Expository writing done in connection with the reading of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature and the study of selected Spanish texts read in the original. Course will help prepare students for more advanced work in Spanish. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition Requirement. This course is in-person.

Note that this course requires students to have advanced Spanish-language skills. The term fanaticism is ubiquitous in the current political landscape. In its everyday use, fanaticism denotes behaviors that are beyond the pale or beyond reason. Academic treatments of fanaticism, however, suggest that the term might also denote an excess of reason, unyielding passion or energy, and a profound commitment to historical change. In this course, we will study the many connotations of this ambiguous and politically charged term, as well as some fictional and historical characters to which it has been attached. We will begin with Robespierre, known to his contemporaries as The Incorruptible; we will study his sources of inspiration in Antiquity, as well as his influence on revolutionaries across the Americas. (Ruth Scurr’s study of Robespierre gives our course its title.) Although we will cast a wide net, historically and geographically, our main exhibits in this course will be drawn from the modern Spanish-speaking world. Readings include Sophocles, von Kleist, Freud, Borges, Toscano, Ocampo, Spence, Carpentier, Hazareesingh, James, and Moshfegh.

Requisites

• Three years of high school Spanish or two years with a B plus average.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills