World Literatures Minor

Contact

Matthieu van der Meer (mhvander@syr.edu), Lauren Surovi (lesurovi@syr.edu), Darwin Tsen (dhtsen@syr.edu)

Overview

In an increasingly interconnected world, understanding different cultures and worldviews is a skill and a life-long task that occupies the core of any liberal arts education. Studying World Literatures allows us to appreciate different cultural expressions, narrative structures, philosophical ideas, concepts of beauty, value systems, and notions of identity across time and space. Through the perspectives that differ from our own, we broaden our horizons and ultimately learn more about ourselves, our societies, and our histories.

The Minor in World Literatures aims to help students develop this skill, by facilitating an understanding of the complex relationships between literatures and cultures from across the world. Students who take this Minor read and analyze a wide range of fiction, poetry, film, and drama produced in different parts of the world in a broad spectrum of media (manuscripts, print, visual, electronic). They study these media either in the original language or in translation. In this way, they explore pressing questions about literature in a global context: How do texts move across national boundaries and historical time periods? In what ways are the globalizing forces of today different from those of the past? How is literature related to social change and stability in various parts of the world? What are the features of literatures produced in transnational and diaspora communities? How do authors and artists give voice to protest against violence, oppression, and marginalization? Through the World Literatures Minor, students consider these and many other questions about literature and globalization. In so doing, they learn the tools to think critically about cultural influences and transmission of ideas and texts around the globe, so preparing them as engaged citizens, scholars, and leaders for participation in a changing global society (Cfr Syracuse University Academic Strategic Plan).

The minor is open to all undergraduates and is especially geared towards students majoring in Humanities, Journalism, Transmedia, History, International Relations, Anthropology, or any other field that engages with global or international themes (e.g., international business).

Principle Faculty in LLL who teach World Literatures & Cultures:
Gail Bulman, Patricia Burak, Jeff Carnes, Mona Eikel-Pohen, Kathryn Everly, Ken Frieden, Myrna García-Calderon, Stefano Giannini, Rania Habib, Erika Haber, Jean Jonaissant, Byungsam Jung, Nicole Karam, Anne Leone, Ana Mendez-Oliver, Kenji Oda, Alicia Rios, Cristina Pardo Porto, Matthieu van der Meer, Lauren Surovi, Darwin Tsen, Karina von Tippelskirch, Amy Wyngaard, Seungmin Yun

Students will be able to understand and contextualize different literary traditions, including important historical and literary figures, texts, and intellectual movements across space and time.
Students will be able to recognize and understand the form, style, and content of different artistic and literary works from different cultural traditions from their origins to the present day.
Students will develop and deepen skills in critical and literary analysis and advance their ability to express their ideas both orally and in writing.
Students will be able to reflect and synthesize thoughtfully upon the ideas of others (whether those of their fellow classmates or those expressed in the course materials, including engagement with secondary sources).
Students will demonstrate an ability to critically reflect and evaluate the studied texts through analysis, discussion, and written work.

Requirements

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Core/Required Courses
Introductory Coursework: Students must take one of the two global literature survey courses		3
ENG 174	World Literature, Beginnings to 1000
ENG 175	World Literature, 1000 to Present
A maximum of two courses in the lower division courses can be counted towards the Minor
Upper-division coursework: Students must take a minimum 12 credits in literature & cultural studies courses in the upper division (300+)
Three courses (9 credits) of the total requried 18 credits must be from courses taken within LLL, not including the required LIT/ENG 174 ¹⁷⁵ course.
Interdisciplinary & Global & Transnational Breadth
Interdisciplnary: No more than three courses (9 credits) can be taken in the same program.
Global/Transnational Breadth
Courses will be labeled by the region on which they primarily focus: Africa, (East/South) Asia, Europe, Indigenous, Latin and South America, Middle East, North American, transregional.
Students may not count more than four courses (12 credits) focused on the same region towards the minor.
Language
Prerequisite: One semester of any language (other than English) is required to declare the minor. An AP score of 4 or higher in any foreign language fulfills this requirement (credits for this prerequisite are not included in the total of 18 credits of this Minor).
An additional semester of foreign language study, in any course numbered 200 or higher, may count by petition toward the Upper-division requirements.
Electives
Literature and cultural studies courses (including film studies) offered by the department of LLL (either as LIT-designated courses or literature courses taught in a language other than English, e.g. Spanish, SPA) and of the department of English (ENG) will automatically be acknowledged as approved for the minor. Literature courses offered by other departments may be approved by petition.
1 Lower-Division Elective Course		3
Possibilities in the drop down list below include (but are not limited to):
4 Upper-Division Elective Course		12
Possibilities in the drop down list below include (but are not limited to):
Total Credits		18

1 Lower-Division Elective Course (3 Credits)

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
LIT 203	Greek and Roman Epic: Heroes, Gods, and the Universe	3
LIT 205	Japan Today	3
LIT 211	Ancient Greek Drama: The Birth of Comedy and Tragedy	3
LIT 226	Dostoevsky and Tolstoy	3
LIT 227	Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn	3
LIT 231	Jewish Literature	3
LIT 235	Travel Narratives and Pilgrimages	3
LIT 237	Jewish Mysticism	3
LIT 239	Jewish Humor and Satire	3
LIT 204	Popular Culture in Modern Japan	3
LIT 241	Dante and the Medieval World	3
LIT 242	Petrarch and the Renaissance World	3
LIT 243	Cultures of Italy from the Middle Ages to the Present	3
LIT 245	Florence and Renaissance Civilization	3
LIT 246	Machiavelli and Modernity	3
LIT 247	Science and Revolution in Italy from Dante to Modernity	3
LIT 255	Cervantes in English	3
LIT 256	Blood: A Cultural History	3
LIT 257	Italian Cinema and Culture Since World War II	3
LIT 262	Afterlives: from Dante to The Good Place	3
ENG 113	British Literature, Beginnings to 1789	3
ENG 114	British Literature, 1789 to Present	3
ENG 115	Topics in British Literature	3
ENG 117	American Literature, Beginnings to 1865	3
ENG 118	American Literature, 1865 to Present	3
ENG 119	Topics in U.S. Literature	3
ENG 121	Introduction to Shakespeare	3
ENG 122	Introduction to the Novel	3
ENG 125	Science Fiction	3
ENG 140	Reading the Environment	3
ENG 145	Reading Popular Culture	3
ENG 151	Interpretation of Poetry	3
ENG 152	Interpretation of Drama	3
ENG 153	Interpretation of Fiction	3
ENG 154	Interpretation of Film	3
ENG 155	Interpretation of Nonfiction	3
ENG 164	Children's Literature	3
ENG 170	U.S. Cinema, Beginnings to 2000	3
ENG 171	World Cinema, Beginnings to Present	3
ENG 172	The Literature of War and Peace	3
ENG 174	World Literature, Beginnings to 1000	3
ENG 175	World Literature, 1000 to Present	3
ENG 181	Class and Literary Texts	3
ENG 182	Race and Literary Texts	3
ENG 184	Ethnicity and Literary Texts	3
ENG 192	Gender and Literary Texts	3
ENG 193	Introduction to Asian American Literature	3
ENG 194	Introduction to Latina/o/x Literature	3
ENG 195	Arab American Literature and Culture	3

