Course description

This is a Topics in Literature course. Students engage in the study of literature through a particular theme or topic of literary study. Students gain necessary skills for literary analysis, critical thinking, and writing at the university level. The topic for this course is Trees of Life and Death. We will explore how works of literature and popular culture describe and use trees. How do texts represent trees? What symbolic value do trees hold? We will examine some Judeo-Christian stories about trees and examine how other texts respond to this tradition. We will extend our investigation into nature in general, trying to understand how texts portray and comment on the natural world, especially in the context of urbanization and industrialization.