Course Catalog

CREATIVE NONFICTION: CRAFTING PERSONAL NARRATIVES (EN3300)

This workshop gives students the opportunity to explore through reading, research and writing assignments an array of creative nonfiction forms, including memoir, travel writing, food and nature writing, and social essays. Assignments help students strengthen their ability to create the self as character, a first-person narrator who leads the reader into the world of personal experiences and research. The course explores narrative structure, description, characterization, dialogue, and tension, all key elements in making writing spirited and appealing. The workshop also includes guest speakers and field exercises in Paris. May be taken twice for credit.

ADVANCED CREATIVE WRITING PROJECTS (EN4000)

Have you yearned to start a novel, a collection of related short stories or narrative essays, a memoir, or a series of poems? This cross-genre, seminar-style course is designed for students who want to pursue larger, more advanced creative writing projects. Students will submit project proposals for discussion and approval, and then present significant installments of writing at regular intervals during the semester. Revisions will be required along with student-professor individual conferences. Readings will be used as guiding examples, and required reaction papers will be tailored to individual projects.May be taken twice for credit.

TOPICS IN ADVANCED CREATIVE WRITING (EN4091)

Have you yearned to start a novel, a collection of related short stories or narrative essays, a memoir, or a series of poems? This cross-genre, seminar-style course is designed for students who want to pursue larger, more advanced creative writing projects. Students will submit project proposals for discussion and approval, and then present significant installments of writing at regular intervals during the semester. Revisions will be required along with student-professor individual conferences. Readings will be used as guiding examples, and required reaction papers will be tailored to individual projects.

THE HISTORY OF PARIS (ES3004)

Seeks to understand how Paris elucidates the history of France by following its history from its origins to the present. The site of religious and political revolution, Paris testifies to the trials and glories of French history.

THE ISLAMIC CITY (ES3017)

Surveys the history of urban form in the predominantly Muslim cities of the Middle East and North Africa. Students will study the relationship between urban morphology and society, practices of sacred space, and the interplay of power, belief, and architectural form. Also covered are the politics behind the forms now seen as the defining features of Islamic building and the question of the image in Islamic building. On a contemporary note, students will explore the symbolic politics of the Muslim built heritage and examine the extreme conditions facing many Middle Eastern urban populations today. Includes a Study Trip. Please note that an additional fee will be charged for this course.

PARIS ATTRACTION: MODERNIST EXPERIMENTS IN MIGRATION (ES3043)

Explores the work of Anglo-American modernist writers in Paris, concentrating on the works of Ernest Hemingway, Wyndham Lewis, Gertrude Stein, Djuna Barnes, Jean Rhys, and other writers. Relates their formal experimentation to the visual arts and to the psychic dynamics of exile: the experience of liberation from the constraints of one culture and an alienated relation to the new environment.

MODERN FILMS & THEIR MEANINGS (FM1010)

How does the unique language of cinema make meaning and convey emotions? This course provides multiple answers to
that question by introducing the formal characteristics of film and enables the students to acquire the key vocabulary necessary to critically describe,
analyse and interpret contemporary cinema. Each week, classes will focus on a foundational concept, ranging from principles of narration to different components of film style, and from why cinema matters to issues of spectatorship. Throughout the course, students will encounter a wide array of feature films from different genres around the globe. Students will also have the opportunity to practise close textual analysis through
assignments, and during class discussions delve deep into interpreting the dramatic functions of elements of style in the context of a single film.
Students are expected to participate in these activities in order to build their confidence and command over technical terminology, and work towards attaining their own carefully reasoned interpretations of film texts. In addition, students will learn about Parisian film culture and different approaches to film criticism through lectures and assignments.

PRINCIPLES OF VIDEO PRODUCTION (FM1019)

This course is designed to give you strong technical and conceptual skills in video production. This course will prepare you for future video work in film, journalism, media and communications, studio art, and can be useful across many other disciplines. You will learn to create several complete film and audio projects, each challenging you to explore new skills. Class time will be divided into lectures, screenings, and mostly in-class labs and critique. Homework will consist of readings, writing responses, shooting, editing and screenings.

FIRSTBRIDGE IN FILM STUDIES (FM1099)

Firstbridge courses are offered to degree seeking freshmen and registration is done via webform in pre-arrival checklist.