Catalog 2015-2016

English

Teaching Faculty

Professors Hines, Swann, Vernon, and West
Associate Professors Jaeger, McKim, and Stuber (chair)
Assistant Professors Glick, Jaudon, Maupin, and Sarkar
Adjunct Teaching Staff Coulter and Stevens

Description

Students majoring in English choose one of three emphases: Literary Studies (ENGL), Film Studies (ENGF), or Creative Writing (ENGC). Students interested in a Film Studies minor should refer to the Film Studies section of the catalog.

Students may not double major using two of these emphases.

Major in English with emphasis in Literary Studies

11 courses distributed as follows:

  • ENGL 280 Literary Analysis
  • ENGL 497 Senior Thesis Seminar
  • 3 ENGL courses focused on pre-1900 literature, at least one of which must be pre-1700
  • 3 ENGL courses focused on post-1900 literature
  • 1 course in literary theory
  • 2 other ENGL, ENGF, or ENGC courses

Of these courses:

  • The Literary Studies emphasis must have one 200-level ENGL course in addition to ENGL 280 Literary Analysis , and nine 300-400 level courses, including ENGL 497 Senior Thesis Seminar and at least one other 400-level ENGL seminar 
  • Only one ENGC and one ENGF count toward the Literary Studies emphasis
  • The Literary Studies emphasis does not prevent a student from a Film Studies minor

Major in English with emphasis in Film Studies

11 courses distributed as follows:

  • Any 200-level ENGF course or ENGL 223 Literary and Cinematic Adaptations
  • ENGL 280 Literary Analysis
  • ENGL 497 Senior Thesis Seminar
  • 2 ENGL courses focused on pre-1900 literature, at least one of which must be pre-1700
  • 2 ENGL courses focused on post-1900 literature
  • 1 course in literary theory
  • 3 300-400 level ENGF courses, only one of which can be a film course from another department

Of these courses:

  • In addition to the two specified 200-level courses, the Film Studies emphasis must have nine 300-400 level courses, including ENGL 497 Senior Thesis Seminar and at least one other 400-level ENGL/ENGF-level seminar
  • A student with a Film Studies emphasis cannot minor in film studies

Major in English with emphasis in Creative Writing

11 courses distributed as follows:

  • ENGL 280 Literary Analysis
  • ENGC 497 Creative Writing Senior Thesis Seminar
  • 2 ENGL courses focused on pre-1900 literature, at least one of which must be pre-1700
  • 2 ENGL courses focused on post-1900 literature
  • 1 other ENGL or ENGF course
  • 4 300-400 level ENGC courses (in addition to ENGC 497), only one of which can be a creative writing course from another department or institution

Of these courses:

  • The Creative Writing emphasis must have one 200-level course in addition to ENGL 280 Literary Analysis, and nine 300-400 level courses, including ENGC 497 Senior Thesis Seminar and at least one other 400-level ENGC seminar

Senior Capstone Experience

The Senior Capstone Experience for the English major consists of a substantial, original independent writing project produced for ENGL 497 Senior Thesis Seminar (literary studies or film studies) or ENGC 497 Senior Thesis Seminar (creative writing) in the spring semester of the senior year, and presented and defended orally. The grade for the seminar project will be the grade for the Senior Capstone Experience.

Minor in English (Literary Studies)

6 courses distributed as follows:

  • 2 200-level courses including ENGL 280 Literary Analysis
  • 4 300-400 level courses  

Of these courses:

  • 1 of the courses must emphasize literature before 1700
  • 1 Film Studies (ENGF) course or one Creative Writing (ENGC) course can count toward a minor in English

