2025-2026 Catalog

FNDL 24805. Being and Time. 100 Units.

It has been almost one hundred years since Martin Heidegger published his magnum opus, Being and Time (1927). One of the greatest philosophical works of the twentieth century, it continues to inspire and disturb. To inspire: few books have had such a powerful influence or have been so generative in so many fields of inquiry. To disturb: few have been so forcefully denounced, in no small part because of Heidegger's notorious involvement in National Socialism. In this class, we will revisit this unsettling classic and gauge its impact. What does it mean to read Being and Time today? What difference does today make in our reading? What future, if any, awaits this book? In asking these questions, our primary focus will be Heidegger's analysis of futurity (Zukünftigkeit) and its link with anxiety, death, conscience, tradition, and history.

Instructor(s): Ryan Coyne     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This class counts as a Gateway course for the Fundamentals program. This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): THEO 31801, DVPR 31801, RLST 24801

FNDL 20016. Rousseau Social and Political Thought. 100 Units.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, self-styled "Citizen of Geneva," was a musical composer, best-selling novelist, paranoic, herborizing botanist, professional solitary, chronic exhibitionist and likely the most intensively studied political philosopher of all time. He left his mark on the Enlightenment through discussions of, among other things: consumerism, inequality, education, aesthetics, democracy, the role of women, and geopolitics. He is blamed for the Terror in the French Revolution-the alleged result of the excesses of Enlightenment rationalism; but he was also, simultaneously, worshipped as an icon of anti-modernist, Romantic revolt. Thinkers such as Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud found inspiration in his writing, while movements as diverse as free love, environmentalism, totalitarianism, and Montessori schooling are attributed to his influence. We will explore this fertile set of contradictions through reading and in-class discussion of several of his works.

Instructor(s): P. Cheney     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 22316

FNDL 29900. Reading Courses: Fundamentals. 100 Units.

Fundamentals Reading Courses are intended as opportunities for an individual or small group of students to work with a faculty member on a close study of a specific text not otherwise offered in the course catalog. Students may also choose to study a non-Anglophone text in a Reading Course to fulfill their foreign language requirement.

Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Summer Winter
Note(s): Open only to Fundamentals students with consent of faculty supervisor and program chair.

FNDL 29901. Fundamentals Junior Paper Colloquium. 100 Units.

Fundamentals students are required to register for and attend the Junior Paper Colloquium in Winter of their third year. This seminar provides structure and feedback during the Junior Paper writing process. Graded on a pass/fail basis, but unfinished Junior Papers will result in an "incomplete" grade. Occasionally also offered in Spring if a significant number of students successfully petition to write the Junior Paper that quarter.

Terms Offered: Summer. Typically offered in Winter, occasionally offered in other quarters if multiple students are approved to write the JP late.
Prerequisite(s): Open only to third-year Fundamentals students.

FNDL 29902. Fundamentals Senior Examination. 100 Units.

Fundamentals students are required to register for this seminar in the quarter in which they will take their Senior Exam, typically in Spring. Exceptions to this can only be made with the consent of the program chair. This course does not have a set meeting time but is instead intended to create time in students' schedules to prepare for the exam. This course must be taken for a Pass/Fail grade.

Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Summer Winter. Typically offered in Spring. Occasionally may be taken in Autumn or Winter for students taking their exams early.
Prerequisite(s): Open to fourth-year Fundamentals students.

FNDL 17504. John Milton's Paradise Lost. 100 Units.

In this course, we will read Milton's Paradise Lost, paying close attention to questions of genre, style, and poetics as well as the theological, philosophical, anthropological, and political commitments that shape its verse. Although we will focus on the epic itself, we will also consider highlights from the history of criticism and scholarship dedicated to the poem. (Poetry, 1650-1830)

Instructor(s): Timothy Harrison     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 26400, ENGL 17504

FNDL 20615. Aesthetic Encounters. 100 Units.

Ever find yourself getting emotional over a painting or a song? Or staring at a piece of art and thinking, "What on earth am I looking at?" What does art do to us? Is there a "right" way to experience it? Why do we feel the need to talk about artworks we have seen? In college classes and beyond, we spend a great deal of time engaging with and responding to literary texts and artworks. This course offers a chance to step back and reflect on the nature of those encounters-how and why we respond the way we do, why those responses might matter, and how we go about sharing them with others. While we will occasionally turn to aesthetic philosophy, our main focus will be on developing our own concepts and categories for understanding these encounters-the very event of experiencing art, how those experiences linger, and how they shape our social interactions. Readings will include fiction where characters are profoundly transformed by their encounters with art, essays on paintings and museums, poems drawn from music, travelogues that chronicle sustained exposure to art, ekphrastic dialogues between visual arts and poetry, and creative literary translations. Authors may include Ben Lerner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Alice Oswald, Anne Carson, Rachel Cusk, Ciaran Carson, Natasha Trethewey, and Mary Jo Salter.

Instructor(s): Levi, Melih     Terms Offered: Autumn

FNDL 20808. Biography of the Prophet Muhammad. 100 Units.

This introductory course offers an overview of Prophet Muhammad's life as portrayed in the early and medieval Arabic narrative tradition and through the lens of modern scholarship. We will discuss a diverse range of topics, such as life in pre-Islamic Arabia, the Prophet's early life before prophethood, the first revelations, the Meccan period, his migration to Medina, his religio-political leadership and the military expeditions during the Medinan period, his reported miracles, etc. At the same time, students will gain an overview of the sira/maghazi literature, i.e., the texts devoted to the life of the Prophet Muhammad in the Muslim tradition. Modern methodological questions which concern the reliability of the narrative traditions in reconstructing the biography of the "historical Muhammad" and a wide range of approaches developed in Western academia to overcome problems related to the source material will also be addressed.

Instructor(s): Mehmetcan Akpinar     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): No background in Islamic studies or Arabic language required. This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 20808, MDVL 20808, NEHC 20808, ISLM 30808, NEHC 30808

FNDL 21103. Marsilio Ficino's "On Love" 100 Units.

This course is first of all a close reading of Marsilio Ficino's seminal book On Love (first Latin edition De amore 1484; Ficino's own Italian translation 1544). Ficino's philosophical masterpiece is the foundation of the Renaissance view of love from a Neo-Platonic perspective. It is impossible to overemphasize its influence on European culture. On Love is not just a radically new interpretation of Plato's Symposium. It is the book through which sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe read the love experience. Our course will analyze its multiple classical sources and its spiritual connotations. During our close reading of Ficino's text, we will show how European writers and philosophers appropriated specific parts of this Renaissance masterpiece. In particular, we will read extensive excerpts from some important love treatises, such as Castiglione's The Courtier (Il cortigiano), Leone Ebreo's Dialogues on Love, Tullia d'Aragona's On the Infinity of Love, but also selections from a variety of European poets, such as Michelangelo's canzoniere, Maurice Scève's Délie, and Fray Luis de León's Poesía.

Instructor(s): A. Maggi     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Course taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 26701, ITAL 23900, CMLT 36701, ITAL 33900

FNDL 21204. Philosophical Prose: Cicero, Tusculan Disputations. 100 Units.

Reading a classic from manuscript: Cicero's _Laelius de amicitia_ from the ninth-century Krakow (ex-Berlin) Codex. We shall read from a high-quality colour facsimile and consult in tandem the recent Cambridge edition (2024) by Volk/Zetzel.

Instructor(s): M. Allen     Terms Offered: Autumn. Autumn 2025
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 21200, LATN 31200

FNDL 21208. Poets in Dialogue: Galip & Robinson. 100 Units.

Picture a tête-à-tête between Seyh Galip (1757-1799), a mystic poet and leader of a Sufi order in Istanbul, and Mary Robinson (1757-1800), otherwise known as "the English Sappho," a prolific Romantic poet and actress renowned for Shakespearean roles. We'll dive into their narrative poems on love: Galip's masnavi Love and Beauty breathes new life into rhyming couplets, and Robinson's "Sappho and Phaeon" contributes to the revival of the sonnet sequence, with both poets writing at historical crossroads. As the Ottoman Empire undertakes structural modernization efforts amidst decline, England expands its colonial outreach while contending with the legacies of the American and French Revolutions. We will analyze how these poets navigate the delicate balance between tradition and innovation, with a fundamental inquiry into their use of ornamentation and excess. Coleridge's quip, "she overloads everything," nods to Robinson's affiliation with the "Della Cruscans," while Galip's opulent works reflect the so-called "Indian style." What draws poets, or anyone, to such ornate expressive techniques? We'll ponder these questions, exploring their intersections with gendered, cultural, and political realms. In doing so, we might just stumble upon intriguing theories to explain the eventual rise of symbolist movements in modern art.

Instructor(s): Melih Levi     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 21208

FNDL 21403. Shakespeare I: Histories and Comedies. 100 Units.

An exploration of some of Shakespeare's major plays from the first half of his professional career, when the genres in which he primarily worked were comedies and histories. Plays to be studied include The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Richard III, Richard II, and Henry V. Together, we will read some of Shakespeare's queerest and most delightful comedies in conversation with darker troubling plays that revolve around sexual violence, racism, nationalism, and political theory, and we will see how such topics put generic boundaries to the test. Valuing those classics for their timeless craft but also for the situated cultural horizon that they evidence, we will explore what it means to take comedy and history seriously. Three short papers will be required. (Medieval/Early Modern, Drama)

Instructor(s): Ellen MacKay     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): General education requirement in the humanities.
Note(s): Course includes a weekly discussion section.
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 16500, TAPS 28405

FNDL 21408. Vico's New Science. 100 Units.

This course offers a close reading of Giambattista Vico's masterpiece, "The New Science" (1744) - a work that sets out to refute "all opinions hitherto held about the principles of humanity." Vico, who is acknowledged as the most resolute scourge of any form of rationalism, breathed new life into rhetoric, imagination, poetry, metaphor, history, and philology in order to promote in his readers that originary "wonder" and "pathos" which sets human beings on the search for truth. However, Vico argues, the truths that are most available and interesting to us are the ones humanity "authored" by means of its culture and history-creating activities. For this reason the study of myth and folklore as well as archeology, anthropology, and ethnology must all play a role in the rediscovery of man. "The New Science" builds an "alternative philosophy" for a new age and reads like a "novel of formation" recounting the (hi)story of the entire human race and our divine ancestors. In Vico, a prophetic spirit, one recognizes the fulfillment of the Renaissance, the spokesperson of a particular Enlightenment, the precursor of the Kantian revolution, and the forefather of the philosophy of history (Herder, Hegel, and Marx). "The New Science" remained a strong source of inspiration in the twentieth century (Cassirer, Gadamer, Berlin, Joyce, Beckett, etc.) and may prove relevant in disclosing our own responsibilities in postmodernity.

Instructor(s): Rocco Rubini     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 22900, CMLT 32501, CMLT 22501, ITAL 32900

FNDL 21450. Coptic Bible. 100 Units.

The Coptic versions of the Bible present one of the earliest translations of Christian scripture as the new religion spread. Understanding how the Bible (canonical and non-canonical) was read and used in Egypt at this early stage implies studying the development of Christian communities in those agitated times, as well as paying attention to questions of literacy and linguistic environment, book production, Bible (both Greek and Coptic) on papyrus, and translation and interpretation in Antiquity. The course will draw on materials assembled from my work on the critical edition of the Gospel of Mark, but will also look into other materials like the Coptic Old Testament, and non-canonical scriptures such as Nag Hammadi and the Gnostic scriptures. No previous knowledge of Coptic is required. A brief introduction to the Coptic language will be part of the class, and parallel sessions of additional language instruction will be planned for those who are interested in learning more.

Instructor(s): S. Torallas     Terms Offered: Autumn. This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 31418, CLCV 24118, NEHC 34118, MDVL 24118, RLST 21450, NEHC 24118, CLAS 34118

FNDL 21555. The Apostolic Fathers. 100 Units.

This course focuses on the general body of works whose authors are collectively known as the Apostolic Fathers, a remarkable group of theologians who lived and wrote during the late first and second centuries AD, immediately after the New Testament. Among the works and writers whom we will consider are the Didache, Clement of Rome (1 Clement), Ignatius of Antioch, and, as time permits, Diognetus or 2 Clement. We will carefully read the Greek text, with careful attention to the style of the Greek, how it compares to that of the New Testament, and its relationship to other important materials such as the Septuagint and the Greco-Egyptian papyri. This was a period of amazing ferment and intellectual diversity. Since no rigid standard of orthodoxy had yet been set, a wide array of ideas were put forth and examined on the theological market place. We will focus on the exegetical methods of Biblical interpretation used by the Fathers, their reflections on the person and work of Jesus, and their ideas on the structure and mission of the emerging Church as the body of Christ.

