Love Matters in Literature and Life

The goal of this course is to examine how our experiences have shaped and re-shaped our understanding of love over time. We will explore ancient and modern literary selections that reveal love as a common theme. Attendees will read short stories and poems as well as the novel Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Interactive discussion and close readings will focus on six areas: 1) definitions of love, 2) history of love in the literature, 3) love and obsession, 4) love, marriage, family, 5) love, aging and loss, and 6) personal philosophy of love. Historical, sociological, psychological and cultural perspectives of love will be considered in context with personal experiences

Required Reading: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera, ISBN 978-0307389732. Links to poems and short stories will be provided prior to the first class.

Ellen Whiting, Professor Emeritus, Northeastern Ohio Medical University, served as Director of Faculty Development and as an instructor for the Department of Human Values in Medicine. She relished teaching an annual senior elective in literature and medicine. One of those electives was “Love Matters in Medicine.” That course led to her desire to present a similar course to learn about the perspectives of love in older learners.