COML 4242

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COML 4242

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025. Courses of Study 2024-2025 is scheduled to publish mid-June.

Stories of transformation have been central to literary traditions for thousands of years, but these tales of shape-shifting took on a special life in the English Renaissance, when Ovid's Metamorphoses surged in popularity. This course will explore the fundamental connection between literary creativity and unstable identities – whether these narratives of metamorphosis show humans turning to beasts, trees, or stones, men changing into women, or inanimate objects coming to life and taking human form. Class readings draw on examples from Ovid, Shakespeare, and other Renaissance poets, as well as the re-imagining of these fantasies in modern science fiction and make-over shows. What do these stories of metamorphosis tell us about what it means to be human – or not?

When Offered Fall or Spring.

Distribution Category (ALC-AS) (CA-AG, LA-AG)
Satisfies Requirement This course counts toward the pre-1800 requirements for English majors.

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: ENGL 4240

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19730 COML 4242   SEM 101

    • W
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Rosenberg, J

  • 19731 COML 4242   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Rosenberg, J

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies