Courses

Column one has the course number and section. Other columns show the course title, days offered, instructor's name, room number, if the course is cross-referenced with another program, and a option to view additional course information in a pop-up window.

Philosophy of Narrative
AS.300.230 (21)

Do literary characters exist? Can we learn from fictional narratives? How does narrative time shape the experience of the reader or the spectator? This course will explore the philosophical issues raised by literary and cinematic narratives. Narrative art not only engages our reason, but also our emotions and imagination, allowing us to deepen our understanding and transform ourselves. We will address a wide range of questions about the nature of storytelling, fictional characters and human existence, literary and cinematic experience, narrative time and memory. Readings include a diverse selection of ancient and modern, literary and theoretical texts, including selections from Plato and Aristotle, the Odyssey, the Hebrew Bible, as well as modern and contemporary works by the Brothers Grimm, Heinrich von Kleist, Marcel Proust, Maggie Nelson, Ken Liu, Alfred Hitchcock and Chantal Akerman. All readings will be in translation.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 1:00PM - 4:45PM
  • Instructor: Sirin, Hale
  • Room:  
  • Status: Canceled
  • Seats Available: 12/12
  • PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL

What Is Work?
AS.300.238 (85)

What is the meaning of work? Why do we value some types of work more than others? Does working make you a good person? What would we do if we didn’t have to work? Since Plato, philosophers, theologians, entrepreneurs, and artists have provided us with different answers to these questions. In this course we will closely analyze a wide range of materials, including philosophy, film, literature, and social theory.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times:
  • Instructor: Wells, Madeline
  • Room:  
  • Status: Canceled
  • Seats Available: 20/20
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Course # (Section) Title Day/Times Instructor Room PosTag(s) Info
AS.300.230 (21)Philosophy of NarrativeTTh 1:00PM - 4:45PMSirin, Hale GRLL-ENGL
AS.300.238 (85)What Is Work?Wells, Madeline 

Column one has the course number and section. Other columns show the course title, days offered, instructor's name, room number, if the course is cross-referenced with another program, and a option to view additional course information in a pop-up window.

Representing the Holocaust
AS.211.333 (01)

How has the Holocaust been represented in literature and film? Are there special challenges posed by genocide to the traditions of visual and literary representation? Where does the Holocaust fit in to the array of concerns that the visual arts and literature express? And where do art and literature fit in to the commemoration of communal tragedy and the working through of individual trauma entailed by thinking about and representing the Holocaust? These questions will guide our consideration of a range of texts — nonfiction, novels, poetry — in Yiddish, German, English, French and other languages (including works by Primo Levi and Isaac Bashevis Singer), as well as films from French documentaries to Hollywood blockbusters (including films by Alain Resnais, Claude Lanzmann, and Steven Spielberg). All readings in English.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Spinner, Samuel Jacob
  • Room: Krieger 306
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 4/15
  • PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL, GRLL-ENGL

Transwar Japanese and Japanophone Literatures
AS.300.341 (01)

A survey of Japanese and Japanese- language literatures produced in Japan and its (former)colonies during the “transwar” period, or the several years before and after the end of WWII. This periodization enables us to take into account the shifting boundaries, sovereignties, and identities amid the intensification of Japanese imperialism and in the aftermath of its eventual demise. We aim to pay particular attention to voices marginalized in this political watershed, such as those of Japanese-language writers from colonial Korea and Taiwan, intra-imperial migrants, and radical critics of Japan’s “postwar” regime. Underlying our investigation is the question of whether literature can be an agent of justice when politics fails to deliver it. We will introduce secondary readings by Adorno, Arendt, Levinas, Derrida, and Scarry, among others, to help us interrogate this question. All readings are in English.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: F 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Hashimoto, Satoru
  • Room: Gilman 381
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 3/15
  • PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL

Simone de Beauvoir
AS.150.400 (01)

Seminar on Beauvoir’s moral philosophy, covering the major works of the 1940s. Readings will include selections from The Blood of Others, Pyrrhus and Cineas, All Men are Mortal, The Ethics of Ambiguity, and The Second Sex. Open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates. (Beginning undergraduates should contact Professor Kosch.) No prerequisites.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: W 4:00PM - 6:30PM
  • Instructor: Staff
  • Room: Gilman 288
  • Status: Approval Required
  • Seats Available: 6/15
  • PosTag(s): PHIL-ETHICS, GRLL-ENGL

Existentialism in Literature and Philosophy
AS.213.374 (01)