Instructor(s): David Martinez     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Two years of Greek required.
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 25700, BIBL 47500, GREK 35700, RLST 21505

FNDL 21650. Kafka's The Trial. 100 Units.

This very close reading of Kafka's arguably most well known unfinished novel means to move away from megalithic glosses of Kafka as a writer of allegory-of bureaucratic oppression, social alienation, and a world abandoned by God, etc.-instead to look deeply at Kafka's precision, and strategic imprecision, of language, language as trauma, wound, and axe. Knowledge of German is not necessary.

Instructor(s): M. Sternstein     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): open only to Fundamentals majors. all other majors need consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 21650, REES 22009

FNDL 21700. Le Roman de la Rose. 100 Units.

The "Roman de la Rose" (mid-13th century), a sprawling, encyclopedic summa composed by two separate authors, was arguably the single most influential vernacular text of the Middle Ages. Whether they hated or admired it, subsequent writers could not escape the long shadow cast by this magisterial œuvre. And, as Kate Soper's recent opera adaptation of the "Rose" demonstrates, this labyrinthine work remains a source of creative inspiration. In this course we will read the "Rose" together. Each student will choose a critical lens (e.g. gender and sexuality, animal and/or ecocritical studies, ethics and philosophy, reception studies, manuscript studies, text & image, etc.) to structure their engagement with the text, and together we will collaborate to chart a rich and diverse set of interpretive paths through this complex work.

Instructor(s): Daisy Delogu     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): For French majors/minors, FREN 20500, 20503 or a previous literature course taught in French.
Note(s): All registered students will attend the cours magistral (taught in English). In addition, all registered students will select and attend either the French discussion section, or the critical theory section. Students are welcome to attend both.
Equivalent Course(s): FREN 21700, MDVL 21700, GNSE 27300, FREN 31700, GNSE 37300

FNDL 21714. Boccaccio's Decameron. 100 Units.

One of the most important and influential works of the middle ages-and a lot funnier than the "Divine Comedy." Written in the midst of the social disruption caused by the Black Death (1348), the "Decameron" may have held readers attention for centuries because of its bawdiness, but it is also a profound exploration into the basis of faith and the meaning of death, the status of language, the construction of social hierarchy and social order, and the nature of crisis and historical change. Framed by a storytelling contest between seven young ladies and three young men who have left the city to avoid the plague, the one hundred stories of Boccaccio's "Decameron" form a structural masterpiece that anticipates the Renaissance epics, Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," and the modern short story. Students will be encouraged to further explore in individual projects the many topics raised by the text, including (and in addition to the themes mentioned above) magic, the visual arts, mercantile culture, travel and discovery, and new religious practices.

Instructor(s): H. Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 33502, MDVL 23502, ITAL 23502

FNDL 21804. Dante's Divine Comedy III: Paradiso. 100 Units.

An in-depth study of the third cantica of Dante's masterpiece, considered the most difficult but in many ways also the most innovative. Read alongside his scientific treatise the "Convivio" and his political manifesto the "Monarchia."

Instructor(s): H. Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): Completion of the previous courses in the sequence not required, but students should familiarize themselves with the "Inferno" and the "Purgatorio" before the first day of class.
Note(s): Course conducted in English. Those seeking Italian credit will do all work in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 32101, MDVL 22101, ITAL 22101

FNDL 21805. Introduction to Marx. 100 Units.

This introduction to Marx's thought will divide into three parts: in the first, we will consider Marx's theory of history; in the second, his account of capitalism; and in third, his conception of the state. (A)

Instructor(s): Anton Ford     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 21423

FNDL 21810. Italo Calvino. 100 Units.

Italo Calvino is one of the most important authors of the twentieth century. We will read some of his most famous books in Italian. Among others, we will study Le Cita, Invisibili, Gli Amori Difficili, Il Barone Rampante, Se Una Notte D'Inverno Un Viaggiatore. Reading Calvino is an essential experience for all students of Italian culture. We will place his books and his poetics in the context of modern Italian culture and Western European post-modernism.

Instructor(s): A. Maggi     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 21800

FNDL 21815. Karl Marx: Capital, Volume I. 100 Units.

In this seminar, we study Marx's mature critique of political economy through a close reading of Capital, vol. 1. Our primary concern is to clarify the aims, method, and basic concepts of the text. Enrollment is limited to undergraduates who have completed their SOSC requirement.

Instructor(s): Sarah Johnson     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Social Sciences Core
Note(s): Enrollment is limited to undergraduates who have completed their SOSC requirement.
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 28038, LLSO 28038

FNDL 22035. The Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Pastoral Epistles. 100 Units.

In the early second century there were bitter battles over the legacy of Paul and his preserved letters in terms of gender, sexuality, family life, asceticism, church administration, and theological vision. We can see these well by reading the narrative text The Acts of Paul and Thecla alongside the "Pastoral Epistles" (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus), the former championing a female, cross-dressing ascetic Christ-missionary and the latter, in pseudepigraphical epistolary texts written in the dead Paul's name, insisting on patriarchal family life and women's adherence to traditional roles. In this course we shall read both sets of texts carefully in Greek, noting points of similarity and contestation, and test various models of how these sources-each of which seeks to "fix" the Pauline legacy in its own way-are related to one another. Time allowing, we shall also look at the later reception of the cult of Saint Thecla and late antique interpretations of "the apostle," Paul, on these issues of sexuality and gender roles, and their perduring influence in contemporary debates.

Instructor(s): Margaret Mitchell     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): At least one year of Greek, or equivalent.
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 42035, GNSE 22035, BIBL 42035, RLST 22035, GREK 27423, GREK 37423, HCHR 42035

FNDL 22333. Cassandras: Truth-Telling in Times of Crisis. 100 Units.

In public life, why and how are some people accepted as truth-tellers while others are not? Is truth simply a problem of and for "correct" reasoning? What assumptions about argumentation and evidence go unexplored in this way of framing the problem? What if truth were a problem of truth-telling instead? When and how do social, racial, and gender hierarchies authorize received understandings of a (credible) truth-teller? What is credible telling usually thought to sound like? What are the conditions for listening and hearing the truth? To think through these questions, we take as a lens the archetype of Cassandra, the babbling prophetess of classical Greek myth and tragedy doomed not to be believed. Cassandra has served as a resource and source of inspiration for a range of critical thinkers, including but not limited to theorists, feminists, poets, and novelists. What is a "Cassandra"? Does her "deranged" way of seeing the world - her prophetic speech - disorient or destabilize? We will consider how, in her different representations, Cassandra places questions of language, patriarchy, and sexual violence at the center of general discussions of credibility and critique. Readings range from ancient Greek thought to 21st century theory.

Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 22333, CCCT 32333, GNSE 22333, PLSC 32333, GNSE 32333, CCCT 22333

FNDL 22822. Nietzsche's Gay Science. 100 Units.

Nietzsche describes The Gay Science as a distinctively affirmative work. Although still offering sharp challenges to rival views, the book also introduces many of Nietzsche's own ideas about how life can be embraced. We will read the Gay Science from beginning to end, giving special attention to the affirmative aspects of Nietzsche's thought. (A)

Instructor(s): J. Fox     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 22822

FNDL 23104. Immanuel Kant's Critique of Practical Reason. 100 Units.

Contemporary ideas about Human Rights, the relation of moral norms and the good life, the character of human freedom, conceptions of human evil, the very definition of morality and ethics, and the relation of ethics and religion have been decisively shaped by the work of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). This course is the examination of one of Immanuel Kant's magisterial works in moral philosophy, The Critique of Practical Reason. The course is a careful reading of Kant's text in order to grasp the argument and to assess its significance for current work in ethics. The course ends with one of Kant's famous political essays, "On Perpetual Peace." Engaging Kant's work will enable student to engage a wide range of thinkers from the 19th to the 21st centuries who accept, modify, and reject his work. In this way, the course is crucial for further work in philosophical and religious ethics.

Instructor(s): William Schweiker     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Graduate students must petition to enroll.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 23104, GRMN 23104

FNDL 23202. Li Zhi and 16th Century China: The Self, Tradition, and Dissent in Comparative Context. 100 Units.

The 16th century Chinese iconoclast Li Zhi (Li Zhuowu) has been rightly celebrated as a pioneer of individualism, one of history's great voices of social protest, an original mind powerfully arguing for genuine self-expression, and more. He was a Confucian official and erudite in the classics, yet in his sixties he takes the Buddhist tonsure, and late in life befriends the Jesuit Matteo Ricci. He sought refuge in a quiet monastery devoting his life to scholarship, yet invited constant scandal. His A Book to Burn "sold like hotcakes," and attracted enough trouble that reportedly readers would surreptitiously hide their copies tucked up their sleeves, and was later banned by the state soon after his death. In this seminar, we will place Li both within the context of the history of "Confucian" thought, and within the literary, religious, and philosophical conversations of the late Ming. Using his writings as a productive case study, we will think about topics including "religion," tradition and innovation, "spontaneity" and "authenticity," and the relationship between "classics" and commentaries. Throughout, we will bring our discussions into comparative analysis, considering views of thinkers and traditions from other times and places. Chinese not required; for those interested, we will read select essays of Li's in Chinese and students may choose translation as a final project.

Instructor(s): Pauline Lee     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 24519, HIST 34519, EALC 33202, HREL 33202, RLST 23202, DVPR 33202, EALC 23202

FNDL 23590. Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil. 100 Units.

A close reading, in translation, of Nietzsche's famous 1886 work, Beyond Good and Evil. We will consider its major themes and arguments, paying close attention to the transition which this book marks in Nietzsche's corpus as a whole. Themes to be discussed: the doctrine of the Will to Power, the Revaluation of Values, the doctrine of the Eternal Return, the critique of religion.

Instructor(s): Ryan Coyne     Terms Offered: not being offered 24-25
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 23590, GRMN 23590

FNDL 23595. Nietzsche: The Will to Truth. 100 Units.

The will to truth - Nietzsche first uses the phrase in a notebook entry written in late 1882: "Will to truth!" Let us stop speaking so simplistically and bombastically!" From then on, the critique of this will would preoccupy him for the rest of his career. In this seminar we will study this critique as it develops in Nietzsche's middle and later writings. We will read closely his published works as well as recently translated notebook entries. What exactly is the will to truth? Why critique it? Can philosophy and/or thinking resist it or somehow do without it? What is the status of the discourse that contests it? In asking these questions, we will examine a still underappreciated aspect of Nietzsche's post-Zarathustra writings: the gap separating his polemic against metaphysics qua Platonism from his polemic against the so-called Judeo-Christian, i.e. the inheritance of the Biblical tradition.

Instructor(s): Ryan Coyne     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): DVPR 33595, THEO 33595, RLST 23595

FNDL 23600. Evil: Myth, Symbol and Reality. 100 Units.

From the horrors of the Shoah to violence suffered by individuals, the question of the origin, meaning, and reality of evil done by humans has vexed thinkers throughout the ages. This seminar is an inquiry into the problem of evil on three registers of reflection: myth, symbol, and reality. We will be exploring important philosophical, Jewish, and Christian texts. These include Martin Buber, Good and Evil, Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem, Immanuel Kant, Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, Paul Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, Edward Farley, Good and Evil, Hans Jonas, Mortality and Morality and Claudia Card, The Atrocity Paradigm. There will also be a viewing of the movie Seven (1995) directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. Accordingly, the seminar probes the reality of evil and the symbolic and mythic resources of religious traditions to articulate the meaning and origin of human evil. The question of "theodicy" is then not the primary focus given the seminar's inquiry into the fact and reality of human evil. Each student will submit a 5-7 page critical review of either Jonathan Glover's Humanity: A Moral History of the 20th Century or Susan Neiman's, Evil in Modern Thought. Each Student also will write a 15 page (double spaced;12pt font) paper on one or more of the texts read in the course with respect to her or his own research interests.

Instructor(s): William Schweiker     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): THEO 33600, GRMN 33623, JWSC 23600, RLST 23600, GRMN 23623, RETH 33600

FNDL 23810. Memory and Identity in French Literature: Proust to the Present. 100 Units.

