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LTAM 111 The Americas

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LTAM 140 The Americas

This class explores the world of comics and graphic novels. Students will learn about visual storytelling techniques, analyze the representation of diverse characters, aesthetics, and themes, and evaluate the role of comics across a range of cultures and time periods.

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The course explores the role of pleasure, and protest, in the production, reception, and performance of Asian American identities in film and video. We will review the debates about stereotype criticism in Asian American media studies and go on to examine the “perverse” potentials of spectatorship. The course considers how the representations of the deviant sexuality of Asian Americans (e.g. hypersexual women and emasculated men) do more than uniformly harm and subjugate Asian American subjects. We will look at how Asian American filmmakers have protested toxic media representations and how they have articulated the pleasure and joy of Asian American lives in their work. We will study a range of media genres, including narrative fiction, documentary, experimental shorts, video art, television sitcom, and trans cinema. Films may include Green Card: An American Romance (1982), Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987), History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige (1991), M. Butterfly (1993), Master of None (2015), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Past Lives (2023), and KPop Demon Hunters (2025).

LTCS 119

This course presents an overview of key literary, cultural, and cinematic patterns in modern and contemporary China. By engaging in close readings of fiction, poetry, essays, and film, we will trace the changes that have occurred in China from the early 20th century to the present. As we discuss various transformative moments in modern Chinese history, we will discover how the influx of Western ideas merges with persisting classical Chinese aesthetics to mold the form and content of modern Chinese literature, poetry, and thought. In addition, we will study several Chinese films so as to gain insight into the evolution of Chinese cinema, and also the ways in which the visual/cinematic is interconnected with historical, political and cultural events. We will discuss the May Fourth Movement (1917-1921) the evolution of women’s writing and thought the intersection of the avant-garde and “the popular” the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and its aftermath the emergence of dissident writers in the post-Mao era and key writers of our contemporary era. Throughout the course, we will delineate the various modes of modernist innovation and experimentation that are taking place in Chinese literary and cinematic art. We will read all works in English translation, and all films will be in Chinese but have English subtitles.

LTEA 110C Asia

Through ten landmark films from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, this course introduces students to Chinese cinema as both an art form and a social practice. We will examine how filmmakers respond to—and intervene in—historical change, cultural memory, and everyday life. By learning core film concepts and cinematic language, students will develop the tools to read Chinese films with critical sophistication and to understand cinema’s role in shaping social consciousness and collective memory.

LTEA 120A

LTEA 120A Asia

This course is intended as an introduction to new media, visuality, and Korean popular culture and to the study of how they intersect with one another. The reading list covers the foundational theories of new media and visual studies, emerging from Euro-America and Asia in the last two decades or so. We will try to explore the ways in which new media intervenes and intersects with other contemporary issues such as the environment, race, gender, globalization, new forms of storytelling, and popular culture.

LTEA 142

LTEA 142 Asia

This course will explore environmentalism and eco-writing from Korea and beyond. We will study the impact of the past and ongoing extraction, exploitation and devastation of human proletarian labor and the environment as “resources” in colonial Korea and in post-Liberation South Korea. We will engage with various types of textual sources, including literature, films, and documentaries from the peninsula as well as scholarly works produced in the West.

LTEA 145 Asia

This course is a critical survey of some of the most important works in English literature from its beginnings until 1700. Our story begins before English was English in the way we know it. We shall look at the ways in which English evolved through its Old English, Anglo-Norman, and medieval forms. We shall watch as the genres of the most notable compositions of the times change from the seventh to the eighteenth centuries: from epic poetry (Beowulf) to narrative poetry (The Canterbury Tales) and romance (Sir Gawain), to lyric experiments (Donne, Lanyer, Herbert, and Wroth), phenomenal theatre (King Lear), and the early modern epic (Paradise Lost). We shall explore issues that remain with us today, such as the nature of heroism and government the role of religion in society the rise of the middle class beginnings and courses of sexual revolutions expansion of influential technologies (such as printing) colonialism and its aftermaths and the balance between individual freedom and social responsibility.

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Please contact instructor for course description.

In this seminar, we will focus on the poetry of the seventeenth-century author and polemic John Milton, specifically, his landmark epic Paradise Lost (1667). Reading Paradise Lost will be one of the grandest, most surprising, and most rewarding poetic experiences of your lives. It will be, well, epic.

LTEN 117

We will focus intensely on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a seminal work of speculative fiction. By comparing the 1818 and 1831 versions, as well as studying the social and political contexts of the day, we will come to understand the many complex layers of philosophical critique and artistic meanings present in the work. Secondary texts will include contemporary British and American works, as well as earlier and later texts that either influenced, or were influenced by, Frankenstein. In additional to some visual adaptions, we will also read and discuss contemporary literary theory engaging Frankenstein and the issues raised by it.

