ENGL 55.08 Neuroscience and the Novel

Over the past few years it has been suggested that since the 1990s there has been a major shift in how novels represent characters and consciousness. This new type of novel has been called the "neuronovel." This course takes up questions at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and literary studies to explore this thesis. We'll read contemporary work by neurologists and psychologists (Damasio, Sacks, Gazzaniga, Schacter) as well as their late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century precursors (Freud, James, Brentano, Beard) alongside a wide range of literature that allows us to think about the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality with the universalist claims of various scientific and pseudoscientific accounts of the self. Key literary texts include Shelley, McEwan, Lethem, James, Poe, Woolf, Roth, and Wright.

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:LIT; WCult:W

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

No course group assignment.