This course explores the themes of existentialism, including the meaning of existence, the nature of the self, authenticity and inauthenticity, the inescapability of death, the experience of time, anxiety, freedom and responsibility to others, in literary and philosophical works. It will be examined why these philosophical ideas often seem to demand literary expression, or bear a close relation to literary works. Readings may include writings by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Heidegger, Rilke, Kafka, Simmel, Jaspers, Buber, Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Camus.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: T 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Gosetti, Jennifer Anna
  • Room: Shaffer 100
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/15
  • PosTag(s): GRLL-ENGL

Imagining Social Change in TV Series
AS.300.310 (01)

How can the imagined worlds of television help us critically reflect on the social and political realities of modern life? This class will look at TV series that offer different ways for their viewers to consider the question: What are the possibilities and limits for social change in the twenty-first century? Each week, selections from a TV series will be paired with a reading from philosophy, literary theory, media studies, political science, theology, or another related field that responds to similar themes and concerns. Our seminar will be discussion-based, and the TV series we watch will be determined by the interests of those in the class, but may include: Atlanta, Euphoria, The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror, House of Flowers, Dear White People, The Good Place, and BoJack Horseman.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
  • Instructor: Mccreary, Michael D
  • Room: Gilman 119
  • Status: Waitlist Only
  • Seats Available: 0/18
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Introduction to Intellectual History
AS.300.311 (01)

This course offers a conceptual and historical introduction to Intellectual History. What makes the “history of ideas” different from the history of other objects? What, if anything, distinguishes the history of ideas from the history of philosophy? What is it exactly that we call “ideas”? In what sense do they have a history? These are examples of the kind of questions addressed in the course.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
  • Instructor: Marrati, Paola
  • Room: Gilman 208
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 19/25
  • PosTag(s): INST-PT

The Russian Novel
AS.300.317 (01)

This course introduces students to the nineteenth century Russian novel and considers its lasting impact on world culture. We will read classic masterpieces of the psychological and philosophical novel, and their experimental forerunners. Short lectures on historical and cultural context and on methods of literary analysis will be combined with intensive group discussion. Novels include Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, Eugene Onegin, Dead Souls, and Hero of our Time.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Eakin Moss, Anne
  • Room: Gilman 208
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 11/15
  • PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL

Shakespeare and Ibsen
AS.300.323 (01)

William Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen are the two most frequently performed playwrights in history, and both have been credited with reinventing drama: Shakespeare for the Elizabethan stage and Ibsen for the modern. In this course we will pair together plays by each author – those that stand in an explicit relation of influence as well as those that share a significant set of concerns – in order to investigate how each takes up and transform key problems in the literary, political, and philosophical tradition for their own historical moment. Plays to be studied: by Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, The Tempest, A Winter’s Tale; by Ibsen, St. John’s Night, Hedda Gabler, Rosmersholm, The Wild Duck, The Master Builder, When We Dead Awaken.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
  • Instructor: Lisi, Leonardo
  • Room: Gilman 208
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 4/15
  • PosTag(s): n/a

The Tragic Tradition
AS.300.337 (01)

This course offers a broad survey of tragic drama in the Western tradition, from its origins in ancient Greece to the twentieth century. In weekly lectures and discussion sections, we will study the specific literary features and historical contexts of a range of different works, and trace the continuities and transformations that shape them into a unified tradition. Key questions and themes throughout the semester will include what counts as tragic, the tragedy of social and political conflict, the bearing of tragedy on the meaning and value of life, the antagonistic relation between world and humans, the promises and dangers of tragedy for contemporary culture. Authors to be studied: Sophocles, Euripides, Seneca, Shakespeare, Racine, Goethe, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekov, Brecht, Pirandello, and Beckett.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
  • Instructor: Lisi, Leonardo
  • Room: Gilman 413
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 8/15
  • PosTag(s): n/a

The Cinema of Revolution
AS.300.343 (01)

This course examines global political revolutions through cinema and the ways in which cinema helped to make political revolutions. Early cinema was intimately intertwined with the Russian revolution, and Russian revolutionary cinema had a profound impact on the ways in which media was used for revolutionary purposes through the 20th century and around the world. Students will be introduced to films from a number of different countries, and the history and context of their production and reception. They will also learn methods of film analysis and produce their own video essay.

  • Credits: 1.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: T 3:00PM - 5:30PM
  • Instructor: Eakin Moss, Anne
  • Room: Gilman 208
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 14/15
  • PosTag(s): INST-GLOBAL

Freshman Seminar: Great Books at Hopkins
AS.360.133 (01)

Students attend lectures by an interdepartmental group of Hopkins faculty and meet for discussion in smaller seminar groups; each of these seminars is led by one of the course faculty. In lectures, panels, multimedia presentations, and curatorial sessions among the University's rare book holdings, we will explore some of the greatest works of the literary and philosophical traditions in Europe and the Americas. Close reading and intensive writing instruction are hallmarks of this course; authors for Fall 2020 include Homer, Dante, Milton, Mary Shelley, Frederick Douglass, and Virginia Woolf.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
  • Instructor: Patton, Elizabeth
  • Room: Levering Arellano
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 15/15
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Cinema and Philosophy
AS.300.399 (01)

Do movies have anything to say about philosophical problems? Why is contemporary philosophy so interested in cinema? What are the most productive ways of bringing films and philosophy into conversation?

