CPLT Courses for Fall 2026
Please click on the course title for more information.
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CPLT 180 01 - Introduction to Comparative Literature
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Course: |
CPLT 180 - 01 |
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Title: |
Introduction to Comparative Literature |
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Credit Hours: |
1 |
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Description: |
Comparative literature is the study of literature and other forms of creative expression from an interdisciplinary and global perspective. Emphasizing the practice of close reading and embracing the benefits and challenges of reading texts in translation, this course introduces students to foundational and emerging methods in literary studies and lays the groundwork for a rich discussion of literature across a broad spectrum of literary forms, national traditions, historical moments and social identities. Readings will range from ancient epic to Afrofuturism, from fairy tales to speculative fiction, from sonnets to graphic novels and more. All readings will be done in English. Fulfills the Diversity of Literatures in English requirement. |
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Prerequisite(s): |
None |
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Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Language and Literature |
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Instructors: |
Carol Dougherty |
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Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 305 Seminar Room - MR 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM |
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CPLT 224 01 - The Literature of Rights and the Rights of Literature (in English)
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Course: |
CPLT 224 - 01 |
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Title: |
The Literature of Rights and the Rights of Literature (in English) |
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Credit Hours: |
1 |
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Description: |
The course explores the theme of human rights in Italian society during the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries. First, it is designed to discuss the rights of literature, i.e., the role that literature can play in the understanding of human rights. Second, it will provide students with a survey of the discussion of human rights in Italian literature. By presenting literary texts as narratives that have contributed to the debate on human rights, the course will introduce students to the most important moments in the history of human rights in Italy, from the first political organizations which fought for equal rights for factory workers, to the struggle of the feminist movement for women's emancipation throughout the twentieth century, to the approval of laws that legalized divorce and abortion during the 1970s and 80s, up to the new legislation on domestic violence, marriage, and adoption rights for LGBT people, and today’s debate on the issue of citizenship for immigrants. The course will be taught in English. Students who wish to take the course to fulfill the major or minor in Italian should register for ITAS 324. The course will provide reading and writing assignments in Italian, as well as individual discussion sessions in Italian, for students who are taking the course at the 300-level.
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Prerequisite(s): |
None. Not open to students who have taken ITAS 324.
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Notes: |
This course is also offered at the 300 level as ITAS 324, with readings and writing assignments in Italian. |
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Distribution(s): |
Language and Literature |
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Cross Listed Courses: |
ITAS 224 01 - The Literature of Rights and the Rights of Literature (in English)
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Instructors: |
Sergio Parussa |
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Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 305 Seminar Room - M 2:20 PM - 5:00 PM |
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CPLT 275 01 - Translation and the Multilingual World
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Course: |
CPLT 275 - 01 |
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Title: |
Translation and the Multilingual World |
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Credit Hours: |
1 |
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Description: |
A study of translation in theory and in practice, in its literal and many metaphorical senses, and of the vast multilingual world in which translation takes place. Among the possible topics: translation of literary texts, translation of sacred texts, the history and politics of translation, the lives of translators, translation and gender, translation and colonialism, machine translation and Google Translate, endangered languages, the representation of translation in literature and film, invented languages. Students taking the course at the 300 level will do a substantial independent project: a translation, a scholarly inquiry, or a combination of the two. |
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Prerequisite(s): |
One course in literature (in any language) or permission of the instructor. Competence in a language or languages other than English is useful but not necessary. |
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Notes: |
This course is also offered at the 300-level as CPLT 375. This course can count towards the English major/minor in consultation with the instructor. |
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Distribution(s): |
Language and Literature |
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Instructors: |
Rachid Idir Aadnani |
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Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 207 Classroom - W 1:30 PM - 4:10 PM |
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CPLT 284 01 - Magical Realism
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Course: |
CPLT 284 - 01 |
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Title: |
Magical Realism |
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Credit Hours: |
1 |
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Description: |
