  CMLT-C 160 What's Good About Good Books?
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines the moral dimensions of literature and film; explores the morally troubling content of much that is considered great literature and cinema, which is so often filled with suffering, cruelty, and misfortune; and asks what in that case it means to say a book or film is "good."
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 240 Linguistics and Literature: Sound, Meaning, Style
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduces linguistics in the context of literature. Examines the structures and functions of language: how writers use sound, meaning, associations of language, and language variation to create characters, settings, and situations in literary texts; and what happens when texts cross linguistic boundaries through translation.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 343 Literature and Politics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  The intersection of literature and political issues, the representation of political ideas in literary works, literature's impact on politics and its role in public debate. Time periods, literatures, and civilizations studied will vary.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 345 Literature and Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Literature from or about one or more religious traditions. Religious literature as influenced by--but distinct from--theology, religious doctrine, or philosophy. The impact of imaginative literature on the growth of religious ideas. Includes the study of historical contexts.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 347 Literature and Ideas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Historical interrelations between literature and philosophy. Recent topics have included free will and the problem of evil; mysticism, criminality, and suffering; existentialism and the literature of the absurd.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 349 Literature and Science
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  The intersection of literature and the arts with science and technology, including the representation of scientific discovery and perspective, the dramatization of science's impact on society, the image of the scientist as artist. May include literature by scientists, and the use of scientific methods of analysis for interpreting literature.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
4. Comparative Arts. One (1) course:
  - CMLT-C 151 Introduction to Popular Culture
  - CMLT-C 155 Culture and the Modern Experience: An Interdisciplinary and International Approach
  - CMLT-C 251 Lyrics and Popular Song
  - CMLT-C 252 Literary and Television Genres
  - CMLT-C 255 Modern Literature and Other Arts: An Introduction
  - CMLT-C 256 Literature and Other Arts: 1870-1950
  - CMLT-C 257 Asian Literature and Other Arts
  - CMLT-C 291 Studies in Non-Western Film
  - CMLT-C 310 Literature and Film
  - CMLT-C 351 Adaptations: Literature, Stage, and Screen
  - CMLT-C 355 Literature, the Arts, and Their Interrelationship
  - CMLT-C 357 The Arts Today: From 1950 to the Present
  - CMLT-C 358 Literature and Music: Opera
  - CMLT-C 361 African Literature and Other Arts
  - CMLT-C 492 Comedy in Film and Literature
  CMLT-C 151 Introduction to Popular Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The serious study of entertainment for mass consumption, including popular theatre and vaudeville, bestsellers, mass circulation magazines, popular music, phonograph records, and popular aspects of radio, film, and television. Provides the basic background to other popular culture courses in comparative literature.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  CMLT-C 155 Culture and the Modern Experience: An Interdisciplinary and International Approach
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  This course, which is interdisciplinary in method and international in scope, introduces students to an inclusive study of major cultural parallels, contrasts, and developments across the arts and beyond national and continental divides. Syllabi and selections of course materials will reflect the specialties of individual instructors.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  CMLT-C 251 Lyrics and Popular Song
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Survey of popular songs of Europe and the Americas, including modern ballads, cabaret songs, Spanish flamencos, Mexican rancheras, Argentine tangos, country western, and rock lyrics. Discussion of literary qualities of lyrics in context of musical setting and performance and independently as literature.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 252 Literary and Television Genres
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Comparative study of popular literary and television genres, such as farce, domestic comedy, melodrama, biography, mystery, adventure, western, the picaresque. Theoretical, technical, and ideological contrasts between the literary and television media.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 255 Modern Literature and Other Arts: An Introduction
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The study of literature, painting, and music and the ways in which meaning is expressed in such forms. Investigates similarities and differences among the arts. Examples selected from the past 200 years. No previous knowledge of any art required.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 256 Literature and Other Arts: 1870-1950
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Interaction of the arts in the development of Western literature, painting, and music in movements such as impressionism, symbolism, constructivism, expressionism, dada, and surrealism.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 257 Asian Literature and Other Arts
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores selected literary texts of Asia in the context of the art forms and cultures of a particular country or region. Geographical regions covered vary each term.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated once with different topic.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 291 Studies in Non-Western Film
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Emphasis on non-Western film in relation to literary and cultural texts. Films may be studied as adaptations of literary works, as reworkings of generic or ideological traditions, and in their engagement with the aesthetics of non-Western theater and Hollywood. Focus on one regional tradition (African, Asian, Middle Eastern) each time the course is offered.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 310 Literature and Film
