LE COURS

Fr-270-002
Dr Donald Maxwell
 
 
    This course, which will encourage open and group discussion, will move from the     infinitesimal world of the double helix of DNA and genetic  replication to the measureless realms of the big bang and the  expanding universe and explore some scientific concepts that occur in literature.  We will consider some basic differences between the cultures of “science” and “literature”, why there appears to be a ‘language barrier’ in literature but not in science and why it is easier to translate a scientific text than a literary one. 

         Chance or serendipity plays an important role in scientific discovery and is an important theme in literature.  We will explore this theme in Voltaire’s Candide, Prévost’s Manon Lescaut, and Diderot’s Jacques le fataliste.   We will also discuss and read about chance in discoveries of French science by Louis Pasteur, Henry Becquerel and Marie Curie as well as read selections from James Watson’s La double hélice. and view videos on both Voltaire and Proust.  The course will end with audio-tapes of readings from Marcel Proust’s Combray, in which chance plays  a key role. 

        The course will be entirely in French and there are no scientific prerequisites.  Your grades will be based on regular and active class participation, an oral presentation (in French) and two short papers which will involve visiting this course Webb page. 
 

  MTWF  2-3 pm  B-122 MLB
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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