ENROLL

Timothy Raylor

Can you serve power without sacrificing your principles or risking your life?  We examine the classic explorations of the problem--Machiavelli's Prince, Castiglione's Courtier, and More's Utopia--and investigate the place of poets and poetry at court of Henry VIII, tracing the birth of the English sonnet, and the role of poetry in the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn.

1st 5 weeks

Timothy Raylor

Spenser's romance epic: an Arthurian quest-cycle, celebrating the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, and England's imperial destiny.  Readers encounter knights, ladies, and lady-knights; enchanted groves and magic castles; dragons and sorcerers; and are put through a series of moral tests and hermeneutic challenges.

2nd 5 weeks

Pierre Hecker

Jessica Leiman

The eighteenth and early nineteenth century saw the rise of the Gothic, a genre populated by brooding hero-villains, vulnerable virgins, mad monks, ghosts, and monsters. In this course, we will examine the conventions and concerns of the Gothic, addressing its preoccupation with terror, sex, and the supernatural. As we situate this genre within its literary and historical context, we will consider its relationship to realism and Romanticism, and we will explore how it reflects the political and cultural anxieties of the age. Authors include Walpole, Radcliffe, Lewis, Austen, M. Shelley, and E. Bronte.

Gregory Hewett

A combination of background readings, guided site visits, and personal exploration will give students tools for understanding the history of multicultural London. Starting with the city's early history and moving to the present, students will gain an understanding of how the city has been defined and transformed over time and of the complex cultural narratives that shape its standing as a global metropolis.

Requires participation in OCS Program: Living London

Gregory Hewett

The course will center on the neglected genre of the non-academic essay, also referred to as creative nonfiction. Students will also have opportunities to experiment by including poetry and prose fiction with their essays. We will read and discuss historical and contemporary British essayists for a deeper understanding of rhetoric and aesthetics, for insight into London, and as models for writing. Each student will write a series of creative nonfiction essays (and some poetry and/or prose fiction, if they wish) based on cultural artifacts and sites from various periods in London’s history, as well as the present. In the tradition of the essay, the writing for this course will combine both personal and critical perspectives. Through workshops and revision, each writer will learn strategies for effectively establishing their own literary voice.

Prerequisite: Participation in OCS London program

Participation in Carleton OCS London Program

Gregory Hewett

Students will attend productions (at least two per week) of classic and contemporary plays in a range of London venues both on and off the West End, and will do related reading. We will also travel to Stratford-upon-Avon for a 3-day theater trip. Class discussions will focus on dramatic genres and themes, dramaturgy, acting styles, and design. Guest speakers may include actors, critics, and directors. Students will keep a theater journal and write several full reviews of plays.

Requires participation in OCS Program: Living London

Constance Walker

Prerequisite: One English foundations course and one other 6 credit English course

William North, Victoria Morse

Through a range of interdisciplinary readings, guest lectures, and site visits, this course will provide students with opportunities to analyze important aspects of Italian culture and society, both past and present, as well as to examine the ways in which travelers, tourists, temporary visitors, and immigrants have experienced and coped with their Italian worlds. Topics may include transportation, cuisine, rituals and rhythms of Italian life, urbanism, religious diversity, immigration, tourism, historic preservation, and language. Class discussions and projects will offer students opportunities to reflect on their own encounters with contemporary Italian culture.

Prerequisite: Participation in OCS Rome Program

OCS Rome Program

Christine Lac

This course seeks to deepen students' knowledge of contemporary French culture through a pluridisciplinary approach, using multimedia (books, newspaper and magazine articles, videos, etc.) to generate discussion. It will also promote the practice of both oral and written French through exercises, debates, and oral presentations.

Prerequisite: French 204 or equivalent

Requires participation in OCS Program: French and Francophone Studies in Paris

Christine Lac

Home of some of the finest and best known museums in the world, Paris has long been recognized as a center for artistic activity. Students will have the opportunity to study art from various periods on site, including Impressionism, Expressionism, and Surrealism. In-class lectures and discussions will be complemented by guided visits to the unparalleled collections of the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Centre Pompidou, local art galleries, and other appropriate destinations. Special attention will be paid to the program theme.

Prerequisite: French 204 or the equivalent and Participation in OCS Paris Program

Requires participation in OCS Program: French and Francophone Studies in Paris

Christine Lac

Through literature, cultural texts, and experiential learning in the city, this course will explore the development of both the "Frenchness" and the hybridity that constitute contemporary Paris. Immigrant cultures, notably North African, will also be highlighted. Plays, music, and visits to cultural sites will complement the readings.

Prerequisite: French 204 or the equivalent and participation in OCS Paris program

Requires participation in OCS Program: French and Francophone Studies in Paris

Eva Posfay

Learn what language can do for you when you use techniques that express ideas with clarity, convince readers and listeners, and create a sense of style. Beyond basic grammar, you will work on various strategies to enliven your writing and speaking and to communicate more effectively with a given audience. Sample projects in the course may include translations, subtitling, blogging, academic and creative writing, and formal oral presentations. Required for the major in French and Francophone Studies, and recommended for all advanced students.

Prerequisite: One French course beyond French 204 or permission of instructor

Christine Lac

Through literature, cultural texts, and experiential learning in the city, this course will explore the development of both the "Frenchness" and the hybridity that constitute contemporary Paris. Immigrant cultures, notably North African, will also be highlighted. Plays, music, and visits to cultural sites will complement the readings.

Prerequisite: French 230 or beyond and participation in OCS Paris program

Requires participation in OCS Program: French and Francophone Studies in Paris

William North

Through site visits, on-site projects, and readings, this course explores the ways in which individuals and communities attempted to give physical and visual form to their religious beliefs and political ambitions through their use of materials, iconography, topography, and architecture. We will also examine how the material legacies of imperial Rome, Byzantium, and early Christianity served as both resources for and constraints on the political, cultural, and religious evolution of the Italian peninsula and especially Rome and its environs from late antiquity through the twelfth century. Among the principal themes will be the development of the cult of saints, the development of the papal power and authority, Christianization, reform, pilgrimage, and monasticism.

OCS Rome Program

Victoria Morse

This course will explore the lived experience of the city of Rome in the twelfth-sixteenth centuries. Students will study buildings, urban forms, surviving artifacts, and textual and other visual evidence to understand how politics, power, and religion (both Christianity and Judaism) mapped onto city spaces. How did urban challenges and opportunities shape daily life? How did the memory of the past influence the present? How did the rural world affect the city and vice versa? Students will work on projects closely tied to the urban fabric.

Prerequisite: Enrollment in OCS program

OCS Rome Program

David Tompkins

Diane Nemec Ignashev

Prerequisite: Acceptance in Russian OCS Program

Participation in Carleton OCS Language & Culture in Russia program

Anna Dotlibova

Prerequisite: At least 6 credits at the level of Russian 330 or higher or instructor permission