Five Amazing Slow Reads for Fall 2024

By Robert Sullivan, April 15, 2024

Slow Reads Fall 2024

The School of Humanities and Sciences is thrilled to be offering five amazing Slow Reads in Fall 2024. These one credit courses are open to all and there are no pre-requisites. If you have never taken a Slow Read, now is the time!

RLST 11500 Creation Myths

Rebecca Lesses

Monday, 2:00-2:50

Friends 207

CRN21267

Across human cultures, people tell stories about beginnings – how the world (or the universe) began, how living creatures, including human beings, came to be, and how evil entered the world and human experience. These three elements are often intertwined in creation myths – profound narratives that form the religious, philosophical, and emotional foundations of varied human societies. In this course, we will read, discuss, and compare creation myths from a variety of sources and cultures.

PHIL 21500-01 Hegel's Lectures on Aesthetics.

Tatiana Patrone

Monday 1:00-1:50.

Job 160

CRN 21174

The course involves a close read of Hegel'sIntroductory Lectures on Aesthetics(based on the material from Hegel's Berlin lectures on philosophy of art during 1820s). The book we will be reading is calledIntroductory Lectures on Aesthetics, published by Penguin in 1993.

IISP 28000 Alessandro Manzoni,The Betrothed

Marella Feltrin-Morris

Wednesday 3:00-4:15

FRND 209

CRN: 21704

Picture a 17th-century village on the shore of Lake Como. Add ayoung couple on the eve of their wedding. Now preventthat wedding from taking place by unleashing an evil baron, his thugs, and the plague. That is, in a nutshell,themain plot of Alessandro Manzoni’sThe Betrothed(1827), Italy’s most renowned historical novel. But the book is much more than the story of two star-crossed lovers: it is about justice, faith, compassion, community—and it is ultimately acelebration of active citizenship.We’ll be reading a clear and wonderful English translation of The Betrothed.

SOCI 29400-01Will to Change: Men, Masculinity & Love, by bell hooks

Rebecca Plante

Fri 10 - 10:50

CRN: Pending – contact instructor

How and what do boys and men learn...about themselves, about their bodies, about love, about feelings? What is the role of anger, violence, and bad sex in men's lives? With a U.S. focus, activist, artist, writer and thinker bell hooks analyzes men, patriarchy, and the possibilities for change.

HIST 20000: Herodotus’ History

Matt Klemm

W 11:00-11:50

Smiddy 111

CRN 20525

TheHistoryof Herodotus is probably most familiar today for the story of the Persian invasion of Greece, with the battles at Marathon, Thermopylae (as seen in300), and Salamis. Beyond these famous battles, theHistoryis a remarkable treasury of incredible stories, including some very cool ethnographies, which have inspired countless moments in fantasy and historical fiction over the years. This slow read will explore all this, while also considering the significance of theHistoryas a new genre of literature.