Spring 2026 Courses Conducted in English
For all language courses, please see the listings at My BU Student
For information about particular language programs, please contact the language program coordinator listed among “Faculty” in the “People” menu.
Comparative Literature
CAS XL 225: Intro South Asian Literatures
TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Parnami
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). Introduces basic methods of comparative literary study through close readings of some of the most influential texts of Indian and other South Asian literatures. Readings may include Shakuntala, The Ramayana, bhakti and Sufi literatures. (AEX, GCI, WIN)
CAS XL 230: Topics in Big Fat Books
(A1) TR 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM Micallef
(B1) MWF 11:15 AM – 12:05 PM Waters
Enters deeply into the world of one literary work and explores its reverberations across national and disciplinary boundaries. (AEX, WIN)
Topic for Spring 2026, Section A1: Seeing and Believing: Narrative, Art, and Identity in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red. Explores this contemporary novel set in 16th-century Istanbul as a crossroads of literature, visual culture, philosophy. Examines how multiple narrators challenge conventional ideas of truth, authorship, artistic representation, and weave together elements of mystery, romance, and metafiction.
Topic for Spring 2026, Section B1: Homer’s Iliad. Semester-long attentive reading of Homer’s Iliad (in English), the oldest work of Western literature. First-time readers today are finding that this epic of the Trojan War is not only absorbing and relevant, but important to them personally. Find out why.
CAS XL 236: Jewish Literature (Meets with JS 236/EN 126)
TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM Gillman
How do changing notions of ethnicity and race, religion, and gender, as well as geographical place define Jewish family and community? Topics include immigration, diaspora, and national culture; patriotism, antisemitism, and multiculturalism; Jewish identities and gender; conversion, assimilation, and acculturation. (GCI, AEX)
CAS XL 244: Greek Drama in Translation (Meets with CL 224)
TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Esposito
The history and development of ancient Greek theater; study of important plays in the genres of tragedy, comedy, and satyr drama by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander. Cannot be taken for credit in addition to CAS CL 324. (AEX, ER, TC)
XL 325 A1Global Modernist Fiction (Meets with EN 215)
TR 2:00 – 3:15PM Liu
A comparative study of modernist authors from five different world cultures: Rushdie (Indian-British), Morrison (American), Kafka (Jewish-Czech), Chung (South Korean), and Murakami (Japanese). Examines experiments in narrative technique as differently situated responses to the major events and legacy of the twentieth century. Fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Critical Thinking.
CAS XL 327: Immigrant Women in Literature: Found in Translation (Meets with LR 327/WS 327)
TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Garcia De La Puente
This course explores literature about migration created by women primarily from Eastern Europe. We read autobiographical narratives that focus on the shaping of transcultural identity with an eye to the problem of translation as a linguistic, cultural, and personal phenomenon. (GCI, HC, CT)
CAS XL 332 Introduction History, Humanities, and Social Sciences Research in the Digital Age: Tools and Methods (Meets with HI 332)
TR 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM Menegon
Course 1 in two-semester-sequence. Introduces principles and tools of digital research in history, the humanities, and social sciences. Through project-based learning, students combine skills in digital literacy, media creation, humanistic and social sciences inquiry. (DME, RIL, SO1)
CAS XL 377: Global Asian Literature (Meets with EN 351)
TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM Yang
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASWR 120, First-Year Writing Seminar. – This course explores 20th- and 21st-century ethnic Asian writers whose literary works help us question the paradigm of national literature and appreciate the power of border-crossing literature. Main topics include colonialism, racism, post-colonial politics, migration, World War II, and wars in post-1945 Asia. (AEX, WIN)
CAS XL 387: The Holocaust Through Film (Meets with JS 367/CI 387)
(A1) TR 10:10 AM – 11:00 AM Amihay
An examination of film using the Holocaust as its central topic. What are the political and cultural effects when genocide is represented through film? Can feature films portray history, and if so, what are the consequences for an informed society? (HC, GCI, WIN)
CAS XL 392 : Marx, Nietzsche, Freud (meets w/ LG 382).
