Elective
CLIT7012 Dissertation Seminar
*Students who opt for dissertation-writing must take this course.
*Students who opt for portfolio/individual project must take a regular course in lieu of "Dissertation Seminar".
This seminar supports students as they face the challenges of doing independent literary, film, and cultural studies scholarship as they prepare to write their dissertations. In order to help students in the initial stages of their dissertation research, this course begins with an overview of critical methods currently in use that can be applied to the analysis of a variety of cultural texts. Taking the text, textual strategies, intertextuality, and discourse as starting points, discussion will move from the definition of an object of study to practical critique within the theoretical parameters of literary and cultural studies. The course revolves around student-led presentations, workshops, debates, panel presentations, and lectures arising from issues and concerns generated by the students' research. Students will analyze key concepts arising from their exploration of the scholarly literature on their dissertation topics, compare the strengths and weaknesses of various research methodologies, and embark on the research for their own project.
Suggested Texts/Films (subject to change):
Theoretical Texts:
- Comparative Literature in an Age of Globalization (Haun Saussy, ed.)
- Film Analysis: A Norton Reader (R. L. Rutsky and Jeffrey Geiger, eds.)
- Literature Through Film: Realism, Magic, and the Art of Adaptation (Robert Stam)
- Narrative Discourse (Gérard Genette)
- The Global Transformations Reader (David Held & Anthony McGrew, eds.)
- Why Fiction (Jean-Marie Schaeffer)