Sacred and Secular Poetry

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2014

Tracing poetry from its origins in religious practice, the course examines the process of secularization and the ways in which modern poems retain traces of sacred texts. As poets grapple with an increasingly secular world, the emergence of modernity is revealed in vivid ways. Class discussions will explore the extent to which reminiscences of the sacred form part of the deeper appeal of poetry and its ability to shape meaning in the modern world.

This course is offered in the General Education Program under the rubric "Culture and Belief."