Course Details

Course offered Winter 2026

HONORS 394 C: Ways of Feeling (A&amp;H / SSc, DIV, W)<span style="color:red;">*</span>

HONORS 394 C: Ways of Feeling (A&H / SSc, DIV, W)

Credits: 5
Limit: 15 students

Jointly listed with SLAVIC 426 A.
This course can fulfill either Honors Arts & Humanities OR Honors Social Sciences.

The key questions that are addressed in the Ways of Feeling class are: 

  • Are there “emotional universals”, that is, feelings that all people share independent of language, culture, gender, and race?
  • Are there “culture-specific” emotions?
  • Are there “gender-specific” emotions? 

The class is suitable for all students who are interested in Language, languages, and meaning. Ways of Feeling is a comparative course, with enough Slavic content for it to be relevant for Slavic majors and graduate students, yet accessible to those interested in other languages. Students will be introduced to research methods in semantics, pragmatics and discourse, and will be required to produce a thorough examination of underlying conceptualizations and a semantic analysis of a linguistic expression of emotion in a language of their choice. They will gain an appreciation of the social and cultural underpinnings of their own language and other languages.

The requirements consist of 3 short papers, an image collection, and a final term paper.