| Course Title: Philosophical Tales: The Short Fiction of Anton Chekhov |
| Start Date: 01/24/2022 End Date: 05/09/2022 |
| Term: Spring Semester 2022 |
| Description: Explore the short fictions of Anton Chekhov as brilliantly crafted exemplars of the Philosophical Tale, stories that use the resources of short narrative fiction to probe life's deepest questions: "what is the meaning of our lives, how do we face our inevitable death, why is there evil and suffering, what does it mean to be human, how should we live?" How do these stories work? What can fictions do that discursive philosophical essays can't? How do they engage the complexity of the world and of life? We'll also read Chekhov's work in larger tradition of Wisdom Literature, with readings drawn from Biblical, Hassidic, Classical, Folk, and Chinese traditions, as well as from other notable practitioners of the genre (Chesterton, Borges, Poe). |
| Distribution(s): I - Humanities , WI - Writing-Intensive |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate     | Credits:4.00     |
| Faculty         | Phone         | Email address         |
| Peter Scotto   | 413-538-2486   | pscotto@mtholyoke.edu   |
| Meeting Dates         | Method         | Meeting days         | Meeting times         | Building name         | Room     | Frequency     |
| 01/24/2022 - 05/09/2022   | Seminar   | Tuesday and Thursday   | 11:30AM - 12:45PM   | DWGT - Dwight Hall   | 202   | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses         | ||
| None |           |           |
| Comments         |
| Additional Comments         |
| Taught in English.   |
| Course Tags         |
| Cross-listed Sections         |
| None   |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Closed     | Capacity: 18     | Enrollment: 18     | Available: 0     | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List         | Required         | Publisher Full Price         |
| To be determined. |           |           |
| Additional Book Comments         |
| This is NOT the complete book list for this class.   |