English R1B

Description

Various myths and constructions of Egypt have been centrally important to the cultural development of the Western tradition from antiquity to the present. Egypt has often been viewed in a highly conflicted manner as both a land of idolatry and magic and a home of complex science and technology, as a space of political repression and slavery and of rule by sage, law-abiding monarchs, as the land of death and of excessive fertility. This class will explore the meaning of these contradictions and explore issues of sexuality, discourses of racial difference, methods of historiography, theories of the sublime, the relation of knowledge to power, and the rhetoric of national identity. We will cover a variety of texts, possibly including texts from religion (Genesis and Exodus), literature (Shakespeare�s Antony and Cleopatra), film (The Ten Commandments), music (Mozart�s The Magic Flute), and philosophy (Freud�s Moses and Monotheism). Most importantly, this will be a class that will help you hone your writing and research skills. Be prepared to write approximately 30 pages and revise them often.