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
  • Instructor: Marrati, Paola
  • Room: Hodson 305
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 20/25
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Freshman Seminar: Great Books at Hopkins
AS.360.133 (04)

Students attend lectures by an interdepartmental group of Hopkins faculty and meet for discussion in smaller seminar groups; each of these seminars is led by one of the course faculty. In lectures, panels, multimedia presentations, and curatorial sessions among the University's rare book holdings, we will explore some of the greatest works of the literary and philosophical traditions in Europe and the Americas. Close reading and intensive writing instruction are hallmarks of this course; authors for Fall 2020 include Homer, Dante, Milton, Mary Shelley, Frederick Douglass, and Virginia Woolf.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
  • Instructor: Patton, Elizabeth, Reese, Matthew
  • Room: Levering Arellano
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 15/15
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Black and White: Digital Darkroom
AS.371.162 (01)

In this digital course, students explore the black-and-white aesthetic. They develop camera skills on numerous field trips and local walks. Students meet frequently for critiques and discussions based on historic and contemporary imagery. Techniques such as high dynamic range, and infrared are covered. Emphasis is on composition and developing a photographic style with shooting and post processing. Students are encouraged to make work that is meaningful to them and which communicates its intent to their audience. Camera experience is a plus, but not a prerequisite. Digital SLRs are available on loan for the semester. Attendance in first class is mandatory. Approval in this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: F 10:00AM - 12:50PM
  • Instructor: Berger, Phyllis A
  • Room: Mattin Center 204
  • Status: Reserved Open
  • Seats Available: 3/10
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Introduction to Digital Photography
AS.371.152 (02)

Students learn to use their digital cameras through a variety of documentary, landscape and portrait projects, which will help them develop technical and creative skills. Critiques and slide lectures of historic photographs, which range from postmortem daguerreotypes to postmodern digital imagery, help students develop a personal vision. Students are provided digital SLR cameras and gain proficiency with one-on-one instruction in the field. Basics for print adjustment and output will be covered. Attendance at first class is mandatory. Approval for this course will be considered after enrollment on SIS.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: Th 2:00PM - 4:50PM
  • Instructor: Berger, Phyllis A
  • Room: Mattin Center 204
  • Status: Reserved Open
  • Seats Available: 4/10
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Freshman Seminar: Great Books at Hopkins
AS.360.133 (02)

Students attend lectures by an interdepartmental group of Hopkins faculty and meet for discussion in smaller seminar groups; each of these seminars is led by one of the course faculty. In lectures, panels, multimedia presentations, and curatorial sessions among the University's rare book holdings, we will explore some of the greatest works of the literary and philosophical traditions in Europe and the Americas. Close reading and intensive writing instruction are hallmarks of this course; authors for Fall 2020 include Homer, Dante, Milton, Mary Shelley, Frederick Douglass, and Virginia Woolf.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
  • Instructor: Bett, Richard, Patton, Elizabeth
  • Room: Levering Arellano
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 15/15
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Freshman Seminar: Great Books at Hopkins
AS.360.133 (03)

Students attend lectures by an interdepartmental group of Hopkins faculty and meet for discussion in smaller seminar groups; each of these seminars is led by one of the course faculty. In lectures, panels, multimedia presentations, and curatorial sessions among the University's rare book holdings, we will explore some of the greatest works of the literary and philosophical traditions in Europe and the Americas. Close reading and intensive writing instruction are hallmarks of this course; authors for Fall 2020 include Homer, Dante, Milton, Mary Shelley, Frederick Douglass, and Virginia Woolf.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
  • Instructor: Patton, Elizabeth, Spinner, Samuel Jacob
  • Room: Levering Arellano
  • Status: Open
  • Seats Available: 15/15
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Introduction to Digital Photography
AS.371.152 (01)

Students learn to use their digital cameras through a variety of documentary, landscape and portrait projects, which will help them develop technical and creative skills. Critiques and slide lectures of historic photographs, which range from postmortem daguerreotypes to postmodern digital imagery, help students develop a personal vision. Students are provided digital SLR cameras and gain proficiency with one-on-one instruction in the field. Basics for print adjustment and output will be covered. Attendance at first class is mandatory. Approval for this course will be considered after enrollment on SIS.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: Th 10:00AM - 12:50PM
  • Instructor: Berger, Phyllis A
  • Room: Mattin Center 204
  • Status: Reserved Open
  • Seats Available: 1/10
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Documentary Photography
AS.371.303 (01)

