Fall 2017
50:350:105 Lab: Research and Writing
Th 2:00-3:00
Staff
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.
50:350:201 Introduction to English Studies
TTh 3:35-4:55
Hostetter
An introduction to the discipline of English Studies. The course is intended to answer the question: What are we doing and learning when we major in English? We will explore the conventions, methods, assumptions, and concerns of some of the sub-disciplines in English studies, including literature and literary criticism, creative writing, composition, rhetoric, linguistics, film/media studies, and journalism. This particular version of the course takes as its subject the great Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, and examines it from many angles and adaptations. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. Required for English majors.
50:350:222 Literatures in English II
Th 6:00-8:50
Barbarese
Historical survey of literatures written in English (primarily British and American literatures) from 1660 to 1900. We begin with the often filthy poems of Rochester and cloacal meditations of Swift, offset by work of Anne Bradstreet, America’s Tenth Muse, Puritan divine Edward Taylor, drop in on Pope, and are finally reanimated by the British and American Romantics: Barbauld, Blake, Wordsworth, Austin, Coleridge, Mary and PB Shelly, and roll to a slow stop with Whitman, Poe and Hawthorne. Along the way we glance at significant events in British and American history, familiarize ourselves with the monarchy and revolution through readings in Burke, Wollstonecraft, Jefferson and Paine. Quizzes (weekly), midterm, a paper, and a final. The course anthology will be supplied by the instructor and the student will be obligated to purchase two or three inexpensive novels. This course will satisfy the new literary history requirement as a pre-1800 course. It can also satisfy the pre-1800 literature requirement under old major.
50:350:232 World Novel 20th Century
MW 9:35-10:55
Martin
This course will focus on eight or nine short “Anglophone” novels, that is, novels originally written in English. Emphasis will fall not on the literature of England or of the United States but on that of the more recent British colonies and the nations that would evolve from them during the twentieth century, including India, Ireland, Nigeria, South Africa, and the Caribbean. The course will take up questions of power relations in colonial and postcolonial communities; of cultural continuities between economically underdeveloped communities and our own; of the distinction between “inside” and “outside” accounts of post/colonial life; and of the status of the English language as a worldwide phenomenon. Fulfills the GCM General Education category.
50:350:238 World Literature I
Online
Meredith
Studies in great works of world literature from antiquity to the early modern era. Fulfills the HAC General Education category.
50:350:261 Texts and Film
MW 2:05-3:25
Ledoux
This course will examine film adaptations of eighteenth-century novels. We will encounter some well-known novels and films, such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and its 2005 film of the same name. We will also discuss how cinema has revived interest in lesser-known texts, such as 2013’s “Belle” and its re-interpretation of the anonymous novel “The Woman of Color.” Fulfills the AAI General Education category and counts toward interdisciplinary film minor.
50:350:300 Foundations in Literature: “Greek Tragedy and Its Literary Legacy”
MW 9:35-10:55
Fiske
In this course we will read a number of works by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, studying them within their own historical contexts as well as exploring their relevance to later literary & historical periods. In addition to Greek tragedies like Medea, Trojan Women, the Theban trilogy, and the Oresteian trilogy, we will examine modern adaptations / interpretations of these classical works such as Christa Wolf’s feminist play Medea: A Modern Retelling; Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies (as a modern Antigone); and Freud’s appropriations of the Oedipus and Electra stories. Fulfills the HAC General Education category. This course will satisfy the new literary history requirement. It can also satisfy the pre-1800 literature requirement under old major. Required for English majors.
50:350:302 War and the Warrior
TTh 2:00-4:50
Fitter
Covering nearly three millennia of Western history from Homer to Vietnam, this course introduces students to leading conceptions of the nature of war and the warrior in the West. It traces material transformations of warfare, and changing cultural attitudes examined in detail in literary representations. Fulfills the HAC General Education category. It can also satisfy the Literatures in English I requirement under old major.
50:350:304 Women in Speculative Fiction
MW 2:05-3:25
Sayre
A study of the ways in which speculative genres such as fantasy, utopian and dystopian literature, and science fiction have taken as their focus gender identity and in particular the construction and policing of the idea of femininity or womanhood. Fulfills the AAI General Education category.
50:350:305 Special Topics: Poetry and Performance
TTh 11:10-12:30
Rosal
In this course we will examine poetry in performance, a term which encompasses forms like slam, musical and dance collaborations, and others. Students will study aspects of performance in relation to more conventional constructions of poetry, including traditional prosody, its variations and deviations. This is a course that has a combined focus of page and stage. Fulfills the following General Education categories: AAI, and DIV.
