Courses – Department of English and Communication

Spring 2019

UndergraduateMAMFA

50:192:200:01 – Public Speaking
TTh 11:10-12:30pm
Gimbal

Public speaking is something that everyone will have to encounter at some point in their lives, and this course will help students focus on the skills necessary for effective public speaking. This includes delivery techniques, speech-writing, persuasion abilities and the ability to critically evaluate both written and spoken speeches of others. Students will research, write and deliver several speeches in class.

50:192:299:90 – Special Topics: Communication in the Digital Age
Online
Gimbal

The advancement of technology has greatly affected the way we communicate with one another. In this course, students will understand how communication has evolved over time, and will learn the skills to become more effective communicators in the digital age. Coursework will include weekly readings, discussion posts, short papers and exams.

50:192:329:01 – Special Topics in Communication: Terrorism and the Media
TTh 2:00-3:20pm
Gimbal

Since the events of September 11th, terrorism has become a great area of concern globally. In this course, students will learn about the history and progression of both terrorism and the media, and how these two concepts are connected. Students will learn how to critically examine mass media coverage of terrorism and understand the way media frames events. Coursework will include weekly readings, short papers and exams.

50:192:330:01 – Special Topics in Communication: Advertising Communication
2:05-3:25pm
Capuzzo

While advertising is pervasive in our society, many are less aware of where this form of communication derives from, and the enormous influence it has on our daily habits and decision making. This course will introduce students to the fundamentals involved in today’s advertising profession, paying specific attention to communication methods that are central to achieving success in this field. Using a hands-on approach, we will focus on key steps in the creative process: from understanding a product’s value to devising messages that appeal to targeted audiences, to communicating using words and visuals. We’ll look at past successful ad campaigns and new strategies being employed in the digital era. Tapping into current workplace practices, students will emulate the tasks of advertising professionals, creating ad copy, formulating marketing strategies, and developing full-blown advertising campaigns. Pending approval for AAI General Education category.

50:350:105:01 – LAB: Research and Writing
T 2:00pm-3:00pm
Mahony

A one-credit skills lab attached to “Introduction to English Studies,” where students will meet to improve their writing and research skills in a guided setting. This support is not required, but enrolling should make it much more likely you will succeed in the course as well as in your university career.

50:350:106:01 – Literature Appreciation
WF 9:35-10:55am
STAFF

This course is designed for non-majors and is not writing intensive. It is intended to give students a college-level understanding of the major literary genres and historical periods. Students will also gain a working knowledge of the basic tools of literary study, such as understanding point of view, tone, image, metaphoric language, etc. In addition to reading, students will take quizzes, a midterm, and a final exam. Fulfills the AAI General Education category.

50:350:201:01 – Introduction to English Studies
TTh 9:35am-10:55am
Brown

At one point in time, being an English major almost exclusively meant literary analysis. However, areas like film analysis, cultural inquiry, rhetoric, linguistics, and digital study have helped to complicate as well as re-energize that pursuit. This course is an introduction to the wide range of skills, vocabularies, and orientations that make up English studies. Successful students will leave the course with a strong sense of the kind of writing, thinking, and professional paths that are possible via the study of English. Coursework includes short writing assignments, quizzes, and the creation of a text-based videogame. Required for English majors. Fulfills the AAI General Education category.

50:350:201:02 – Introduction to English Studies
TTh 9:35am-10:55am
Sayer

50:350:241:01 – Medieval European Itineraries
MW 12:30pm-1:50pm
Hostetter

Medieval European Itineraries explores travel as a foundational activity for the early European imagination. How are fictional and literary accounts of the world enabled by the activity of travel? Why are quests, which often take a protagonist to dangerous and distant realms, often synonymous with character development? What is the social usefulness of travel as an educational process? We will start off with the accounts of travel by an Arab diplomat to medieval Russia, and then plunge headlong into an exploration of our own of the Middle Ages and its conceptions of not just the physical world but also of the universe enabled by moving, at least intellectually, through geographical space. Along the way we will read Arthurian quest romances, tours of Hell and Heaven, as well as the accounts of actual world travelers (such as Marco Polo), before finishing with a contemporary novel about medieval travel. Assignments will include several writing assignments (though not fully formal papers) designed to extend your critical thinking skills and your ability to write in different genres. Fulfills the HAC General Education category.