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LTEN 153 The Americas

This course examines Chicanx travel narratives. It explores how Mexican American travel and mobility reveals the function of space, place, national borders, and social practices. Through a survey of Chicanx travel literature, we will critically engage how Chicanx mobility charts terrains of struggle and new strategies for change. Moreover, we will address some of the following questions: What is the travel genre? How does Chicanx mobility align with this tradition? How is mobility tied to ideas of race, class, gender, and sexuality? And what does it mean to be a good mobile citizen?

LTEN 180 The Americas

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LTEN 181 The Americas

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LTEN 183 The Americas

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LTEN 185 The Americas

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2C is the last sequence of the intermediate series. The class will continue to study grammar, vocabulary and other aspects of the German language. This course is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. The class will focus on cultural readings of historical content as well as current events and will engage in discussions of films.

Our journey through Italian culture, food and language continues with more review of important grammar points, as well as conversation about the culture of gastronomy, travel, music and film. This course follows LTIT 2B and completes the second year of the Italian language series. The course is strongly recommended for students who plan to go to Italy with EAP or other programs (but not only). There will be a couple of grammar quizzes, a couple of cultural quizzes, and a final project (both oral and written).

LTKO 1C - Beginning Korean: First Year III

First Year Korean 1C (5 units) is the third part of the Beginning Korean. This course is designed to assist students to develop high-beginning level skills in the Korean language. These skills are speaking, listening, reading, and writing, as well as cultural understanding. LTKO 1C is designed for students who have already mastered LTKO 1B or who are already in the equivalent proficiency level. This course will focus on grammatical patterns such as sentence structures, some simple grammatical points, and some survival level use of Korean language. Additionally, speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension will all be emphasized, with special attention to oral speech. Upon completion of this course, students will become able to do the following in Korean:

Speaking: Students are able to converse with ease and confidence when dealing with the routine tasks and social situations. They are able to handle successfully uncomplicated tasks and social situations requiring an exchange of basic information. They can narrate and describe in all major time frames using connected discourse of paragraph length, but not all the time.

Listening: Students are able to understand, with ease and confidence, simple sentence-length speech in basic personal and social contexts. They can derive substantial meaning from some connected texts, although there often will be gaps in understanding due to a limited knowledge of the vocabulary and structure of the spoken language.

Reading: Students are able to understand fully and with ease short, non-complex texts that convey basic information and deal with personal and social topics to which they brings personal interest or knowledge. They are able to understand some connected texts featuring description and narration although there will be occasional gaps in understanding due to a limited knowledge of the vocabulary, structures, and writing conventions of the language.

Writing: Students are able to meet all practical writing needs of the basic level. They also can write compositions and simple summaries related to work and/or school experiences. They can narrate and describe in different time frames when writing about everyday events and situations.

LTKO 2C - Intermediate Korean: Second Year III

Second Year Korean 2C (5 units) is the third part of the Intermediate Korean. Students in this course are assumed to have previous knowledge of Korean, which was taught during the Korean 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A and 2B courses. Students in this course will learn high-intermediate level of standard modern Korean in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as expand their cultural understanding. After the completion of this course, students are expected to acquire and use more vocabularies, expressions, and sentence structures and to have a good command of Korean in various conversational situations. Students are also expected to write short essays using the vocabularies, expressions, and sentence structures introduced. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to do the following in Korean:

Speaking: Students can perform all intermediate-level tasks with linguistic ease, confidence, and competence. They are consistently able to explain in detail and narrate fully and accurately in all time frame. In addition, they may provide a structured argument to support their opinions, and they may construct hypotheses. They may demonstrate a well-developed ability to compensate for an imperfect grasp of some forms or for limitations in vocabulary by the confident use of communicative strategies.

Listening: Students are able to understand, with ease and confidence, conventional narrative and descriptive texts of any length as well as complex factual material such as summaries or reports. They are able to follow some of the essential points of more complex or argumentative speech in areas of special interest or knowledge.

Reading: Students are able to understand, fully and with ease, conventional narrative and descriptive texts of any length as well as more complex factual material. They are able to follow some of the essential points of argumentative texts in areas of special interest or knowledge. In addition, they are able to understand parts of texts that deal with unfamiliar topics or situations.

Writing: Students are able to write about a variety of topics with significant precision and detail. They can handle informal and formal correspondence according to appropriate conventions. They can write summaries and reports of a factual nature. They can also write extensively about topics relating to particular interests and special areas of competence.

Prerequisite: LTKO 2B or an equivalent level of proficiency in Korean language.

