Comedy, that most elastic literary and performance mode, skewers artifice, topples authority, and reverses expectations, not with the fatal outcomes of tragedy but with laughter and festivity. This class examines both deep roots and current forms of comedy, with a particular focus on comic insubordination. And food.
We will revel in Greek, Roman, and Shakespearean drama; explore Aphra Behn’s eighteenth-century feminist rakes and sexual adventurers in The Rover; investigate social satire in Jane Austen, Herman Melville, and Oscar Wilde; peek under the covers of small-town family life in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home; and probe the uneasy relationship between farce and romantic love, violence and redemptive humor, satire and festivity in comic art. Discussion will draw on examples of popular and contemporary forms, including film and sketch comedy.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology is in Tier 1: world-leading universities and India's top institutes of our institution ranking (98/100). OpenCourseWare is the gold standard for free university material.
Harvard University
Contracts are a part of our everyday life, arising in collaboration, trust, promise and credit. How are contracts formed? What makes a contract enforceable? What happens when one party breaks a promise?
Our economic institutions, organizations, and skills have not kept up with rapid advances in AI. In this growing gap lie many of society’s greatest challenges and opportunities. This course will explore how AI can and will transform our economy and society in the coming years. Each week, we will le…
Harvard University
This introduction to moral and political philosophy is one of the most popular courses taught at Harvard College.
Harvard University
Learn about successful collaborations between families and educators and why they lead to improved outcomes for students and schools.
Harvard University
Learn how to protect children from violence, exploitation, and neglect through law, policy, and practice in a human rights framework.
View the complete course: http://ocw.mit.edu/9-00SCS11 Instructor: John Gabrieli Introduction to Psychology is a survey of the scientific study of human nature, including how the mind works, and how the brain supports the mind. Topics include the mental and neural bases of perception, emotion, lear…
