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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
An introduction to narrative film, emphasizing the unique properties of the movie house and the motion picture camera, the historical evolution of the film medium, and the intrinsic artistic qualities of individual films. Syllabus changes from term to term, but usually includes such directors as Griffith, Chaplin, Renoir, Ford, Hitchcock, De Sica, and Fellini.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None
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3.00 Credits
Examines forms of storytelling that have developed in Western cultures from Homer to the present. Emphasis on literary and cultural issues; the emergence of different narrative genres and media; story forms as anthropological artifacts. Syllabus varies but usually includes folk tales, and authors such as Homer, Sophocles, Cervantes, Laclos or Tolstoy, Poe, and at least one film.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None
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3.00 Credits
Explores the relationship between music and the supernatural, focusing on the social history and context of supernatural beliefs as reflected in key literary and musical works from 1600 to the present. Provides a better understanding of the place of ambiguity and the role of interpretation in culture, science and art. Explores great works of art by Shakespeare, Verdi, Goethe (in translation), Gounod, Henry James and Benjamin Britten. Readings will also include selections from the most recent scholarship on magic and the supernatural. Writing assignments will range from web-based projects to analytic essays. No previous experience in music is necessary. Projected guest lectures, musical performances, field trips.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None
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3.00 Credits
Interdisciplinary and comparative investigation of the Roman empire of Augustus, the Frankish empire of Charlemagne, and the English empire in the age of the Hundred Years' War. Focuses on how large, multi-ethnic empires were created, sustained, legitimated, and contested through conquest, government, literature, art, and economic organization. Students examine several different types of evidence, read across a variety of disciplines, and develop skills to identify continuities and changes in ancient and medieval societies.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None
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3.00 Credits
Explores the creation (and creativity) of the modern scientific and cultural world through study of western Europe in the 17th century, the age of Descartes and Newton, Shakespeare, Milton and Ford. Compares period thinking to present-day debates about the scientific method, art, religion, and society. This team-taught, interdisciplinary subject draws on a wide range of literary, dramatic, historical, and scientific texts and images, and involves theatrical experimentation as well as reading, writing, researching and conversing.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None
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3.00 Credits
Examines literary texts and films in relation to the history of the idea of probability. Traces the growing importance of probability both as a measure of the reliability of ideas or beliefs and also as a basic property of things and the world. Connects the development and use of probabilistic reasoning (e.g., in the lottery, the insurance industry, and the stock market) with literary and cultural concerns regarding the rationality of belief, risk and uncertainty, free will and determinism, chance and fate. Discussion of the work of scientific and philosophical pioneers of probabilistic thought (e.g., Pascal, Leibniz, Bernoulli, Laplace, and Einstein) in conjunction with a variety of literary texts and films, including works of Shakespeare, Jane Austen, H. G. Wells, and classic Hollywood cinema.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None
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3.00 Credits
Examines the cultural paradoxes of contemporary globalization. Studies the cultural, linguistic, social and political impact of globalization across international borders and on specific language communities. Students analyze contending definitions of globalization and principal agents of change, and why some of them engender backlash; learn to distinguish what is considered new, hybrid, and traditional; identify the agents, costs and benefits of global networks; and explore how world citizens preserve cultural specificity. Students also develop cultural literacy through study of second language and culture, research, development of virtual materials, and interactions with MIT's international students. Students cannot receive credit without simultaneous completion of a 9-unit language subject. Preference to freshmen.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None. Coreq: 21F.171-175, 21F.181-185, 21F.371-374, 21F.471-474, 21F.571-576, 21F.771-774, or 21F.792
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3.00 Credits
Explores a range of topics related to Asian American identity and cultural politics through discussion of literature (fiction and nonfiction). Topics include immigration, assimilation, cultural or biracial identity, affirmative action, Asian Americans in the workplace, and interracial dating and marriage. Examines cultural debates surrounding various identity labels, including "Banana," "AZN," and "FOB." Taught in English.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None
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3.00 Credits
Introduction to some of the major genres of traditional Chinese poetry, fiction, and drama. Intended to give students a basic understanding of the central features of traditional Chinese literary genres, as well as to introduce students to the classic works of the Chinese literary tradition. Works read include Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Margin, Dream of the Red Chamber, and the poetry of the major Tang dynasty poets. Literature read in translation. Taught in English.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: None
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3.00 Credits
Examines English literature across genre and historical period. Designed for students who wish to study English literature or writing in some depth, or wish to know more about English literary culture and history. Learn about the relationships between literary themes, forms, and conventions and the times in which they were produced. Students examine Renaissance lyrics, Enlightenment satire, and modernist short stories. Focused on England because of its historical importance and its usefulness as an example for illustrating patterns over the centuries. Students form a framework for understanding how more focused subjects fit into literary studies, and what terms, concerns, and methods provide connections among the diverse subjects grouped under "literature." Meets with 21L.420 when offered concurrently. Students taking the 12-unit version complete additional assignments.
Prerequisite:
Prereq: One subject in Literature
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