50:350:319 Gothic Writing
MW 12:30-1:50
Ledoux
This course begins with the “first” Gothic novel, Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764), and concludes with an iconic text from the end of the nineteenth century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). In addition to novels, we will read some poems, a play, and a sampling of short fiction. We will investigate what aspects of Gothic writing are critical to describing it as a cohesive category and how this aesthetic mode can be used as a vehicle for exploring issues of gender, sexuality, race, and class. Fulfills the AAI General Education category.
50:350:330 Chaucer
T 6:00-8:50
Hostetter
Geoffrey Chaucer’s most famous work, though unfinished, is bountiful and expansive. It is filled with subtle characterizations and razor-sharp irony, a deep appreciation of lofty tales and religious truths, and a coarse love of bawdy humor. The Canterbury pilgrimage is one of unusual diversity, mixing the wealthy with the humble, laypersons with clerics, women with men, and scoundrels with the virtuous. Where do you fit in? This course will share the route with twenty-three of the best and most unique storytellers ever to hop astride a palfrey or jade and ride the 58.2 miles to Canterbury. We will read Chaucer in the original Middle English, learning to parse and pronounce the unfamiliar language as we go. Graded assignments include translation quizzes, two papers, and a final exam. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. This course will satisfy the new literary history requirement as a pre-1800 course. It can also satisfy the pre-1800 literature requirement under old major.
50:350:332 Shakespeare II
TTh 6:00-7:20
Fitter
Can a Christian write a Tragedy, or is the form itself intrinsically skeptical, even atheist? Why does King James’ top playwright pen play after play about the killing of kings? What happens to the divine right of kings when monarchs are portrayed by lower class actors on a stage lapped by the vociferous poor? We will read Macbeth, Othello, King Lear and The Tempest to examine the anomaly of a populist theater flourishing in the margin of an authoritarian society. Grades will be determined by a mid-term exam, final exam, and an 8 – 10 page paper, with credit, too, for groundling-like outcry and participation. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. This course will satisfy the new literary history requirement as a pre-1800 course. It can also satisfy the pre-1800 literature requirement under old major.
50:350:360 Literature of Childhood
90 Online
Vial
Books read by children and teens shape their readers’ lives and perceptions, whether they present enchanted gardens and princes charming or the very real pain of orphans and adolescents. This course will examine a variety of “classic,” realist, fantasy, and picture books in order to think critically about the worlds they present. Students will learn to analyze and evaluate texts based on notions of childhood, representations of class, gender and ethnicity, and the role of the marketplace. Fulfills the GCM General Education category.
50:350:415 Capstone: My Favorite Books
MW 3:45-5:05
Sayre
How do we talk about what we enjoy? In this class students will curate their own reading list out of their favorite books across a variety of genres. As we work through these books we will be thinking about popular genres and pleasure, as well as building a critical vocabulary connecting the things we do to the things we like to do.
50:352:311 American Realism and Naturalism
TTh2:00-3:20
Singley
Between the Civil War and World War I, American writers reacted to romanticism by depicting life “as it really was” and showing characters rooted in their social classes and surroundings. They also developed literary naturalism, writing influenced by Charles Darwin that exposes characters to environmental and biological forces often beyond their control. We read classics by male and female writers from various racial and ethnic groups, including Anglo-American, African American, Native American, and Jewish-American writers. Essays, written exercises, a mid-term exam, and a final exam. Fulfills the following General Education categories: AAI, DIV and WRI.
50:352:264:01 American Short Fiction
TTh 11:00-12:20
Blackford
In this course we will discuss the political and cultural purpose of a wide range of short stories and novellas: the Dutch tales of Washington Irving; nineteenth-century American Renaissance and African American writers; fin de siècle ghost stories; Harlem Renaissance works; and contemporary works by Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. Requirements include participation, two take-home exams, and one research project or paper that may be electronic or multimodal. Fulfills the AAI General Education category, the Diversity category, and the Writing Intensive category
50:354:201 Art of Film
T 6:00-8:50
Staff
With various channel services and web resources available today, movie fans indulge in their passion more than ever. And yet most of cinema’s artistry goes unnoticed. This course will introduce students to the aspects and practice of film analysis. We will learn about the techniques that make cinema an art, including composition, camera work, editing, acting style, narrative construction, and others. Through class readings, discussion, and viewing in class/at home, the class will learn to actively “read” (instead of passively watch) a film for its formal artistry. Students will also gain an understanding of movements in film history and how they developed cinema into the art it is today. Fulfills the AAI General Education category and counts toward the interdisciplinary film minor.
50:354:390 Special Topics: The Journalist in and on Film
T 2:00-4:50
Capuzzo
For many, our understanding of what journalists do has been shaped by how reporters, editors and media moguls are represented on film. From the hapless bumbler to the ambitious crusader, from the hard bitten cynic to the power-hungry megalomaniac, Hollywood’s depictions of journalists, real or fictional, have both reinforced stereotypes and provided keen insights. Viewing a wide array of films from the last 80 years, this course will offer a comprehensive look at the actions and ethics of those who produce the news as they are portrayed in cinema and how those portrayals impacts our current perceptions of the media. Graded assignments will include a weekly film viewing blog, and a researched, analytical magazine style article. Fulfills the AAI General Education category and counts toward the interdisciplinary film minor.
50:570:201 Inside Reporting
MW 12:30-1:50
Capuzzo
This introductory journalism course will look at how news reporting works, providing students with the fundamental skills involved in reporting and writing for the news media. Students will learn how to identify and develop news stories, research and gather information, find sources, conduct interviews, and write on a variety of subjects, and in the process, become avid consumers of what is being reported in the world today. Through a variety of assignments, the course places a strong emphasis on communicating and writing, including learning how to elicit responses, organize materials in a clear and accurate manner; meet deadlines, and master journalism writing styles, all of which will serve not only those interested in journalism or media careers but in any field involving communications. Fulfills the AAI General Education category.
50:570:310 Special Topics: Food Writing
MW 9:35-10:55
Capuzzo
Whether it’s debating the agri-political issues surrounding food industry practices, examining food-related health issues, or tweeting about celebrity chefs, our culture has become obsessed with what and how we eat, creating an exploding field of subject matter for journalists, critics and essayists. This course will explore our growing fascination with food, looking at historical and contemporary attitudes about consumption, food politics, food in literature and the modern foodie culture. Readings will include works by food scientists and policy makers, chefs, food bloggers and food journalists. We’ll examine and practice various forms of food writing, from personal memoir to restaurant critique to recipe creation to policy issues, giving students the opportunity to not only hone their creative and critical writing skills, but also develop more discerning palates by tasting some good food along the way.
50:615:201 Principles of Linguistics
TTh 3:35-4:55
Epstein
This course will serve as an overview to the scientific study of language, introducing students to the basic concepts and methods of linguistic analysis. Students will acquire the analytic skills and problem-solving techniques commonly used in the core areas of Linguistics: phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. We will also examine the areas of pragmatics, sociolinguistics and language typology, as well as questions relating to language and culture.
Course requirements: In addition to a midterm and a final exam, students will be expected to complete a number of problem sets, drawn from a wide range of the world’s languages, and also, to keep a “diary” about the grammatical characteristics of an “exotic” language. Fulfills the PLS General Education category.
50:989:200 Introduction to Professional Writing
MW 10:20-11:15
DuBose
(W)50:989:300 Writing Public Arguments
Online
Blackford
The fundamental techniques of argument, demonstration, and persuasion; analysis of sample readings and extensive writing practice. Fulfills the Writing Intensive requirement.
(W)50:989:301 Art of Revision
MF 9:35-10:55
Staff
Practice in the art of constructing clear, concise prose, with emphasis on developing a personal style. Fulfills the Writing Intensive requirement.
50:989:302 Technical Communication
Online
DuBose
Practice in producing usable, informative, reader-based documents in a range of media (written, oral, electronic) with an emphasis on collaboration and on communicating specialized knowledge to nontechnical audiences. Fulfills the Writing Intensive requirement.
50:989:305 Introduction to Creative Writing
Online
Fandler
Do you enjoy telling stories, whether true, fictional, or somewhere in between? In this introduction to writing fiction and nonfiction, we’ll hone our skills as writers and readers through exercises that strengthen our understanding of narrative structure, character development, voice, description, and more. We’ll craft short stories, personal narratives, and flash fiction/nonfiction, and we’ll gain practice in the arts of both critique and revision.
50:989:306 Poetry Workshop
01MW2:05-3:25
Pardlo
In this class students will submit new poems for discussion, complete in-class assignments and exercises, and contribute to peer critique of student poems. We will look at models of published poetry that demonstrate a variety of craft perspectives as guides for composition and revision.
50:989:307 Fiction Workshop
WF 12:30-1:50
Carriere
Our purposes in this course will be two-fold: 1) To engage in an intensive study of craft through the reading of mostly contemporary fiction 2) For you to generate and receive feedback on a substantial body of your own work. The course will emphasize voice and story in short fiction. We will also examine worldbuilding, character psychology, the spectrum of point of view options, description, emotion, language, sound, mystery and revelation, dialogue, and the ending.