4 Upper-Division Elective Courses (12 Credits)

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
FRE 305	Evolution and Revolution through the Centuries	3
FRE 306	From Romanticism to Postmodernism	3
FRE 315	French Civilization	3
FRE 316	Contemporary French Culture	3
FRE 403	Topics in French and Francophone Literature and Film	3
FRE 411	Moliere	3
GER 340	German Fairy Tales: Past and Present	3
GER 361	Berlin: City - Literature - History	3
GER 365	Nineteenth-Century Prose	3
GER 366	Performing Germany	3
LIT 300	Selected Topics (Mystics/Knights and Drunks)	1-6
ITA 376	Contemporary Italian Literature	3
ITA 407	Love, Italian Style	3
ITA 409	Dante's Comedy: Inferno	3
ITA 412	Boccaccio's Decameron	3
ITA 418	Machiavelli & the Renaissance World	3
ITA 434	Africa in Italian Literature	3
ITA 436	Lies, Deceptions and Miscreants in Italian Literature	3
ITA 441	Modern and Contemporary Italian Theater	3
ITA 442	Italian Novel Under Fascism	3
LIT 301	French Cinema Vs. Hollywood	3
LIT 303	Culture and Crisis in Contemporary Japan	3
LIT 311	Chinese Literature	3
LIT 312	Chinese Film	3
LIT 316	Italian Fashion and Food Stories	3
LIT 321	Korean Short Stories	3
LIT 331	Russian Culture Through Fiction and Film	3
LIT 332	Russian Fairy Tales and Folklore	3
LIT 333	Yiddish Literature in Translation	3
LIT 335	Israeli Literature and Culture	3
LIT 336	Arabic Cultures	3
LIT 343	Latina Feminist Theories	3
LIT 361	Russian Literary Film Adaptations	3
LIT 362	Russia Today	3
LIT 363	Revolution and the Avant-garde in Russia	3
LIT 364	Russian Food Culture and History	3
LIT 365	Russian Short Stories	3
LIT 366	Russian Dystopian Fiction	3
LIT 381	Italian and European Theater 1500-1700	3
LIT 382	Asian Cinema	3
LIT 421	Classical Mythology	3
LIT 423	Italian Film Now	3
LIT 424	Sex, Politics, Religion in Italian Literature	3
LIT 442	From Dante to Calvino: Italian Literature in Translation	3
REL/JSP 307	The Temple and the Dead Sea Scrolls	3
SPA 441	Medieval and Golden Age Literature	3
SPA 443	Cervantes	3
SPA 321	Introduction to Spanish Literature	3
SPA 322	Introduction to Latin American Literature	3
ENG 305	Topics in Critical Analysis	3
ENG 310	Topics in Literary Periods	3
ENG 311	Literary Periods before 1900	3
ENG 312	Race and Literary Periods	3
ENG 313	Race & Literary Periods Before 1900	3
ENG 315	Topics in Ethnic Literatures and Cultures	3
ENG 320	Topics in Authors	3
ENG 321	Authors before 1900	3
ENG 325	History and Varieties of English	3
ENG 330	Topics in Theorizing Meaning and Interpretation	3
ENG 340	Topics in Theorizing Forms and Genres	3
ENG 341	Theorizing Forms and Genres before 1900	3
ENG 345	Critical Theory	3
ENG 350	Topics in Reading Nation and Empire	3
ENG 351	Reading Nation and Empire before 1900	3
ENG 352	Race, Nation, and Empire	3
ENG 353	Race, Nation, and Empire before 1900	3
ENG 355	The Politics of the English Language	3
ENG 360	Topics in Reading Gender and Sexualities	3
ENG 361	Reading Gender and Sexuality before 1900	3
ENG 362	Race, Gender & Sexualities	3
ENG 363	Race, Empire, and Sexuality Before 1900	3
ENG 405	Topics in Medicine and Culture	3
ENG 410	Topics in Forms and Genres	3
ENG 411	Forms and Genres before 1900	3
ENG 412	Race, Forms & Genres	3
ENG 413	Race, Forms & Genres Before 1900	3
ENG 420	Topics in Cultural Production and Reception	3
ENG 421	Cultural Production and Reception before 1900	3
ENG 422	Race, Cultural Production & Reception	3
ENG 423	Race, Cultural Production and Reception Before 1900	3
ENG 426	Topics in Literature, Culture, and Social Change	3
ENG 430	Topics in Theorizing Representation	3
ENG 440	Topics in Theorizing History and Culture	3
ENG 441	Theorizing History and Culture before 1900	3
ENG 450	Reading Ethnicity	3
ENG 452	Reading Race and Ethnicity	3
ENG 453	Reading Race and Ethnicity Before 1900	3
ENG 460	Topics in Reading Class and Economic Materiality	3
ENG 464	Topics in Reading Institutions and Ideologies	3
ENG 465	Topics in Political Modes of Inquiry	3

Course Catalogs