Fiction or real event, modern condition or historical myth, private drama or public catastrophe: the idea of “tragedy” has always had specific cultural meaning. The particularities of this meaning, however, do shift—according to cultural norms, political pressures, and social changes. This class will ask us to consider what “tragedy” means, from its original context in the dramatic genre, in which political regimes are shaken and often a good number of important people die (Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex cycle, Shakespeare's King Lear, Racine's Phèdre), to its appearance in novels, politics, current events, and contemporary theory. What happens when the notion of tragedy moves out of the ritualized space of the dramatic performance and into other languages, venues, and political arenas? Is the death of a parent or a child a tragedy? To what extent is contemporary warfare a tragedy? Is food insecurity a tragedy? Is the tragic something we can know only in retrospect, and should we get better at “handling” it? Beginning with literature, this course will examine the components of the tragic, its role in our culture, and what its presence in discourse says about our moral landscape. Interventions from the medical field, bio-ethics, architecture, art history, media and film, anthropology, theater history and performance studies, communications and journalism, religious studies and more can be integrated into our program. We will draw on participants' own academic interests and backgrounds to shape our conversation. All readings in English.