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checking off lists

12.06.2010






i'm feeling quite productive this monday...nothing like a new week!
my list isn't long...it's hard to keep it short...but i try to keep it simple
making it easy and stress-free to cross things off my list.

one thing on my list has got me feeling absolutely giddy today:
next summer i'll be in oxford, england.
i'm thinking about roaming around oxford's lincoln college campus,
browsing through their world-renowned library,
and attending class with my peers in my professor's quarters.
it's going to be a dream come true for sure.
within the next month or so i've got to make a big decision:
which class do i take?
i only get to take one. one!
how does one choose?
i've narrowed it down to two choices:

one:
early romanticism.
This course will chart the evolution of romanticism by locating its
origins in earlier eighteenth-century writing and by examining a number of key texts from the “first generation” of romantic writers of the
1790s and early 1800s. The course will explore early romanticism from
a variety of perspectives—political, social, literary, aesthetic. We will
focus in particular on the following topics: sensibility and sentiment, the
sublime, landscapes of the mind, rudeness and primitivism, the role of
women. The list of texts below is not comprehensive. Students will be
encouraged to pursue individual lines of enquiry and to read widely for
their written papers.

two:
pre-raphaelitism to decadence: literature and vision
The Victorian art critic John Ruskin once thundered that
“Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly is poetry,
prophecy, and religion—all in one.” This course explores the
intersections, borrowings, and clashes of verbal and visual cultures in Victorian Britain, from the birth of the Pre-Raphaelite
movement in the mid century to the Decadence of the 1890s.
We will discuss issues such as the place and value of art in the
second half of the nineteenth century, pre-Raphaelite poetry and
painting, aestheticism, art for art’s sake, ekphrasis, ghostly visions,
sexuality, Symbolism, Decadent writing. Our focus in class will
be primarily on literary texts, but there will be opportunities
for integrating visual material and for exploring Oxford’s superb
late-Victorian heritage. A course pack with additional reading
will be given out at the beginning of the course.




which one would you choose?


7 comments:

Unknown said...

I did your first option at Leeds uni years ago and loved it (as part of my English degree), but both sound fantastic! I think i would immerse myself in the poetry of both options for a few days and decide which interests me most. What an incredible opportunity,is it just during a summer or longer? The colleges are amazing -I married into an Oxford family!x

karen said...

i would most assuredly choose the second option, but that's only because i'm obsessed with the Victorian era.
i agree with Belinda though; immerse yourself in some of the literature of both options, close your eyes, and choose with your heart (or reason it out - which ever comes first). all the best!

Shelby said...

Both sound wonderful, but I would definitely go for the second one, I've always found that such a fascinating subject/era. I would love to take a class on it, it's so interesting!

Cassie said...

I'm a sucker for romanticism...of course, that was what I studied mostly in college, so there you have it!

Tonia said...

This is great news! I think I'd go for the pre-raphaelites, if only becuse you won't be far from Birmingham where there's a fabulous collection of their works in the city museum & art gallery - absolutely stunning!

Ma Belle Paris said...

When I was reading your post and came across the first choice you listed I thought definitely romanticism... however pre-raphaelitism has always been a huge interest of mine and to be able to study it at a school that is so old and has so much history itself would be amazing. the libraries at oxford as just too wonderful to explain... you re going to have a lovely time by the sounds of it... I loved every moment I spent at oxford all be it only a couple of days... but it was lovely... your choice is going to be a hard one, but I am sure they will each be as equally rewarding as one another, and not to mention equally as engaging. Have a wonderful time, I am most envious right now!

Gailen Audie said...

pre-raphaelitism to decadence, considering Oxford :) happy decision-making for you!