50:350:243:90 – Children’s Literature Film, Media and Animation
Online
Blackford

In this course, you will have the opportunity to analyze motifs of animation and metamorphosis in myriad children’s texts. Our particular focus will be animation style. We begin by looking at street and puppet theater in the commedia dell’arte as these traditions coalesced in Punch & Judy and Carlos Collodi’s Pinocchio, which will lead us to study of animation style in Disney films and Warner Brothers shorts; Jim Henson puppets; claymation (Wallace and Gromit); fusion styles (Roger Rabbit); Pixar Studios (Toy Story series) and Dreamworks; Hayao Miyazaki; Tim Burton; and anime/manga/comic forms, which render the commedia dell’arte vibrant today in children’s culture. Requirements include constant participation–posting discussions and answering classmates–and a final project that may be written or electronic. Fulfills the AAI General Education category.

50:350:229:90 – Electronic Literature
Online
Hatcher

We live in an age when most of the language we read and write runs through proprietary digital platforms we do not understand. This course explores the potential for literature to address their secret and unknowable layers. Students will use writing and digital media to probe algorithmic culture, and discuss how technologies are shaping language and the ways we read, write, and think. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. Fulfills the WRI General Education category.

50:350:252:01 – Native American Literature
TTh 2:00-3:20pm
Sayre

Native American Literature is a survey of creative works by indigenous authors from territories recognized today as the United States and Canada. Covering a diverse range of works, from oral traditions to the canonical fiction of the “Native American Renaissance” to contemporary genre fictions, comic books, and video games, this course introduces students to a number of Native American authors and asks them to consider how these creative works complicate understandings of US history and citizenship by offering indigenous perspectives on the question of land, heritage, and belonging. Fulfills the DIV General Education category. Pending approval for USW General Education category.

50:350:300:01 – Foundations of Literature
MW 9:35-10:55am
Fiske

Antigone and Medea: one woman sacrifices her life for her family’s honor and her religious beliefs; the other murders her own children in jealousy and rage. From their origins in Greek mythology through their legacy in contemporary literature, these women’s lives seem to exist in antithesis to one another. But are they really so different from each other? Reading works written in English and texts in translation, we will examine representations of Antigone and Medea as they are reborn in various manifestations throughout Western literary history. We will supplement our readings with studies of visual media. Requirements include active class participation, quizzes, two papers, a midterm, and a final exam. Fulfills the HAC General Education category.

50:350:300:02 – Foundations of Literature
TTh 11:10-12:30pm
Barbarese

Historical documents are parts of human discourse—produced, edited, published, republished, exalted, condemned, remembered or forgotten for the same reasons and according to the same timetables. We look at a range of texts, some no more than a few pages in length—political speeches from America’s foundations to the present, ads, and several works of fiction—whose original meanings and intentions have either survived their contexts of production or have been swept up in subsequent events. “The basic tool for the manipulation of reality,” wrote Philip K. Dick, is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” We will be looking at both the controllers and the controlled, the users and the used. Required texts: an instructor-supplied anthology of public documents, the daily newspaper (the one you read), and several novels. Fulfills the HAC General Education category.

50:350:326:01 – Transatlantic Literature
MW 12:30-1:50pm
Ledoux

This course will focus on writing from early America, Britain, and the Caribbean from the eighteenth century. Works will include important non-fiction documents and literary works related to the American and French Revolutions, the development of Atlantic trade, and the ways in which the “new world” is represented in the “old world.” Fulfills the HAC General Education category. Fulfills the DIV General Education category.

