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.
The Novel Today
We will investigate a dark secret in a small Irish Town; a reclusive artist in Baltimore; a sensitive secretive and brave teenager in Glasgow;...
The Short Fiction of Franz Kafka and Jorge Luis Borges
Explore the two most ambitious and experimental short story writers of the modern...
Ancient Greek Tragedy: The First Family
Follow the legend of the First Family of Greek literature: the House of...
Brilliant Minds
Read examples of works in which brilliant minds use their gifts to entertain, inspire, engage, and enlighten us. Spring 2024...
Masterpieces of 20th-Century Fiction
Study major modern 20th century novels that now enjoy classic status.
Religion and Literature: From the Bible to James Baldwin
Register for this Spring 2024 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website. The Hungarian critic Georg Lukács said...
Ancient Greek Tragedy: The Sense of an Ending
Read and discuss masterpieces of ancient Greek literature.
Masterpieces of 19th-Century Fiction
Read 19th-century classics that have passed the test of time and are still of interest to contemporary readers.
Two Novels by Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment and the Brothers Karamazov
Read and analyze two recent, acclaimed translations of Fyodor Dostevsky’s most famous novels.
Discovering the Modern: The Novels of E.M. Forster
Read the novels of E.M. Forster and learn about his contribution to modern literature.
Lover or Fighter? Reading Virgil's Aeneid
Read and analyze Virgil’s Aeneid, a thrilling epic and an exploration of the devastation of war.
Five African Nobel Laureates
Register for this Spring 2023 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website. With the award of the 2021 Nobel Prize for...
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 Modern Comic Novel
Register for this Spring 2023 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website. Though serious literature is often associated...
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick
Register for this Summer 2023 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website. Seen as an artistic failure or an...
Literature for the 21st Century
Discover a generation of authors likely to set literary trends well into the 21st century.
Reading Dante's Inferno
Examine the key themes, overall message, and place in cultural and literary history of Dante’s Inferno.
Three Recent Nobel Laureates from France; Le Clezio, Modiano, Ernaux
Read and analyze the works of three French Nobel laureates.