FREN4404 · Romance Languages and Literatures
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
Conducted in English: Undergraduate Elective. Cross listed with English and Philosophy "Thinking," the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas once suggested, "probably begins through traumatisms." This course will study a series of disruptive and transformative events that have indelibly marked the twentieth century. What is the task of thinking for a European tradition displaced internally by the Holocaust and externally by the end of colonial expansions into other continents? Authors will include Levinas, Derrida, Nancy, Saussure, Barthes, Duras (in English translation from French); Borges and Dorfman (in English and English translation from Spanish); Calvino (in English translation from Italian); and Descartes (in English translation from Latin). A German component (in English translation) will consider Husserl and Heidegger as a counterpoint to the European tradition of Romance languages, literatures, and cultures.
Course experience
Averages use the original five-point historical evaluation scale.
Organization
4.2 / 5
How well the course was organized
Challenge
4.9 / 5
How intellectually challenging students found it
Attendance
4.8 / 5
How necessary attendance was
Assignments
4.5 / 5
How helpful assignments were
Weekly effort
~5
hours per week
Estimated from the original workload response buckets. Individual sections may differ.
Instructor options
Ratings below reflect only recovered evaluations connected to this course.
Across time
Section-level results available in the recovered archive.
Fall 2024
1 sectionSpring 2023
1 section