Comparative Literature

3 semester credits. Bibliotherapy is a systematic method that utilizes literature and other narrative forms to transform traditional reading into a strategy to cope with a variety of psychological conditions. The activity of reading as a healing practice comes from a longstanding tradition: bibliotherapy dates back to ancient Greece, when libraries were seen as sacred places with healing powers. Particular attention will be given to the history of using literature for healing purposes, starting from the first historical references to the present day. This course will focus on developing a deep understanding of the therapeutic functions of books for psychological issues such as depression, eating disorders, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and emotional and social development in adolescence. Coursework will examine the spectrum of bibliotherapeutic techniques and will enable students to experience bibliotherapy in action.

3 semester credits. Bibliotherapy is a systematic method that utilizes literature and other narrative forms to transform traditional reading into a strategy to cope with a variety of psychological conditions. The activity of reading as a healing practice comes from a longstanding tradition: bibliotherapy dates back to ancient Greece, when libraries were seen as sacred places with healing powers. Particular attention will be given to the history of using literature for healing purposes, starting from the first historical references to the present day. This course will focus on developing a deep understanding of the therapeutic functions of books for psychological issues such as depression, eating disorders, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and emotional and social development in adolescence. Coursework will examine the spectrum of bibliotherapeutic techniques and will enable students to experience bibliotherapy in action. This course includes experiential learning hours with our Community Engagement Member Institutions (CEMI). CEMI are dynamic learning environments created to foster learning through a structured interaction with the community. In addition to regular lecture hours, students will be involved in learning by doing through real projects and integration with the local population and territory in order to remove cultural and learning barriers as well as to develop a strong likelihood for success in life. The experiential learning hours are fully supervised by instructors who track students step by step during their learning experience, monitor and advise according to student needs, and support student initiative. This unique learning model allows students to benefit from an all-encompassing educational experience based on theory and practice in real enterprises, learning of comprehensive operational processes, problem-solving, leadership, and management.

3 semester credits. This course focuses on the literary panorama of Florence, creating significant connections with the fields of linguistics, history, and socio-politics. Students will gain knowledge about the origins of the Italian language, they will learn about war literature and poetry, discover the key venues wherein literature flourished, explore the works of the locals, and also that of illustrious foreign authors who studied and wrote in Florence, and ultimately uncover the new literature developing in the city. The course is held outside, since Florence is the very setting of its academic content. Therefore, students will gain awareness of the significance of walking in the city so as to develop a new gaze that allows them to travel through various epochs and literary movements. This way, students will undertake an insightful journey through language, history, and narratives.

3 semester credits. Since antiquity, travel has been one of the most fascinating experiences in the lives of individuals or groups of people, and Italy has emerged as one of the most desired destinations amongst international travelers. The term "Grand Tour" was used for the first time in 1670 by the British priest Richard Lassels and it specifically refers to the traveling experiences of European nobility and upperclass individuals in Italy and France during the 17th and 18th centuries. Especially in the second part of the eighteenth century, the Grand Tour became an essential ingredient in a young gentleman's life and general education. "A man who has not been in Italy is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see," said the critic Samuel Johnson, expressing a view widely shared by his contemporaries. This course will analyze the literature generated by the Grand Tour experience in Italy and its continuation and development in the 20th century. The main focus of the course will be the textual analysis of the essays, letters, and diaries written by some of the most famous authors who resided and traveled in Italy. The selection will include writings by Byron, Shelley, Goethe, Stendhal, Dickens, Mark Twain, Mary McCarthy, Kate Simon, and Christopher Woodward.

3 semester credits. The course considers literature and European identity, focusing on post-war mutations in traditional fictional themes and techniques as a consequence of world-historical events, the new metropolis-bound life-style, new ideologies, and the reconstruction of the self. The selected literature covers the period from the Colonial Empires to Fascism, Nazism, and the Second World War, and events such as the impact of 9/11 on European lifestyle and mentality. Literary sources will refer to countries such as England, Italy, Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia.

3 semester credits. This course explores the theme of migration in contemporary postcolonial literature. The focus will be on both fictional and non-fictional modes of transcribing the experience of dislocation. A special emphasis will be placed on the role played by literary tradition in the writer's shaping of personal identity; the first lessons will provide students with the basic theoretical tools to help them discuss a literary text (especially autobiographical writings). Experimentation of form as well as significant innovations in content will be covered with in detail. Students will also be introduced to the basic historical events and changes of such countries as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Algeria in order to better understand past and contemporary interactions between the ex-colonies of ex-colonial powers such as Britain and France. Readings will include works by J.M. Coetzee, Michael Ondaatje, Hanif Kureishi, Jhumpa Lahiri, Azouz Begag, Salman Rushdie, and Edward W. Said.

3 semester credits. This course will explore love and romantic relationships through the words of notable individuals from the past. The letters written by great men and women - poets, novelists, musicians, philosophers, politicians, kings and queens - to their loved ones will provide an opportunity for students to examine the evolution of romantic relationships from the ancient Roman times to modern days, with a special focus dedicated to the 18th and 19th century. Through reading, analyzing, and discussing love letters and other background materials, students will explore the ties between the experience of love and its expression through the means of writing as a characteristic trait of human interaction, from an historical, social, cross-cultural, and literary point of view.