MWF 3:35 PM – 4:25 PM Schwartz
Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). – Study of the contributions of three radical German thinkers to the theory and practice of ideological and cultural critique. Focus on Marx’s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 and Communist Manifesto, Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality, Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents. (PLM, SO1, WIN)
CAS XL 459: Primo Levi Within Holocaust Literature (meets with LI 459/JS 369/RN 459)
TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Harrowitz
A study of Primo Levi’s writings and scientific, literary, theological, and philosophical approaches to the Holocaust. Other theorists (Arendt, Wiesel, and Muller-Hill) and other survivors’ testimonies (Delbo, Borowski, Fink) are read in conjunction with Levi’s works. Also offered as CAS LI 459 and RN 459. (HC, ER)
CAS XL 530: Marxist Cultural Criticism (Meets with EN 539)
T 3:30 PM – 6:15 PM Liu
An introduction to Marxist cultural criticism that examines the transformation of concepts in classic Marxism (Marx, Lukacs, Althusser, Adorno, and Gramsci) into contemporary debates about race, gender, sexuality, colonialism, modernity, and language (Said, Zizek, Spivak, and others). (IIC, PLM, CRT)
Arabic
CAS LY 283: Arab Cultures Through Film (Meets with CI 283)
A1 TR 9:30 – 10:45 AM Silmane
B1 MWF 10:10-11:00 Mustafa
Explores Arab cultures with a focus on key historical and social issues through the lens of Arabic films, both as historical artifacts and artworks. Diverse cinematic works from Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and beyond are discussed and analyzed. No prior knowledge of the Arab world or Arabic is required. (GCL, HCO, TWC)
Chinese
CAS LC 251: Masterpieces of Modern Chinese Literature
TR 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM Yeh
Modern Chinese literature tells stories of trauma, accommodation, and resistance. It offers private and public records of tumultuous transitions. This course focuses on great works of transformative importance. Authors include Lu Xun, Wang Meng, and Jin Yong. (AEX, GCI)
CAS LC 286: Topics in Chinese Culture
W 2:30 PM – 5:15 PM Tien
Topic for Spring 2026: Introduction to Chinese Calligraphy. Students learn the history of the Chines e writing system and gain insights into the historical developments of Chinese calligraphy, and, through practice, gain basic knowledge and skills required for a Chinese calligrapher.
CAS LC 287: Screening Modern China
TR 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM Yeh
Major Chinese films interpreted in light of modern Chinese history and culture. Focus on questions of national and cultural identity in films from the 1980s to the present day by directors from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. (AEX, GCI)
German
CAS LG 382: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud (Meets with XL 392)
MWF 3:35 PM – 4:25 PM Schwartz
CAS LG 387: Weimar Cinema (Meets with CI 320)
(A1) TR 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM (Screenings on Tuesdays) Schwartz
German silent and early sound films from Caligari to Hitler, viewed in the aesthetic context of contemporary and recent film theory and criticism and in the broader cultural context of the interwar Weimar Republic (1918-1933), with international points of comparison. Weekly screenings. (AEX, CRT, HCO)
CAS LG 621: Reading German for Graduate Students
M 2:30 PM – 5:15 PM TBA
Designed to prepare graduate students for the German reading exam. Develops a knowledge of the fundamentals of German grammar. Practice in translating passages. No previous knowledge of German required. Students will not receive graduate credit for this course and there is no tuition charge.
Hebrew
CAS LH 283: Israeli Culture through Film (Meets with CI 270/JS 283)
M 2:30 PM – 5:15 PM Amihay
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent) – Israeli society, from its origins to contemporary times, through the medium of film. Topics include immigration; war; the impact of the Holocaust; trials of women; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Introduction to film analysis and interpretive methods. Required for the Hebrew minor. (WIN, GCI, AEX)
CAS LH 284: Israel: History, Politics, Culture, Identity (Meets with JS 285/HI 392)
TR 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM Neumark
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) – Using a broad array of readings, popular music, documentaries, film and art, this course explores Israel’s political system, culture, and society, including the status of minorities in the Jewish state; post-1967 Israeli settlement projects; and the struggle for Israel’s identity. (WIN, IIC, CRT)
Japanese
CAS LJ 360: HAIKU
(A1) TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 PM Vincent
(B1) TR 11:00AM – 12:15PM
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (WR 120 or equivalent). – The history and evolving forms of haiku in Japan and around the world. Students write and workshop their own haiku in English or Japanese, learning from great poets how to focus attention, observe nature, read closer, and write better. (WIN, AEX, Creativity)
CAS LJ 383: Auteur Studies: Japan (Meets with CI 383) R 12:30 PM – 3:15 PM Frederick
Ozu Yasujiro. Seen as the most Japanese of directors with keen attention to social and family dynamics, Ozu is also regarded worldwide as one of the most important directors for films such as Tokyo Story. Considers his distinctive creative process and style. (AEX, HCO, Creativity).
