Masterpieces of 20th-Century Literature


This class is full. To be added to the waitlist please send email request to sps.all@nyu.edu

Register for this Fall 2022 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website.
Study major modern 20th century novels that now enjoy classic status. Read a haunting study of “voluptuous doom” as depicted in one of the classic novellas by a major German novelist known as “The Magician”; a landmark of literary modernism that depicts a young Irishman’s defiant artistry, intransigent rebellion, and fearless flight; an intense, hallucinatory gothic novel by a legendary American expatriate in Paris, praised as "one of the three great prose books ever written by a woman;” a masterful portrayal of war, love, loyalty and heroism in the crucial Spanish Civil War of the 1930s; an investigation into murder and racial justice in mid-century Mississippi-- the last great novel from the outstanding creative period of one of most remarkable writers of the 20th century. Readings: Thomas Mann, Death in Venice ; James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ; Djuna Barnes, Nightwood ; Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls ; William Faulkner, Intruder in the Dust . Students should read Death in Venice for the first class. Questions? Contact us at The Center for Applied Liberal Arts (CALA). Email sps.cala@nyu.edu or call 212-998-7289. Fall 2022 tuition is $399.

More details

You'll Walk Away with

  • Increased cultural literacy
  • Familiarity with 20th-century literature

Ideal for

  • The curious and creative
  • Professionals who use critical thinking
NO open sections available for this course at the moment. Please check back next semester.