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LTRU 104A Russian

LTRU 104A Europe

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LTSP 100F Spanish

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LTSP 135A

LTSP 135A Spanish

LTSP 135A The Americas

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LTSP 135C Spanish

LTSP 135C The Americas

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LTSP 155 Spanish

This course explores the relationship between literature and the natural environment, examining how writers have represented, interpreted, and responded to ecological issues across different historical periods and cultural contexts. Through the study of novels, poetry, essays, memoirs, and other literary forms, students will investigate themes such as nature, wilderness, climate change, environmental justice, sustainability, species extinction, and the human impact on ecosystems.
Drawing on the interdisciplinary field of ecocriticism, the course considers how literature shapes our understanding of environmental challenges and our ethical responsibilities toward the more-than-human world. Students will analyze works from diverse authors and traditions, exploring questions about place, identity, power, and the interconnectedness of human and nonhuman life. By engaging with both classic and contemporary texts, students will develop critical reading and writing skills while reflecting on literature's role in addressing pressing environmental concerns.

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The course explores how young adulthood has been conceived and transformed in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This quarter's focus is sexual coming of age in the YA novel and the teen movie from 1975 to the present. Our discussions will be informed by scholarship in cultural history, literary studies, trauma studies, film/media studies, gender and sexuality studies. We will look at genres such as the realist novel, the graphic novel, the historical novel, the short story, along with the teen movie, the horror film, and the television series. Topics of discussion may include: didacticism, market demographics, censorship and book banning, intergenerational readership, literary merits, and stylistic experimentation. Novels may include Forever (1975), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), Blankets (2003), Gordo (2021), and Last Night at the Telegraph Club (2021). Films may include Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Kids (1995) Jennifer’s Body (2009), and Euphoria (2019-present).

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This course surveys crime and detective fiction from a global perspective, tracing how writers across cultures use the genre to explore questions of justice, morality, and social order. Readings will include classic and contemporary works from Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, highlighting the ways crime narratives engage with local histories, politics, and cultural anxieties. Students will develop analytical and comparative skills through close reading and discussions of how crime stories both reflect and challenge cultural contexts.

This course presents an introductory overview of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet film from the 20th century. Beginning with field-defining innovations in film and film theory from Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov, we will examine lesser-known works of early Soviet film that helped define the new post-revolutionary culture. Hollywood-inflected Stalinist propaganda films of the 1930s will give way to post-WWII, post-Stalin experiments with neorealist and new wave aesthetics, including the pioneering visions of auteur directors like Andrei Tarkovsky and Sergej Parajanov. We will also consider brilliant work by Larisa Shepitko, Kira Muratova and other film artists grappling with both Soviet history and the late-Soviet present, as well as the wacky films that preceded the Soviet collapse and ushered in the post-Soviet 1990s. No previous knowledge of Russian or Soviet literature or film is required, and all films will be subtitled in English.

LTWL 180

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This course will focus on the emerging field of digital poetry and digital literature, that is, the intersection of artistic poiesis (making) with digital technology. As the scholar Chris Funkhouser states, “A poem is a digital poem if computer programming or process (software) are distinctively used in the composition, generation, or presentation of the text (or combination of texts).” We will read and respond to various examples of digital literature as well as theory and critiques of this emergent form alongside digital literature’s logical (and, sometimes, illogical) antecedents. Finally, we will create and workshop digital poetic texts of our own. While no prior knowledge of programming or software is necessary to take this course, please bring a willingness to experiment and to learn together.

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Both creative nonfiction and science aspire to the “truth,” some accurate modeling of the world around us (and within us). Both depend on careful observation and reality-testing, whether by experimentation or through an ideal of narrative verisimilitude. Yet both also require imagination for discovery. How can science power insightful narratives about the world? How can the craft of writing nonfiction illuminate and communicate the work of science? In this course students will be reading a wide variety of writing across all genres that addresses science in creative ways, and then take cues from those readings to develop their own pieces of writing about science. Science students with an interest in creative writing and creative writing students with an interest in science are equally encouraged to register.
Please note: This course is not designed as a professional writing course for scientists and is not limited or primarily focused on mass communications of science. We will approach the intersection of science and creative writing from a number of angles.

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Please contact instructor for course description.

Please contact instructor for course description.

Point of View and Pronouns

This course introduces the foundations of East Asian ethical and philosophical thought. Examining human ethics from different, sometimes mutually opposing perspectives, we will read and discuss key thinkers of the Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist, and Neo-Confucian traditions. In addition, we will also learn about Shintō, Japan’s native tradition the Zen (Chan/Son) “Meditation School” of Buddhism Bushidō, the way of the Japanese samurai and Korean shamanism. We will read primary sources of classical texts from China, Japan and Korea, as well as secondary scholarship that will help us to understand these texts and their continued importance to contemporary culture, life, literature, and thought today. In addition, we will critically evaluate key philosophical-moral ideas with respect to our own lives and concerns of our contemporary world, such as government, education, the environment, and human rights. Comparisons to Western thought are encouraged, as are discussions of current events and students’ own values and approaches to life.

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Please contact instructor for course description.

Please contact instructor for course description.