Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Summer Course Offerings for 2008

If you are already a student in the Graduate School, you can register for the following summer courses through Agora.  If you are not a current student, APPLY NOW as a Summer Special Student.

Intensive Language Workshops

Romance Languages Department

Intensive Readings in French

The course objectives are (1) to develop the ability to read French readily and accurately through the study of grammatical structures and vocabulary; (2) to develop techniques for the reading of French-language material; and (3) to provide practice in the translation of French texts in general and of texts related to the students' major fields of study and research. This course may be taken for a grade, for pass/fail, or may be audited (as a registered auditor). Students desiring a pass/fail grade must file this grading preference with the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
RL 065.01

M/W 12-3:00 PM; Location Devlin 117

May 12 -June 19: Professor Ourida Mostefai (No Class May 26)

June 30- August 7: Professor Stephen Bold

The second session is a continuation of the first session

German Studies Department

Intensive Readings in German

This course is intended to prepare the student for either a graduate language reading examination or a standardized test. This course provides him/her with the ability to read general or specialized material in his/her major field, as well as in related areas. No previous knowledge of German is required.

GM061.01

M/TH 6:15-9:15 PM; Carney 307

May 12-June 19: Professor Christoph Eykman (No Class May 26)

June 23-July 31`: Professor Ursula Mangoubi

The second session is a continuation of the first session.

Classics Department

Intensive Readings in Latin

This course meets for twelve weeks. It is divided into two sections (6 weeks each section). The first section provides a comprehensive and intensive introduction to the grammar and syntax of the Latin language. Wheelock's Latin textbook is used. The second half of the course focuses on readings in Classical Latin from Cicero, Caesar, selected poems of Horace/and or Jerome's De Vita Pauli.
CL063.01

M/TH 6:15-9:15 PM; Carney 305

May 12-June 19: Professor Maria Kakavas (No Class May 26)

June 23-July 31: Professor Seth Holm

The second session is a continuation of the first session.

English Department

Course Cost $3,444.00 Credit Level: 3

Introduction to Advanced Research

This course will acquaint you with the essential resources to carry out the central tasks of literary scholarship. Bibliography (broadly defined as the investigation of the production, dissemination, collection, location, and identification of literary artifacts) is indispensable to scholarship and criticism of all kinds, just as a critical sensibility guides our choice of what books to look for.

We will begin with a justification of literary studies in the wider world, and discuss the relationship between scholarship and criticism. The next three classes consist of enumerative bibliography - a kind of guided tour through standard reference works. We will spend part of one class on print resources, using James L. Harner's Literary Research Guide, then two classes on electronic resources, including but not limited to the burgeoning Web-based databases in the O'Neill Library. This will enable you to locate as much pertinent information as possible on a particular writer, work, theme, genre, or critical approach, and practical advice on how to compile a bibliography of your own. During Week 2, we will tour a first-rate archive of documents right here on the BC campus: the Burns Library. Many students make use of Burns materials for their final projects. We will also discuss electronic texts, do some hands-on work with preparing a Web-based edition, and talk about working with primary documents, editing, and annotating. Around Week 3, I will meet you individually to discuss your research project.

We will spend two classes in a more reflective, theoretical mode, as we focus on some broader questions about the nature of the 'text': canonicity, the uses of historical scholarship, and where the ambiguous realm of "literature" begins and ends. We will also examine the challenge to traditional notions of textual criticism, based on questions about the originality of a literary work, what constitutes it as an entity, and the problem of authorial intention. In the final class, students will present their projects to the class and benefit from questions and discussion.

EN887.01

M/W 2- 4:25 PM; Carney 306

May 14 – June 21; Professor Robert Stanton (No Class May 26)

Contemporary American Fiction

This course is concerned with a variety of novels and short stories by contemporary American writers, including Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, and Louise Erdrich. We will also consider debates over such issues as realism and representation, Modernism and Postmodernism, text and hypertext, and the politics of culture. Writing: three short papers (1000 words) and a final exam.

EN 840.01

M/W 7-9 p.m.; Carney 306

June 30 – August 15: Professor James Wallace

History Department

Course Cost $3,444.00 Credit Level: 3

American Slavery

No field in American history has been more dynamic and more debated than the history of slavery in the United States. This course covers a broad range of critical questions and historical debates about slavery in the United States, including the diversity of slave labor, the evolution of slavery over time, slavery and gender roles, slave families, slave resistance, the position of free blacks in a slave society, slave religion, and the impact of slavery on the nation. From a few of the classic texts on slavery to the most recent and acclaimed scholarship, we will explore some of the more controversial, innovative, and provocative works in the field.

HS 878.01

M/W 6:30-8:30 p.m.; 21 Campanella Way 429

May l2 - June 18; Professor Lyerly (No Class May 26)

Twentieth Century Europe: Problems and Perspectives Colloquium

Europe has never been a peaceful place. Yet even by the low standards of that bloody continent, the 20th century had a rather bad start. This makes the second half of the 20th century all the more surprising, as Europe emerged from two world wars into a difficult, divided, but stable postwar period, one marked by integration and prosperity in the West and stagnation and repression in the East. This course will examine the political, cultural and economic dimensions of Europe's dark century.

HS 853.01

M/W 6:30-8:30 p.m.; 21 Campanella Way 429

June 30-August 6; Professor Pendas

Institute of Religious Education & Pastoral Ministry
The Institute is offering an extensive list of courses during Summer 2006. Please contact them directly at (617) 552-8441 for further information, or refer to their website: www.bc.edu/irepm.