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Analysis of the processes and problems involved in turning a literary work (novel, play, or poem) into a screenplay and then into a film. Close study of literary and film techniques and short exercises in adaptation.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 351 Adaptations: Literature, Stage, and Screen
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  Adaptations of literary texts into new literary works or art forms such as theatre, film, opera, music, and digital media. Examination of the historical, cultural, and aesthetic issues involved in revising and reimagining source texts.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 355 Literature, the Arts, and Their Interrelationship
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 255
  Description
  Discussion of theoretical foundations for study of the relationship of the arts; detailed analysis of specific works illustrating interaction of literature with other arts.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 357 The Arts Today: From 1950 to the Present
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 255 and CMLT-C 256
  Description
  Shared trends in literature, the visual arts, music, dance, and theatre. The heritage of dada and surrealism, the absurd, and constructivism; the new realism. Happenings, minimal art, conceptual art, antiart, participatory and environmental art. New materials, mixed media, multimedia and intermediality.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 358 Literature and Music: Opera
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected opera libretti from various periods. Comparison of libretti with their literary sources; emphasis on specific problems connected with the adaptation of a literary work to the operatic medium. Evaluation of representative libretti as independent literary works.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 361 African Literature and Other Arts
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
  Description
  A focus on critical issues in the field of African letters, such as transnationalism, the question of orality, choice of language, the economics and politics of publishing--both within and outside the continent, and their impacts on cultural forms including new, non-literary media. Authors such as Achebe, Aidoo, Armah, Diop, Farah, Head, Kunene, Ngugi, p'Bitek, Sembene, and Soyinka.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  CMLT-C 492 Comedy in Film and Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Evolution, styles, and techniques of film comedy in America and Europe from the beginnings of cinema to the present. Theories of comedy and humor; relationship of film comedy to comedy in fiction, drama, pantomime, circus, and vaudeville. Work of leading film comedians.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
Electives. Four (4) additional courses:
- CMLT-C 100 Freshman Seminar
- CMLT-C 111 Reading the World
- CMLT-C 147 Images of the Self: East and West
- CMLT-C 151 Introduction to Popular Culture
- CMLT-C 155 Culture and the Modern Experience: An Interdisciplinary and International Approach
- CMLT-C 160 What's Good About Good Books?
- CMLT-C 200 Honors Seminar
- CMLT-C 205 Comparative Literary Analysis
- CMLT-C 216 Science Fiction, Fantasy, and the Western Tradition
- CMLT-C 217 Detective, Mystery, and Horror Literature
- CMLT-C 219 Romance and the Western Tradition
- CMLT-C 240 Linguistics and Literature: Sound, Meaning, Style
- CMLT-C 251 Lyrics and Popular Song
- CMLT-C 252 Literary and Television Genres
- CMLT-C 255 Modern Literature and Other Arts: An Introduction
- CMLT-C 256 Literature and Other Arts: 1870-1950
- CMLT-C 257 Asian Literature and Other Arts
- CMLT-C 261 Introduction to African Literature
- CMLT-C 262 Cross-Cultural Encounters
- CMLT-C 265 Introduction to East Asian Poetry
- CMLT-C 266 Introduction to East Asian Fiction
- CMLT-C 291 Studies in Non-Western Film
- CMLT-C 301 Special Topics in Comparative Literature
- CMLT-C 305 Comparative Approaches to Literature: Theory and Method
- CMLT-C 310 Literature and Film
- CMLT-C 311 Drama
- CMLT-C 313 Narrative
- CMLT-C 315 Lyric Poetry
- CMLT-C 317 Epic: Heroes, Gods, and Rebels
- CMLT-C 318 Satire
- CMLT-C 320 World Literature before 1500
- CMLT-C 321 Medieval Literature
- CMLT-C 322 Writing and Photography
- CMLT-C 325 The Renaissance
- CMLT-C 329 The Eighteenth Century
- CMLT-C 333 Romanticism
- CMLT-C 335 Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism
- CMLT-C 337 The Twentieth Century: Tradition and Change
- CMLT-C 338 Literature Today: 1950 to the Present
- CMLT-C 340 Women in World Literature
- CMLT-C 343 Literature and Politics
- CMLT-C 345 Literature and Religion
- CMLT-C 347 Literature and Ideas
- CMLT-C 349 Literature and Science
- CMLT-C 351 Adaptations: Literature, Stage, and Screen
- CMLT-C 353 Popular Songs and the Singing Poets
- CMLT-C 355 Literature, the Arts, and Their Interrelationship
- CMLT-C 357 The Arts Today: From 1950 to the Present
- CMLT-C 358 Literature and Music: Opera
- CMLT-C 360 Diasporic Literatures
- CMLT-C 361 African Literature and Other Arts
- CMLT-C 363 Black Paris
- CMLT-C 364 The Caribbean: Literature and Theory
- CMLT-C 365 Japanese-Western Literary Relations
- CMLT-C 370 Comparative Studies in Western and Middle Eastern Literatures
- CMLT-C 375 Imagining China, Translating China
- CMLT-C 377 Topics in Yiddish Literature
- CMLT-C 378 Topics in Yiddish Culture
- CMLT-C 400 Studies in Comparative Literature
- CMLT-C 405 Senior Seminar in Comparative Literature
- CMLT-C 415 Medieval Lyric
- CMLT-C 417 Medieval Narrative
- CMLT-C 445 Early Traditions of Christian Literature
- CMLT-C 446 Traditions of Christian Literature II
- CMLT-C 457 Capitals, Crosscurrents and Borders
- CMLT-C 464 French Language Literature of Africa and the Americas
- CMLT-C 492 Comedy in Film and Literature
- CMLT-C 496 Foreign Study in Comparative Literature
- CMLT-C 499 Studies for Honors
- CMLT-X 490 Individual Readings in Comparative Literature
- CMLT-X 491 Individual Studies in Film and Literature
CMLT-C 100 Freshman Seminar
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Analysis and discussion of selected major works of literature and art illustrating historical and stylistic problems related to specific themes, artists, or genres.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 111 Reading the World
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Diverse literary genres and cultures from around the world explored through a comparative analysis of characters and themes in canonical and non-canonical texts, both ancient and modern.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 147 Images of the Self: East and West
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Topics such as the individual in society, the outcast as hero, and artistic sensibility, examined in selected works of Western and Eastern literature from ancient to modern times.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 151 Introduction to Popular Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The serious study of entertainment for mass consumption, including popular theatre and vaudeville, bestsellers, mass circulation magazines, popular music, phonograph records, and popular aspects of radio, film, and television. Provides the basic background to other popular culture courses in comparative literature.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
CMLT-C 155 Culture and the Modern Experience: An Interdisciplinary and International Approach
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
This course, which is interdisciplinary in method and international in scope, introduces students to an inclusive study of major cultural parallels, contrasts, and developments across the arts and beyond national and continental divides. Syllabi and selections of course materials will reflect the specialties of individual instructors.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 160 What's Good About Good Books?
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines the moral dimensions of literature and film; explores the morally troubling content of much that is considered great literature and cinema, which is so often filled with suffering, cruelty, and misfortune; and asks what in that case it means to say a book or film is "good."
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 200 Honors Seminar
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected authors and topics, ranging from traditional to modern (for example, Athens and Jerusalem: The Origins of Western Literature). Traditional or current debates and issues of a critical, theoretical, or historical nature. Comparative methodology, interdisciplinary approach.
Repeatability
May be repeated once for credit with a different topic.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 205 Comparative Literary Analysis
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to basic concepts of literary criticism through comparative close readings of texts from a variety of literary genres--fiction, poetry, drama, essay--from diverse traditions.
Repeatability
May be repeated once for credit with a different topic.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 216 Science Fiction, Fantasy, and the Western Tradition
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Historical and comparative survey of science fiction and fantasy narrative from antiquity to the present. The origin of scientific narrative in ancient Greek literature, its relation to ancient myths, and its history and development. Emphasis on philosophical, cognitive, and scientific aspects of the genre.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 217 Detective, Mystery, and Horror Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Origins, evolution, conventions, criticism, and theory of the detective and mystery story; history of the Gothic novel; later development of the tale of terror; major works of this type in fiction, drama, and film.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 219 Romance and the Western Tradition
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Origins, evolution, conventions, criticism, and theory of the romance, from antiquity to the present; representative texts from Apuleius to modern pulp fiction.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 240 Linguistics and Literature: Sound, Meaning, Style
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduces linguistics in the context of literature. Examines the structures and functions of language: how writers use sound, meaning, associations of language, and language variation to create characters, settings, and situations in literary texts; and what happens when texts cross linguistic boundaries through translation.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 251 Lyrics and Popular Song
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Survey of popular songs of Europe and the Americas, including modern ballads, cabaret songs, Spanish flamencos, Mexican rancheras, Argentine tangos, country western, and rock lyrics. Discussion of literary qualities of lyrics in context of musical setting and performance and independently as literature.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 252 Literary and Television Genres
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Comparative study of popular literary and television genres, such as farce, domestic comedy, melodrama, biography, mystery, adventure, western, the picaresque. Theoretical, technical, and ideological contrasts between the literary and television media.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 255 Modern Literature and Other Arts: An Introduction
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The study of literature, painting, and music and the ways in which meaning is expressed in such forms. Investigates similarities and differences among the arts. Examples selected from the past 200 years. No previous knowledge of any art required.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 256 Literature and Other Arts: 1870-1950
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Interaction of the arts in the development of Western literature, painting, and music in movements such as impressionism, symbolism, constructivism, expressionism, dada, and surrealism.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 257 Asian Literature and Other Arts
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores selected literary texts of Asia in the context of the art forms and cultures of a particular country or region. Geographical regions covered vary each term.
Repeatability
May be repeated once with different topic.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 261 Introduction to African Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Oral and written poetry, epic, fiction, drama, and film from around the continent with reference to historical and cultural contexts, and debates on language choice, "authenticity," gender, and European representations of Africa.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 262 Cross-Cultural Encounters
