FYSE 1225 Romantic Comedy in Film and Literature
How has romantic comedy portrayed courtship and gender relations? We will explore the subject by looking at classic plays and contemporary films. In particular, we will consider the long standing conventions of the romantic comedy to better understand its evolution and contemporary expression. We will begin by reading a selection of Shakespeare's comedies such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It, among others. In addition, we will watch screen adaptations, such as Much Ado About Nothing and related films such as Shakespeare in Love. We will then consider other dramatists of romantic comedy including Oscar Wilde and Bernard Shaw. Finally, we will shift our focus to contemporary romantic comedy on screen and how the genre has evolved in popular culture. 3 hrs. sem./screen.
(A. Grinden)

FYSE 1232 Making Babies in a Brave New World
In this seminar we will examine the fundamentals of human reproduction and modern reproductive intervention strategies. As rapid discoveries in medical technologies have allowed us to push the limits of the human body, questions remain as to whether we should pursue, permit, or regulate such advances. We will explore scientific, societal, ethical, and individual issues surrounding the control of fertility and infertility, fetal life, birth, and the neonatal period. Through critical review of the literature, writing, and informed dialogues, students will gain an understanding of key topics in reproductive medicine. 3 hrs. sem. (C. Combelles)

FYSE 1313 Disturbing Difference: Exploring Literary Translation
Translation is fundamental to cultural exchange in a globalizing world. Yet few of us are conscious of the role it plays in our lives, and fewer still actually practice the art of translation. In this seminar, we will examine current thinking in translation theory, sample excellent translations, talk and write about them, and then develop our own skills by translating works from various genres and languages for consideration by the group. [Note: Students are required to have a strong reading knowledge of at least one language other than English and be prepared to translate from that language into English.] (S. Snyder)

FYSE 1364 Spark! Creativity, Life, Art
In our seminar, we will explore processes by which ideas emerge and are given life as works of art that are performed, exhibited, installed, or projected. Our exploration will be hands-on and experiential, an opportunity to dig deeply into personal creativity and to experiment with many media. We will pay special attention to individual ways of perceiving, handling materials, making choices, creating products, and making meaning. We will write about everything: experience, belief, discovery, readings, artists, process, and product. Readings will come from traditional and contemporary literature about creativity. A self-designed final project will cap the semester. 3 hrs. sem. (P. Campbell)

FYSE 1373 Managing Diversity in a Globalizing World
While Canada has been a pioneer in adopting a multicultural approach to govern its society, France stands out for its reluctance to embrace a similar model. In this seminar we will compare these two countries’ experiences managing ethnic diversity through a variety of sources: theoretical writings, ethnographies, memoirs, and films. Throughout our examination of the Canadian and French contexts, we will also interrogate current debates over multiculturalism in the United States. 3 hrs. sem. (W. Poulin-Deltour)

FYSE 1376 WWII and Japan's 'Long Postwar'
With the death of Emperor Hirohito in 1989, debate re-ignited over Japan’s prewar empire, wartime atrocities, and role in the Cold War – all of which converged in the question of Japan’s “long postwar.” Through a variety of novels, films, and essays, we will explore how this question continues to serve as a paradigm for addressing questions of Japan’s postwar cultural identity, economic prosperity, and social dislocations. Our larger objective will be to analyze how the tensions between the diverse national histories, experiences, and memories of World War II continue to inform the geopolitics of East Asia today. 3 hrs. sem. (M. Ward)

FYSE 1380 Information & Structure
In this seminar we will study the relationship between raw information and the structures that are used to organize, translate, transmit, and make sense of it. We will consider information broadly, ranging from physical to virtual and from analog to digital, as it is acted upon by structures including physical, chemical, biological, physiological, and neurological phenomena, as well as by the human constructs of language, art, mathematics, engineering, and computer science. Along the way we will encounter the concepts of entropy, approximation, noise, and ambiguity that are inherent in the information that surrounds us in both our academics and daily lives. 3 hrs. sem. (F. Swenton)

FYSE 1384 Reading the Book of Job
Why do the innocent suffer? Why do we want to believe that the world is “fair” and “ordered”? The Book of Job asked these questions millennia ago. Framed by a prose tale about the “patience of Job,” with a happy ending, the core of the book is a debate in poetry, between an impatient Job and his “friends”, with no satisfactory ending at all. We will study the book itself and its retellings and interpretations through novels, poetry, drama, philosophy and art, including works by Kafka, Camus, William Blake, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Kant, and Robert Frost. 3 hrs. sem. (R. Schine)

FYSE 1385 Great Transformations
In this seminar we will explore the phenomenon of globalization by examining historical moments of rupture and revolution—the transition to modernity, the rise of the state and national identity, the social movements of 1968, the collapse of communism, and the rise and crisis of neoliberalism. We will examine both classic and recent texts, films, music, and manifestos to understand what constitutes a truly great transformation. Emphasis will be placed on the global stage, but the American experience will also be highlighted. 3 hrs sem.
(J. McCallum)

FYSE 1386 Latin America and the Status of Writing
Formal education, and in particular higher education, is heavily based on writing as a recording technology. In this seminar we will examine how Latin Americans have questioned the institution of writing in the “modernization” of society, focusing on issues such as the clash between cultures of literacy and orality, the literary rendering of oral performances, and contemporary scenes of narrative production (the cartonera movement, hip-hop, and graffiti artists). We will develop our conceptual framework by reading authors such as Ángel Rama, Walter Ong, and Jack Goody, and focus our eyes and ears on works by Latin American artists such as Ricardo Palma, Mario Vargas Llosa, Rappin’ Hood, and Graciliano Ramos. 3 hrs. sem.
(F. Rocha)