MFLL Courses Taught in English for Fall 2021
MFLL 300 - Section 01: The Faust Theme (Global Texts and Cultures, CRN: 45127)
MWF 11:45 a.m. - 12:35 p.m.
Instructor: Adrian Del Caro
Our primary readings will be Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, Goethe's Faust, Byron's Manfred, T. Mann's Doctor Faustus, with a couple chapters from Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov. Our objectives: To study the evolution of the Faust motif through various centuries and cultures; to critically examine major concepts such as the soul, good and evil, the afterlife, freedom/free will, patriarchy, nihilism; to critically examine relations between art (creativity) and morals in the period of modernism; to analyze Faustian attitudes toward nature, the environment and art. A short essay (3-4 pp.) on each of the three major texts (Marlowe, Goethe, Mann), on a topic chosen from a list provided; Midterm with short-answer essays; Final exam or approved research paper option; Attendance, participation and canvas discussion. The course will be taught in English. Three major texts will need to be purchased, others available on canvas or open access.
This course will be taught in English. It fulfills the College of Arts and Science's Global Challenges requirement.
For more information: delcaro@utk.edu
MFLL 300 - Section 02: Contemporary Israeli Society and Culture (Global Texts and Cultures, CRN: 46737)
TR 1:10-2:25
Instructor: Revital Ganzi
This course introduces students to national, ethnic, social, economic, religious, and military identities in Israel from pre-statehood to the present. Through visual and literary texts, music, food culture, media, and cinema, students will gain fundamental knowledge and understanding of Israel from multiple perspectives.
This course will be taught in English. It fulfills the College of Arts and Science’s Global Challenges requirement and can be petitioned to count for the Hebrew minor, Judaic Studies, and Middle East Studies majors/minors.
MFLL300 will be offered in Fall ‘21 and Spring ‘22. Content is variable, and students are permitted to enroll for credit during both semesters.
*The course will meet in person and also include some asynchronous online elements.
For more information: rganzi@utk.edu
Cinema Studies 482 – Italian 493 – MFLL 482 – Global Studies 482: Introduction to World Cinema
T 11:10 -- 12:25, R 11:10 -- 1:55
Instructor: Flavia Brizio-Skov
The course will explore the wonders of foreign films, will look at the industry, modes of production, audience, consumption and the relationship of international films to Hollywood. We will investigate key auteurs, popular genres, and influential film movements. We will start with Hollywood, and then we will study transnational, diasporic film-makers and global films. Through a multidisciplinary approach, this course will explore how filmmakers observed, criticized, mirrored and sometimes even anticipated cultural and social transformations in different societies. We will be watching in class 13 films, the films could be loosely grouped into three thematic clusters: political/social critique/social changes (how the personal reflects the political); diversity/clash of cultures/racial difference; foreign genre films (how other cultures re-interpret the Hollywood models: horror, romantic comedy, organized crime stories.
For more information: fbrizio@utk.edu.
ARAB/HEBR/MEST 321: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Literature, Film, and Popular Culture
MWF 1:00 – 1:50
Instructor: Drew Paul
This course explores depictions the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in film, literature, tv, and music from 1948 to the present, including units on the intersections of the conflict with race, gender, and sexuality, sci-fi visions of the region’s future, and the roles of hip-hop and poetry as forms of political protest.
Fulfills the WC Gen Ed category and the Arts and Sciences Global Challenges requirement.
For more info email: wpaul2@utk.edu.
RUSS 271: Putin's Russia and the Art of Propaganda
TR 9:50 – 11:05
Instructor: Christopher Pike
This course explores the interconnections between news media, popular culture, governance, and propaganda in post-Soviet Russia. We will investigate the various factors that contribute to the production of news media in Russia, and consider the key historical and cultural influences upon popular attitudes toward the information it produces and disseminates, such as the Bolshevik Revolution and subsequent fall of the Soviet Union. We will also consider the nature of propaganda and state pressure in news media more generally. What is propaganda? How does it differ from “objective” news reporting? Is it always clear to us when bias or state pressure is present? Students can expect to come away from the course with a foundational understanding of news production and the role of media in Russia, an expanded knowledge of Russian and Soviet culture and history, and a more critical eye for detecting bias in news media. Readings and discussion in English. Satisfies General Education Requirement: (CC)
For more information: cpike@utk.edu
RUSS 421: Tolstoy and the Quest for the Good Life
TR 2:50 – 4:05
Instructor: Stephen Blackwell
The course explores the major novels and stories of Leo Tolstoy, and through them examines the great writer’s struggles to identify the path to living a Good Life. Includes readings from the philosophical figures that most interested Tolstoy (Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Kant, etc). Discussion will focus on how Tolstoy follows the inner course of a human life, revealing individuals’ struggles with the meaning of existence. MFLL-Russian Studies majors will do some readings in Russian. Writing-emphasis course, WC, Volcore Humanities. Satisfies General Education Requirement: (WC)
For more informationl: sblackwe@utk.edu