Literature in Translation Courses – Spring 2027
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: MWF 11:00 – 11:50 am
Instructor: Andrew Reynolds
(4 credits)
- Lecture 001: MWF 11:00 – 11:50 am
- Discussion 301: R 9:55 – 10:45 am
- Discussion 302: R 11:00 – 11:50 am
- Discussion 303: R 12:05 – 12:55 pm
- Discussion 304: R 1:20 – 2:10 pm
Instructor: Andrew Reynolds
Course Description: Examines Russian prose fiction, Anton Chekhov to the end of the 20th century. More writing intensive than LITTRANS 202.
Prerequisites: Not open to students with credit for LITTRANS 202
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 4:00 – 5:15 pm
Instructor: David Danaher
Course Description: Course Description: In the United States, science fiction (SF) is typically thought of as a quintessentially American (or American-British) genre. This course explores the rich tradition of Slavic contributions to SF. We will survey major writers and their works in the Czech, Polish, and Russian contexts, most of which are little known in the US but are nonetheless, as we will see, fundamental to the genre. We will read these works as both anchored in their particular cultural-historical circumstances and also for their contribution to the development of SF as a world genre. In this regard, SF is perhaps the dominant contemporary genre for sociocultural commentary and critique aimed at reimagining the world in which we live, and Slavic SF texts have played a defining role in establishing SF as such. Since the rise of film coincides with the rise of modern SF and since the intertextual dimension in SF literature is particularly strong, we will also compare and contrast the literary works with, where available, their film adaptations.
Prerequisites: None
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: MWF 11:00 – 11:50 am
Instructor: Jennifer Tishler
(Meets with LITTRANS 266/SLAVIC 266)
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: MW 2:30 pm – 3:45 pm
Instructor: Oksana Stoychuk
Course Description: Since the early 1990s, there has been an explosion of women’s writing in Central and Eastern Europe greater than in any other cultural period. This is due to the fact that women in this region have experienced more cataclysmic transformations than most of their contemporaries in Western Europe. This course focuses on the question of how women writers have responded to the collapse of communism, searching in their work for new forms of posttotalitarian identities – national, cultural or sexual, creating the new empowered female voices. We will read a number of contemporary Central and Eastern European women writers and trace narrative manifestations of the women’s struggle against different forms of authority: political regimes, religion, cultural hegemony, and patriarchy. In addition to works of fiction, we will read articles, interviews, and other secondary sources to achieve a general understanding of contemporary politics, cultural conflict, and gender roles in Central and Eastern Europe.
Prerequisites: Open for everyone. No knowledge of the German language is required for this class.
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 11:00 – 12:15 pm
Instructor: Kirill Ospovat
(3 credits)
- Lecture 002: TR 2:30 – 3:45 pm
Instructor: Kirill Ospovat
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 2:30 – 3:45 pm
Instructor: Mark Louden
Course Description: When people think of Mennonites and Amish, images of soberly clad rural folk who drive horse-drawn buggies often come to mind. In fact, the Anabaptist world is profoundly diverse, including people who do not dress distinctively or set limits on technology. In this course, we will explore the diversity among Mennonites and Amish through the lens of literary works written by, and to a lesser extent, about them. We will read and discuss a range of contemporary and historical prose and poetic works by Canadian and US American Mennonite and Amish writers, including Julia Spicher Kasdorf, David Klein, Miriam Toews, and Rudy Wiebe, among others. We will also read one novel by a contemporary Swiss writer, Katharina Zimmermann, “Furgge,” which is set in 18th-century Switzerland.
Prerequisites: This course is open to students who have satistfied the Communications A requirement.
(3 credits)
- Lecture 002: TR 2:30 – 3:45 pm
Instructor: Sabine Mödersheim
Course Description: “Climate Fiction “ is an emerging genre of literature, graphic novels, and film exploring the consequences of climate change in the age of the “Anthropocene”, the epoch in which human impacts on the planet’s ecological systems reach a dangerous tipping point. The aim of this course is to discuss the human experience of climate change on a global scale through analyses of works by German authors such as Lutz Seiler, Yoko Tawada, Ilija Trojanow, Christa Wolf as well as writers from around the world, including Margaret Atwood, Octavia E. Butler, Amitav Ghosh, and others. We will explore dystopian, and apocalyptic stories but also works that imagine a more just future of resilience and social equality.
All materials will be in English translations or with English subtitles. Lectures and discussions will be in English. Prior knowledge of German is welcome but not required.
Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement
(Level: Intermediate. Breadth: Literature. L&S credit type: Counts as LAS credit (L&S). Cross listed: GERMAN 276, LITTRANS 276)
(3 credits)
- Lecture 003: MW 4:00 – 5:15 pm
Instructor: Oksana Stoychuk
Course Description: Exploration of diverse world literary traditions with an emphasis on German and German speaking cultures.
Prerequisites: Satisfied Communications A requirement
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
Instructor: Sunny Yudkoff
Course Description: American literature has never been written in one language. While English has become dominant in the United States, there has been a long tradition of American literary and cultural production in other languages. This class focuses on the Jewish immigrant experience in Yiddish—a fusion language that brings together German, Hebrew, English, Russian, Latin, and more. We will follow Yiddish culture from the beginning of the twentieth century until today as it has been alternatingly supported, neglected, and imbued with nostalgia. The questions driving our inquiry will be: What does it mean to translate America into Yiddish and what does it mean to translate Yiddish for America? Major terms to be discussed include: cultural translation, ethnicity, migration, “Melting Pot,” multilingualism, and assimilation. Themes include: Jewish-Christian difference, ethnic American humor, race and Jewish culture.
Prerequisites: None
(This course counts as a cognate course for the German major. This course fulfills the General Education requirement in Ethnic Studies.)
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 9:30 – 10:45 am
Instructor: Ida Moen Johnson
Course Description: In Henrik Ibsen’s famous play, The Wild Duck (1884), the animal is often understood as a symbol for the drama’s damaged characters. But is the duck just a metaphor, or is the duck a duck, too? As for the humans in the story: are they people, animals, or both? In this course, we will study Nordic texts that center the animal, from ugly ducklings and charismatic reindeer to Moomintrolls and hobbyhorses. We will also learn from the fields of animal studies and posthumanism, whose lessons are critical at a time when human-made climate change threatens all forms of life on Earth. Through fiction, film, and theory, this course tackles questions such as: Can art created by humans ever be “true to the animal?” How might literature and film help us challenge humanist hierarchies? And, what can Nordic texts teach us about the possibilities and limits of being an animal—including the human kind?
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
(Counts as LAS credit (L&S))
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm
Instructor: Jolanda Taylor
(3 credits)
- Lecture 002: TR 4:00 – 5:15 pm
Instructor: Jolanda Taylor
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: MW 4:35 – 5:25 pm
- Discussion 301: W 3:30 – 4:20 pm
- Discussion 302: W 2:25 – 3:15 pm
- Discussion 303: W 5:40 – 6:30 pm
- Discussion 304: R 1:20 – 2:10 pm
- Discussion 305: R 12:05 – 12:55 pm
- Discussion 306: R 3:30 – 4:20 pm
- Discussion 307: F 11:00 – 11:50 am
- Discussion 308: F 12:05 – 12:55 pm
- Discussion 309: F 1:20 – 2:10 pm
Instructor: Benjamin Mier-Cruz
Course Description: Explores the development of the vampire legend in folklore, rumor, literature, cinema, television, and popular culture and in relation to topics such as colonization, race, gender, sexuality, and class.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: MW 4:00 – 5:15 pm
Instructor: Jordan Rosenblum
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
Instructor: Dean Krouk
Course Description: Often considered “the father of modern drama,” the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is a major figure of world literature whose dramatic works remain fascinating and globally influential, both as texts and through performance and adaptation. Students read and discuss Ibsen in English translation, with a focus on Ibsen’s historical contexts, dramatic techniques, social and political thought, and the reception and adaptation of his work in modern culture.
Prerequisites: None
Cross-Listed with Scand 422 / LitTrans 335 / Theatre 335.
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 1:00 – 2:15 pm
Instructor: Łukasz Wodzyński
(3 credits)
- Lecture 001: TR 2:30 – 3:45 pm
Instructor: Liina-Ly Roos
Course Description: The Nordic countries are known for being some of the most egalitarian and sexually open countries in the world. In this course we will explore how they have achieved this reputation, focusing on a variety of sources since the Moral Debates of the 1880s. We will discuss literary works, films, art, television, and critical articles to explore the ways in which Nordic societies and cultures perceive and understand gender and sexuality. We will also complicate some of myths regarding sexuality in the Nordic countries and explore how gender and sexuality are intersected with race, ethnicity, social class, and the rhetoric of the welfare state.
Prerequisites: Sophomore status or higher.