50:350:331:01 – Shakespeare
TTh 3:35-4:55pm
Fitter

Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, The Tempest: we will dive into a series of masterpieces, aided by modern film versions. A military machine out of control; sexual violence against women; lunacy in the highest office; a New World infected by the Old: Shakespeare’s vision offers a bleak, superbly intelligent protest against power, and he is in many ways our contemporary. Two examinations, and a term paper. Fulfills the HAC General Education category. Satisfies the Department’s Literary History Pre 1800 requirement.

50:350:381:01 – Literature and War: Trauma and Homecoming
MW 12:30pm-1:50pm
Fiske

This course will study ancient and modern stories of war, with a special focus on the struggle of homecoming and the warrior’s reintegration into civilian society after returning from combat. In addition to understanding the literature in its cultural and historical contexts, the course will examine the ways in which individuals and communities articulate and embody their values when it comes to combat, the ethics of war, and attitudes toward the warrior both on the battlefield and in civilian life. What constitutes a just war and who gets to decide? When and why can or should a soldier refuse to engage in combat? What is the relationship between patriotism and self-preservation (physical, spiritual, emotional, and moral)? Course requirements include active class participation, several short quizzes, two papers, a midterm, and a longer final project. Pending approval for EAV General Education category.

50:350:390:I1 – Learning Abroad: Writing Revolutions
With required trip to Cuba March 15-23, 2019
W 12:30-3:20pm
Green

We pair two historic sites of revolution–Philadelphia and Havana—to explore how people, governments, and cultures move toward freedom. Experience these movements firsthand through visits to Philadelphia sites and a 9-day trip to Cuba during spring break (7 days in the capital city, Havana, including at the University of Havana, and 2 days in historic Cienfuegos). We explore theories of oppression, liberty, and resistance in two time frames: 1) the American Revolution of 1776 contrasted with the Cuban overthrow of Spanish rule, and 2) the 1960s Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, and anti-Vietnam War movements in the US contrasted with Fidel Castro’s coming to power in Cuba. A unique opportunity to learn more about US culture and to experience Cuba, a country only recently open for American visitors. Meetings by arrangement are possible, as well as the opportunity to shape your focus of study. Fulfills the GCM General Education category. Fulfills the XPL General Education category.

50:350:390:I2 – Learning Abroad: Writing Revolutions
With required trip to Cuba March 15-23, 2019
W 12:30-3:20pm
Singley

50:350:395:01 – Special Topics: Queer Nineteenth-Century Literature
MW 12:30pm-1:50pm
Ledoux

This course, cross-listed between English and Women’s & Gender Studies, will explore queer theory and literary representations of gender performativity in nineteenth century English and American texts. Using a combination of critical articles and primary texts we will analyze how Anglophone literature attempts to define sexual identity, desire and practices that challenge gender binaries. This class is a seminar, in which students are expected to participate by introducing, presenting, discussing, and writing about the assigned materials.

50:350:400:01 – Portfolio Seminar
Th 3:35-4:35pm
DuBose

A one-hour seminar in which students complete a self-directed electronic portfolio that presents their experience and achievements as English majors in relation to professional life, graduate school, and/or other post-baccalaureate goals.

50:352:322:90 – Modern American Poetry
(Online)
Hoffman

Poetry is the oldest kind of writing we have, and yet it’s not very well understood, in part because sometimes poetry—and sometimes on purpose—can be difficult. In this course we’ll read a wide variety of modern and contemporary American poetry and work through it together, considering how the poet says what she wants to say. What techniques are involved? How is poetic language put together? What traditional and nontraditional forms can help shape a poetic message? In short, we will think carefully about, and analyze, the ‘craft’ of poetry. In addition to learning how to unpack a poem and to more fully enjoy poetry, you’ll be given opportunities to write your own poetry, both according to rules and without. You don’t need to have any prior knowledge of poetry, or any previous practice reading or writing it. Assignments will include: weekly short exercises/assignments; a mid-length (5-page) paper at mid-term; a longer paper (10-page) at the end of the term; and a final exam. Pending approval for AAI General Education category.

