Free Literary History & Criticism Courses

This course will compare and contrast the Greek, Medieval, and modern worlds, as reflected in their greatest literature...

The Existentialism in Literature and Film course, taught by professor Hubert L. Dreyfus, cuts right to the roots of existentialist thought, looking at the works of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, and examining Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov in depth.

In this ongoing course presented by Oxford, Professor Emma Smith takes on one Shakespeare play at a time, asking a specific question on each that will hopefully shed fresh light on his work as a whole.

This Intro to Humanities course entitled "The Literature of Crisis" explores crisis when it occurs at the personal, familial, and societal levels through six major works of literature.

Who were the Romantics? In this free course conducted by Timothy Morton, listeners will learn about an innovative literary period between 1790 and 1820 that produced influential writers such as William Blake, Jane Austen, William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Mary Shelley.

See beneath the surface of 13 great works of world literature that have traveled the globe with this course resource for teachers, students, and lovers of literature.

In "The American Novel Since 1945" students will study a wide range of works from 1945 to the present.

This course is a survey of American literature and literary history, from the early colonial period to the eve of the Civil War.

Professor Ken Hiltner surveys nearly 5000 thousand years of literature in order to explore the literary history of the relationship we have with our planet.

This course focuses on Shakespeare’s later plays beginning with Measure for Measure and ending with The Tempest.