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Encounters between different cultures explored in the literature, art, film, and music resulting from various forms of cultural contact (travel, colonization, religious diffusion, print and electronic technologies). Topics include transformation of cultural institutions, processes of cross-cultural representation, globalization of the arts and culture, development of intercultural forms. Historical and regional focus may vary.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 265 Introduction to East Asian Poetry
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Major forms of East Asian poetry in a comparative context, with attention to issues such as poetics, gender, Zen, historical development, and interactions with other literary genres. Authors such as Bei Dao, Li Bo, and Basho.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 266 Introduction to East Asian Fiction
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Readings from the major novels of East Asia, such as "Monkey," "Story of the Stone," "The Tale of Genji," and "The Cloud Dream of the Nine," along with shorter fictional forms (both vernacular and classical). Exploration of issues such as self and society, desire and enlightenment, the relationship between fictional and other genres, historical development of fiction, and comparison with Western conceptions of narrative.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 291 Studies in Non-Western Film
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Emphasis on non-Western film in relation to literary and cultural texts. Films may be studied as adaptations of literary works, as reworkings of generic or ideological traditions, and in their engagement with the aesthetics of non-Western theater and Hollywood. Focus on one regional tradition (African, Asian, Middle Eastern) each time the course is offered.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 301 Special Topics in Comparative Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Special topics concerning two or more literary traditions or literature and other areas in the humanities.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 305 Comparative Approaches to Literature: Theory and Method
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to modern critical theory based on the study of literary texts and of critical and theoretical works.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 310 Literature and Film
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Analysis of the processes and problems involved in turning a literary work (novel, play, or poem) into a screenplay and then into a film. Close study of literary and film techniques and short exercises in adaptation.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 311 Drama
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Analytical and historical study of various forms of dramatic literature emphasizing differences between drama and other literary genres. Survey of periods and dramatic conventions, close reading of selected plays, some concern with theoretical problems.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 313 Narrative
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Historical and analytical study of various forms of narrative literature. Examination of narrative as a primary literary genre and analysis of such diverse forms as myth, folktale, epic, romance, gospel, saint's life, saga, allegory, confession, and novel.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 315 Lyric Poetry
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Close reading of exemplary poems with an emphasis on interpretation and on the interplay between literal and figurative language. Topics will include the way poems are shaped, their ambiguous status as private and public statements, and their relation to tradition, to their readers, and to one another.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 317 Epic: Heroes, Gods, and Rebels
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Historical and comparative survey of one or more traditions of epic poetry. Origins, evolution, conventions, criticism, and theory of the chosen tradition(s) to be studied through readings of selected epics. Some consideration of the social and political roles of individual epics and the genre.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 318 Satire
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Historical and analytical study of forms, techniques, and scope of satire from antiquity to the Internet. Consideration of the role of ridicule in defending or attacking institutions, values, and beliefs.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of CMLT-C 218 or CMLT-C 318.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 320 World Literature before 1500
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Survey of selected genres of literature from earliest written texts through the end of the Middle Ages, covering the major centers of world civilization--the Mediterranean, India, and East and West Asia.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 321 Medieval Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Study of works from the major genres of medieval European literature: epic, romance, allegorical narrative, lyric poetry, and drama. Topics may include the relationship of secular and religious traditions, the role of multilingual communities in shaping medieval literature, and the influence of social context on literary production.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 322 Writing and Photography
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines the multiple connections between the literary and photographic arts. Considers thematic, aesthetic, and theoretical parallels and differences between the two worlds, including literary works in which photographs play a crucial role, and ways in which photography has been interpreted through the written word.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 325 The Renaissance
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Prose fiction, long narrative poems, lyric poems, essays, tracts, and plays written between 1350 and 1650 in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and England. Authors such as Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Machiavelli, More, Castiglione, Rabelais, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Hobbes.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
CMLT-C 329 The Eighteenth Century
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
The dominant literary and intellectual trends of the eighteenth century, such as neoclassicism, rococo, Enlightenment, and preromanticism. Authors such as Pope, Swift, Montesquieu, Richardson, Voltaire, Diderot, Kant, Rousseau, Lessing, and Sterne.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 333 Romanticism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
