Comparative Literature Department :: University at Buffalo

COL 160 - Culture of Rebellion
COL 240 - Love in History
COL 303 - Signs and Representations
COL 470 - Studies: Science Fiction (Honors)

COL 160 - CULTURE OF REBELLION (top)

Brian McNeil
Mon/Wed, 9:30-10:50
Room: Clemens 640
Registration Number: 359966

Rebellion-mutiny, insurrection, revolution, revolt-is always "against" some authority. It may take several forms: from personal refusal to a large scale organized resistance; from passivity to open violence and hostility. Literally, it means "to again wage war," war being the severest form of rebellion. We see this in the revolutionary wars that mark significant turning points in human history.

But there are timeless topics behind these turning points which rebellion highlights: the relationship of the individual to the society, faith and personal belief as opposed to law and social order, anarchy and authority. At issue is what rebellion marks itself as against, what might be read as some oppression, either real or imagined. Rebellion seeks greater freedom, marking any previous state as oppressive and denying of that freedom.

We will try to think how particular rebellions decide themselves, how they come about. We will ask, then, about the ethical responsibility and obligation of the individual, the group (family, clan, tribe, community etc.), the society, and the state to each other, to try and understand how and why rebellion originates.

For a guide to the "culture of rebellion," we will examine one book throughout the course, reading most if not all the chapters of the following: Resistance, Rebellion, and Death by Albert Camus. Other readings that will serve as guides will include excerpts from Rousseau's Discourse on Political Economy and the Social Contract, The Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights, The Declaration of the Rights of Man,and Marx's Communist Manifesto.

This course will consider only a handful of rebellions throughout history, that will be somewhat representative of different "types" of rebellion. To be considered are the following: Paradise Lost, The 1798 Rebellion: An Illustrated History, Coming of the French Revolution, Mutiny: The Revolt of the Schooner Amistad, The Fathers, The War of the End of the World, 1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion, the poetry of W.B. Yeats and if time permits the Rock n' Roll Rebellion of the 50's & 60's.

Requirements: students will be asked to write a longer research paper (8-9 pages) on a topic of their choosing, and give a short presentation on some aspect of another rebellion not discussed in class. In addition to the research paper and presentation students will be required to write a 2 page response paper to the readings on each of the "rebellions" covered in the class, a total of seven. Attendance is mandatory, as is engagement with class discussion. Occasionally, students may be given short reading quizzes.

COL 240 - LOVE IN HISTORY (top)

Laura Penny
Tues/Thurs, 9:30-10:50
Room: Clemens 640
Registration Number: 044104

Course description not available.

COL 303 - SIGNS AND REPRESENTATIONS (top)

Professor Elizabeth Grosz
Mon/Wed, 11:00-12:30
Room: Clemens 640
Registration Number: 052966

This course is designed to introduce students to the major theories and issues arising in contemporary theories of the sign, of sign systems and of representation more generally, from the pioneering work of the founders of structuralism - Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Sanders Pierce and Claude Levi-Strauss - to the recent critiques of structuralism developed by Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Julia Kristeva. It asks a series of questions: according to what models and criteria can one adequately analyze cultural and social life? Should theories of culture and society aspire to the ideals of the natural sciences (as sociology and psychology have tended to do) or should they emulate the models given by the social sciences, most notably linguistics (as anthropology, and some literary theory is inclined towards)? Or are other criteria necessary? If, for example, linguistics is taken to provide a model for cultural production, how adequately can it deal with non-linguistic production of the kind undertaken in the visual and performative arts? What are the terms and theoretical methods available to and useful for the analysis of socio-cultural life?

COL 470 - STUDIES: SCIENCE FICTION (HONORS) (top)

Andres Zlotsky
Tues/Thurs, 2:00-3:20
Room: Alumni 97
Registration Number: 280019

The Perception of UFOs and Epistemological Mirages

The emergence and explosive popularization of cultural artifacts referring to the UFO phenomenon-from tabloid headlines to scientific projects, from jokes on the Internet to high-budget science fiction films-point at an epistemological rift that neither science nor fiction has been able to define adequately, let alone bridge. Yet the path traced by these cultural expressions has its origins in our past: we find references to the UFO conundrum-as well as to the attempts to make sense of it-in art, in the description of obscure forms of religious experience, in the resurgence of folkloric themes in popular beliefs, and in scientific initiatives.

I expect our seminar to enable us to explore several critical issues regarding what we perceive as the UFO mystery: How does it work-what does it do? To what extent does science fiction work as a palliative for our current lack of answers? Which attempted explanations can we find in other cultures and times? What does the UFO phenomenon reveal to us about the formation and transmission of our scientific and aesthetic paradigms?

There will be no tests, but you should be ready to participate in intelligent discussions. You will need to make a sustained effort to listen to, and evaluate rationally, a wide range of alternative and often conflicting ideas. Drawing from the examples we analyze during the semester-but not limited to them-our final seminar papers should evaluate which frameworks can examine the UFO phenomenon most effectively. We will also consider the ways in which our understanding of the world must be altered to facilitate such study.

