Instructor Richard Joseph
Summer 2025
May 1-June 4
MR 8:35-10:55
Description:听This course will investigate literary fiction ranging from the late twentieth century to the early twenty-first. To get a sense of this unwieldy and variegated period we will read widely and eclectically across the Anglosphere: novels, novellas, short stories, and poetry, mainly from America but with a few forays across the pond. Where applicable we will supplement our classes with clips from some film adaptations. In analyzing these works, we will learn to parse and identify some of the most significant aesthetic currents of postwar English-language fiction, from modernism to postmodernism to realism; we will analyze structure, form, and character; we will examine the historical and institutional underpinnings of these forms; and, finally, we will consider their critical reception in the literary press.
Texts:听
- Vladimir Nabokov,听Pale Fire听(1962)
- Marilynne Robinson,听Housekeeping听(1980)
- Raymond Carver,听What We Talk About When We Talk About Love听(1981)听
- Jhumpa Lahiri,听Interpreter of Maladies听(1999)听
- Mohsin Hamid,听The Reluctant Fundamentalist听(2007)
- Claire Keegan,听Small Things Like These听(2021)
Evaluation: participation (15%), in-class midterm (20%), final paper (30%), final exam (35%)
Format: lecture and discussion
Queer Montreal
Instructor Steven Greenwood
Summer 2025
Time TBA
Description:听This course will introduce students to the queer cultural history and present of Montreal, Quebec. The course will begin with a historical component, exploring queer life in Montreal from the 17th century to the present and providing a broad historical context for discussing society and culture in Quebec. We will then explore contemporary queer playwrights, filmmakers, poets, performers, comedians, and writers of queer Montreal, examining the unique queer cultural world of the city.
Course Materials may include (subject to change 鈥� some may be added or removed):
Note: all works in French will have English subtitles or translations available for students.
- Theatre and Performance: Michel Tremblay, Michel Marc Bouchard, Kama La Mackerel and Soleil Launi猫re
- Film: Dany Laferri猫re, Val茅rie Bah, Dayna McLeod, Angel Baribeau, Kaytranada, Elle Barbara, 2boys.tv, Sarah Watts, L茅a Pool, Xavier Dolan, Jean-Marc Vall茅e, Posy Dixon, Jeanne Cr茅peau, Paule Baillargeon,
- Comedy: Tranna Wintour
- Literature and Poetry: Eloisa Aquino, Eli Tareq El-Bechelany Lynch, Jas M. Morgan, Val茅rie Bah, Kama La Mackerel, Kai Cheng Thom.
- Webseries: F茅minin/F茅minin
Mandatory purchases:
- Michel Marc Boucard鈥檚 Lilies (available at the campus store).
- Kama La Mackerel鈥檚 ZOM-FAM (available from Metonymy Press).
- Eli Tareq El-Bechelany Lynch. The Good Arabs (available from Metonymy Press)
- Val茅rie Bah, The Rage Letters (available from Metonymy press)
All other materials are available digitally.
Evaluation:
- close reading assignment: 10%
- primary source research assignment: 15%
- final paper: 45%
- quiz: 20%
- participation (including digital participation option): 10%