The rise of romantic tendencies in eighteenth-century Europe; the romantic revolution in early nineteenth-century Western literature. Authors such as Goethe, Chateaubriand, Wordsworth, Byron, Novalis, Hoffmann, Hugo, Pushkin, and Poe.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 335 Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
The rise of realism in nineteenth-century fiction and its development into naturalism and impressionism; the symbolist reaction in poetry; the reemergence of the drama as a major genre. Authors such as Dickens, Flaubert, Tolstoy, Mallarme, Ibsen, Hauptmann, Strindberg, Chekhov.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 337 The Twentieth Century: Tradition and Change
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
The search for forms and language to express new understandings of art and reality in the era of modernism.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 338 Literature Today: 1950 to the Present
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
An exploration of major literary movements, styles, or currents shaping literature after World War II, such as the theatre of the absurd, postmodernism, magical realism, cyberpunk, postcolonialism, and transnationalism.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 340 Women in World Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Study of literature by women from different ages and societies. Consideration of issues such as the relationship to literary tradition and cultural context, the creation of an authoritative voice, or the representation of women in literature. Course may focus on one genre or mode (such as drama, lyric, autobiography, or satire).
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 343 Literature and Politics
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: 3 credit hours of literature
Description
The intersection of literature and political issues, the representation of political ideas in literary works, literature's impact on politics and its role in public debate. Time periods, literatures, and civilizations studied will vary.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 345 Literature and Religion
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Literature from or about one or more religious traditions. Religious literature as influenced by--but distinct from--theology, religious doctrine, or philosophy. The impact of imaginative literature on the growth of religious ideas. Includes the study of historical contexts.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 347 Literature and Ideas
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Historical interrelations between literature and philosophy. Recent topics have included free will and the problem of evil; mysticism, criminality, and suffering; existentialism and the literature of the absurd.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 349 Literature and Science
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: 3 credit hours of literature
Description
The intersection of literature and the arts with science and technology, including the representation of scientific discovery and perspective, the dramatization of science's impact on society, the image of the scientist as artist. May include literature by scientists, and the use of scientific methods of analysis for interpreting literature.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 351 Adaptations: Literature, Stage, and Screen
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Adaptations of literary texts into new literary works or art forms such as theatre, film, opera, music, and digital media. Examination of the historical, cultural, and aesthetic issues involved in revising and reimagining source texts.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 353 Popular Songs and the Singing Poets
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study of popular songwriters who wrote both words and music, including double-talents from the American Songbook period, country and western, folk music and the rock era. Selected singer-songwriters from France, Latin America and around the world.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 355 Literature, the Arts, and Their Interrelationship
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 255
Description
Discussion of theoretical foundations for study of the relationship of the arts; detailed analysis of specific works illustrating interaction of literature with other arts.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 357 The Arts Today: From 1950 to the Present
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 255 and CMLT-C 256
Description
Shared trends in literature, the visual arts, music, dance, and theatre. The heritage of dada and surrealism, the absurd, and constructivism; the new realism. Happenings, minimal art, conceptual art, antiart, participatory and environmental art. New materials, mixed media, multimedia and intermediality.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 358 Literature and Music: Opera
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected opera libretti from various periods. Comparison of libretti with their literary sources; emphasis on specific problems connected with the adaptation of a literary work to the operatic medium. Evaluation of representative libretti as independent literary works.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 360 Diasporic Literatures
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Study of literature by writers of different regional and religious diasporas, with particular attention to issues relating to cultural identity and location. Consideration of closely related categories and concepts such as immigrant, ethnic minority, hybridity, and deterritorialized cultures.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 361 African Literature and Other Arts
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
A focus on critical issues in the field of African letters, such as transnationalism, the question of orality, choice of language, the economics and politics of publishing--both within and outside the continent, and their impacts on cultural forms including new, non-literary media. Authors such as Achebe, Aidoo, Armah, Diop, Farah, Head, Kunene, Ngugi, p'Bitek, Sembene, and Soyinka.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 363 Black Paris
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
