THEMES -- THÈMES -- THEMEN

COEXISTENCE STUDIES          
MARGINALIZATION AND EXCLUSION 
GENOCIDE AND SHOAH STUDIES   
INTER- AND INTRA-DISCIPLINARY STUDIES  
CHILDREN AND YOUTH AT RISK 
EUROPE IN ITS GLOBAL DYNAMICS 
CARIBBEAN AND LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES              
AFRICA IN ITS GLOBAL DYNAMICS
                                                   
                                        

Amy-Diana Colin, Germany/USA
VIENNA 1900

Looking at major political, social, scientific, and cultural changes in one of the most fascinating periods in European history, the turn of the nineteenth century, this course gives students an insight into the preconditions for peace in pluri-ethnic societies of the past as well as into the forces undermining peace: violent nationalism, ethnic and religious hatred, violence; and war. Through documentary and feature films, slide shows, music, and readings of political, philosophical, and literary texts, this interdisciplinary multi-media course investigates the parallels and differences between Europe 1900 and Europe 2000, introducing students to the multifaceted turn of the century culture in its relation to the present time.

The first part of the course focuses on crucial developments in European history, politics, science, philosophy, art, music, and literature at the turn of both centuries, giving special attention to Paris, London, Berlin, and Vienna as centers of intellectual and artistic life, but also of testing grounds for political, social, and economic conflicts. In Vienna, Wittgenstein wrote his revolutionary critique of philosophical language; Freud uncovered substructures of the human psyche; Gustav Klimt and the Secession developed a new style of painting; Arnold Schönberg created the twelve-tone music; Adolf Loos revolutionized architecture; and Karl Kraus wrote his superb polemics against journalists and politicians. 

The second part of the course focuses on the response of Viennese intellectuals, writers, philosophers, scientists, and artists to political developments of their time. At the turn of this new century, their reflections and answers regain crucial significance, for they shed light on contemporary concerns and problems in Europe and especially in Vienna. There, 150 different nationalities coexist relatively peacefully in spite of the looming danger of neo-fascism, racism, and xenophobia. Vienna, a multi-ethnic town, strives to become once again a central gateway to Eastern Europe, while remaining aware of its past.

SHOAH STUDIES 

Amy-Diana Colin, Germany/USA
Jewish Writers in German Literature

"Auf daß die Verfolgten nicht Verfolger werden," the title of a key poem by Nelly Sachs, Nobel Prize Winner for literature, could be the motto of this seminar, which attempts to teach a culture of humaneness and peace via the literature of authors who were victims of persecution, violence and war. The first part of this seminar is devoted to teaching Shoah poetry and prose writings. Among the authors discussed in this course are Paul Celan; the poets from his cultural background, the Bukovina; Nelly Sachs; Edgar Hilsenrath; and Jurek Becker whose novel Jacob, the Liar has become the basis of one of the most interesting movies invoking the Shoah. The second part of the class focuses on other aspects of the intricate interrelations between writers of Jewish descent and their German-speaking contextuality. Walter Benjamin's Illuminations, Franz Kafka's The Trial, and S. Freud's Civilization and its Discontent are among the texts analyzed in this class. 

Seminars taught in Germany, Italy, and the United States.

For more information see: http://www.pitt.edu/~adc/

De Mao à Balzac. En 1999, dans Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse chinoise, l'écrivain français Dai Sijie réécrit Balzac en lutte contre Mao Tsé Toung. Il calcule l'impact des lectures subversives possibles dans le monde de la répression. Il trace les stratégies de lutte du lecteur qui renouvelle et décontextualise le texte devenu support révolutionnaire de l'épanouissement individuel. Dai Sijie nous introduit à la joie de lire et de réécrire selon une pratique de décontextualisation dans les marges du texte orthodoxe, de l'histoire littéraire officielle et du canon débouchant sur le racisme ou l'exclusion. Dans le contexte du libéralisme, cette pratique herméneutique et pragmatique s'épanouit dans les romans de Michel Houellebecq (Extension du domaine de la lutte) ou de Frédéric Beigbeder. Ils y explorent une société qui a perdu ses grands récits de légitimation, comme le soulignait J.-F. Lyotard dans La condition postmoderne en 1976. Ils y tracent les voies d'une rétorsion improbable inscrite dans une transition permanente ouvrant l'écriture à la prise en charge de l'immédiateté contemporaine.

Patrick Imbert, University of Ottawa, Canada
Fra 4540, PROBLÉMATIQUE LITTÉRAIRE
Janvier - Avril / January to April, 2002

Franchir les limites. Jouer du "déplacement" dans l'exaltation des multiples identités ou bien dans la sagesse réflexive et les paradoxes du cheminement textuel. S'écrire et s'inscrire autrement, transformé par un contexte postmoderne/postcolonial déplaçant le dualisme de la modernité. Traverser l'hybride et l'hétérogène, un appel parfois surprenant surgi d'un essai comme Nord perdu de Nancy Huston et de romans comme Self de Yann Martel, ou Les silences du corbeau d'Yvon Rivard. Une exploration de décontextualisations / recontextualisations selon les modalités du double-codage de Jencks (What is postmodernism?), conduira à des incursions comparatives dans d'autres textes des Amériques comme La loi de l'amour (La Ley del amor)(Mexique) de Laura Esquivel et ses réincarnations successives ou Hallucinating Foucault (États-Unis) de Patricia Duncker. Diverses manières d'explorer la ductilité du récit et des identités fictives en prise sur une origine fugitive et conflictuelle ainsi que l'agilité des récepteurs/producteurs de significations multiples et légitimes tentant d'échapper aux différentes manière d'exclure.

Nina Scribanu, Georgetown Medical School, USA and School of Medicine, University of Bucharest, Romania.

INCORPORATION OF GENETICS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE ETHICAL ISSUES OF THE GENOME PROJECT, course taught at the School of Medicine, University of Bucharest, Romania, April to June 2002.

The focal theme of this course is the introduction of new concepts of clinical genetics in the medical practice of the post genom era as well as the translation of research into clinical application.

TEACHING PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING, BIOCHEMISTRY AND GENETICS COURSES, junior medical students, January-March 2002.

TEACHING MEDICAL GENETICS, first- and second-year medical students, January-March 2002.

TEACHING CLINICAL CORRELATION, BIOCHEMISTRY COURSE, first-year medical students, January-March 2002.