Literature
- Analyzes, Interprets, and Critiques Literature
- Provides Lively Discussion and Debate
- Develops Cultural Aptitude
These courses provide the opportunity to read and discuss novels, short stories, memoirs, plays, and poetry. You will explore classic and contemporary literature from ancient texts to current bestsellers as you gain skills to analyze, interpret, and critique writing; develop cultural aptitude; and participate in nuanced discussions and lively debates.
This semester, study in-person or from anywhere in the world from the safety and comfort of your home through online or remote instruction.
Encyclopedic Passion: The Fiction of Olga Tokarczuk
Explore the works of Nobel laureate and acclaimed Polish novelist Olga...
Masterpieces of 19th-Century Fiction
Read 19th-century classics that have passed the test of time and are still of interest to contemporary readers.
The Immigration Experience in Literature
Explore the immigration experience in literary works of various genres.
The Novel Today (Spring)
Discuss major new work by today’s top writers, including emerging novelists, award winners, and established favorites. Readings: Tan...
The Paradox of Tragedy
Read and analyze famous tragic dramas from ancient Greece to the modern-day United...
Brilliant Minds
Spring 2025 Reading List: Clouds, Aristophanes; Reynard the Fox, William Caxton; Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare; The Importance of Being...
Stolen Fire: Aeschylus' Prometheus, Milton's Satan, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Explore the myth of Prometheus and how his story reappears in classic literature across the...
American Fiction of the 1920s
Explore the most famous American novels of the early 20th...
Reading Homer's Odyssey: The Greatest Journey of Them All
Explore Homer’s Odyssey as a metaphor for the challenges we face...
Ancient Greek Tragedy: The First Family
Follow the legend of the First Family of Greek literature: the House of...
George Eliot's "Middlemarch" in the 21st Century
Dive deep into George Eliot’s masterpiece, Middlemarch
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick
Seen as an artistic failure or an overgrown children’s book until the 1920s, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is now widely accepted as...
Literature for the 21st Century
Discover a generation of authors likely to set literary trends well into the 21st century.
Masterpieces of 20th-Century Fiction
Study major modern 20th century novels that now enjoy classic status.
Leo Tolstoy: The Hero is Truth
Read 19th-century classics that have passed the test of time and are still of interest to contemporary readers.
The Novel Today (Fall)
Discuss major new work by today’s top writers, including emerging novelists, award-winners, and established favorites, all of whom are...
The Novel Today (Summer)
Discuss major new work by today’s top writers, including emerging novelists, award-winners, and established favorites, all of whom are...
Religion and Literature: From the Bible to James Baldwin
The Hungarian critic Georg Lukács said that the novel is the epic of a world that has been abandoned by God. That suggests a stark divide...
Writing About Your Life Through Memoir, Essays, and Articles
Whether you are writing your life story, exploring a lifelong passion, or expanding your writing skills, this eight-week online course offers...