What are emotions? This course provides students with an opportunity to engage in detailed interdisciplinary study of significant developments in the history of “emotion.” Examining literary texts from the early modern period up to the twenty-first century, we will be addressing the concept of emotion as presented in a variety of forms and genres, alongside key findings in cognitive neuroscience and psychology. Together, these materials refute the traditional opposition between emotion and rationality and reveal the extent to which emotion is an inextricable part of everyday cognition. Assignments for this course are designed to increase interdisciplinary literacy and develop skills of practical criticism.