50:352:306:01 – Multicultural American Literature
W 9:35am-10:55pm
F Hybrib
Singley

We explore diverse voices in 20th-century and contemporary American literature. We read Anglo-European, African American, Asian American, Jewish American, Chicano, and Native American writers (for example, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anzia Yezierska, Zitkala-Sa, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Sandra Cisneros, Leslie Marmon Silko, Alexie Sherman, Bharati Mukherjee, Maxine Hong Kingston). We explore these writers’ cultural roots, issues of immigration and slavery, and intersections of race, ethnicity, age, and gender. We ask questions such as: Is there a single American literary tradition? How do multicultural writers reflect and affect mainstream literary forms and themes? What does this literature tell us about American identity or identities? Short papers, a mid-term exam and a final exam. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. Fulfills the DIV General Education category.

50:352:436:011 (Cross-listed with 56:352:509:01) – Major Writers of America: Whitman
W 12:30-1:50pm
M Hybrib
Hoffman

Help Celebrate Walt Whitman’s 200th Birthday! We’ll read the poems of this famous American poet and Camden resident and help plan a regional celebration of his work and legacy. The celebration includes an exhibition of contemporary visual artists inspired by Whitman at our own Stedman Gallery that we will curate together. We will go on field trips to other Whitman exhibitions in Camden and Philadelphia as well. Requirements include: small writing projects for the exhibition; final paper; final exam. Pending approval for AAI General Education category.

50:354:300:90 – History of Film
Online
Gambina

Birth of cinema through WWII, covering early technological advancement, the Nickelodeon Era, the move to Hollywood and the early studios, French Impressionism, German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, Early Japanese cinema, Poetic Realism, the arrival of sound and color, and the Hollywood Studio System. Counts toward the interdisciplinary film minor.

50:354:317:40 – Special Topics in Film: Rich and Poor in Western Culture Meditating Social Inequality in Western Thought and Film
TTh 6:00pm-7:20pm
Fitter

This course will stream a dozen films representing rich and poor lifestyles from the Middle Ages to today. We will discuss those films, then also debate extracts from Philosophy and literature which alternatively justify or condemn economic polarization and the sufferings of the impoverished. Grade determination by two exams, four unannounced pop-quizzes, and one 6-8-page term paper. Counts toward the interdisciplinary film minor. Pending approval for EAV General Education category.

50:354:397:01 – Film Genre: Horror
MW 3:45-5:05pm
Sorrento

This course will cover the history of horror, a dynamic though misunderstood tradition in cinema. After beginning with the horror film’s first appearances in American and German silent film, this survey will trace the genre’s development in the early Hollywood studio system up through contemporary treatments. We will analyze how cinematic/cultural movements and historical eras have informed horror movies, and how landmark films – including Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Hitchcock’s Psycho, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, among others – have revised the genre. This survey will also consider the artistry of trademark directors, screenwriters, and performers through in-class screenings and close analysis. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. Counts toward the interdisciplinary film minor.

50:570:336:01 – Review Writing
M 3:45-5:05pm
W Hybrid
Capuzzo

So you want to be a critic? Whether it’s weighing in on the latest controversy or recommending a must-see movie, everyone has an opinion and most people want to share that opinion through a venue that may reach, and hopefully influence, others. This course will teach students to apply a more critical eye toward the social and cultural activities they engage in, and to shape those observations and judgments into various forms of opinion and review writing, from social commentary, to arts and entertainment criticism. Working both in groups and individually, students will learn how to consume experiences using the same discerning measures employed by professional critics. In the second half of the semester, students will create and maintain their own blogs on topics of their choosing, with the goal of developing authority and a voice on a subject they are passionate about, while building a following within the broader public arena. This course does not require previous journalism experience, but being tuned into the world and the current cultural scene while having an expansive, inquiring mind will be beneficial.