Courses by Requirement

  • Pre-1700:
        ENGL 238 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
        ENGL 239 Arthurian Literature
        ENGL 305 Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde
        ENGL 313 Shakespeare: Poetry and Drama
        ENGL 316 Renaissance Poetry: The Metaphysical & Cavalier Poets
        ENGL 317 Major Tudor and Stuart Drama
        ENGL 318 Restoration Literature
        ENGL 414 Milton
  • Pre-1900:
        ENGL 240 Gothic Literature
        ENGL 256 Consent of the Governed: Nineteenth-Century American Literature
        ENGL 263 Rebels, Realists, and the Rise of the Novel in the US
        ENGL 319 Rise of the Novel
        ENGL 320 Eighteenth-Century British Literature
        ENGL 322 Money, Class, & Marriage in the British Novel
        ENGL 325 British Romanticism
        ENGL 328 Victorian Literature and Culture
        ENGL 343 Sexuality before Sex in Early American Literatures
        ENGL 416 The Satire of Pope, Swift, & Gay
        ENGL 418 Blake
        ENGL 420 Topics in Romantic Literature
        ENGL 432 Jane Austen
        ENGL 435 The Brontës
        ENGL 441 Topics in Victorian Literature
        ENGL 463 US Nineteenth Century: Great Books Then and Now
        ENGL 467 Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Post-1900:
        ENGL 223 Literary and Cinematic Adaptations
        ENGL 235 American Non-Fiction Narrative
        ENGL 245 African Novel
        ENGL 248 The Holocaust in Literature, Theory, and Film
        ENGL 249 Literature and/as Illness
        ENGL 250 Women and African Literature
        ENGL 251 Contemporary Commonwealth Fiction, 1980-Present
        ENGL 258 American War Literature
        ENGL 265 Masterpieces of World Literature
        ENGL 271 Crime Literature and Film
        ENGL 275 American Literature and the Environment
        ENGL 321 Post-Colonial Literature
        ENGL 330 Modern American Poetry
        ENGL 332 Southern Literature
        ENGL 335 American Modernism
        ENGL 336 Postmodern and Contemporary American Literature (1945-present)
        ENGL 342 Faulkner
        ENGL 348 Literature after Auschwitz
        ENGL 350 British Modernism
        ENGL 353 Experimental British Fiction
        ENGL 363 English as a Global Language
        ENGL 397 Vietnam in the Literary Imagination
        ENGL 450 Topics in Modern and Contemporary British Literature
        ENGL 454 Lawrence and Woolf
        ENGL 455 Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka
        ENGL 464 Faulkner and Wideman
        ENGL 465 Ernest Hemingway
  • Literary Theory:
        ENGF 381 Film Theory
        ENGL 362 Literary Theory
        ENGL 390 Topics in Literary Theory
        PHIL/ARTH 389 Aesthetics and Contemporary Art

 

Program Course Listings

The courses for this program are organized into the following categories:

Writing Courses

Writing courses that do not count toward an English major or minor

ENGL 110

Intro to Academic Writing

Instruction and practice in the forms, styles, grammar, and analytical skills necessary for success in academic writing at the undergraduate level. Open to first-year students recommended by the English Department. Open to other first-year students and sophomores only by permission of the instructor.

Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 210

Adv Academic Writing

Advanced instruction and practice in the forms, styles, grammar, and analytical skills necessary for successful writing at the undergraduate level. Intended for students not recommended for 110, and students who took English 110 but who want additional focused writing instruction.

Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 308

Writing for Life

Designed to help students practice forms of writing that are at once personal and practical: writing required of applicants for scholarships, graduate and professional schools, other post-Hendrix opportunities, as well as Odyssey and other grants. Students learn to incorporate their experiences, passions, studies, and intellectual and social influences into compelling narrative that prepare them for life after Hendrix. This is writing as self-presentation. Students have the flexibility (in consultation with the instructor) to produce writing that matches their personal needs. Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing, or permission of the instructor. Does not offer LS credit.

