Comparative Literature 153: International Cultures Through Literature and Film
This course offers an analysis of film and literature and will provide you with conceptual frameworks and vocabulary for understanding and explaining how films and literature function or in some cases do not function. Every work has several layers of signification that should be "read" by the audience. This course strives to help you experience culture critically by analyzing how movies and literary works create meaning(s).
What will I learn in this course?
This is a 3-credit course that will require students to do comparisons of narrative techniques employed by literature and film in portraying different cultures; topics may vary each semester. By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
- Read, understand, and enjoy a number of significant works of Film and Literature.
- Develop the ability to establish connections among literary and cinematic works emerging from various contexts throughout the world, and among majority and minority cultures.
- Employ comparative methods in order to better understand literary diversity and intertextuality
- Acquire a critical knowledge of literary and film themes, motifs, structures, narratives, points of view, and values that are typical of various regions of the world.
- Critically analyze literary works and films in terms of form and style.
- Practice techniques of literary and film analysis and become familiar with terms associated with those forms.
- Develop and refine critical thinking, oral and written expression, and techniques of textual analysis.
- Develop communication skills in essays, response papers, presentations, web discussions and research papers.
- Engage in collaborative learning and teamwork, especially while working on a group project.
- Actively participate in the creation of a vibrant and rewarding learning community.
- Acquire a background for further studies in literature and film for a career and/or for pleasure
This course meets the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree requirements.This course also meets the General Education Humanities (GH) requirements and the International Cultures (IL) requirements. See your advisor if you have questions about how this course can be used in your program of study.
Are there any prerequisites for this course?
No specific classes are required before taking CMLIT 153: International Cultures Through Literature
I've never taken an online course before. What is it like?
This course is taught completely online. We'll use Penn State's course management system, ANGEL, for CMLIT 153, and you will be able to communicate with the professor and your classmates through chat, e-mail, and threaded discussions within ANGEL.
You do not need to come to campus at any time, and you do not need a proctor or remote testing site.
However, an online course is not easier than on-campus course. In fact, it takes a lot more self-discipline. You must be willing and able to commit the same amount of time as you would for attending class and studying for a traditional course. You must also be a motivated, organized student who feels confident about reading to learn and who is comfortable working independently. If you're wondering whether an online course is right for you, take this short survey to find out more about how online learning is different.
What are the technological requirements for this course?
- have access to a computer that meets the ANGEL technological requirements.
- be comfortable with navigating the Internet
How is the course structured?
CMLIT 153 consists of 7 lessons that offers an analysis of film and literature and will provide you with the conceptual framework and vocabulary for understanding and explaining how films and literature function or in some cases do not function. Every work has several layers of signification that should be "read" by the audience. This course strives to help you experience culture critically by analyzing how movies and literary works create meaning(s).
Where can I get more information?
For more information about CMLIT105 Online, see a recent course syllabus. To register, visit the Office of the University Registrar. At the beginning of each semester, all enrolled students should access CAMS 045 at the site of Penn State's course management system, ANGEL.
"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill".
“Film is one of the three universal languages, the other two: mathematics and music”
Frank Capra
"The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between artJean-Luc Godard and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it, and I try to render this concept in my films. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesn't."
Jean-Luc Godard
Helen Keller
Courtesy of Windows to the Universe, http://www.windows.ucar.edu