50:570:395:01 – Special Topics in Journalism: Advertising Communication
MW 2:05-3:20pm
Capuzzo

50:610:226:01 – Linguistics and the Urban Environment
TTh 3:35-4:55pm
Epstein

This course will introduce students to the field of Linguistics (the science of language), and in particular, Grammar and Sociolinguistics (which studies the ways in which language serves to define and maintain group identity and social relationships among speakers). We will learn about: descriptive vs. prescriptive views of language; standard vs. non-standard dialects; language and ethnicity; language and social context (including formal and informal speech styles); language attitudes. An important component of the course will be for Rutgers students to teach the basic concepts of Sociolinguistics to youth in Camden, so that they will learn about the social functions fulfilled by their own complex speech patterns (details TBA, but we will probably be working with Camden middle-school students in an after-school setting). Course requirements: A midterm exam, a final paper, and one brief (2-3 pages) reflection paper. The final paper (approximately 10 pages) should both describe and reflect upon the work you did with students in the Camden schools. Fulfills the ECL General Education category.

50:615:386:01 – Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs
MW 12:30-1:50pm
Toth

This is a comprehensive introduction to the language and culture of the Ancient Egyptian writing of the Middle Kingdom (and afterwards) known as the Early Middle or Classical Egyptian. No previous knowledge of grammatical terms is assumed. The material studied in class provides the students with sufficient vocabulary and grammar to read original Egyptian documents written in hieroglyphs. During the course artifacts from museums around the world will be analyzed and discussed. The course includes a field trip to the Egyptian section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

50:989:300:90 – Writing Public Arguments
Online
Capuzzo

The fundamental techniques of argument, demonstration, and persuasion; analysis of sample readings and extensive writing practice. Fulfills the WRI General Education category.

50:989:301:90 – Art of Revision
Online
Staff

Practice in the art of constructing clear, concise prose, with emphasis on developing a personal style. Fulfills the WRI General Education category.

50:989:305:90 – Introduction to Creative Writing
Online
Kennedy-Lopez

Introduction to the writer’s craft that surveys available genres of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Pending approval for WRI General Education category.

50:989:307:01 – Fiction Writing Workshop
TTh 9:35-10:55am
Reese

Study and practice of specific stylistic techniques used by professional writers in fiction and nonfiction. For students with a serious interest in writing. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. Fulfills the WRI General Education category.

50:989:309:01 – Creative Nonfiction Workshop
TTh 11:10am-12:30pm
Lisicky

The ideal nonfiction workshop is a place where a variety of voices are encouraged and respected, where we attempt to create a model literary community. It requires openness, a dedicated generosity, and a willingness to consider each piece on its own terms, whether it’s a memoir, a personal essay, or travel writing. You’ll be responsible for providing written feedback to your peers, as well as workshopping up to three pieces of your own over the course of the semester. This class satisfies the Writing Gen Ed requirement. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. Fulfills the WRI General Education category.

50:989:316:01 – Digital Publishing
MW 2:05-3:25pm
DuBose

This course will introduce students to the process of producing publications for the web. Students will begin the semester by reviewing essays and fiction submitted by their Rutgers-Camden peers and select a number of them to publish in The Scarlet Review, the campus’s annual online magazine. Students will work in teams to edit, copyedit and design the magazine and prepare articles for publication at the end of the semester. Principles of editorial stance, typographic design and basic web design will also be discussed. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. Fulfills the XPL General Education category. Fulfills the
WRI General Education category.

50:989:317:01 – Writing Wikipedia
MW 9:35-10:55am
DuBose

This course will lead students through the process of editing Wikipedia and will also serve as a critical inquiry into the world’s most popular encyclopedia, its production and its ethos. We will begin the course by learning the basics of editing Wikipedia, as well as a bit about its history. As a civic engagement course, students will spend much of the semester partnering with a local institution to improve the Wikipedia presence of a topic or figure of local interest in Camden. The semester will culminate in the creation or expansion of an article on Wikipedia relevant to Camden. Fulfills the GCM General Education category. Fulfills the ECL General Education category. Fulfills the WRI General Education category.

COURSE LIST COMING SOON!

The following courses are open to students registered in the MFA Program. Some space may be available to English MA students by permission of Patrick Rosal.

COURSE LIST COMING SOON!