Junior or Senior standing, or permission of the instructor. Does not offer LS credit.
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Creative Writing Courses

Not for students in their first year of study

ENGC 301

Creative Non-Fiction Writing

Focuses on writing the creative essay and might include other creative nonfiction forms as well (such as feature writing), all with an eye toward publication. Emphasis is placed upon studying professional nonfiction works and conceiving, composing, editing, critiquing, and re-writing student work. Prerequisite: W1 and LS

W1 and LS
Artistic Creativity AC
Expressive Arts EA
ENGC 303

Poetry Writing

A poem, Robert Frost said, is “an arrest of disorder”—a verbal machine that helps us mediate the chaos of experience. Through poetry we distill thoughts, clarify emotions, and experience a payoff of pleasure and insight. This course teaches the craft of poetry through discussion of model poems, in-class exercises, peer workshops, and directed practice in writing both free and formal verse. It aims to develop students’ critical as well as creative voices. Prerequisite: W1 and LS.

W1 and LS.
Artistic Creativity AC
Expressive Arts EA
ENGC 304

Fiction Writing

Directed writing of prose fiction. Workshop format, with theory of fiction and outside reading assignments. Prerequisite: W1 and LS.

W1 and LS.
Artistic Creativity AC
Expressive Arts EA
ENGC 306

Exploring Nature Writing

Students are invited to explore what nature means as an idea and an experience, and to arrive at an enriched understanding of their own relationship to nature through creative writing. Readings include selected examples from literature (particularly creative nonfiction essays, with some fiction and poetry) and sociology. The primary emphasis of the course is on creative writing and attentiveness to form and purpose in an interdisciplinary context. Cross-listed as SOCI 306. Prerequisite: W1 and LS.

W1 and LS.
Expressive Arts EA
ENGC 390

Creative Writing: Special Topics

A topics course in creative writing. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Recent section topics include Creative Writing: Nonfiction, Meaning in Contemporary American Poetry, Writer as Witness, Poetry of Place, Queer Poetry. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisites: W1 and LS

W1 and LS
Artistic Creativity AC
Expressive Arts EA
ENGC 403

Advanced Poetry Writing

Directed writing of poetry, with close attention to technique, form, and voice. Students offer constructive criticism of one another’s work. Some outside reading required. Prerequisite: ENGC 303

ENGC 303
Artistic Creativity AC
Expressive Arts EA
ENGC 404

Advanced Creative Writing:Fiction

Directed writing of short stories or novels, with close attention to technique, structure, and voice. Students offer constructive criticism of one another's work. Some outside reading required. Prerequisite: ENGL 304.

ENGL 304.
Artistic Creativity AC
Expressive Arts EA
ENGC 490

Advanced Creative Writing: Topics

An advanced topics course in creative writing. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Recent section topics include Literary Hybrids, Fiction Writing and Publishing, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Non-fiction Essay, Non-fiction and Poetry. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisites: Senior standing or consent of instructor

Senior standing or consent of instructor
Artistic Creativity AC
Expressive Arts EA
ENGC 497

Creative Writing Sr Thesis Seminar

Limited to senior English majors with a Creative Writing Emphasis, this seminar course focuses on independent writing projects. Departmental faculty and seminar members provide input and critiques as each student works toward a creative manuscript and a critical essay addressing narrative strategies or poetics. The project is defended orally. Students must have a second reader (not necessarily an English Department member); students must receive project idea approval by Fall Break of the senior year. The instructor and the second reader consult to determine the student’s grade.

Artistic Creativity AC
Expressive Arts EA
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Film Studies Courses

ENGF 269

Introduction to Film Studies

A basic introduction to the concepts and techniques of film analysis and criticism. For students in their first or second years of study.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGF 275

Film and the Environment

While “Film and the Environment” might bring to mind conventional nature documentaries featuring an authoritative voiceover describing intricate phenomenon, this course instead considers how every film relates to the environment, insofar as every film reflects and creates a world through the mechanical reproduction and mass production of space and time. Moreover, cinema—itself an art of ephemera—can slow, reveal, or accelerate changes in the environment. This course explores film’s revelatory capacity and creative production of the environment through a range of film examples. For students in their first or second years of study.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGF 310