50:989:315 Theory and Practice of Tutoring Writing
WF 12:30-1:50
DuBose
This course is tied to the campus’s Writing and Design Lab and serves as the training course for WDL consultants. While working in the Lab, students will learn about major theories of writing as well as concepts in document and web design. This is a 4 credit course open to students who have completed English 101 and 102 with a grade of B or better. SPECIAL PERMISSION ONLY
50:352:391:90 Special Topics: Seuss and Sendak
Online
Hoffman
In this course students will undertake intensive study of the art of two of the most important children’s authors of the last century, Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak. We will map the evolution of their art in intersection with American cultural politics and examine the influences on them as well as their own influence of contemporary children’s literature
56:350:503 Introduction to Graduate Literary Study
M 6:00-8:50
Green
Required of all students in the program, this course prepares students for graduate study through practice in current methods of research, interpretation, and criticism.
56:350:532 Chaucer
T 6:00-8:50
Hostetter
Geoffrey Chaucer’s most famous work, though unfinished, is bountiful and expansive. It is filled with subtle characterizations and razor-sharp irony, a deep appreciation of lofty tales and religious truths, and a coarse love of bawdy humor. The Canterbury pilgrimage is one of unusual diversity, mixing the wealthy with the humble, laypersons with clerics, women with men, and scoundrels with the virtuous. Where do you fit in? This course will share the route with twenty-three of the best and most unique storytellers ever to hop astride a palfrey or jade and ride the 58.2 miles to Canterbury. We will read Chaucer in the original Middle English, learning to parse and pronounce the unfamiliar language as we go. Graded assignments include translation quizzes, two papers, and a final exam. Fulfills the AAI General Education category. This course will satisfy the new literary history requirement as a pre-1800 course. It can also satisfy the pre-1800 literature requirement under old major.
56:350:571 Victorian Literature, Literature and Culture in Childhood
Cross-listed with 56:606:511:01
W 6:00-8:50
Fiske
This class will examine the image of and attitudes toward children and childhood in 19th-century British art and literature. We will supplement our reading and viewing of primary source material with contemporary theory and criticism to better understand the emergence of the child as a point of interest in the Victorian period.
56:615:560 Language, Power and Politics
Cross-listed with 56:606:612:01
Th6:00-8:50
Epstein
This course will discuss a range of political issues concerning language. We will focus, in particular, on how dominant language ideologies in the United States have been used to define and oppress less privileged groups in society. Topics to be covered include: language attitudes (discrimination, the notions of “authority” and “correctness” in language), dialects/standard language ideology and subordination, the language of politicians, language in the media/advertising, language policy in the U.S., politically correct language, language and gender, ecolinguistics (the relations between linguistic/biocultural diversity, knowledge and the environment). The main goal of the course is for students to gain an appreciation for the powerful effect of language on the structure of society and in social change. Course requirements: 2 short papers, and a (longer) final paper. This course counts toward the Philology requirement.
56:842:565 Special Topics: Comparative Textual Media
Cross-listed with 56:606:609:01
T 6:00-8:50
Brown
In their edited collection Comparative Textual Media, Katherine Hayles and Jessica Pressman argue that “as the era of print is passing, it is possible once again to see print in a comparative context with other textual media.” What does it mean to rethink the work of English Studies through the lens of comparative textual studies? How do we compose and compare text, image, and sound? What methods of arguing, writing, and critique are available? Which existing methods are useful for a comparative approach, and which should be remixed and augmented? In this class, we will both make and critique digital objects as we consider how our research methods should shift in the waning days of print. This course counts toward the Writing Studies Track.
56:842:569 Practicum in the Teaching of Writing
W 3:00-5:40
FitzGerald
This seminar on composition theory and practice serves as the primary support for graduate teaching assistants in our first year writing program. Grounded in approaches to effective instruction and classroom management, the course introduces current and prospective teachers to the major topics and concerns of composition pedagogy today. These include issues of writing development and cognition, the particular features of academic writing, the changing nature of composing in a digital age, and the demands posed by the diverse backgrounds and cultures of students in the contemporary college classroom. Students in the practicum have opportunities to hone their teaching skills along the way to becoming reflective practitioners. Course texts include The Saint Martin’s Guide to Teaching Writing, 7th Ed. (Bedford/St. Martins) and A Guide to Composition Pedagogies, 2nd Ed. (Oxford). This course is required for all first year teaching assistants in English and open by permission to other graduate students seeking preparation for teaching writing at the post-secondary level. This course counts toward the Writing Studies Track.
56:200:517 Fiction Workshop
Th 2:00-4:50 Grodstein
56:200:519 Poetry Workshop
Th 6:00-8:50 Rosal
56:200:565 Craft: Memoir
M 6:00-8:50 Pardlo
56:200:571 Special Topics in Craft: Screenplay
T 2:00-4:50 Zeidner
56:200:651 Final Creative Thesis
By Arrangement
Barbarese, Grodstein,Pardlo, Rosal, Zeidner