childhood

Folklore and Mythology 90i (formerly Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding 27). Fairy Tales and Fantasy Literature

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2012

With the so-called discovery or invention of childhood in the 16th and 17th centuries came a newfound emotional attachment, imaginative investment, and philosophical interest in the child. We explore literature for the child (Alice in Wonderland) as well as literature about the child (Lolita) and investigate how childhood has been constructed, investigated, and represented. Analysis of works by Locke, Rousseau, and Freud, as well as Dickens, J. M. Barrie, Henry James, and Roald Dahl.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for either...

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Freshman Seminar 49p. What If? Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and the Literary Culture of Childhood

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2011

Graham Greene once observed that nothing we read as adults can equal the "excitement and revelation" of the "first fourteen years". This seminar will explore the aesthetics and ethics of narratives written for children, with a focus on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. We will branch out into other possible worlds constructed by authors of children’s books.
Note: Open to Freshmen only.