20 Literature Course Programs

Do you love the scientific study of languages and the written works of literature? Language allows us to express our thoughts, interrogate our beliefs, establish bonds with others and gain insight into who we are. By selecting a few semester courses, students will develop a particular awareness of language in all its splendour and will become astutely mindful of the important role that language plays in the life of an individual and a society. The purpose of these courses are to produce students who can demonstrate a critical understanding and skill in the fields of language, literacies, and literature as well as research in the field of educational linguistics with the purpose of engaging positively with language diversity issues encountered in today’s society. Join the Semester Study Abroad Programme today! Choose from a variety of bachelor and master’s courses, across a wide range of disciplines for international credit transfer.

Spanish, the fourth most spoken language globally with over 580 million speakers, is crucial in the U.S. and worldwide, reflecting the economic and cultural significance of Spanish-speaking regions. Learning Spanish, especially for business, offers a competitive edge. Literature and linguistics connect us to a society's heritage, with Spain's rich literary tradition spanning from the Golden Age to post-Civil War works, highlighting its global impact.

This program aims at exploring a wide range of topics in the Portuguese language, Brazilian literature, literature in English, Comparative literature, Translation Studies, Cultural Studies. the courses will focus on issues such

Read a wide variety of foundational and exciting ancient texts as their authors originally wrote them. Epic and lyric poetry, tragedies and comedies, history, philosophy, or early Christian literature, consider a major in Classical Languages and Literature, especially if you are aiming for graduate study in classics. The major in Classical Languages and Literature requires an introductory course about the Classical world (taught in English), six courses in Greek and Latin numbered above 200, and our senior research seminar. Two required electives may include additional courses in Greek and Latin, CLA courses taught in translation, a LIT course in literary translation (theory and practice) or a DIG course in digital humanities.

Comparative literature is dedicated to the study of literature in an international and interdisciplinary context. Majors read widely across periods, genres, and national traditions. They study literature and culture from various parts of the world to develop knowledge and critical understanding of how cultures differ from as well as connect and interact with one another through the medium of artistic expression. The program offers majors the opportunity to design individual programs of study across languages, cultures, and media in keeping with their particular linguistic capabilities and intellectual goals. Courses in translation and the minor in Translation Studies allow students to develop the ability to work with and across languages and to reflect critically on the theory and history of translation and the role of translation in bridging literary traditions and connecting cultural worlds.

Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture (CSLC) offers students the opportunity to study the literatures of many different national traditions from a variety of historical periods, and to do so in a uniquely interdisciplinary manner. Both its individual courses and major program of study exemplify the ideals of a liberal arts education, as well as Occidental College’s particular mission to prepare its students to engage as fully and as fruitfully as possible in a complex, interdependent, and pluralistic world.

Medical Humanities is an interdisciplinary field that examines medicine and health through humanistic disciplines such as history, ethics, religion, literature, cultural anthropology, media studies, and the visual and dramatic arts. Students in the minor will learn about medical and health systems and practices using methodologies such as close reading, cultural comparison, historical contextualization, creative expression, and critical thinking. The field is committed to interpretive and qualitative work that explores the human dimensions of experiences of health and illness, for doctors and for patients. The Medical Humanities minor is an interdisciplinary course of study, housed in the School of Humanities.

While Comparative Literature seeks to prepare its students for reading and research in the languages and histories of different societies and periods, it is also dedicated to their critical and cultural analysis. While it seeks to prepare its students for reading and research in the languages and histories of different societies and periods, it is also dedicated to their critical and cultural analysis. Literary theory in all its forms helps to break down the borders between national literary fields, as well as between literary studies and other disciplines. Indeed, the discipline of Comparative Literature asks, often, just what "literature" is, and how it functions as a product of (and response to) our imaginations, our languages, and our social and economic lives. Students in our courses, majors in the department, and graduate students in the Ph.D. program all interact to shape debates about the place of the verbal arts (and the methods of their study) in past times and our own.

Literature provides the gateway to human experience transfigured by the imagination. The imagination is a source not only of inspiration but also meaning. It offers both practical and moral insights. It deals with the immediate sphere of human experience as well as the ultimate reality of human destiny. It gives entry to the human mind and heart in which the perennial engagement of truth and falsehood, of good and evil, is laid bare.

The World Literature interdisciplinary major teaches students to recognize, consider and understand translation as a fundamental part of knowledge. Students are expected to develop a critical understanding of their own world citizenship. The interdisciplinary major enhances students' grasp of their primary language by asking them to see it in relationship to another language. As a literary field of study, it teaches students to pay close attention to all aspects of language, from word choice to rhetoric.

Students in the MALS concentration in Modernity consider the differences and similarities between modernity and modernism–and post-modernism as well—as they pursue a rich variety of graduate courses in literature, history, art history, film studies, sociology and other disciplines. When was it that people first had the sense of living in new and different times— Modern Times? Charlie Chaplin’s famous 1936 film of that name suggests one answer, but scholars have different view of the beginning of modernity.

Theatre Studies and Drama (TSD) is a demanding yet rewarding A-Level subject aimed at students with a genuine interest in Theatre and Drama.

Shakespeare Studies is an interdisciplinary approach to Shakespeare in performance. It is based on these convictions: a) Shakespeare, as an exemplary literary and historical figure, merits intensive study; b) the literary, historical, and philosophical study of Shakespeare's text informs and enriches the production of his plays; and c) the discipline and experience of performing his plays illuminates the academic study of his work.

Classics is the study of ancient Greek and Roman civilization, which laid the foundation of the western tradition in literature, philosophy, history, art, science and mathematics. Classics is thus not confined to one field or method, but has always been inherently interdisciplinary. Classics students spend most of their time reading Greek and Latin texts in the original languages, but they can also take courses in English translation in a variety of disciplines in order to get a broader, interdisciplinary perspective. Classics makes a dynamic and rewarding stand alone major, but it can be (and often is) paired with a second major.

Have you been writing poetry for some time? An opportunity to discuss work and examine progress in a workshop environment, led by a contemporary poet. Poems will be read and discussed in class.