This introductory-level course takes as its point of departure Marcel Proust's conceptualization of memory as the foundation both for the self and for literature. For Proust, literary style conveys the singularity of an individual vision while rescuing experience from the contingencies of time. Literature, identity, and memory are inseparable. Later writers will follow Proust's lead in defining literature as an art of memory; but they develop this art in different ways, whether by inventing new forms of life-writing or attempting to revive, via fiction, a lived connection to history. How does memory serve as the foundation of individual or collective identities? How does fiction imagine and give form to memory, and how does literature serve as a medium for cultural memory? How do literary works register the intermittence of memory, its failings and distortions, its fragility as well as its attachment to bodies and places? We will tackle these questions through close analysis of a range of texts. In addition to Proust, authors studied may include Yourcenar, Perec, Modiano, Roubaud, and Ernaux.

Instructor(s): Alison James     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English, with a weekly or biweekly session in French for those seeking FREN credit.
Equivalent Course(s): FREN 23810, SIGN 26047

FNDL 23830. Simone Weil: Spirituality, Metaphysics, and Politics. 100 Units.

Simone Weil, one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century, developed her thought as an extension of her spirituality and her political commitments. In this course, then, we will read her principal works together in order to see how these three themes hang together: spirituality, metaphysics, and politics.

Instructor(s): Kevin Hector     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 23830, DVPR 43830

FNDL 23908. Bergson and China: Buddhist and Confucian Reboots. 100 Units.

This course will explore Henri Bergson's philosophy as set forth in Time and Free Will, Matter and Memory, and Creative Evolution, and its reception in late Imperial and early Republican China (late 19th and early 20th centuries). Of special interest will be the role played by Bergsonian ideas in the Yogacara revival and the formation of New Confucianism during this period, with particular focus on figures like Zhang Taiyan, Xiong Shili and Liang Shumin. This will require us to deeply engage Bergson's idea of "duration" (durée) and its interpretation, particularly in relation to a reconsideration of the Yogacara Buddhist notion of ālaya-consciousness (storehouse consciousness) and the Confucian idea of ceaseless generation and regeneration (shengsheng bu xi) as derived from interpretive traditions centered on the Book of Changes (Yijing).

Instructor(s): Brook Ziporyn     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): All readings will be available in English. Chinese reading proficiency is recommended but not required. This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): DVPR 33908, EALC 33908, EALC 23908, HREL 33908, RLST 23908

FNDL 24217. Lucretius: On the Nature of Things. 100 Units.

On the Nature of Things is the most celebrated philosophical epic of Greco-Roman antiquity. Its poeticization of the atheistic materialism of the philosopher Epicurus influenced the thought of Rousseau, Marx, and Deleuze, and played the role of midwife in the emergence of early modern science. But there is more to the poem than its atoms: it offers an evolutionary perspective on organismic adaptation, a speculative reconstruction of human prehistory, and a robust account of sexual attraction, to point to a few of the items in Lucretius's inventory of how things are, and how they got to be that way. We will read On the Nature of Things in its entirety, and consider what is at stake in taking this ancient poet as a precursor of our own intellectual commitments.

Instructor(s): Payne, Mark     Terms Offered: Autumn

FNDL 24276. Tiantai Buddhism and Neo-Tiantai Thinking: Recontextualizations of Recontextualizationism. 100 Units.

This course will explore the philosophical doctrines of classical Tiantai Buddhism and their extensions and reconfigurations as developed in the ideas of later thinkers, both Tiantai and non-Tiantai, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. Readings will be drawn from the classical Tiantai thinkers Zhiyi, Zhanran and Zhili, followed by writings of early Chinese Chan Buddhism, Japanese Tendai "Original Enlightenment" thought, Kamakura Buddhist reformers including Dōgen, Nichiren and Shinran, the 20th century Confucian Mou Zongsan, and contemporary Anglophone "Neo-Tiantai" thinking.

Instructor(s): Brook Ziporyn     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): EALC 34276, RLST 24276, MDVL 24276, HREL 44276, EALC 24276, DVPR 44276

FNDL 24419. Kafka: Acrobatics of Reading. 100 Units.

In a universe determined by power such as Kafka's - patriarchal, legal, governmental, colonial power, but also physical constraints such as gravity and entropy - everything depends on one's ability or inability to perform. Against such determination, Kafka's texts work as exercises in self-empowerment and -disempowerment, acts that constitute their power to perform through their very performance. Taking Kafka's short prose as a test case, the course investigates the relationship between two things: First, the acrobatics performed in and by the texts that not only feature a cast of tightrope walkers, hunger artists, bucket riders, and other performers, but can more generally be read as a series of kinetic experiments involving plot, description, imagery, sound, and grammar. Second, the acrobatics it takes us, the audience, to engage these texts-demanding a similar artistry of performance that includes casting highly flexible, improbable, and often risky readerly strategies in response. From the short prose, the course broadens its focus to include the longer texts and the diary, as well as excerpts from the fragments Amerika, The Trial, and The Castle. Readings and discussion in English.

Instructor(s): Florian Klinger     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 24419, CMLT 24419

FNDL 24440. The Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 100 Units.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) is widely admired for his part in the movement to resist Hitler and National Socialism. This course will investigate the biographical and especially the theological underpinnings of his resistance. In addition to key texts such as Discipleship, Ethics, and Letters and Papers from Prison, therefore, we will also consider Bonhoeffer's connection to larger movements as well as the importance of his time in Harlem.

Instructor(s): Kevin Hector     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 24400

FNDL 24921. Robert Musil: Altered States. 100 Units.

This course is an introduction to the work of Robert Musil, one of the major novelists of the twentieth century. We will focus on Musil's idea of the "Other Condition" [der andere Zustand], which he once described-in contrast to our normal way of life-as a "secret rising and ebbing of our being with that of things and other people." What is this "Other Condition": what are its ethics and aesthetics, and how can it be expressed in literature? We will begin with readings from Musil's critical writings and early narrative prose, then devote the majority of the quarter to his unfinished magnum opus, The Man without Qualities. Particular attention will be paid to Musil's experimentations with narrative form and his development of the genre of "essayism. Readings and discussion in English.

Instructor(s): Sophie Salvo     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 34921, GRMN 24921

FNDL 25001. Molière: Comedy, Power and Subversion. 100 Units.

Molière crafted a new form of satirical comedy that revolutionized European theater, though it encountered strong opposition from powerful institutions. We will read the plays in the context of the literary, dramatic, and theatrical/performance traditions which he reworked (farce, commedia dell'arte, Latin comedy, Spanish Golden Age theater, satiric poetry, the novel), while considering the relationship of laughter to social norms, with particular emphasis on sexuality, gender roles, and cultural identities.

Instructor(s): Larry Norman     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): FREN 20500 or FREN 20503.
Note(s): Taught in French.
Equivalent Course(s): FREN 35000, TAPS 38470, FREN 25000, TAPS 28470

FNDL 25306. Deconstruction and Religion. 100 Units.

In this seminar we will carefully consider selected works by French philosopher Jacques Derrida. We will address the emergence of religious themes in his early work and reconsider the relation between deconstruction and theology as divergent modes of discourse. We will then examine the roles of messianism, belief, and confession in his later work.

Instructor(s): Ryan Coyne     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the CS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 23112, THEO 50112, DVPR 50112

FNDL 25714. An Introduction to Wittgenstein's Tractatus. 100 Units.

This will be an introductory course on Wittgenstein's Tractatus. The seminar will be organized around the following proposal: the book is meant to reveal the sort of understanding that is at stake whenever a philosophical problem arises. It teaches that such understanding is not a form of knowledge - and in particular not scientific knowledge- of whether or why something is the case. Its clarification of the sort of understanding at issue here allows for a reading according to which the Tractatus, contrary to what most commentators assume, seeks to affirm rather than to cancel philosophy. It affirms it as a fundamental concern with understanding distinct from science or from reason.

Instructor(s): Irad Kimhi     Terms Offered: Autumn. Autumn 2024
Prerequisite(s): Background in philosophy for Undergrads.
Note(s): Undergrads require the Instructor's consent to register.
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 35714, PHIL 25714, PHIL 35714, SCTH 25714

FNDL 25715. Aristotle: Action, Embodied Agents and Value in Acting. 100 Units.

The aim of the course is to understand and assess central aspects of Aristotle's account of actions and agency. We will locate his views within the context of his discussion of (a) the relation between psychological and physical states, processes, and activities and (b) the value of acting well. The course is aimed at graduates and advanced undergraduates (seniors and juniors) in Philosophy or Classics.

Instructor(s): David Charles     Terms Offered: Autumn. Autumn 2024
Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of Greek is not required.
Note(s): Only senior Undergraduates with the instructor's consent can register. No consent is required for Graduate Students. Auditors are allowed subject to enrollment and with the instructor's permission. Auditors will be expected to attend all classes, complete all reading assignments, and participate in class discussions, but not to complete writing assignments.
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 35715, CLAS 35924, SCTH 25715, PHIL 25715, PHIL 35715, CLCV 25924

FNDL 25802. Philosophical Petrarchism. 100 Units.

This course is a close reading of Petrarch's Latin corpus. Readings include the Coronation Oration, The Secret, and selections from Remedies for Fortune Fair and Foul, On Illustrious Men, On Religious Leisure, and The Life of Solitude. Special attention is devoted to Petrarch's letter collections (Letters on Familiar Matters, Letters of Old Age, Book without a Name, etc.) and his invectives. The aim of the course is to familiarize the student with the new and complete Petrarch that emerged in 2004 on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of his birth. Discussion will focus on Petrarch's self-consciousness as the "father of humanism," his relationship to Dante, autobiographism, dialogical inquiry, anti-scholasticism, patriotism, and Petrarch's "civic" reception in the Quattrocento as well as on a comparative evaluation of the nineteenth-century Petrarchs of Alfred Mézières, Georg Voigt, and Francesco De Sanctis.

Instructor(s): R. Rubini     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 26002, ITAL 26002, ITAL 36002

FNDL 25910. Racine. 100 Units.

Racine's tragedies are often considered the culminating achievement of French classicism. Most famous for his powerful re-imaginings of Greek myth (Phèdre, Andromaque), his tragic universe nevertheless ranged considerably wider, from ancient Jewish queens to a contemporary Ottoman harem. We will consider the roots (from Euripides to Corneille) of his theatrical practice as well as its immense influence on future writers (from Voltaire to Proust, Beckett, and Genet).

Instructor(s): L. Norman     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): At least one French literature course, 21700 or higher.
Note(s): Course taught in French. All work in French for students seeking FREN credit; written work may be in English for those taking course for TAPS or FNDL credit.
Equivalent Course(s): TAPS 28476, FREN 35910, FREN 25910, TAPS 35910

FNDL 26102. Chris Marker. 100 Units.

Chris Marker (1921-2012) is one of the most influential and important filmmakers to emerge in the post-war era in France, yet he remains relatively unknown to a wider audience. Marker's multifaceted work encompasses writing, photography, filmmaking, videography, gallery installation, television, and digital multimedia. He directed over 60 films and is known foremost for his "essay films," a hybrid of documentary and personal reflection, which he invigorated if not invented with films like Lettre de Sibérie (Letter from Siberia, 1958) or Sans Soleil (Sunless, 1983). His most famous film, La Jetée (1962), his only (science) fiction film made up almost entirely of black-and-white still photographs, was the inspiration for Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys (1995). In 1990, he created his first multi-media installation, Zapping Zone, and in 1997 he experimented with the format of the CD-Rom to create a multi-layered, multimedia memoir (Immemory). In 2008, he continued his venture into digital spaces with Ouvroir, realized on the platform of Second Life. Marker was a passionate traveler who documented the journeys he took, the people he met, and revolutionary upheavals at home and afar. We will follow Marker's travels through time, space, and media, during which we will also encounter artists with whom he crossed paths, with whom he collaborated, or who were inspired by his work.

Instructor(s): Dominique Bluher     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 36303, MADD 13303, CMST 26303, ARTV 20032

FNDL 27005. Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. 100 Units.

Description TBD

Instructor(s): Jamie Redfield     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 31933

FNDL 27006. The Iliad as a Whole. 100 Units.

