This course examines historical materialist theories of imperialism, internationalism, and ideology from the 19th century to the present. Topics covered will include: race and capitalism; fascism; the National Question; neocolonialism; cultural imperialism; ideology and culture in anticolonial struggle; bourgeois, anticolonial, and cultural nationalisms; combined and uneven development; ecological imperialism; national revolutionary struggles in the Americas; and gender and the international division of labor. We will also consider how the political economy of imperialism affects intellectual production. Intellectuals whose work we will examine may include: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, VI Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, Antonio Gramsci, Samir Amin, Walter Rodney, Barbara and Karen Fields, Domenico Losurdo, Radhika Desai, Bertolt Brecht, Angela Davis, George Jackson, Paolo Freire, Martha Giménez, Che Guevara, and Roberto Fernández Retamar. No prior knowledge of these topics or authors is expected.

Scholars working on the politics of identity have embraced a range of affective states—such as pride, shame, anger, and melancholy—as theoretically and politically productive emotions. Guilt, by contrast, is more typically attributed to others than assumed by the self. Whether in the venerable academic tradition of unmasking the errors of individual thinkers or the exclusions of entire fields, or in the more recent call-out and cancel culture of our moment, discerning the guilt of others is often a means of proclaiming the righteousness of one’s self. Such assertions presume a clear distinction between an innocent victim and a guilty perpetrator and hew closely to legal claims for reparation contingent on the calculation of harm for the former and the assignment of guilt to the latter.

This seminar investigates how our scholarly and political investments might be configured differently if we embraced guilt—in the sense of both culpability and contrition—not as a cynical dismissal of intellectual consistency or social justice but rather as an inevitable structural position of the subject and social movements. Throughout the semester, we will engage with philosophy, psychoanalysis, critical race theory, women of color, feminist, queer, and trans writings to explore how we might construct a different genealogy of guilt and reparation. How do we think an ethics of guilt and reparation in the wake of slavery, dispossession, occupation, genocide, and nuclear holocaust? Indeed, how does such an ethics allow us to reconsider the universalizing aspirations of the human and human rights from the perspectives of complicity, failure, and responsibility rather than those of moral authority, certainty, and blamelessness?

In this class we will study the emergence of the Modernist concept of the "new" as a term also understood as "new fashion." We will move back and forth in time so as to analyze today’s changing scene with a view to identify contemporary accounts of the "new" in the context of the fashion industry. Our texts will include poetry, novels, and films. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.

This course is an introduction to and exploration of modern East Asian literatures and cultures through close readings and discussion of selected literary works from the early 20th century to the start of the 21st century. Focusing on China, Japan, and Korea, we will explore the shared and interconnected experiences of modernity in East Asia as well as broaden our perspective by considering the location of East Asian cultural production within a global modernity. Major issues we will encounter include: nation-building and the modern novel; cultural translation; media and technology; representations of gender, race, and class; history and memory; colonialism; war; body and sexuality; globalization. No knowledge of the original language is required.

In this course, we will study nearly 1000 years of literature about King Arthur from around the world. We will think about what Arthurian legends mean to the way we write history and the ways in which we view our collective pasts (and futures). See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.

This seminar examines the complex cultural history of crime and criminality in early America. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.

At their root, Marx and Marxisms try to examine the problems with both capitalism and the political and economic discourses that justify or ignore those problems. Today, many around the globe are also reflecting on capitalism’s problems, in the hope of imagining and realizing a better future. This course will trace some of the origins of that renewed inquiry, and examine its limits and possibilities in today’s world. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.

An introduction to literary study through world literature. The course will introduce you to the manifold connections between theories of world literature and fields such as globalization studies, translation studies, comparative literature, and postcolonial studies. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.

This course explores literary modernism through the lens of Animal Studies. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.

This introduction to literary study examines a compelling theme central to a set of cinematic texts. The theme's function within specific historical contexts, within varying media technologies, and within contemporary culture, will all be emphasized. In presenting a range of materials and perspectives, this course is an ideal introduction to literary study. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.