In this course, we will explore different genres of documentary photography including: the fine art document, photojournalism, social documentary photography, the photo essay and photography of propaganda. Field trips offer opportunities to explore Baltimore neighborhoods such as Waverly, Greenmount Avenue, and Baltimore’s old Chinatown. Students will work on a semester-long photo-documentary project on a subject of their choice. Camera experience is a plus, but not a prerequisite. Digital SLRs are available on loan for the semester. Attendance at first class is mandatory. Approval in this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Upper Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: M 2:00PM - 4:50PM
  • Instructor: Staff
  • Room: Mattin Center 204
  • Status: Reserved Open
  • Seats Available: 2/10
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Black and White: Digital Darkroom
AS.371.162 (02)

In this digital course, students explore the black-and-white aesthetic. They develop camera skills on numerous field trips and local walks. Students meet frequently for critiques and discussions based on historic and contemporary imagery. Techniques such as high dynamic range, and infrared are covered. Emphasis is on composition and developing a photographic style with shooting and post processing. Students are encouraged to make work that is meaningful to them and which communicates its intent to their audience. Camera experience is a plus, but not a prerequisite. Digital SLRs are available on loan for the semester. Attendance in first class is mandatory. Approval in this course will be considered after enrollment in SIS.

  • Credits: 3.00
  • Level: Lower Level Undergraduate
  • Days/Times: F 2:00PM - 4:50PM
  • Instructor: Berger, Phyllis A
  • Room: Mattin Center 204
  • Status: Reserved Open
  • Seats Available: 2/10
  • PosTag(s): n/a

Course # (Section) Title Day/Times Instructor Room PosTag(s) Info
AS.211.333 (01)Representing the HolocaustW 1:30PM - 4:00PMSpinner, Samuel JacobKrieger 306INST-GLOBAL, GRLL-ENGL
AS.300.341 (01)Transwar Japanese and Japanophone LiteraturesF 1:30PM - 4:00PMHashimoto, SatoruGilman 381INST-GLOBAL
AS.150.400 (01)Simone de BeauvoirW 4:00PM - 6:30PMStaffGilman 288PHIL-ETHICS, GRLL-ENGL
AS.213.374 (01)Existentialism in Literature and PhilosophyT 1:30PM - 4:00PMGosetti, Jennifer AnnaShaffer 100GRLL-ENGL
AS.300.310 (01)Imagining Social Change in TV SeriesTTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMMccreary, Michael DGilman 119
AS.300.311 (01)Introduction to Intellectual HistoryTTh 12:00PM - 1:15PMMarrati, PaolaGilman 208INST-PT
AS.300.317 (01)The Russian NovelW 1:30PM - 4:00PMEakin Moss, AnneGilman 208INST-GLOBAL
AS.300.323 (01)Shakespeare and IbsenTh 1:30PM - 4:00PMLisi, LeonardoGilman 208
AS.300.337 (01)The Tragic TraditionTTh 9:00AM - 10:15AMLisi, LeonardoGilman 413
AS.300.343 (01)The Cinema of RevolutionT 3:00PM - 5:30PMEakin Moss, AnneGilman 208INST-GLOBAL
AS.360.133 (01)Freshman Seminar: Great Books at HopkinsTTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMPatton, ElizabethLevering Arellano
AS.300.399 (01)Cinema and PhilosophyMW 3:00PM - 4:15PMMarrati, PaolaHodson 305
AS.360.133 (04)Freshman Seminar: Great Books at HopkinsTTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMPatton, Elizabeth, Reese, MatthewLevering Arellano
AS.371.162 (01)Black and White: Digital DarkroomF 10:00AM - 12:50PMBerger, Phyllis AMattin Center 204
AS.371.152 (02)Introduction to Digital PhotographyTh 2:00PM - 4:50PMBerger, Phyllis AMattin Center 204
AS.360.133 (02)Freshman Seminar: Great Books at HopkinsTTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMBett, Richard, Patton, ElizabethLevering Arellano
AS.360.133 (03)Freshman Seminar: Great Books at HopkinsTTh 1:30PM - 2:45PMPatton, Elizabeth, Spinner, Samuel JacobLevering Arellano
AS.371.152 (01)Introduction to Digital PhotographyTh 10:00AM - 12:50PMBerger, Phyllis AMattin Center 204
AS.371.303 (01)Documentary PhotographyM 2:00PM - 4:50PMStaffMattin Center 204
AS.371.162 (02)Black and White: Digital DarkroomF 2:00PM - 4:50PMBerger, Phyllis AMattin Center 204