After a review of the textual history of the Iliad and a consideration of the probable conditions of its composition, a close reading of the text will explore the interrelations of the story on a collective level-military and political-with the personal stories of the leading characters. Some acquaintance with the text in the original

Instructor(s): Jamie Redfield     Terms Offered: Autumn. Autumn 2023
Prerequisite(s): Instructor's consent is required for Undergrads.
Note(s): This course will be more valuable to students with some knowledge of the text in the original.
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 31934, CLCV 23923, CLAS 31923, SCTH 21934

FNDL 27200. Dante's Divine Comedy 1: Inferno. 100 Units.

This is the first part of a sequence focusing on Dante's masterpiece. We examine Dante's Inferno in its cultural (i.e., historical, artistic, philosophical, sociopolitical) context. In particular, we study Dante's poem alongside other crucial Latin and vernacular texts of his age. They include selections from the Bible, Virgil's Aeneid, Augustine's Confessions, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and the stilnovist and Siculo-Tuscan poets. Political turmoil, economic transformation, changing philosophical and theological paradigms, and social and religious conflict all converge in the making of the Inferno.

Instructor(s): H. Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 21900, ITAL 31900, ITAL 21900

FNDL 27202. Dante's Divine Comedy II: Purgatorio. 100 Units.

This course is an intense study of the middle cantica of the "Divine Comedy" and its relationship with Dante's early masterpiece, the "Vita Nuova." The very middleness of the Purgatorio provides Dante the opportunity to explore a variety of problems dealing with our life here, now, on earth: contemporary politics, the relationship between body and soul, poetry and the literary canon, art and imagination, the nature of dreams, and, of course, love and desire. The Purgatorio is also Dante's most original contribution to the imagination of the underworld, equally influenced by new conceptualizations of "merchant time" and by contemporary travel writing and fantastic voyages.

Instructor(s): H. Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Course conducted in English. Those seeking Italian credit will do all work in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 32000, MDVL 22003, ITAL 22000

FNDL 28145. Greetings from Tralfamadore: Scientific and Religious Satire in the Fiction of Kurt Vonnegut. 100 Units.

This course will consist of the reading and discussion of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut, with special attention to the role of the unconstrained imaginary powers of science fiction in the rethinking the nature of science and of religion, or more broadly of knowledge and meaning, and of the possible relations between them. Works to be read will include some or all of the following: The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, Slapstick, Galapagos, Timequake.

Instructor(s): Brook Ziporyn     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 28145

FNDL 28290. Samuel Richardson's Clarissa. 100 Units.

This course will examine the very long and possibly-very probably-the greatest novel in the English language. We'll consider the effect of Richardson's decision to conduct his novel as a series of letters, and we'll pay particular attention to his extraordinary effectiveness in creating complexity in a fairly simple plot and in tracking an ever-expanding cast of characters. The Penguin edition we'll be using comes to 1499 pages, and they are over-sized pages. This is a course for committed readers! (1650-1830 ; 18th/19th)

Instructor(s): Frances Ferguson     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 28290, ENGL 38290

FNDL 28401. Pasolini. 100 Units.

This course examines each aspect of Pasolini's artistic production according to the most recent literary and cultural theories, including Gender Studies. We shall analyze his poetry (in particular "Le Ceneri di Gramsci" and "Poesie informa di rosa"), some of his novels ("Ragazzi di vita," "Una vita violenta," "Teorema," "Petrolio"), and his numerous essays on the relationship between standard Italian and dialects, semiotics and cinema, and the role of intellectuals in contemporary Western culture. We shall also discuss the following films: "Accattone," "La ricotta," "Edipo Re," "Teorema," and "Salo".

Instructor(s): Armando Maggi     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 33500, GNSE 28600, ITAL 28400, CMST 23500, ITAL 38400, GNSE 38600

FNDL 28500. Petrarch and the Birth of Western Modernity. 100 Units.

This course offers a close reading of the theoretical works of Petrarch (known as the "father of humanism" or "first modern man") with the aim of pinpointing the literary and rhetorical skills, as well as the self-conscious agenda, that went into the proclamation of a new era in Western history: the "Renaissance." How do we at once pay homage to and overcome a time-honored past without severing our ties to history altogether? Is Petrarch's model still viable today in efforts to forge a new beginning? We will pay special attention to Petrarch's fraught relationship with religious and secular models such as Saint Augustine and Cicero, to Petrarch's legacy in notable Renaissance humanists (Pico, Poliziano, Erasmus, Montaigne, etc.), and to the correlation of Petrarchan inquiry with modern concerns and methodologies in textual and social analysis, including German hermeneutics (Gadamer) and critical theory (Gramsci).

Instructor(s): Rocco Rubini     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 38500, ITAL 28500

FNDL 29305. Machiavelli: Politics and Theater. 100 Units.

Arguably the most debated political theorist of all time due to The Prince, Machiavelli genuinely aspired to be remembered for his creative prowess. He explored various literary genres, such as short stories, dialogues, satirical poetry, letter writing, and, notably, theater, where he demonstrated mastery with The Mandrake, an exemplary Renaissance comedy. This course aims to reintegrate these two aspects of Machiavelli: the serious politician and the facetious performer, a Janus-faced figure who serves as a precursor of both Hobbes and Montaigne. We will revive the image of this "Renaissance man," and, through him, shed light on his era and fellow humanists by restoring their intellectual unity of prescription and laughter. Indeed, we will discover that Machiavelli encourages us not to take things, including him and ourselves, too seriously! Taught in English.

Instructor(s): Rocco Rubini     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 35550, CMLT 35550, ITAL 25550, TAPS 28481, CMLT 25550, TAPS 38481

FNDL 11040. Introduction to the Qur'an. 100 Units.

The primary goal of this course is to introduce students to the text and context of the Qurʾan. Emphasis is placed upon both the historical setting as well as the thematic and literary features, major biblical figures, and foundational narratives of the Qurʾan. Explorations of medieval exegetical literature on the Qurʾan and its reception in the early (8th - 10th century CE) and medieval periods (11th - 15th century CE) will feature in this course.

Instructor(s): Mehmetcan Akpinar     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or SCSR Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students. This course counts as a Gateway course for RLST majors/minors.
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 30040, NEHC 11040, MDVL 11040, RLST 11040, ISLM 30040

FNDL 20016. Rousseau Social and Political Thought. 100 Units.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, self-styled "Citizen of Geneva," was a musical composer, best-selling novelist, paranoic, herborizing botanist, professional solitary, chronic exhibitionist and likely the most intensively studied political philosopher of all time. He left his mark on the Enlightenment through discussions of, among other things: consumerism, inequality, education, aesthetics, democracy, the role of women, and geopolitics. He is blamed for the Terror in the French Revolution-the alleged result of the excesses of Enlightenment rationalism; but he was also, simultaneously, worshipped as an icon of anti-modernist, Romantic revolt. Thinkers such as Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud found inspiration in his writing, while movements as diverse as free love, environmentalism, totalitarianism, and Montessori schooling are attributed to his influence. We will explore this fertile set of contradictions through reading and in-class discussion of several of his works.

Instructor(s): P. Cheney     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 22316

FNDL 20124. The Bible Throughout History: From the Dead Sea Scrolls to King James. 100 Units.

While the collection of ancient texts found in modern Bibles appears fixed and is read by many people as a source of edification or theological insight, it has not always been this way. Though absent from most Bibles, there is an entire body of literature commonly known as "rewritten bible": early translations, retellings, or entirely new stories with familiar names and faces that update, retcon, or subvert their "biblical" sources. How might we understand these ancient forms of fan fiction? The class will introduce this corpus (including some of the Dead Sea Scrolls) and its sources, production, and historical contexts. We will confront significant problems in understanding religious texts: how is it that some texts become authoritative while other very similar texts do not? Who gets to retell foundational religious narratives, and within what social or political constraints? What does it mean to relate to sacred texts as artistic prompts or imperfect points of departure? Can a biblical text be rewritten for an entirely different religious tradition? We will consider similar questions for contemporary religious practice, asking: how did rewriting the Bible get started, and has it stopped?

Instructor(s): Doren Snoek     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 20124, JWSC 20924, RLST 20124, HIST 29908, MDVL 20124

FNDL 20606. Spinoza and German Thought. 100 Units.

This course provides an introduction to Spinoza's philosophy and his relation to German thought, both prior to and within German idealism. In addition to carefully reading Spinoza's own writings, we will consider rationalist alternatives to Spinoza's metaphysics, the Pantheism controversy, and the acosmism charge. Beyond Spinoza, authors to be read include Leibniz, Moses Mendelssohn, and Hegel.

Instructor(s): Andrea Ray     Terms Offered: Winter. Winter 2025
Prerequisite(s): Undergrads Only
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 24606, SCTH 20606, SCTH 30606, JWSC 20606, PHIL 20606

FNDL 21103. Marsilio Ficino's "On Love" 100 Units.

This course is first of all a close reading of Marsilio Ficino's seminal book On Love (first Latin edition De amore 1484; Ficino's own Italian translation 1544). Ficino's philosophical masterpiece is the foundation of the Renaissance view of love from a Neo-Platonic perspective. It is impossible to overemphasize its influence on European culture. On Love is not just a radically new interpretation of Plato's Symposium. It is the book through which sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe read the love experience. Our course will analyze its multiple classical sources and its spiritual connotations. During our close reading of Ficino's text, we will show how European writers and philosophers appropriated specific parts of this Renaissance masterpiece. In particular, we will read extensive excerpts from some important love treatises, such as Castiglione's The Courtier (Il cortigiano), Leone Ebreo's Dialogues on Love, Tullia d'Aragona's On the Infinity of Love, but also selections from a variety of European poets, such as Michelangelo's canzoniere, Maurice Scève's Délie, and Fray Luis de León's Poesía.

Instructor(s): A. Maggi     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Course taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 26701, ITAL 23900, CMLT 36701, ITAL 33900

FNDL 21603. Machiavelli and Machiavellism. 100 Units.

This course is a comprehensive introduction to Machiavelli's The Prince in light of his vast and varied literary corpus and European reception. The course includes discussion of Machiavelli as playwright ("The Mandrake"), fiction writer ("Belfagor," "The Golden Ass"), and historian ("Discourses," "Florentine Histories"). We will also closely investigate the emergence of myths surrounding Machiavelli (Machiavellism and anti-Machiavellism) in Italy (Guicciardini, Botero, Boccalini), France (Bodin and Gentillet), Spain (Ribadeneyra), and Northern Europe (Hobbes, Grotius, Spinoza) during the Counter Reformation and beyond.

Instructor(s): Rocco Rubini     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Course conducted in English. Those seeking Italian credit will do all work in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 33001, ITAL 23000, CMLT 35801, CMLT 25801

FNDL 21968. Religious and Social Thought of Martin Luther King Jr. 100 Units.

This seminar is an intensive study of the religious life and social/religious thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. We will be reading a wide range of King's writings and speeches from his Crozer seminary years to his major speeches up to his assassination in 1968. We will also explore some of the classic and more recent scholarship that examines the influences on and sources of King's thought. Prominent themes in the course will include but will not be limited to King's ethical and social critique of American society, especially its racism, his social and moral evaluation of economic inequality, his commitment to nonviolence, his conception of the beloved community, and his evolving roles as preacher, social activist, and public intellectual.

Instructor(s): Curtis Evans     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 21968, AMER 31968, RAME 31968, HCHR 31968, RLST 21968

FNDL 22060. 1 Corinthians. 100 Units.

An exegesis course on what was likely Paul's second letter to Corinth (the first, mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9, is lost), that will focus upon the literary composition and purpose of this lengthy epistolary text, and the range of issues over which the Corinthians were divided (sex and marriage, gender roles, legal battles, food, hair, forms of worship, the resurrection of the dead) and the ways Paul seeks to address them and call them to unity. We shall also explore some of what can be known of the social history of the "house churches" in Roman Corinth to whom Paul was writing, as well as the history of Paul's relationship with them and the degree to which when he writes this letter Paul can assume a position of authority ("become imitators of me, as I am of Christ" [11:1]) or must face significant doubt about his legitimacy as a self-proclaimed "apostle."

Instructor(s): Margaret M. Mitchell     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Greek skills are not required for this course, but ample opportunity will be provided for their exercise.
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 42060, HCHR 42060, RLST 22060

FNDL 22512. Virgil, The Aeneid. 100 Units.

