What's Love GOT to Do With It?: Investigating the Love Poem

3 units

Just what is a love poem? Does it have to be romantic? In this course we will use these questions to develop a more nuanced appreciation of love poetry across cultures and ages. From the fragments of Sappho, the mystic poetry of India, and the erotically-tinged sonnets of Shakespeare and Donne, to modern and contemporary poets like William Carlos Williams, Sharon Olds, and Maya Angelou, this course will examine not only the varied conceptions of love across time and context but how the love poem has assimilated a vast diversity of verseforms and styles. Combining periodic on-campus meetings with a Telesis virtual platform, this course will not meet on a weekly basis. Instead, the course will proceed as a hybrid of online and in-class environments. A mandatory introductory class will be held at the beginning of the term. For more information and a course syllabus, contact instructor in the weeks preceding the start of the semester.