Literature
- Analyzes, Interprets, and Critiques Literature
- Provides Lively Discussion and Debate
- Develops Cultural Aptitude
These courses provide the opportunity to read and discuss novels, short stories, memoirs, plays, and poetry. You will explore classic and contemporary literature from ancient texts to current bestsellers as you gain skills to analyze, interpret, and critique writing; develop cultural aptitude; and participate in nuanced discussions and lively debates.
This semester, study in-person or from anywhere in the world from the safety and comfort of your home through online or remote instruction.
Ancient Greek Tragedy: The Sense of an Ending
Read and discuss masterpieces of ancient Greek literature.
Two Novels by Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment and the Brothers Karamazov
Read and analyze two recent, acclaimed translations of Fyodor Dostevsky’s most famous novels.
Masterpieces of 19th-Century Fiction
Read 19th-century classics that have passed the test of time and are still of interest to contemporary readers.
The Novel Today
We will investigate a dark secret in a small Irish Town; a reclusive artist in Baltimore; a sensitive secretive and brave teenager in Glasgow;...
Brilliant Minds
Read examples of works in which brilliant minds use their gifts to entertain, inspire, engage, and enlighten us. Fall 2023...
Discovering the Modern: The Novels of E.M. Forster
Read the novels of E.M. Forster and learn about his contribution to modern literature.
Lover or Fighter? Reading Virgil's Aeneid
Read and analyze Virgil’s Aeneid, a thrilling epic and an exploration of the devastation of war.
Five African Nobel Laureates
Register for this Spring 2023 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website. With the award of the 2021 Nobel Prize for...
Leo Tolstoy: The Hero is Truth
Read 19th-century classics that have passed the test of time and are still of interest to contemporary readers.
Religion and Literature: From the Bible to James Baldwin
Explore themes—love, death, evil, suffering, and forgiveness—across religious and literary texts from the Western canon and beyond.
The Modern Comic Novel
Register for this Spring 2023 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website. Though serious literature is often associated...
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick
Register for this Summer 2023 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website. Seen as an artistic failure or an...
Literature for the 21st Century
Discover a generation of authors likely to set literary trends well into the 21st century.
Reading Dante's Inferno
Examine the key themes, overall message, and place in cultural and literary history of Dante’s Inferno.
Three Recent Nobel Laureates from France; Le Clezio, Modiano, Ernaux
Read and analyze the works of three French Nobel laureates.