This course approaches literature as a source of pleasure and knowledge about human experience. Students will develop a method for “reading literature,” and will practice engaging literary works (and, by association, other kinds of texts) on a complex, thoughtful, critical level. Much of this practice will come through simply reading a variety of texts, much will come through generating articulate questions about literature and its place in life, and much will come through working out responses (not necessarily answers) to those questions. In this course, we will read about people traveling into different cultural landscapes. We will explore the ways in which literature engages with issues of class, gender, race, sexuality, cross-cultural interaction, national identity, and empire at particular historical moments. We will read 19th century travel literature, a 19th century sensation novel, one 20th century novel, a contemporary postcolonial novel, and a course package including short stories, poems, and historical/ theoretical readings. Course requirements include regular attendance, a demanding reading schedule, quizzes, team presentations, active in-class participation, and participation on Go-post. To fulfill the W requirement, students will write and revise 2 short papers (each two pages long) and one final 6-8 page-paper. Total amount of writing: 10-12 pages.

Required Texts:
• Bram Stoker. Dracula. (1897): ISBN 978-0-09-951122-9
• E.M. Forster. A Passage to India. (1924): ISBN 978-0-333-01458-5
• Ahdaf Soueif. The Map of Love. (1999): ISBN 978-1-4177-1111-6
• Amulya Malladi. The Sound of Language. (2007): ISBN 978-0-345-48316-4
• A course package