The common and divergent experiences of African American, Afro-Caribbean, and African travelers to the "City of Light," from 18th-century New Orleans Creoles to 21st-century youth of African descent, as seen through literature, performance, film, and other arts. Issues of colonization, expatriation, immigration, exile, the Harlem Renaissance and "negritude," race and diaspora, transnationalism.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of AAAD-A 304 or CMLT-C 363.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 364 The Caribbean: Literature and Theory
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Poetry, fiction, drama, musical lyrics, travel literature, and prose from the Anglophone, Francophone, Hispanophone, and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. Discussion of major currents affecting literary production and interpretation. Topics such as immigration, diaspora, Rastafarianism, Voudoun, tourism.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 365 Japanese-Western Literary Relations
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Japanese influences on Western poets and dramatists: color prints, haiku, and Noh plays. The Western impact on Japanese literature: the Japanese adaptation of movements such as romanticism, realism, naturalism, and symbolism, with special emphasis on the Japanese traits that these movements acquired.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 370 Comparative Studies in Western and Middle Eastern Literatures
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Literary exchanges and influences between Western and Middle Eastern traditions in Arabic, Persian, or Turkish. Period and topic vary.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 375 Imagining China, Translating China
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Topics may include comparison of Chinese and European philosophical traditions, Western representations of China, East-West contact in the larger historical context, and the translation of literary works across cultures. Readings by authors such as Marco Polo, Voltaire, Pound, and Sigrid Nunez.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 377 Topics in Yiddish Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Selected topics focusing on Yiddish fiction and drama (1810-1914) or twentieth-century Yiddish fiction, drama, and poetry. Taught in English. No prior knowledge of Yiddish required. Topics vary.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours for any combination of CMLT-C 377 and GER-E 351.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 378 Topics in Yiddish Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Selected topics on history of Ashkenazic Jews; Old Yiddish and premodern Yiddish folklore and popular culture; history and sociology of Yiddish; modern Yiddish culture; and centers of modern Yiddish culture. Taught in English. No prior knowledge of Yiddish required. Topics vary.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours for any combination of CMLT-C 378 and GER-E 352.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 400 Studies in Comparative Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Specific problems concerning the relationship of two or more literatures or of literature and another area in the humanities.
Repeatability
May be repeated twice.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 405 Senior Seminar in Comparative Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature. Recommended for majors
Description
Selected topics treated in seminar fashion.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 415 Medieval Lyric
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Comparative study of religious and secular lyric poetry in medieval Europe. Exploration of cultural contexts and formal concerns, such as the development of medieval rhetorical theory. The continuation and transformation of classical poetic conventions, and the interplay of musical and verbal texts.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 417 Medieval Narrative
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Comparative analysis of traditions of narrative in medieval Europe. Works studied within their cultural contexts and in reference to narrative theory. Topics and works vary, but may include the allegorical narrative, romance, fabliaux, saint's life, and dream vision.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 445 Early Traditions of Christian Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Imaginative religious literature by Christian authors to the twelfth century; relationship to Jewish, classical, and Muslim cultural traditions; emergence of new genres; development and transformation of early themes and forms.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 446 Traditions of Christian Literature II
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
R: CMLT-C 205 or 3 credit hours of literature
Description
Religious literature of the later Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the baroque, and the transformation of its themes and forms in more recent writings. Close reading of individual texts as well as consideration of their cultural and theological contexts.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 457 Capitals, Crosscurrents and Borders
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The role of capitals in the development of literary and artistic culture. Capitals as sites of cultural encounter, where immigrants and minorities interact with local populations and where such interaction shows the permeable nature of borders. Comparisons between cultural and political capitals. Examines three capitals per semester (e.g., Paris, New York, Rome).
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 464 French Language Literature of Africa and the Americas
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Literary texts and films, their poetics and historical contexts. Particular consideration of the tension surrounding the use of French language in Africa and the Caribbean and the creation of French language literatures, their relationship to local oral traditions and metropolitan French literature. Course will be conducted in French.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 492 Comedy in Film and Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Evolution, styles, and techniques of film comedy in America and Europe from the beginnings of cinema to the present. Theories of comedy and humor; relationship of film comedy to comedy in fiction, drama, pantomime, circus, and vaudeville. Work of leading film comedians.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
CMLT-C 496 Foreign Study in Comparative Literature

