Undergraduate Bulletin

Fall 2024

CLT: Comparative Literature

CLT 101: Introduction to World Literatures

A survey of world literatures from an array of cultures, eras, languages, places, and traditions. This global sampling of literatures focuses on the exploration of significant historical moments and phenomena, and their influence on literary and cultural production.

DEC:     B
SBC:     GLO, HUM

3 credits

CLT 109: Philosophy and Literature in Social Context (III)

The role of literature and philosophy in understanding and critically assessing personal experience and social life. The links among literary texts, philosophical issues, and political and social commitments are explored. Topics include the relations between language and experience, the role of philosophical thinking through literary texts, and the significance of literary expression in different cultural and historical situations. This course is offered as both CLT 109 and PHI 109.

DEC:     B
SBC:     CER, HUM

3 credits

CLT 121: Death and Afterlife in Literature

Through discussion of representative contemporary and classical texts, this course addresses the topic of how human beings have chosen to live with the one certainty of their existence, its eventual conclusion in death, and how various images of afterlife or denial of its possibility have shaped those choices.

DEC:     B
SBC:     CER, HUM

3 credits

CLT 122: Images of Women in Literature

An historical and intercultural examination of selected representations of women in world literature ranging from classical literature to modern evocations of women's changing social roles and the rise of feminine self-consciousness.

DEC:     B
SBC:     HUM

3 credits

CLT 123: Sexuality in Literature

An exploration of the expression and interpretation of sexual experience in literature and culture, through discussion of selections from world literature and art, both classic and contemporary. Themes include temptation and gratification, desire and fulfillment, and how societies shape gender roles and deviance and set limits on sexual representation in literature and art.

DEC:     B
SBC:     CER, HUM

3 credits

CLT 220: Literature Beyond European Traditions

A survey of the major themes and forms of non-Western literature, such as Asian, Indian, and African. May be repeated as topic changes.

Advisory Prerequisite: WRT 102

DEC:     J
SBC:     GLO

3 credits

CLT 221: Cross-Cultural Encounters

Introduction to the process and effects of the encounter of two or more previously separate cultures, illustrated by study of historical or contemporary instances of such encounters, and drawing from the art, music, theatre, literature, philosophy or religion of the selected cultures. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisite: one D.E.C. B or HUM course

DEC:     G
SBC:     HFA+

3 credits

CLT 235: American Pluralism in Film and Literature

A thorough examination of issues central to American history for nearly two centuries. How "others"--the Irish, Italians, African Americans, Latinos, and people from cultures outside Western Europe--have been portrayed in American literature and film. Readings include slave narratives from the 17th and 18th centuries and literary texts from the 19th and 20th centuries; films from the last 100 years are included. Particular emphasis on the historical period from the Civil War to the present.

DEC:     K
SBC:     USA

3 credits

CLT 266: The 20th-Century Novel

Major works and developments in the modern and contemporary novel. This course is offered as both CLT 266 and EGL 266.

Prerequisite: WRT 102 or equivalent

DEC:     G
SBC:     HUM

3 credits

CLT 301: Theory of Literature

An introduction to the different modes of analyzing literature by periods, ideas, traditions, genres, and aesthetic theories. Stress is placed on classical theory and on developments in the 20th century.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 standing

Advisory Prerequisites: Two courses in comparative literature

DEC:     G
SBC:     HFA+, SPK, WRTD

3 credits

CLT 330: Literary Genres

Historical, cultural, and analytical study of an important literary genre such as poetry, drama, epic, prose fiction, and autobiography. May be repeated as topic changes.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 standing

Advisory prerequisite: Two courses in literature

DEC:     G
SBC:     HFA+

3 credits

CLT 334: Other Literary Genres

Historical and analytical study of such literary genres as satire, fable, romance, epistle, saga, allegory, etc. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 standing

Advisory Prerequisites: Two courses in literature

DEC:     G
SBC:     HFA+

3 credits

CLT 335: Interdisciplinary Study of Film

An inquiry into the aesthetics, history, and theory of film as it relates principally to literature but also to disciplines such as art, music, psychology, and cultural history. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisite: one D.E.C. B or HUM course and one course from the following: CCS 101, CCS 201, CCS 202, CCS 203, CLL 215, CLT 235, HUF 211, HUG 221, HUI 231, HUR 241, THR 117

DEC:     G
SBC:     HFA+

3 credits

CLT 361: Literature and Society

An inquiry, interdisciplinary in nature, into the relationship between the events and materials of political and social history and their effect on the form and content of the literature of a period. Also subsumed under the rubric Literature and Society is the topic Literature and Psychology. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 standing

Advisory Prerequisites: Two courses in literature

DEC:     G
SBC:     HFA+

3 credits

CLT 362: Literature and Ideas

An inquiry into the primary writings and significant documents in the history of ideas and their effect on the form and content of the literature of a period. May be repeated as the topic changes.