This course examines novels and stories whose basic reality is familiar up until the introduction of a magical element: a ghost, a demon, a talisman, a physical transformation, a miraculous transition in space or time. The revelation of a second plane of existence calls into question all assumptions about what one is accustomed to call reality. Readings will be drawn from the works of following authors: Jorge Luis Borges, Mikhail Bulgakov, Italo Calvino, Julio Cortázar, Laura Esquivel, Kelly Link, Gabriel García Márquez, Toni Morrison, Haruki Murakami, Vladimir Nabokov, Franz Kafka, Salman Rushdie. |
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Prerequisite(s): |
None |
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Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Language and Literature |
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Instructors: |
Adam Weiner |
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Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 102 Classroom - MR 9:55 AM - 11:10 AM |
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CPLT 324 01 - The Literature of Rights
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Course: |
CPLT 324 - 01 |
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Title: |
The Literature of Rights |
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Credit Hours: |
1 |
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Description: |
The course explores the theme of human rights in Italian society during the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries. First, it is designed to discuss the rights of literature, i.e., the role that literature can play in the understanding of human rights. Second, it will provide students with a survey of the discussion of human rights in Italian literature. By presenting literary texts as narratives that have contributed to the debate on human rights, the course will introduce students to the most important moments in the history of human rights in Italy, from the first political organizations which fought for equal rights for factory workers, to the struggle of the feminist movement for women's emancipation throughout the twentieth century, to the approval of laws that legalized divorce and abortion during the 1970s and 80s, up to the new legislation on domestic violence, marriage, and adoption rights for LGBT people, and today’s debate on the issue of citizenship for immigrants. |
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Prerequisite(s): |
Four semesters of Italian, or equivalent. |
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Notes: |
This course is also offered at the 200 level as ITAS 224, in English. |
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Distribution(s): |
Language and Literature |
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Cross Listed Courses: |
ITAS 324 01 - The Literature of Rights
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Instructors: |
Sergio Parussa |
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Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 305 Seminar Room - M 2:20 PM - 5:00 PM |
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CPLT 354 01 - Contemporary Historical Fiction in English and in Translation
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Course: |
CPLT 354 - 01 |
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Title: |
Contemporary Historical Fiction in English and in Translation |
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Credit Hours: |
1 |
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Description: |
In the 21st century, the historical novel has moved globally into literary fiction--novels characterized by complex narrative structures, richer use of language, and more wide-ranging questions about history, time, identity. What makes a novel precisely historical? Why do recent literary historical fictions often toggle between the past and present, as characters in the present look to the past for their own histories? How do historical novels embrace genre hybridity by incorporating science fiction or the gothic? How do these novels not only use history as their setting, but seek to question our notions of history? Texts range from the Ugandan epic Kintu (Jennifer Nansuguba Makumbi), to You Dreamed of Empires A (Álvaro Enrique)--a mashup of the encounter of Cortés and Moctezuma in Tenochtitlan, to Han Kang''s Human Acts--the visceral account of the 1980 democratic uprising in South Korea. All texts will be read in English. |
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Prerequisite(s): |
One 100 or 200 level course in literature in any language and literature department. |
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Notes: |
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Distribution(s): |
Language and Literature |
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Cross Listed Courses: |
ENG 354 01 - Contemporary Historical Fiction in English and in Translation
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Instructors: |
Marilyn Sides |
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Meeting Time(s): |
Green Hall 136A Seminar Classroom - MR 2:20 PM - 3:35 PM |
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CPLT 375 01 - Translation and the Multilingual World
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Course: |
CPLT 375 - 01 |
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Title: |
Translation and the Multilingual World |
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Credit Hours: |
1 |
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Description: |
A study of translation in theory and in practice, in its literal and metaphorical senses alike, and of the multilingual world in which translation takes place. Topics: translation of literary texts, translation of sacred texts, the history and politics of translation, the lives of translators, translation and gender, machine translation, adaptation as translation. Students taking the course at the 300 level will do a substantial independent project: a translation, a scholarly inquiry, or a combination of the two. |
|
Prerequisite(s): |
One course in literature (in any language) or permission of the instructor. Competence in a language or languages other than English is useful but not necessary. |
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Notes: |
This course is also offered at the 200-level as CPLT 275. This course can count towards the English major/minor in consultation with the instructor. |
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Distribution(s): |
Language and Literature |
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Instructors: |
Rachid Idir Aadnani |
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Meeting Time(s): |
Founders 207 Classroom - W 1:30 PM - 4:10 PM |
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