The subject of crime has existed in literature and folklore since ancient times, both as an element of plot and as a part of a thematic or moral agenda. This course will center upon selected readings from different eras and upon different aspects of crime and the criminal imagination, including 18th-century Gothic romances, 19th-century literature focusing on psychological motivations (e.g., the works of Poe and Dostoevsky), and 20th-century fictionalized accounts of real crimes.