Lit and Arts C

In the best of worlds, Cores are classes to be enjoyed rather than obstacles to be overcome. Unfortunately, Lit & Arts C just happens to be damn near the worst of worlds.

The Courses of Instruction describe this Core area as a study of “creative cultural epochs in history,” exploring “how works of literature and art function within a given society.” Which is excellent, because the courses have equally obtuse subject matter and syllabi.

Students might question the ties that bind classes like C-20, “The Hero of Irish Myth and Saga” and C-51, “Revolution and Reaction: The Rise and Fall of the Russian Avant-Garde.” A common theme seems to be the study of how a specific kind of art worked in a specific historical epic, how it was influenced by current events and how it influenced them in turn. The keyword is “specific;” most classes cover one type of art in a tightly defined period of time. A science major might grumble that he wasted an entire course learning about the artistic construction of the samurai—after all, if you found the confluence of history and literature genuinely fascinating, you’d be a Hist and Lit concentrator. Still, there’s enough of a selection among these courses to be able to find something you’ll like or, failing that, something that’s easy.

Because of the specificity of this area, there are a lot of Lit and Arts C classes that might appeal to certain types of students. For instance, HRDC buffs might try C-25, “The Medieval Stage”, while wannabe Ruskies might like C-50, “Russian Imperial Masterworks and their Post-Histories”, or C-51, “The Rise and Fall of the Russian Avant-Garde”. Frequenters of the Kong may look to C-40, “The Chinese Literati.” Of course, the classes’ specificity means that one could very easily drown in terrible boredom amidst the German Colonial Imagination if one didn’t have a pre-existing interest in the subject.

We particularly recommend Professor Tomás Ó Cathasaigh’s course, C-20, “The Hero of Irish Myth and Saga”, which talks about lots of battles and killing and stuff. The Irish professor has a delightful brogue that adds flair to this relatively easy course. Fun tip: Sneak some Lucky Charms and a bottle of Jameson whiskey into lecture, and you’ve got the perfect atmosphere to do some Irish learnin’.

If you’re looking to stay sober and just get this Core out of the way, “The Rome of Augustus” is a painless gut. The lectures are pretty entertaining, but you can probably sleep through them (yes, they’re at noon) and still do fine. This course will also save you some serious cash: buy the sourcepack to memorize author names and prep for IDs, but otherwise some handy SparkNotes will do the trick on the rest of the syllabus.

As anyone who’s not a neophyte to the Core, true academic challenge comes only by taking cross-listed departmental courses. Don’t be silly—skip them.

But for the intellectually challenging amongst you, English 177, “Art and Thought in the Cold War,” is not to be missed. Renaissance man Louis Menand’s command of the subject matter allows him to skillfully blend the historical and literary disciplines throughout his lectures, constructing a class that embodies the spirit that should animate more Core offerings. The downside: be prepared to work your way through several tests and papers. The upside: if you skip a lecture or ten, it’s no biggie—it’s probably based on a much shorter New Yorker article Menand’s wrote anyway.