Texts:

Giambattista Vico, The New Science of Giambattista Vico
Jacques Vallée, Fastwalker. A Novel
Jacques Vallée, Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds
John Fowles, A Maggot
Joseph A. Pelletier, The Sun Danced at Fatima
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Films:

Andrei Tarkovski, Stalker
John Frankheimer, The Manchurian Candidate
Ridley Scott, Blade Runner
Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey

Requirements:

Attendance to class and screenings.
Active participation in class, online discussion board, and listserv.
One paper, publishable quality


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	:: Spring 2000 - Undergraduate Courses
Graduate Undergraduate Course Archive	COL 160 - Culture of Rebellion COL 240 - Love in History COL 303 - Signs and Representations COL 470 - Studies: Science Fiction (Honors) COL 160 - CULTURE OF REBELLION (top) Brian McNeil Mon/Wed, 9:30-10:50 Room: Clemens 640 Registration Number: 359966 Rebellion-mutiny, insurrection, revolution, revolt-is always "against" some authority. It may take several forms: from personal refusal to a large scale organized resistance; from passivity to open violence and hostility. Literally, it means "to again wage war," war being the severest form of rebellion. We see this in the revolutionary wars that mark significant turning points in human history. But there are timeless topics behind these turning points which rebellion highlights: the relationship of the individual to the society, faith and personal belief as opposed to law and social order, anarchy and authority. At issue is what rebellion marks itself as against, what might be read as some oppression, either real or imagined. Rebellion seeks greater freedom, marking any previous state as oppressive and denying of that freedom. We will try to think how particular rebellions decide themselves, how they come about. We will ask, then, about the ethical responsibility and obligation of the individual, the group (family, clan, tribe, community etc.), the society, and the state to each other, to try and understand how and why rebellion originates. For a guide to the "culture of rebellion," we will examine one book throughout the course, reading most if not all the chapters of the following: Resistance, Rebellion, and Death by Albert Camus. Other readings that will serve as guides will include excerpts from Rousseau's Discourse on Political Economy and the Social Contract, The Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights, The Declaration of the Rights of Man,and Marx's Communist Manifesto. This course will consider only a handful of rebellions throughout history, that will be somewhat representative of different "types" of rebellion. To be considered are the following: Paradise Lost, The 1798 Rebellion: An Illustrated History, Coming of the French Revolution, Mutiny: The Revolt of the Schooner Amistad, The Fathers, The War of the End of the World, 1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion, the poetry of W.B. Yeats and if time permits the Rock n' Roll Rebellion of the 50's & 60's. Requirements: students will be asked to write a longer research paper (8-9 pages) on a topic of their choosing, and give a short presentation on some aspect of another rebellion not discussed in class. In addition to the research paper and presentation students will be required to write a 2 page response paper to the readings on each of the "rebellions" covered in the class, a total of seven. Attendance is mandatory, as is engagement with class discussion. Occasionally, students may be given short reading quizzes. COL 240 - LOVE IN HISTORY (top) Laura Penny Tues/Thurs, 9:30-10:50 Room: Clemens 640 Registration Number: 044104 Course description not available. COL 303 - SIGNS AND REPRESENTATIONS (top) Professor Elizabeth Grosz Mon/Wed, 11:00-12:30 Room: Clemens 640 Registration Number: 052966 This course is designed to introduce students to the major theories and issues arising in contemporary theories of the sign, of sign systems and of representation more generally, from the pioneering work of the founders of structuralism - Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Sanders Pierce and Claude Levi-Strauss - to the recent critiques of structuralism developed by Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Julia Kristeva. It asks a series of questions: according to what models and criteria can one adequately analyze cultural and social life? Should theories of culture and society aspire to the ideals of the natural sciences (as sociology and psychology have tended to do) or should they emulate the models given by the social sciences, most notably linguistics (as anthropology, and some literary theory is inclined towards)? Or are other criteria necessary? If, for example, linguistics is taken to provide a model for cultural production, how adequately can it deal with non-linguistic production of the kind undertaken in the visual and performative arts? What are the terms and theoretical methods available to and useful for the analysis of socio-cultural life? COL 470 - STUDIES: SCIENCE FICTION (HONORS) (top) Andres Zlotsky Tues/Thurs, 2:00-3:20 Room: Alumni 97 Registration Number: 280019 The Perception of UFOs and Epistemological Mirages The emergence and explosive popularization of cultural artifacts referring to the UFO phenomenon-from tabloid headlines to scientific projects, from jokes on the Internet to high-budget science fiction films-point at an epistemological rift that neither science nor fiction has been able to define adequately, let alone bridge. Yet the path traced by these cultural expressions has its origins in our past: we find references to the UFO conundrum-as well as to the attempts to make sense of it-in art, in the description of obscure forms of religious experience, in the resurgence of folkloric themes in popular beliefs, and in scientific initiatives. I expect our seminar to enable us to explore several critical issues regarding what we perceive as the UFO mystery: How does it work-what does it do? To what extent does science fiction work as a palliative for our current lack of answers? Which attempted explanations can we find in other cultures and times? What does the UFO phenomenon reveal to us about the formation and transmission of our scientific and aesthetic paradigms? There will be no tests, but you should be ready to participate in intelligent discussions. You will need to make a sustained effort to listen to, and evaluate rationally, a wide range of alternative and often conflicting ideas. Drawing from the examples we analyze during the semester-but not limited to them-our final seminar papers should evaluate which frameworks can examine the UFO phenomenon most effectively. We will also consider the ways in which our understanding of the world must be altered to facilitate such study. Texts: Giambattista Vico, The New Science of Giambattista Vico Jacques Vallée, Fastwalker. A Novel Jacques Vallée, Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds John Fowles, A Maggot Joseph A. Pelletier, The Sun Danced at Fatima Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Films: Andrei Tarkovski, Stalker John Frankheimer, The Manchurian Candidate Ridley Scott, Blade Runner Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey Requirements: Attendance to class and screenings. Active participation in class, online discussion board, and listserv. One paper, publishable quality
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