Global Arc

A focused view of a problem or issue in poetry, changing from year to year. Recent topics have emphasized problems of poetic language, metrics, poetry and social life, poetic influence and canonization, and the relations between poetry and other art forms. One three-hour seminar.

Is comedy necessary? What calls for comedy? Why does comedy often deal with topics that we think are no laughing matters? When does comedy become obsolete, and how do new comedic voices and figures emerge? We will look at comedies from various historical periods (ancient to contemporary), cultural traditions, and artforms (drama, fiction, film, stand-up). We will study their conventions, plots, props, jokes, and running gags (both physical and verbal) and also read theoretical writings on comedy as we consider its perils and promises.

A detailed discussion of different bodies of theatrical literature, with emphasis and choice of materials varying from year to year. The focus will be on a group of related plays falling within a specific historical period, the developing work of one playwright, or the relationships among thematics, characterization, and structure. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

Courses offered under this rubric will investigate ethical questions in literature. Topics will range from a critical study of the textual forms these questions take to a historical study of an issue traditionally debated by both literature and ethics (responsibility, rhetoric, justice, violence, oppression). Two lectures, one preceptorial.

How does Beowulf work as a poem? In this course, we will find out, learning the poem through close study of its manuscript context and of its literary and historical milieux. We will examine its genre; sources of and analogues to it; its metrics; its place in theories of oral performance; codicological problems (e.g., why the manuscript looks as it does; how paleography helps to date the poem); and its historical and cultural settings. Tune up your harp, sharpen your wits, and find out why this poem is first in collections of English literature.

How do novels represent the global? How have new media systems and economic exchange transformed not only the way novels are produced and distributed but also the internal form of the literary works themselves? This course examines how writers register the interconnected nature of modern life and the narrative strategies that they invent to make sense of migration, war, urbanization, and financialization. Students will learn interdisciplinary methods for reading literature's potential for sociological and historical knowledge by considering how the global novel grapples with empire and what political futures it forecloses and opens up.

Elementary Korean is designed for beginning students who intend to build a solid foundation for further study in the Korean language. The course provides four balanced language skills - listening, speaking, reading, and writing - needed for basic communication. It emphasizes the ability to use Korean appropriately and introduces students to useful information concerning culture and daily life in Korea.

A continuation of KOR 101. Continued development of proficiency in basic communication by balancing four language skills - listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

The first part of Intensive Korean is designed for heritage students who have already had considerable amount of exposure to the Korean language and culture but have not received any formal instruction before their arriving at Princeton. It covers the Elementary Korean material focusing on vocabulary building, grammar, reading and writing.

Intermediate Korean is designed for students who have learned the basics of the Korean language and want to improve their competence to a higher level. Complex sentences and grammar are covered while the basics are reviewed. Balancing four language skills -- listening, speaking, reading, and writing -- is emphasized.