Credits
3–8 credit hours
Prerequisites
Consent of chairperson
Description
None

CMLT-C 499 Studies for Honors

Credits
2–6 credit hours
Prerequisites
Consent of the director of undergraduate studies
Description
Independent reading and research in conjunction with an advanced course in comparative literature or an honors paper or project.
Repeatability
May be repeated for a maximum of 12 credit hours.

CMLT-X 490 Individual Readings in Comparative Literature

Credits
1–6 credit hours
Prerequisites
Consent of chairperson
Description
None
Repeatability
May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours in CMLT-X 490 and CMLT-C 495.

CMLT-X 491 Individual Studies in Film and Literature

Credits
1–3 credit hours
Prerequisites
Consent of chairperson of film committee
Description
None
Repeatability
May be repeated once with different topics for a maximum of 6 credit hours in CMLT-X 491 and CMLT-C 490.
200–499 Level Requirement. At least 24 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 200–499 level.
Exploring Outside the Department (Addenda Requirement)*. One (1) of the following:
- Language and Literature. One (1) course at the 300–499 level, or its equivalent, that includes the study of a foreign language literature in the original language.
- Interdisciplinary Study of Literature. One (1) course for at least three (3) credit hours at the 300–499 level from a non-literary department or program that complements one of the student's Comparative Literature courses at the 300–499 level. Course must be selected in consultation with the CMLT Director of Undergraduate Studies and approved by the Standing Undergraduate Committee of Comparative Literature.
Major GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
1. Major GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the major—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
2. Major Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.
3. Major Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300–499 level.
4. Major Residency. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
5. College Breadth. At least 58 credit hours must be completed in courses from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines outside of the major area.

Notes

* Courses used to fulfill addenda requirements require a grade of C- or higher and do not count toward the Major GPA or Major Hours.

Major Area Courses

Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:

Any course at the 100-499 level with the CMLT subject area prefix--as well as any other subject areas that are deemed functionally equivalent
Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements at the time the course is taken--as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent--except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception

The above courses cannot be applied toward the College Breadth requirement in the major.

Exclusions

The following courses cannot be applied toward major requirements or the College Breadth requirement (unless otherwise noted) :

CMLT-C 110*
CMLT-C 145
CMLT-C 146

Courses marked with an asterisk (*) will count toward the College Breadth requirement.

This program of study cannot be combined with the following:

Minor in Comparative Literature (CMLTMIN)

Exceptions to and substitutions for major requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature

Requirements

Major hours and GPA

Major Area Courses

Exclusions

Restrictions on combining this major with other academic programs

Major requirement exceptions and substitutions