CAS LJ 460: Haruki Murakami and His Sources (Meets with EN 369/LJ 660)
MWF 11:15 AM – 12:05 PM Zielinska-Elliott
Students read works by Haruki Murakami and by writers who shaped him or were shaped by him, reflect on the nature of intertextuality, and gain a perspective on contemporary literature as operating within a global system of mutual influence. (AE/GCI/Creativity)
Korean
CAS LK 251: Classics of Korean Literature
TR 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Wuerthner
Introduction to Korean literature from its first recorded beginnings to the early twentieth century, understood against the backdrop of the complex historical, cultural, political, linguistic, philosophical and religious contexts and networks. (AEX/HCO)
CAS LK 475: Major Authors in Korean Literature (Meets with LK 675) TR 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM Yang
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) Closely examines major authors in Korean literature through their representative works in English translation. Students analyze each author’s writing style, themes, and characters while exploring various theoretical questions, institutional practices, and cultural praxes regarding literary authors and authorship. (WIN, AEX)
CAS LK 485: Animals in Premodern Korean Literature TR 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM Wuerthner
Through animals in literature, this course addresses questions surrounding human-animal relations in premodern Korea and China. This serves as a window onto culture and life in premodern East Asia. It engages students in comparative literature, and raises their awareness for pressing environmental issues. (AEX, HCO)
Russian
CAS LR 282: Russian Prose Classics of the Twentieth Century TR 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM Corrigan
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). – Introduction to the major writers of twentieth-century Russian prose and to the literary traditions that they represent through a close reading of selected texts. Authors include Chekhov, Tolstoy, Babel, Bulgakov, Kharms, Pasternak, Shalamov, Solzhenitsyn, Petrushevskaya, Sorokin. (AEX, GCI, WIN)
CAS LR 284: Women in Russian Literature: Past and Present
TR 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM Garcia de la Puente
Learn about literature by women and about women written in Russian. Understand the differences between Russian and Russophone. Reflect on the role of history, society and gender in literary production. Readings include Russian-speaking authors past and present. (CRI, SI2, RIL)
Translation
CAS TL 540: Translation Seminar
W 2:30 PM – 5:15 PM Zielinska-Elliott
Undergraduate Prerequisites: Proficiency in a second language; Undergraduate Corequisite: CASTL 542. – Graduate Prerequisites: Proficiency in a second language; Graduate Corequisite: CASTL 542. – Translation seminar where students produce substantial literary translations into English from their language of choice with the guidance of the instructors and language-specific mentors. Students hone their translation skills, read, and discuss articles about practical issues of translation. Students are required to register for co-requisite CASTL 542.
CAS TL 541: Translation Today
M 2:30 PM – 3:45 PM Waters
Undergraduate Corequisites: (CASTL 542) – Weekly lectures and discussions with prominent literary translators from Boston and elsewhere. Students engage with a variety of languages and several genres: poetry, drama, essay, fiction, and more.
Focus on concrete, practical translation issues arising from the speakers’ work. Students are required to register for co-requisite CAS TL 542. (CRI, GCI, IIC)
CAS TL 542: Literary Translation
F 2:30 PM – 4:15 PM Waters
Undergraduate Corequisites: (CASTL540 OR CASTL541) – Guest lecture series in literary translation. Mandatory co-requisite with CAS TL 540 and CAS TL 541. This course cannot be taken on its own.
CAS TL 551: Topics in Translation: Self-translation and Bilingualism
TR 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM Garcia de la Puente
Explores self-translation, the process and product of a bilingual author’s rendering of their text into another language. Challenges binary categories of original and translation, of author and translator. Students investigate literary translingualism as scholars and as creative writers-translators. (AEX, HCO, CRT)