Virgil's Aeneid is arguably the most revered work of European literature. For centuries it was the emblem in Europe of what it meant to have a civilization. The poem tells the story of the mythical foundation of Rome, and asks questions about the nature of civilization with an insight and clarity rarely equaled in literary fiction: How much suffering can be perpetuated before the project of civilization turns inside out? How much fiction is legitimate in a story of national origins? Why do we need stories of national origins in the first place? The majority of the quarter will be devoted to The Aeneid. We will conclude by reading the opening movement of Hermann Broch's The Death of Virgil, written during the Nazi years and published in 1944, in which his fictional Virgil reflects on his achievement in The Aeneid and asks for his poem to be destroyed.

Instructor(s): Payne, Mark     Terms Offered: Winter

FNDL 22601. The Making and Unmaking of Petrarch's Canzoniere. 100 Units.

This course is an intensive reading of Petrarch's influential and groundbreaking self-anthology. Petrarch's collecting and ordering of his own work is in many ways without precedent. We examine in particular the historical redactions of the Canzoniere, its status as a work-in-progress, what Petrarch excluded from its various forms (especially the Rime disperse), early drafts, and authorial variants. The emergence of a new role for the vernacular author and the shifting space of handwriting and the book are central concerns in our discussions, and we make frequent use of facsimiles and diplomatic editions.

Instructor(s): J. Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 32600, ITAL 22600

FNDL 22671. Orhan Pamuk. 100 Units.

What happens when postmodern fiction refuses to stay post? What if the most radical act of postmodernism is embracing history? Pamuk's novels reimagine the past in ways that refuse to settle for the fragmented, chaotic world we are told to expect. This course explores a selection of key works by Nobel Prize-winning author Pamuk, including his modernist novel The New Life and his postmodern masterpieces such as The White Castle, My Name is Red, and A Strangeness in My Mind. How does Pamuk use Istanbul in his work? Does it function merely as a setting, or does it take on the role of a character, with its history, contradictions, and politics reshaping the narrative? We will also engage with selections from Pamuk's essays on literary craft and his memoir Istanbul to better understand his layered relationship with this complex city. Pamuk's works offer a nuanced exploration of East and West, confronting the legacy of Orientalism while subverting postmodern conventions. How does he reframe techniques like metafiction, unreliable narrators, or nonlinear time to explore memory, identity, and the restless nature of modernity? We will also trace the evolution of Pamuk's style and examine how his growing global audience influences his self-presentation as a writer.

Instructor(s): Levi, Melih     Terms Offered: Spring Winter

FNDL 22906. Book of Ezekiel. 100 Units.

This course introduces the historical world around the Book of Ezekiel, the literary world portrayed within Ezekiel, the book's literary characteristics, and its meaning. The course is geared both to readers of the Bible in English and to readers of the Bible in Hebrew.

Instructor(s): Simeon Chavel     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 22906, NEHC 22906, JWSC 22906, HIJD 32906, NEHC 32906, BIBL 32906

FNDL 23595. Nietzsche: The Will to Truth. 100 Units.

The will to truth - Nietzsche first uses the phrase in a notebook entry written in late 1882: "Will to truth!" Let us stop speaking so simplistically and bombastically!" From then on, the critique of this will would preoccupy him for the rest of his career. In this seminar we will study this critique as it develops in Nietzsche's middle and later writings. We will read closely his published works as well as recently translated notebook entries. What exactly is the will to truth? Why critique it? Can philosophy and/or thinking resist it or somehow do without it? What is the status of the discourse that contests it? In asking these questions, we will examine a still underappreciated aspect of Nietzsche's post-Zarathustra writings: the gap separating his polemic against metaphysics qua Platonism from his polemic against the so-called Judeo-Christian, i.e. the inheritance of the Biblical tradition.

Instructor(s): Ryan Coyne     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): DVPR 33595, THEO 33595, RLST 23595

FNDL 23907. Gandhi and His Critics. 100 Units.

The moral and political writings of M.K. Gandhi constitute one of the most influential archives of ethics in the twentieth century. For a man so devoted to periodic vows of silence and withdrawal, he nevertheless left over ninety volumes of public speeches, personal correspondence, and published essays. A modernist arrayed against the brutalities of modernity, Gandhi's thought encompassed concepts of sovereignty, the state, self and society, religion, civilization, and force. His insistence on cultivating technologies of the self as a response to both colonial and intimate violence was inspired by an eclectic range of source material. Generations of critical thinkers from around the world, including Black, feminist, Communist, and Dalit political activists, engaged with his ideas. This course explores several themes in Gandhi's ethical thought and the responses they have generated.

Instructor(s): Anand Venkatkrishnan     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 23907, HREL 33907, RETH 33907

FNDL 24109. Claude Lanzmann's Shoah Project. 100 Units.

Claude Lanzmann's Shoah (1985) is a 9 ½ hour film comprised of Holocaust testimonies - by survivors, perpetrators, and bystanders. It represents the streamlining of 150 hours of film footage collected over the course of nearly a decade all over the world. In this class, we will explore the film and the discourses that have grown up around it, such as the nature of Holocaust representation, the ontology of Holocaust testimonies, and the limits of translation in understanding the history of the Holocaust. We will work with the outtakes from the film at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to better understand the narrative Lanzmann constructed not only through what he chose to include in the final cut, but also what he chose to exclude. As we analyze Lanzmann's magnum opus, we will also explore associated films - by Lanzmann and by others - that grew out of Shoah and that shed further light on it. A final "Outtakes" project will give students the opportunity to suggest their own version of the film, with materials from the archive.

Instructor(s): Sheila Jelen     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 24109, CMST 24119, JWSC 24109

FNDL 24601. Martin and Malcolm: Life and Belief. 100 Units.

This course examines the religious, social, cultural, political, and personal factors that went into the making of the two most prominent public leaders and public intellectuals emerging from the African American community in the 1950s and 1960s: Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. We will review their autobiographies, the domestic trends within the USA, and the larger international forces operating during their times. Their life stories provide the contexts for the sharp differences and surprising commonalities in their political thought and religious beliefs. At the end of their lives, were they still radical contrasts, sharing the same views, or had their beliefs shifted - did Malcolm become Martin and Martin become Malcolm?

Instructor(s): Dwight Hopkins     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 24601, HIST 27209, RLST 24601, RDIN 24601

FNDL 24920. Primo Levi. 100 Units.

Witness, novelist, essayist, translator, linguist, chemist, and even entomologist. Primo Levi is a polyhedral author, and this course revisits his work in all its facets. We will privilege the most hybrid of his texts: The Search for Roots, an anthology that collects the author's favorite readings--a book assembled through the books of the others, but which represents Levi's most authentic portrait. By using this work as an entry point into Levi's universe, we will later explore his other texts, addressing issues such as the unsettling relationship between survival and testimony, the "sinful" choice of fiction, the oblique path towards autobiography, and the paradoxes of witnessing by proxy.

Instructor(s): Maria Anna Mariani     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): Open to advanced undergrads with consent of instructor.
Note(s): Taught in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 34920, ITAL 24920, JWSC 24920

FNDL 25716. The Linguistic Turn in Philosophy (Language, Meaning, Being) 100 Units.

How did philosophy come to be understood in the twentieth century as a special concern with our language? We shall deal with this question by studying the central philosophical approaches to language and philosophy (Frege, Wittgenstein, Carnap, Quine, Davidson, Dummett, McDowell).

Instructor(s): Irad Kimhi     Terms Offered: Winter. Winter 2025
Prerequisite(s): Consent Required for Undergraduate Students.
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 25716, SCTH 35716, PHIL 35716

FNDL 25911. bell hooks and Cornel West: Education for Resistance. 100 Units.

Cornel West and bell hooks are two of the most influential philosophers and cultural critics of the past half-century. Their writings-including their co-authored book-address pressing questions about politics, religion, race, education, film, and gender. In different ways, they each find resources for hope, love, and liberation in an unjust social order. In this course, we will read selections from their writings over the last forty years alongside the authors who influenced their thinking (including Du Bois, Freire, Morrison, King, and Baldwin). We will pay special attention to how hooks and West communicate to popular audiences, how they engage religious traditions (their own and others'), and the role of dialogue in their thought and practice. The goal of the course is not just to think about hooks and West, but to think with them about ethics, writing, American culture, and the aims of education. No prior familiarity with either author is required.

Instructor(s): Russell Johnson     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 25910, GNSE 25910

FNDL 25974. Henri Bergson in a (Particular) Theological Context. 100 Units.

In this course, we will consider two works of Henri Bergson - in their own right and, in each case, as they relate to an important idea from a major Christian theologian. First, we will examine Bergson's Creative Evolution. In addition to evaluating this work in the light of modern evolutionary biology, we will examine its view of life and of time in the context of Augustine's concepts of creation and time in Book XI of Confessions. Second, we will examine Bergson's Matter and Memory. In addition to evaluating this work in the light of modern neuroscience, we will examine its view of the incorporeality of the intellect in relation to a similar concept in Thomas Aquinas (the first part of his Treatise on Human Nature in Summa Theologica Part I, Questions 75-89).

Instructor(s): Stephen C. Meredith     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 23974

FNDL 26523. Dante's Vita Nuova: a Revolutionary Love. 100 Units.

The course consists of a close, discussion-based reading of Dante's "Vita nuova," examined within its biographical, literary and cultural context. The aim is to understand why the "Vita nuova," an autobiographical narration in vernacular about Dante's love for Beatrice, represents a revolutionary book in the panorama of Medieval literature. The course will proceed with the reading and analysis of the most important chapters and poems, which will be contextualized within the author's self-representation strategy. In this way, we will retrace the fundamental stages of the inner renewal that lead Dante to discover a new conception of love and poetry. Furthermore, some episodes will be read in relation to the cantos of "Purgatory" in which Dante returns to confront his past as a love poet. Finally, special attention will be paid to the relationship with Guido Cavalcanti, celebrated by Dante as "first friend" and dedicatee, but ultimately surpassed by Dante's new representation of love. Upon completion of the course, students should have improved their ability to think critically, and to understand and analyze a literary text on different levels of meaning. Furthermore, they should have developed an in-depth knowledge of Dante's works and the methodologies of Dante studies.

Instructor(s): Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor required for undergraduates.
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 26523, ITAL 36523, ITAL 26523

FNDL 27202. Dante's Divine Comedy II: Purgatorio. 100 Units.

This course is an intense study of the middle cantica of the "Divine Comedy" and its relationship with Dante's early masterpiece, the "Vita Nuova." The very middleness of the Purgatorio provides Dante the opportunity to explore a variety of problems dealing with our life here, now, on earth: contemporary politics, the relationship between body and soul, poetry and the literary canon, art and imagination, the nature of dreams, and, of course, love and desire. The Purgatorio is also Dante's most original contribution to the imagination of the underworld, equally influenced by new conceptualizations of "merchant time" and by contemporary travel writing and fantastic voyages.

Instructor(s): H. Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Course conducted in English. Those seeking Italian credit will do all work in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 32000, MDVL 22003, ITAL 22000

FNDL 27512. Dream of the Red Chamber: Forgetting About the Author. 100 Units.

The great Chinese-Manchu novel _Honglou meng_ (ca. 1750) has been assigned one major author, Cao Xueqin, whose life has been the subject of much investigation. But before 1922 little was known about Cao, and interpreters of the novel were forced to make headway solely on the basis of textual clues. The so-called "Three Commentators" edition (_Sanjia ping Shitou ji_) shows these readers at their creative, polemical, and far-fetched best. We will be reading the first 80 chapters of the novel and discussing its reception in the first 130 years of its published existence (1792-1922), with special attention to hermeneutical strategies and claims of authorial purpose. Familiarity with classical Chinese required.

Instructor(s): Haun Saussy     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Familiarity with classical Chinese required.
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 27512, EALC 37512, CMLT 37512, EALC 27512, SCTH 37512

FNDL 27523. Reading Kierkegaard. 100 Units.

This will be a discussion-centered seminar that facilitates close readings two texts: Philosophical Fragments and Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Each of these texts is officially by the pseudonymous author Johannes Climacus. But the author of that author is Soren Kierkegaard. Topics to be considered will include: What is subjectivity? What is objectivity? What is irony? What is humor? What is the difference between the ethical and the religious? What is it to become and be a human being? We shall also consider Kierkegaard's form of writing and manner of persuasion. In particular, why does he think he needs a pseudonymous author? (IV)

Instructor(s): Jonathan Lear     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): This course is intended for undergraduate majors in Philosophy and Fundamentals and graduate students in Social Thought and Philosophy. Permission of instructor required.
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 37523, PHIL 37523, SCTH 27523, PHIL 27523

FNDL 28150. Comparing Epic, Then and Now. 100 Units.

