Revenge on Mondays, Death on Wednesdays at CMU

Courses explore the meaning of revenge, death, life and happiness

This fall, it’s revenge on Mondays and death on Wednesdays at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU).

No, nothing criminal or violent is happening at the university. Revenge and death are just two courses that Winnipeggers can take at CMU this coming semester.

In Revenge, offered by the English department, students can explore its cultural and theological meanings through a range of literary forms. “We’ll take the topic revenge head-on, using plays, films, and books from Euripides’ Medea to Shakespeare’s Hamlet to Tarentino’s Kill Bill,” says English professor Paul Dyck.

Through the course, students will be able to think about why revenge has such a strong grip on society—is it a simple evil, or is it directed toward some good? Is it about self-satisfaction, or about duty and justice?

“We tend to think of revenge as barbaric, but we nonetheless seem to find it compelling, so much so that it is one of the most common themes in classical and popular stories,” says Dyck, adding that “revenge stories portray human life at its best and worst. That’s where the theological angle comes in. Ultimately, these stories portray how deeply intertwined we are with other people, and how there is no simple way of dealing with violence against us and our loved ones.”

The full title of the death course, taught by philosophy professor Chris Huebner, is Life, Death, and the Question of Happiness.

“One of the paradoxes of our culture is that we seem to be simultaneously enthralled with and repelled by death,” says Huebner. “On the one hand, we seek to avoid it at all costs, yet on the other we are constantly bombarded by images that celebrate death in one way or another.”

Through the course, students will be able to explore some contemporary philosophical and theological approaches to life and death, particularly as they relate to the question of happiness.

“Most people find themselves confused about how to understand the meaning of life and death, let alone what they might have to do with the question of happiness,” says Huebner.

Those who aren’t interested in revenge or death, but who are still interested in crime, can take The Detective in Fiction and Film, also being offered this fall on Wednesdays from 6-8:45 p.m.

The course, taught by English professor Sue Sorensen, will use the classic tales of Poe, Conan Doyle, Christie, Chandler and the modern and post-modern “metaphysical” mysteries of Borges, Chesterton, and Auster to ask how people gain knowledge, recognize truth and justice and respond to evil. Film detectives in The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon will be added to the mix. Revenge is taught Mondays, 6-8:45 p.m., beginning September 10. Life, Death, and the Question of Happiness and The Detective in Fiction and Film are taught Wednesdays, 6-8:45 p.m., beginning September 12.

For more information, or to register, call the Dean’s Office at 487-3300.

Posted September 4, 2007

For more information contact CMU Communications Director, 500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3P 2N2, telephone: 204-487-3300 ext. 621, fax: 204-889-1694, (www.cmu.ca)