Department of English

 Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) is a philosopher whose writings on art, literature, and politics have had tremendous influence on cultural studies. He has been variously described as one of the leading German-Jewish thinkers, and a secular Marxist theorist. With the publication of a new four-volume collection of this works in English, many more of his writings have been made accessible to a wider public.  Our seminar will undertake a survey of his work that begins with his studies on language and allegory, and continues with his autobiographical work, his writings on art and literature, and finally on the imaginary space of the nineteenth-century.

Primary Listing for this course is GRMN580:401

Undergraduates need to fill out a permit form and receive the approval of the Graduate Chair, their advisor, and the professor for all 500-level courses.