English
English
Advanced Level
Beowulf
A philological analysis of the Old English epic within its historical context. A close look will be taken at the Anglo-Saxon poetic tradition and the development of the English language, contrasting it with the history and epic literature of some other languages and cultures that flourished around that time.
English
Advanced Level
Coriolanus
This course offers an intensive study of Shakespeare’s last tragedy: a deeply moving story of ambition, pride, and betrayal that bring about the downfall of a great Roman warrior. Set within the gates of Rome and on the great battlefields around the city, the story of Coriolanus is told in gravely majestic language, the severity of the words reflecting the military grandeur of the Roman army and foreshadowing the tragic fall of the volatile protagonist.
English
Intermediate Level
The Wind in The Willows
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A close reading of Kenneth Grahame’s much-loved story of friendship and loyalty acted out within a nostalgically beautiful setting in the English countryside. Students will learn to analyse the different characters of the animal protagonists and to connect them to their respective habitats. They will learn to appreciate the intensely passionate and vibrant language used by the author, who clearly enjoyed telling his story, and to produce critical appreciations of selected passages as well as the novel as a whole.
English
Intermediate Level
The Wonderful Journey of Nils Holgersson With The Wild Geese
A recalcitrant boy’s journey through the seas and forests of Sweden in quest of redemption, maturity, and growth. Students are introduced to the metaphor of the journey: the traveler’s need to remain on the path despite the obstacles that lie on the way. It is a story of conquering the self for the sake of the ultimate arrival home.
English
Lecture
What Price Freedom? Technology and the Loss of Chivalry
Readings of Tolstoy’s A Spark Neglected Burns the House and E. M. Forester’s The Machine Stops set against the backdrop of Shanfara’s Lamiyyat al-Arab and Beowulf.
What do Shanfara, Beowulf, Kuno, and the peasants of rural Russia have in common? And what do they have to do with freedom – or a lack of it? What would have been their connection to technology and what price would they have paid for it?
Reflections on the mind’s struggle for sovereignty in an age of automated thought and feeling.
English
Intermediate Level / Advanced Level
English Grammar and Composition
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This course takes a traditional and systematic approach to the teaching of grammar, syntax, and style. It introduces students to an understanding of the function of language and the use of words so as to enable them to produce texts that are written correctly, beautifully, and well.