Individual Course

Modern Masterpieces of World Literature

Course Length

8 weeks

3-6 hours per week

Featuring faculty from:

Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences

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Class:

Certificate Price:

$ 209

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Join Harvard faculty, David Damrosch and Martin Puchner, in this online course to examine how great modern writers capture the intricacies of our globalized world.

Based on the second half of the Masterpieces of World Literature edX MOOC, this short literature course examines how writers reach beyond national and linguistic boundaries as worldly readers and travelers, and how their modern fictions rise to the status of world literature.

These masterpieces of modern world literature take part in a tradition of weaving small stories into ambitious projects—one that reaches back to medieval tales and extends forward to contemporary novels. Throughout the course, you will learn how these writers use their fictions to engage directly with the political and social concerns of their present and of a globalized modernity, relating experiences of exploration, migration, international conflict, and cultural exchange.

Self-Guided

edX

Learning Outcome
How literary works are transformed by cultural transmission
Learning Outcome
How to critically analyze literary works
Learning Outcome
Historical and political context in China, Argentina, Turkey, and more

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Ways to take this course

Audit or Pursue a Verified Certificate

A Verified Certificate costs $209 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.

⁠Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.

Faculty

Your Instructor

Martin Puchner

Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature, Harvard University

Martin Puchner is a prize-winning author, educator, and public speaker. His writings range from philosophy and theater to world literature and emerging technologies.

Your Instructor

David Damrosch

Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature at Harvard University

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