This course will seek to understand the modern experience of the beautiful by reading the poetry of Charles Baudelaire. His poems redefine the notion of beauty for a modern audience, stretching the conventional boundaries of art and poetry by finding beauty in what was previously thought ugly (e.g., a carcass or hypocrisy). In order to examine how he does this, we will e-mail a selection of his poems in English translation before the class. Participants with prior knowledge of Baudelaire are encouraged to suggest poems as well. No knowledge of French necessary.