What are emotions? How are they communicated through art? What does it mean to be a thinking, feeling human being?
This course takes as its focus the historical development of “emotion,” examining works ranging from the early modern period up to the twenty-first century in a variety of forms and genres. We will also be reading up-to-date work in contemporary cognitive neuroscience and psychology to inform our understanding of emotions. We hope to discuss and discover how contemporary studies of the mind are relevant to language and literature (and vice versa) and how we have imagined the mind at different times. Assignments for this course are conducted with the goals of increasing interdisciplinary literacy and developing skills of practical criticism.