Of what relevance is cognitive neuroscience to literature? This course steers through the thickets of neuroscience and maps areas where the general principles of neurobiology directly inform core issues in literary studies. The aim is to introduce students to the dynamical relations between brain, body and culture while providing a grounding in the world literary classics. Topics include Visual Perception, Trauma, Memory, Language, Theory of Mind, Emotion and Identity.

Literature: George Orwell, 1984; Haruki Murakami, ‘Tony Takitani’; poems, ‘Leçons des Ténèbres’ and ‘The Choice’; excerpts from two novels, Penelope Fitzgerald, Innocence and Anita Brookner, Look at Me; and Play by Samuel Beckett.

Science: Two journal articles (‘Dominance Behavioral System and Psychopathology’ and ‘Remembering’), excerpts from popular science books (Homo Deus, The Mismeasure of Man, Reading in the Brain) and 5 lectures on basic neuroscience.