Two of the great epics of world literature, Gilgamesh and Beowulf, were only rediscovered in the nineteenth century, after being lost to the world for centuries. We will read both epics in translation, consider the consequences of their recovery for world literature, and look at expansions on their narratives by contemporary writers. How is our understanding of literature changed by the sudden emergence of an unknown masterpiece? What does it look like to respond to an instant classic? What gaps need to be filled, which parts would we rather were missing, and how do contemporary writers add on in a way that feels authentic to the original?

Instructor(s): Mark Payne     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 28550, NEHC 28550

FNDL 28202. Introduction to the New Testament: Texts and Contexts of Interpretation. 100 Units.

This class introduces students to the texts that make up the New Testament through close readings of representative examples. Through course lectures and readings, students will gain familiarity with the historical, geographical, social, religious, cultural, and political contexts of New Testament literature and the events they narrate. We will also learn about the central literary genres found within the collection of texts that came to form the canonical New Testament, including "gospels," "acts," "letters," and "apocalypses", and we will examine how awareness of genre conventions enhances our reading of these works. Students will also learn about the distinctive theological and cultural viewpoints contained within various New Testament texts. As we learn about the history of biblical scholarship, especially the goals and methods of biblical interpretation, we will practice refining our questions. Assignments and discussion will allow students to develop their skills as attuned readers of both ancient texts as well as modern biblical scholarship. PQ: No prior knowledge of biblical literature, the ancient world, or Christianity is expected. The only expectation is commitment to engaged discussion about the challenges of interpretation with classmates holding various viewpoints.

Instructor(s): Erin Walsh     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students. This course counts as a Gateway course for RLST majors/minors.
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 12500, RLST 12000, CLAS 32524, CLCV 22524, BIBL 32500

FNDL 28280. The Good Place and the Bad Place: Judgement, Punishment, and Living a Good Life. 100 Units.

Do you believe that you are a good person and, if so, why are you good? This course will investigate the connections between personal intentions to be a "good person" and the fear of punishment. What do we owe each other as ethical actors? Do the intentions of our actions matter or only the results of our actions? How can one be good in an increasingly complicated web of intersecting needs, social developments, and understandings of morality? This course will examine conceptions of hell, eternal punishment, and justice in a variety of religious traditions. In addition to reading authors such as Dante and John Milton, students will critically engage The Good Place, a sitcom which tackles deep questions of faith, morality, and the complexity of the human person. We will think through competing understandings of justice (retributive, distributive, and restorative) alongside our individual beliefs surrounding fairness and deservingness. No prior knowledge of religious studies or ethics is expected.

Instructor(s): Foster Pinkney     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 28280, RLST 28280

FNDL 29205. The Simultaneity of Time: Reading Jorge Luis Borges in the 21st Century. 100 Units.

Through complex and evolving perspectives of time, reading, language, and writing, Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) developed both an "ethics" and a "technics" of the "intellectual" vis-à-vis literature, history, and philosophy. Over the 20th century, the political and cultural consideration of his ethics and technics varied depending on the moment, but the debates only increased Borges´ influence as a language crafter and as a thinker, beyond the language he chose to write (Spanish, he could have been an English writer, but he opted for Spanish). The course will seek to serve as a collective close reading of the prose works (fiction and non-fiction) by Jorge Luis Borges, relying on excellent editions and translations: J. L. Borges, Collected Fictions (Viking, Pinguin 1998), translated by Andrew Hurley, and Jorge Luis Borges, Selected Non-Fictions (Pinguin 2000), edited and translate by Eliot Weinberger, Esther Allen, Suzanne Jill Levine. Each session will consist of a short contextualization and introduction by the instructor, a general discussion, and a short dialogue especially addressing the concerns of those students who decide to read Borges´ works in the original Spanish.

Instructor(s): Mauricio Tenorio     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): LACS 29205, HIST 26307

FNDL 29405. La Princesse de Clèves and the Genesis of the Modern Novel. 100 Units.

Madame de La Fayette's 1678 novel represents a turning point in the international development of the psychological novel and historical fiction. Set in a Renaissance past of courtly international intrigue, the novel plumbs its characters' interiorized struggles with erotic desire, marriage, and adultery, forging a path for later novelists such as Flaubert, George Eliot, and Tolstoy. We will examine debates about its literary form and moral impact, as well as around gender and women's writing, placing the novel in a transnational context (Spanish, Italian, and English romances, drama, and moral philosophy) and its later reception, including film adaptations and its role in heated contemporary controversies around the place of the humanities in society. Students are encouraged to undertake individual comparative research projects in relation to the novel. Course taught in English but reading ability in French required.

Instructor(s): Larry Norman      Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor required for undergrads; those seeking FREN credit must have completed at least one French literature course, 21700 or higher.
Note(s): All work in French for students seeking FREN credit; written work may be in English for others.
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 38990, FREN 28900, FREN 38900, CMLT 28990

FNDL 20097. Medieval Metaphysics: Thomas Aquinas on Potency and Act. 100 Units.

Our central text will be Thomas Aquinas's commentary on Metaphysics IX, which is Aristotle's thematic treatment of potency and act. We will frame this with other passages-from parts of Thomas's Metaphysics commentary, from his commentaries on other works of Aristotle, especially the Physics, and from some of his stand-alone writings-which exhibit ways in which he uses and extends the concepts. Time permitting, we will also look into Thomas's famous notion of being (esse) as the "actuality of all acts." It has Neoplatonic roots, and its compatibility with Aristotle's thought on being and act is disputed. (B)

Instructor(s): Stephen Brock     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates who are not Philosophy majors need the instructor’s consent.
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 30097, PHIL 20097

FNDL 20201. Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. 100 Units.

A murder mystery where the riddle is not "Who?" but "Why?"---Why did the expelled student murder a pawnbroker? Why were innocents punished and exploiters vindicated? Why is justice out of reach, compassion rare, and even communication difficult? And, given these disappointments, why have readers and writers around the world been obsessed with Crime and Punishment since its publication over 150 years ago? Dostoevsky's novels "claw their way into us" (Iser), "we are drawn in, whirled around, suffocated…" (Woolf). Although he was "a messenger" to James Baldwin, "more human, better than human" in Akira Kurosawa's estimation, and "the only psychologist" worth learning from according to Friedrich Nietzsche, the real-life Dostoevsky was a desperate gambler, cheater, and chauvinist, not unlike some of the worst characters in his novels. He was recently heralded as both an example of Russian humanism (by Pope Francis) and the "father of Russian fascism" (by a Russian intellectual). Reading Crime and Punishment, we will endeavor to make sense of Dostoevsky's--and the novel's--failures and triumphs. Topics we explore will include historical events and the reception of the novel; religion, race, class and gender; and questions of politics and ethics.

Instructor(s): Ania Aizman     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 30306, REES 30205, ENGL 20306, REES 20205

FNDL 20700. Thomas Aquinas on God, Being, Human Nature, and Evil. 100 Units.

This course considers sections from Saint Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica. Among the topics considered are God's existence; the relationship between God and Being; and human nature.

Instructor(s): S. Meredith     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CLCV 23712, MDVL 20700, RLST 23605

FNDL 21300. James Joyce: Ulysses. 100 Units.

This course considers themes that include the problems of exile, homelessness, and nationality; the mysteries of paternity and maternity; the meaning of the Return; Joyce's epistemology and his use of dream, fantasy, and hallucinations; and Joyce's experimentation with and use of language.

Instructor(s): S. Meredith     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 21301

FNDL 21714. Boccaccio's Decameron. 100 Units.

One of the most important and influential works of the middle ages-and a lot funnier than the "Divine Comedy." Written in the midst of the social disruption caused by the Black Death (1348), the "Decameron" may have held readers attention for centuries because of its bawdiness, but it is also a profound exploration into the basis of faith and the meaning of death, the status of language, the construction of social hierarchy and social order, and the nature of crisis and historical change. Framed by a storytelling contest between seven young ladies and three young men who have left the city to avoid the plague, the one hundred stories of Boccaccio's "Decameron" form a structural masterpiece that anticipates the Renaissance epics, Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," and the modern short story. Students will be encouraged to further explore in individual projects the many topics raised by the text, including (and in addition to the themes mentioned above) magic, the visual arts, mercantile culture, travel and discovery, and new religious practices.

Instructor(s): H. Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 33502, MDVL 23502, ITAL 23502

FNDL 21772. Three Comedies of Sexual Revolution. 100 Units.

This seminar will discuss three comedies of sexual revolution from three different times and places. Aristophanes's Assemblywomen recounts how under the leadership of the able Praxagora the women of Athens take over the Assembly and legislate a new regime in which private property is replaced by communism and sexual equity is achieved in favor of the old and unattractive at the expense of the young and attractive. Machiavelli's Mandragola dramatizes the tricks by which young Callimaco manages with the aid of the trickster parasite Ligurio to have sex with Lucrezia, the beautiful young wife of the elderly lawyer Nicomaco, with the consent of both her and her husband, ushering in a new regime in which all are satisfied. In Shakespeare's Measure for Measure Angelo the interim duke of Vienna institutes a repressive sexual regime in which the brothels are closed and extramarital sex is a capital crime. What might we learn about sexual relations from these diverse plays? Why are they comedies?

Instructor(s): Nathan Tarcov & Glenn Most      Terms Offered: Spring. Spring 2024
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates need the Instructor's permission to register.
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 35997, SCTH 35997, CMLT 25823, CLAS 37623, PLSC 35997, GNSE 25997, CMLT 35997, SCTH 25823, CLCV 27623, PLSC 25997

FNDL 21804. Dante's Divine Comedy III: Paradiso. 100 Units.

An in-depth study of the third cantica of Dante's masterpiece, considered the most difficult but in many ways also the most innovative. Read alongside his scientific treatise the "Convivio" and his political manifesto the "Monarchia."

Instructor(s): H. Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): Completion of the previous courses in the sequence not required, but students should familiarize themselves with the "Inferno" and the "Purgatorio" before the first day of class.
Note(s): Course conducted in English. Those seeking Italian credit will do all work in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 32101, MDVL 22101, ITAL 22101

FNDL 21810. Italo Calvino. 100 Units.

Italo Calvino is one of the most important authors of the twentieth century. We will read some of his most famous books in Italian. Among others, we will study Le Cita, Invisibili, Gli Amori Difficili, Il Barone Rampante, Se Una Notte D'Inverno Un Viaggiatore. Reading Calvino is an essential experience for all students of Italian culture. We will place his books and his poetics in the context of modern Italian culture and Western European post-modernism.

Instructor(s): A. Maggi     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 21800

FNDL 21820. Italo Calvino: the Dark Side. 100 Units.

An intense reading of Italo Calvino's later works: we will contemplate the orbital debris of "Cosmicomics" and "t zero," and we will follow the labyrinthine threads of "The Castle of Crossed Destinies" and the "Invisible Cities." After stumbling upon the suspended multiple beginnings of "If On a Winter's Night a Traveler," we will probe the possibilities of literature with the essays collected in "Una pietra sopra." Finally, we will encounter "Mr Palomar," who will provide us with a set of instructions on how to neutralize the self and "learn how to be dead." The approach will be both philosophical and historical, focusing on Calvino's ambiguous fascination with science, his critique of the aporias of reason and the "dementia" of the intellectual, and his engagement with the nuclear threat of total annihilation.

Instructor(s): Maria Anna Mariani     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Taught in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 31820, ITAL 21820

FNDL 22204. Italian Renaissance: Petrarch, Machiavelli, and the Wars of Popes and Kings. 100 Units.

Florence, Rome, and the Italian city-states in the age of plagues and cathedrals, Petrarch and Machiavelli, Medici and Borgia (1250-1600), with a focus on literature, philosophy, primary sources, the revival of antiquity, and the papacy's entanglement with pan-European politics. We will examine humanism, patronage, politics, corruption, assassination, feuds, art, music, magic, censorship, education, science, heresy, and the roots of the Reformation. Writing assignments focus on higher level writing skills, with a creative writing component linked to our in-class role-played reenactment of a Renaissance papal election (LARP). First-year students and non-History majors welcome.

