literature

Literature is one of the pillars of a liberal education. By reading the imaginative prose and verse of authors from across the globe and through the centuries, we encounter humanity at its kindest and cruelest, in its hopes and fears, suffering and sublimity.

You can study literature in combination with the arts, sciences, and social sciences, as well as in humanities-intensive programs and courses. Cultural studies and study-abroad opportunities typically feature a substantial literature component.

How to Create Your Path

You’ll choose what you study to earn a Bachelor’s degree that’s meaningful to you. Some students decide their programs as they go, while others chart their course in advance.

Aim for both breadth and depth; explore fields that may be related or that may seem very distant. You'll be surprised at what you discover.

If you're new to college, look for programs where you can gain a foundation, build key skills, and broaden your knowledge (FR only, FR-SO, or FR-SR).

If you already have a foundation in this field, look for programs with intermediate or advanced material (SO-SR, JR-SR, or FR-SR). These programs may include community-based learning and in-depth research. Some of these programs have specific prerequisites; check the description for details.

Talk to an academic advisor to get help figuring out what coursework is best for you.

Planned offerings for 2018–19
Class Standing Quarters Offered Credits
Cities and Suburbs: Advocacy and Writing for Social and Ecological Justice SO-SR
  • Fall
 8, 12
Combinatory Play: Creative Writing, Mathematics, and Improv FR-SO
  • Winter
  • Spring
 12, 16
Common Ground: Politics, Faith, and Community FR-SO
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Dangerous Readings FR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Epic Journeys: From Homer to Dante SO-SR
  • Spring
 16
Existential Thought in Philosophy, Literature, and Arts SO-SR
  • Winter
 8, 12, 16
Experiments in Text FR-SR
  • Fall
 4
Flight of the Firebird: What Ignites Russia's Imagination in Literature and Culture SO-SR
  • Fall
 16
Future History: Indigenous Speculative Fiction FR-SR
  • Fall
 4
Gateways for Incarcerated Youth: Critical Literacy and Critical Numeracy SO-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Genes and Poems: Creating Form and Meaning FR-SO
  • Spring
 16
Global/Local Realities and Alternative Visions JR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Inscribing the Body: Embodiment and the Performance of Identity in Creative Writing FR-SR
  • Winter
 4
Languages of Unsaying: Islam, Secularism, and American Poetry JR-SR
  • Spring
 16
Literary Arts Foundations SO-SR
  • Fall
 16
Literature, Literacy, and Disability SO-SR
  • Winter
 16
Nietzsche: The Wanderer and His Shadow JR-SR
  • Fall
 12, 16
On Reading Well FR-SR
  • Fall
 4
Shifting the Margins: Revolutionary Writing in Times of Crisis FR-SR
  • Spring
 4
Student-Originated Studies: Literature, Philosophy, Myth/Religion and Writing SO-SR
  • Spring
 16
Teachings of the Tree People: Culture Matters FR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
The Age of Irony: U.S. History in the 20th Century FR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 12
The Spanish-Speaking World: Cultural Crossings SO-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Theme and Variations in Music and Biology FR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Undergraduate Research in the Humanities JR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 0
Unmasking the Material World: Discovering Objects as Stories FR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Utopian Dreams, Dystopian Nightmares SO-SR
  • Winter
 8
Writing the South FR-SR
  • Spring
 16
Planned offerings for 2019–20
Class Standing Quarters Offered Credits
Arts of Urgency: Latin American Film and Literature FR-SO
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Epic Journeys: From Homer to Dante SO-SR
  • Spring
 16
Gateways for Incarcerated Youth JR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Highway 101 Revisited: History, Literature, Music, and Ecology JR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Illustrations of Character: Faith, Reason, and Ethics FR-SO
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Indigenous People and the Pacific World SO-SR
  • Spring
 16
Introduction to Interdisciplinary Inquiry: Experience and Experiment FR
  • Fall
 16
Ireland in History and Memory JR-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
 16
Literary Arts Foundations: Texts and Contexts SO-SR
  • Winter
  • Spring
 12, 16
Madness and Creativity: The Psychological Link FR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
Political Economy and Social Movements SO-SR
  • Fall
  • Winter
 16
The Feminine Imaginary and Ancient Greece: Sappho, Medea, and Cassandra SO-SR
  • Spring
 16