Prerequisite: U3 or U4 standing

Advisory Prerequisites: Two courses in literature

DEC:     G
SBC:     HFA+

3 credits

CLT 371: Literature and Justice (III)

This course focuses on the theme of justice in literature and investigates the relation of literature to the law and to philosophical accounts of justice. Readings include literary texts centered on questions of justice, fairness, and moral agency, as well as theoretical works that analyze the role of literature in legal education and judicial decision-making. This course is offered as both CLT 371 and PHI 371.

Prerequisite: one D.E.C. B or HUM course; U3 or U4 status

DEC:     G
SBC:     CER, HFA+

3 credits

CLT 393: European Comparative Literature

European literature developed through constant interaction across frontiers rather than through discrete national histories. Poetry, fiction, and drama in every nation were heavily influenced by those of other nations, which they helped shape in their turn. The course examines this reciprocal impact on different genres in different countries across the centuries.

Prerequisite: one D.E.C. B or HUM course and one lower-division course from one of the following subject designators: CLT, CCS, or EGL

DEC:     I
SBC:     HFA+

3 credits

CLT 394: Asian Comparative Literature

This course is an overview of the development of Asian literature and thoughts, spanning across the early 20th century to the present. By covering short stories, novels, and poems from Asian traditions, such as China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea, the course will examine how modernity, coloniality, and war contribute to the shaping of national, and cultural identities. A comparative study of narratives from the various traditions will be engaged to explore the influence and implications of social categories such as gender, class, race, and ethnicity.

Prerequisite: one D.E.C. B or HUM course and one lower-division course from one of the following subject designators: CLT, CCS, or EGL

DEC:     J
SBC:     GLO, HFA+

3 credits

CLT 444: Experiential Learning

This course is designed for students who engage in a substantial, structured experiential learning activity in conjunction with another class. Experiential learning occurs when knowledge acquired through formal learning and past experience are applied to a "real-world" setting or problem to create new knowledge through a process of reflection, critical analysis, feedback and synthesis. Beyond-the-classroom experiences that support experiential learning may include: service learning, mentored research, field work, or an internship.

Prerequisite: WRT 102 or equivalent; permission of the instructor and approval of the EXP+ contract (http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/bulletin/current/policiesandregulations/degree_requirements/EXPplus.php)

SBC:     EXP+

0 credit, S/U grading

CLT 458: Speak Effectively Before an Audience

A zero credit course that may be taken in conjunction with any CLT course that provides opportunity to achieve the learning outcomes of the Stony Brook Curriculum's SPK learning objective.

Pre- or corequisite: WRT 102 or equivalent; permission of the instructor

SBC:     SPK

0 credit, S/U grading

CLT 459: Write Effectively in Comparative Literature

A zero credit course that may be taken in conjunction with any 300- or 400-level CLT course, with permission of the instructor. The course provides opportunity to practice the skills and techniques of effective academic writing and satisfies the learning outcomes of the Stony Brook Curriculum's WRTD learning objective.

Prerequisite: WRT 102; permission of the instructor

SBC:     WRTD

0 credit, S/U grading

CLT 475: Undergraduate Teaching Practicum I

Work with a faculty member as an assistant in one of the faculty member's regularly scheduled classes. The student is required to attend all the classes, do all the regularly assigned work, and meet with the faculty member at regularly scheduled times to discuss the intellectual and pedagogical matters relating to the course.

Prerequisites: U4 standing; permission of instructor and chairperson

SBC:     EXP+

3 credits, S/U grading

CLT 476: Undergraduate Teaching Practicum II

Work with a faculty member as an assistant in one of the faculty member's regularly scheduled classes. Students assume greater responsibility in such areas as leading discussions and analyzing results of tests that have already been graded. Students may not serve as teaching assistants in the same course twice.

Prerequisites: CLT 475; permission of instructor and chairperson

SBC:     EXP+

3 credits, S/U grading

CLT 487: Independent Reading and Research

Intensive reading and research on a special topic undertaken with close faculty supervision. May be repeated.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor and department

SBC:     CER, ESI

0-6 credits

CLT 495: Comparative Literature Honors Project

A one-semester project for comparative literature majors who are candidates for the degree with departmental honors. The project involves independent study under close supervision of an appropriate faculty member, and the written and oral presentation to the department faculty colloquium of an honors thesis.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor and department

SBC:     ESI

3 credits