Instructor(s): A. Palmer     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Graduate students by consent only; register for the course as HIST 90000 Reading and Research: History.
Note(s): Assignments: short papers, alternative projects.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 22203, CLCV 22216, MDVL 12203, HIST 12203, KNOW 12203, RENS 12203, ITAL 16000, SIGN 26034

FNDL 22212. Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. 100 Units.

This seminar will introduce some of the central concepts of psychoanalysis: Mourning and Melancholia, Repetition and Remembering, Transference, Neurosis, the Unconscious, Identification, Psychodynamic, Eros, Envy, Gratitude, Splitting, Death. The central theme will be how these concepts shed light on human flourishing and the characteristic ways we fail to flourish. Readings from Plato, Aristotle, Freud, Loewald, Lacan, Melanie Klein, Betty Joseph, Hanna Segal and others.

Instructor(s): Jonathan Lear; Dr. Alfred Margulies     Terms Offered: Spring. Spring 2025
Prerequisite(s): Instructor's consent is required for all students.
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 55512, PHIL 22212, PHIL 51413

FNDL 22601. The Making and Unmaking of Petrarch's Canzoniere. 100 Units.

This course is an intensive reading of Petrarch's influential and groundbreaking self-anthology. Petrarch's collecting and ordering of his own work is in many ways without precedent. We examine in particular the historical redactions of the Canzoniere, its status as a work-in-progress, what Petrarch excluded from its various forms (especially the Rime disperse), early drafts, and authorial variants. The emergence of a new role for the vernacular author and the shifting space of handwriting and the book are central concerns in our discussions, and we make frequent use of facsimiles and diplomatic editions.

Instructor(s): J. Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 32600, ITAL 22600

FNDL 22418. The Scopes Trial in Historical Perspective. 100 Units.

This course will explore in depth and in detail the 1925 Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, especially in light of its centennial. We will examine the transcript of the trial, newspaper editorials, cartoons, scholarly analyses, and various contemporary observations on the meaning and significance of the trial. Among the topics covered are the fundamentalist/modernist controversy of the 1920s and its consequences, interpretations of the origins and tenacity of the anti-evolution campaign, and broader debates about science and religion and the contested authority of experts in American society. Though much of the historical analysis will focus on the 1920s, some attention will be paid to the implications of this highly publicized trial and what it came to signify about larger cultural, political, and religious divisions in the United States.

Instructor(s): Curtis Evans     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the HS or SCSR Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 22418, HCHR 32418, HIST 37609, RAME 32418, HIST 27609, AMER 32418, RLST 22418

FNDL 22671. Orhan Pamuk. 100 Units.

What happens when postmodern fiction refuses to stay post? What if the most radical act of postmodernism is embracing history? Pamuk's novels reimagine the past in ways that refuse to settle for the fragmented, chaotic world we are told to expect. This course explores a selection of key works by Nobel Prize-winning author Pamuk, including his modernist novel The New Life and his postmodern masterpieces such as The White Castle, My Name is Red, and A Strangeness in My Mind. How does Pamuk use Istanbul in his work? Does it function merely as a setting, or does it take on the role of a character, with its history, contradictions, and politics reshaping the narrative? We will also engage with selections from Pamuk's essays on literary craft and his memoir Istanbul to better understand his layered relationship with this complex city. Pamuk's works offer a nuanced exploration of East and West, confronting the legacy of Orientalism while subverting postmodern conventions. How does he reframe techniques like metafiction, unreliable narrators, or nonlinear time to explore memory, identity, and the restless nature of modernity? We will also trace the evolution of Pamuk's style and examine how his growing global audience influences his self-presentation as a writer.

Instructor(s): Levi, Melih     Terms Offered: Spring Winter

FNDL 23003. Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of Changes (Yijing) 100 Units.

This course will consist of close readings, in Classical Chinese, of commentarial expansions on the Yijing (Zhouyi) developing its ontological, metaphysical, cosmological, epistemological and ethical implications. Readings will include some or all of the following: the "Ten Wings" (including the "Xicizhuan"), the works of Wang Bi, Han Kangbo, Wei Boyang, Dongshan Liangjie, Shao Yong, Zhang Boduan, Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi, Wang Fuzhi, Ouyi Zhixu, and Liu Yiming.

Instructor(s): Brook Ziporyn     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Proficiency in Classical Chinese required.
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity student.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 23003, EALC 23003, HREL 53003, EALC 33003, DVPR 53003

FNDL 23599. Christian and Anti-Christian: Kierkegaard and Nietzsche on Religion and Morality. 100 Units.

This course explores two radically different assessments of religion and morality, one by the Protestant thinker Søren Kierkegaard, and the other by an arch-critic of religion and "morality," Friedrich Nietzsche. The course will focus on their assessments of religious faith and its relation to morality and the human good. We will explore Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling and also Nietzsche's works, On the Genealogy of Morals. The course moves in interlocking moments: an inquiry into Kierkegaard's and Nietzsche's account of religion and its moral outlook, and their outlooks on how best to live given their assessments of religion and morality. Additionally, the course will explore their styles of writing and the relation between style and the purpose and content of their thought. The general aim of the course, then, is to explore two seminal minds in the development of Western thought with the question in mind of their possible contribution to current religious and ethical thinking.

Instructor(s): William Schweiker     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): THEO 33599, RETH 33599, RLST 23599

FNDL 24202. Hildegard of Bingen. 100 Units.

Hildegard of Bingen (d. 1179) is difficult to categorize. Abbess, visionary, poet, playwright, preacher, physician, theologian, scriptual exegete, composer, Hildegard is best-known for her idiosyncratic use of imagery for the exploration of Christian doctrine, but only rarely are modern scholars equipped with the technical training to appreciate the various media in which she worked, nor are they typically versed in the cosmological and mathematical studies on which Hildegard's multi-media imagery depended. This course combines study of Hildegard's visionary writings with in-depth attention to the artistic, scientific, liturgical, and institutional context in which she worked. Particular attention will be given to her training in the verbal and mathematical arts, especially music, and to the role of the virtues in her calls for psychological and ecclesiastical reform. Course requirements will include exercises in various arts and a final research paper on select aspects of Hildegard's oeuvre.

Instructor(s): R. Fulton Brown
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 42402

FNDL 24709. Morality and Psychology in the Films of Ingmar Bergman. 100 Units.

The films of the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman are among the most powerful, complicated, and philosophically sophisticated portrayals of moral and religious and failed moral and religious life in the twentieth century. Bergman is especially concerned with crisis experiences and with related emotional states like anguish, alienation, guilt, despair, loneliness, shame, abandonment, conversion, and the mystery of death. We will watch and discuss eight of his most important films in this course with such issues in mind: Wild Strawberries (1957), The Virgin Spring (1960), Winter Light (1963), Persona (1966), Shame (1968), Cries and Whispers (1973), Autumn Sonata (1978), Fanny and Alexander (1982). (A)

Instructor(s): Robert Pippin     Terms Offered: Spring. Spring 2025
Prerequisite(s): Instructor's permission is required for all students.
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 34709, SCTH 38005, GRMN 24709, CMST 38005, PHIL 24709, GRMN 34709

FNDL 24819. Maniacs, Specters, Automata: The Tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann. 100 Units.

In this seminar, we will read stories by one of the most prominent representatives of Romanticism, the German writer, composer, and painter E.T.A. Hoffmann who wrote "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" on which Tchaikovsky would later base his ballet. His stories of bizarre yet psychologically compelling characters will introduce us to the "dark side" of Romanticism as well as to its fantastical aspects. Students will read Hoffmann's extraordinary stories, develop skills of literary analysis, and engage in historical inquiry by tracing the way in which Hoffmann's texts engage with the context of their time, in particular with the history of medicine (mesmerism, early psychiatry), alchemy, and law (Hoffmann worked as a legal official). Readings and discussions in English. (Original texts will be made available for those who read German).

Instructor(s): Margareta Ingrid Christian     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 34819, GRMN 24819, MAPH 34819

FNDL 25218. Suhrawardi and His Interpreters. 100 Units.

Shihāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī (d. 1191), the founder of the ishrāqī philosophical tradition, is undoubtedly one of the most innovative and influential philosophers in the history of Islamic thought. In this seminar, we will examine major themes in the writings of Suhrawardī along with excerpts from Arabic commentaries by Muslim and Jewish authors such as Ibn Kammūnah (d. 1284), Shahrazūrī (d. 1288), Quṭb al-Dīn Shīrāzī (d. 1311), Dawānī (d.1502), Dashtakī (d. 1542), Qarabāghī (d. 1625) and Harawī (d. 1689). Topics include, Suhrawardī's understanding of the history of philosophy, light and the order of existence, virtues and human happiness, self-knowledge and self-awareness, conceptual and non-conceptual knowledge, and theory of ritual actions.

Instructor(s): Nariman Aavani     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): 2 years of Arabic.
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 25218, NEHC 35218, ISLM 35218, MDVL 25218, NEHC 25218

FNDL 25308. Black Theology: Hopkins Versus Cone. 100 Units.

Black Theology of Liberation, an indigenous USA discipline and movement, began on July 31, 1966 and spread nationally and internationally when James H. Cone published his first book in March 1969. Since that time, a second generation has emerged. In this course, we will create a debate between the second generation (represented by Dwight N. Hopkins) and the first generation (represented by James H. Cone). We will look at the political, economic, cultural, gender, and sexual orientation parts of this debate.

Instructor(s): Dwight Hopkins     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 23111, RLST 23111, GLST 23111

FNDL 25424. Spiritual Exercises: Giving Form to Thought and Life from Plato to Descartes. 100 Units.

This course will examine the tradition of spiritual exercises from antiquity to the early modern period. Spiritual exercises were at the core of classical paideia, the regimen of self-formation designed and promoted by ancient philosophers, orators, and other pedagogues. As Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault have demonstrated, ancient philosophy first and foremost has to be understood as a "way of life," as a set of techniques and practices for shaping the self according to wisdom. It was not until philosophy's critical turn with Kant that it shed its practical dimension and became a "theoretical" discipline. Early Christianity, stylizing itself as the "true philosophy," eagerly adopted the ancient spiritual exercises and retooled them for its salvational ends. Throughout the middle ages and early modern period spiritual exercises and meditative techniques informed a host of religious, cultural, and artistic practices and media such as prayer and devotional reading, religious art and poetry, but also theatrical performances and musical works. We will focus on individual exercises like the meditation, the examination of conscience, the discernment of spirits, the application of senses, prosoche (attention), consolation, contemplation, etc., and discuss authors such as Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, John Cassian, Augustine, Bonaventure, Ignatius, Descartes, and others.

Instructor(s): Christopher Wild     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 35424, CMLT 25424, COGS 22017, GRMN 25424, CLAS 35423, RLVC 35424, RLST 25424, CMLT 35424, CLCV 25423

FNDL 26043. Versailles: Art, Power, Resistance and the Sun King's Palace. 100 Units.

Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles helped shape European culture and history from the Baroque era through the French Revolution, and it continues to animate contemporary international culture. How does this astounding assemblage of architecture, visual arts, landscaping, performance spaces and political arenas reveal transformations in cultural tastes and power arrangements over the centuries? How do literature and art alternately support and subvert absolutist power and state propaganda? To respond we will range across media, from the bitingly satiric comedies and provocative tragedies of the seventeenth century (Molière, Racine), through royal edicts regulating colonial slavery and first-hand accounts of the 1789 Women's March on Versailles that upended the monarchy, and finally to cinematic depictions (from Jean Renoir to Sophia Coppola) and experimental palace installations by the world's leading contemporary artists (Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, etc.). While this course will broadly introduce major themes of French and European culture and history of the early-modern and modern periods, students are also encouraged to pursue in-depth projects in their own areas of interest, from history and political philosophy to the visual arts, theater and performance, and literature.

Instructor(s): L. Norman     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): Students who register under FREN 26043 must have completed FREN 20300 or equivalent, and will read French texts in the original.
Note(s): Class conducted in English, with French discussion sessions and reading and writing in French for students registered under FREN 26043.
Equivalent Course(s): FREN 26043, SIGN 26043

FNDL 26401. Torquato Tasso. 100 Units.

This course investigates the entire corpus of Torquato Tasso, the major Italian poet of the second half of the sixteenth century. We read in detail the "Gerusalemme Liberata" and "Aminta," his two most famous works, in the context of their specific literary genre. We then spend some time examining the intricacies of his vast collection of lyric poetry, including passages from his poem "Il mondo creato." We also consider some of his dialogues in prose that address essential issues of Renaissance culture, such as the theories of love, emblematic expression, and the meaning of friendship.

Instructor(s): A. Maggi     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in Italian.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 26401, ITAL 36401

FNDL 27003. Philosophy and Comedy: Leo Strauss's "Socrates and Aristophanes" 100 Units.

Leo Strauss's Socrates and Aristophanes (1966) discusses not only the most important and most influential of all comedies, The Clouds, but also all the other comedies by Aristophanes that have come down to us. The book is the only writing of Strauss's that deals with the whole corpus of a philosopher or poet. And it is the most intense and most demanding interpretation of Aristophanes a philosopher has presented up to now. In Socrates and Aristophanes Strauss carries on a dialogue with Aristophanes on the wisdom of the poet, on the just and unjust speech, on philosophy and politics, on the diversity of human natures, and on an œuvre that asks the question: quid est deus? what is a god?

Instructor(s): Heinrich Meier     Terms Offered: Spring. Course will be taught Spring 2022.
Prerequisite(s): Open to undergraduates with instructor consent.
Note(s): The seminar will take place on Monday/Wednesday, 10:30 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.*, during the first five weeks of the term (March 28 – April 27, 2022).
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 37324, PHIL 37324, SCTH 37324, CLAS 37521

FNDL 27004. Politics and Philosophy: Leo Strauss' s "The City and Man" 100 Units.

The City and Man is a philosophical discussion of the complex relation between politics and philosophy. In chapter 1 (on Aristotle) politics is considered from the perspective of the citizen or statesman; in chapter 2 (on Plato's Republic) it is reflected on from the point of view of the philosopher; and in chapter 3 (on Thucydides' History) it is seen within the horizon of the prephilosophic political community. The center of the book is Strauss's dialogue with Plato's Republic. Strauss interprets "the broadest and deepest analysis of political idealism ever made" as a work of education. This education has a moderating effect on political ambition and leads its best readers to the philosophic life. The longest and perhaps most intriguing chapter, Strauss's discussion of Thucydides, focuses on the political life and leads up to the question "what is a god?"

Instructor(s): Heinrich Meier     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Open to undergraduates with the instructor's consent.
Note(s): Monday / Wed, 9:30 am – 12:20 p.m.*, during the first five weeks of the term (March 20 – April 19, 2023)
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 37325, SCTH 37325, PHIL 27325, CLCV 27422, CLAS 37422

FNDL 27007. Leo Strauss' Philosophical "Autobiography" 100 Units.

Leo Strauss did not write an autobiography. However, he did mark out his path of thought through autobiographical reflections on the decisive challenges to which his oeuvre responded. The philosophically most demanding confrontation that Strauss presented on the question of how he became what he was is the so-called Autobiographical Preface of 1965, which he included in the American translation of his first book, "Spinoza's Critique of Religion" (originally published in 1930). Two decades earlier, in the lecture The Living Issues of German Postwar Philosophy (1940), he made a first autobiographical attempt to publicly ascertain himself and determine his position. And in 1970 he published the concise retrospective A Giving of Accounts. The seminar will make these writings - which illuminate the significance of Nietzsche and Heidegger for Strauss and address his early engagement with revealed religion and politics, in a constellation ranging from Hermann Cohen and Franz Rosenzweig to Karl Barth and Carl Schmitt - the subject of a close reading. Selected letters to Karl Löwith, Gershom Scholem and others will be used as supplementary texts.

Instructor(s): Heinrich Meier     Terms Offered: Spring. Spring 2024
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates Need the Instructor's Permission to Register.
Note(s): Monday/Wednesday, 10:30 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.*, during the first five weeks of the term (March 18 – April 17, 2024). * The time may be changed after the first session to 10:00 a.m. – 1:10 p.m.
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 27326, CLAS 37423, PHIL 27326, DVPR 37326, CLCV 27423, SCTH 37326, PHIL 37326

FNDL 27107. Frankenstein: Making Monsters in Science and Religion. 100 Units.

And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper," writes Mary Shelley of Frankenstein. In framing her 1818 novel as itself a monster with agency, she raises questions about why and how we continue to create and regard our creations as monstrous. Why has the creation of artificial life fascinated us from ancient times to modern A.I.? How do we recognize and identify monsters, and what role do we have in their creation? Are creators responsible for their creations, or alienated from them? This class combines close reading of Frankenstein with religious and scientific texts on monsters, the creation of artificial life, and our moral responsibilities to our creations. We will discuss what narratives about the monstrous tell us about our values, how the "human" is contrasted with its opposites, and why the story of Frankenstein-as well as its predecessors and imitators-remains so hauntingly compelling.

Instructor(s): Alex Matthews     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 27107, HIPS 27107

FNDL 27200. Dante's Divine Comedy 1: Inferno. 100 Units.

This is the first part of a sequence focusing on Dante's masterpiece. We examine Dante's Inferno in its cultural (i.e., historical, artistic, philosophical, sociopolitical) context. In particular, we study Dante's poem alongside other crucial Latin and vernacular texts of his age. They include selections from the Bible, Virgil's Aeneid, Augustine's Confessions, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and the stilnovist and Siculo-Tuscan poets. Political turmoil, economic transformation, changing philosophical and theological paradigms, and social and religious conflict all converge in the making of the Inferno.

Instructor(s): H. Justin Steinberg     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 2025-26
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 21900, ITAL 31900, ITAL 21900

FNDL 27328. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Gay Science. 100 Units.

The Gay Science is the only work that Nietzsche wrote and published before and after the Zarathustra experiment of 1883-1885. It first appeared in 1882, ending with the last aphorism of Book IV and anticipating verbatim the opening of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In 1887 Nietzsche republished The Gay Science and added a substantial new part: Book V looks back to "the greatest recent event" announced by The Gay Science of 1882, "that 'God is dead'." I shall concentrate my interpretation on books IV and V, the only books of The Gay Science for which Nietzsche provided titles: "Sanctus Januarius" and "We Fearless Ones." And I shall pay special attention to the impact of the Zarathustra endeavor, which separates and connects these dense and carefully written books.

Instructor(s): Heinrich Meier     Terms Offered: Spring. Spring 2025
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduates Need Instructor's Permission to Register.
Note(s): The seminar will take place in Foster 505 on Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.*, during the first five weeks of the term (March 24 – April 23, 2025).
Equivalent Course(s): SCTH 37327, PHIL 37328, PHIL 27328, GRMN 37327

FNDL 27517. Metaphysics, Morbidity, & Modernity: Mann's The Magic Mountain. 100 Units.

Our main task in this course is to explore in detail one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain. But this novel is also a window onto the entirety of modern European thought, and it provides, at the same time, a telling perspective of the crisis of European culture prior to and following on World War I. It is, in Thomas Mann's formulation, a time-novel: a novel about its time, but also a novel about human being in time. For anyone interested in the configuration of European intellectual life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Mann's great (and challenging) novel is indispensible reading. Lectures will relate Mann's novel to its great European counterparts (e.g., Proust, Joyce, Musil), to the traditions of European thought from Voltaire to Georg Lukacs, from Schopenhauer to Heidegger, from Marx to Max Weber.

Instructor(s): David Wellbery      Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 27517, SIGN 26086, CMLT 27517

FNDL 27603. Greek Oratory. 100 Units.

Aeschines and Demosthenes. These two orators were fierce rivals in Athens; the luck of textual transmission allows us to read both of them smearing the other, and to explore what apparently passed for valid argument in the Athenian lawcourts. Demosthenes produced his finest work in attacking Aeschines; in this class we will explore both men's writings in depth.

Terms Offered: Spring. Topic: Aeschines and Demonsthenes
Prerequisite(s): Two years or more of Greek.
Note(s): This course will not be offered 2022-23 will be offered 2025-26.
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 21900, GREK 31900

FNDL 27951. Nathaniel Hawthorne. 100 Units.

An enigma to contemporaries, Nathaniel Hawthorne remains an uncanny, untimely literary mind. In this course we will read the full range of his writings - short stories, journals, political commentary, and the antirealist long fictions he called "romances" - in search of the writer Jorge Luis Borges considered the first great dreamer of modern literature. With Borges in mind, we will also consider Hawthorne's influence on the development of Anglo-American weird fiction.

Instructor(s): Payne, Mark     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): n/a
Note(s): Open to Fundamentals majors; non-majors with instructor consent only.

FNDL 28005. Ella Deloria's Iron Hawk and the Lakȟóta Literary Tradition. 100 Units.

This course explores the Lakȟóta epic poem Iron Hawk, composed bilingually in the 1920s and 1930s from a centuries-old oral storytelling tradition. We will discuss the poem's major themes of mythic etiology and communal kinship, as expressed in the words of its two named authors, oral poet Makhúla and anthropologist Ella Deloria. Our close reading is grounded in the poem's cultural origins among the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ nation, and we will think carefully about how this story of generosity and kinship implicates indigenous and non-indigenous American readers today. Supplementary readings from Julian Rice, Robert Bringhurst, and David Treuer will help contextualize the poem as a fundamental text of indigenous American literature.

Instructor(s): J. Marsan     Terms Offered: Spring

FNDL 28872. Jews in Nazi Germany: Lion Feuchtwanger's novel The Oppermanns in historical context. 100 Units.

Recently republished in 2022, Lion Feuchtwanger's 1933 best-seller The Oppermanns depicts a Jewish family who grapple with the Nazi seizure of power in Germany. Like many at the time, the Oppemanns think that the regime will be short-lived, but Feuchtwanger's prescient novel anticipates the entrenchment of Nazi power and the creeping curtailment of Jewish life in Germany with uncanny accuracy-from the thugs attacking individuals to the Ministry of Propaganda's demonization of Jewish Germans in mass media, via the enforced "Aryanization" of businesses required to employ non-Jewish managers. Discussion will focus on Feuchtwanger's nuanced portrayal of the distinct ways in which family members react to these assaults, supplemented by historical texts, including the analysis of Nazi language (1946) by Victor Klemperer, a Jewish-German survivor, and documents in the Weimar Republic Sourcebook.

Instructor(s): Loren Kruger     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Required: Complete HUM core
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 28872, GRMN 28872, CMLT 28872, JWSC 28872

FNDL 29301. Asceticism: Forming the Self. 100 Units.

In recent decades scholars of the pre-modern period have turned to the body as a site of renewed historical inquiry. Within the study of religion, this shift has reanimated discussions around asceticism as a particularly potent technē for self-fashioning. Nevertheless, scholars have struggled to theorize asceticism across religious traditions. This signature course, taught by two scholars working in disparate historical periods and religious traditions (early Christianity and medieval Indian religious literature), explores how gender theory has engaged ascetic practices for understanding the body and human potential. Students will engage asceticism as a series of techniques or forms of life that envision the sexed and gendered human body as the horizon of corporeal expression and personal imagination. Asceticism serves as a neat conceptual device, allowing us to toggle between the mind and body while tackling questions that fall within the liminal space between them, including debates around gender, sexuality, sovereignty, and biopower. Students along with the instructors will contend with the challenges and opportunities of transnational and transhistorical feminist and queer inquiry as we traverse across the boundaries of tradition, language, and culture. While drawing on rich historical and religious archives, we will anchor our discussions around the interplay of two principal authors: Giorgio Agamben and Michel Foucault.

Instructor(s): Erin Walsh; Sarah Pierce Taylor     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): No prior knowledge of the religious traditions or critical theory discussed is expected.
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 29300, BIBL 39300, HREL 39300, RLVC 39300, HCHR 39300, CLAS 39300, CLCV 29300, GNSE 29303, ANTH 29300, ANTH 39301, GNSE 39303, SIGN 26074

FNDL 29947. Autotheory/Autofiction. 100 Units.

A resurgence of contemporary life writing has been characterized by the terms "autotheory" and "autofiction." These terms point to ways in which contemporary life writing complicates narrative presentations of selfhood by inflecting autobiography through generically estranged kinds of writing, theory and fiction. Narrative exposition may be further complicated by issues of gender insecurity and interwoven practices of reading and writing that invite non-narrative, meta-narrative, or intertextual exploration in the presentation of a life project. In this course we will examine contemporary exemplars of autotheory and autofiction in light of exemplars from earlier phases of modernity and pre-modernity in European and East Asian literature. All readings will be in English, although there will be an opportunity to discuss texts in French and Chinese in the original language.

Instructor(s): Mark Payne     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 29947