French New Wave

The French New Wave refers to a period of world film history (generally 1959-1964) in which artists feverishly directed their cinephilia toward the creation and criticism of a generically-hybrid, formally experimental, and highly allusive cinema. Impatient with films that merely adapted literary narratives or painterly aesthetics, French New Wave artists and critics self-reflexively called attention to cinematic techniques of making meaning and telling stories. This course explores the important films and writings by/about French New Wave artists such as Varda, Truffaut, Godard, Resnais, Chabrol, and Rohmer. Recommended Prerequisite: ENGF 269 or ENGL 223.

ENGF 269 or ENGL 223.
Literary Studies LS
ENGF 358

African Film

A study of feature films and documentaries made by African filmmakers, focusing on issues of globalization, education, gender, popular culture and environmental change in contemporary Africa. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGF 370

Film History

This course features canonical films of world cinema, including national cinemas such as Soviet Montage, German Expressionism, Italian Neo-realism, Hollywood/American Independent, and additional world films of historical significance. In addition to studying significant films, people and movements of film history, this course also considers how and why certain films merit this canonical status. In this class, studying the history of cinema involves studying the history of questions about aesthetics, culture, and politics that inform and are created by film. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGF 381

Film Theory

A study of 20th and 21st century theories of how and why film make meaning, how and why spectators create and absorb these meanings, and the changing conception of film within historical, cultural, aesthetic, and social contexts. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGF 382

Non-Fiction Film

A study of non-fiction film in the context of ethical, ideological, socio-political, cultural, environmental, and aesthetic concerns. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGF 390

Topics in Film and Media Studies

A topics course in Film and Media Studies. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Recent section topics include Our Zombies/Ourselves, Global Mexican Filmmakers, Film & American History, Cinematic Lives. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGF 490

Seminar in Film and Media Studies

A seminar course in Film and Media Studies. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Recent section topics include Cinematic Landscape, Landscape & Atmosphere, War, Cinema & Text. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
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Introduction to Literary Studies Courses

For students in their first or second years of study, upon recommendation of the English Department

ENGL 205

Literature and the Inarticulate

This course features literary texts that reflect diverse forms of language trouble, including “baby talk,” nonsense, stuttering, autism, Tourette’s syndrome, and muteness. Writers may include Lewis Carroll, Carson McCullers, Larry Eigner, and filmmaker Jane Campion.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 220

Short Fiction

Close readings of short narrative fiction from several cultural and linguistic traditions, through which students develop a vocabulary of technical and formal terms for the study of narrative.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 221

Poetry

Close readings of poems from the Renaissance to the present day.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 222

Drama

An introduction to the various periods and genres of world drama.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 223

Literary & Cinematic Adaptations

Study of short novels and the films made from them that introduces students, via the practice of close reading, to the specifically literary and cinematic properties of each form. The course interrogates the idea that cinematic adaptations of literary works must necessarily be thought of in terms of success and failure, that is, in terms of fidelity.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 235

American Non-fiction Narrative

This course studies book-length non-fiction literary narratives from Indian captivity narratives and slave narratives to nature writing, social documentary, “new journalism” and “nonfiction novels,” and other manifestations up to the present. Writers may include Thoreau, Agee, Didion, Herr, Mailer, Orleans, and Eggers.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 238

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

A study of the diverse genres within Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, read in Middle English.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 239

Arthurian Literature

The evolution of the Arthurian canon in English, from the 14th century to the present.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 243

Gothic Literature

This course explores the Gothic from its first appearance in the middle of the 1700’s to its current deployment in film and popular culture. Reading works by Walpole, Lewis, Shelley, Stoker, Stevenson, and others, students study the conditions that made the Gothic possible, the coherence of the conventions that organize it, and the rich variety of the authors ranged under its standard. In this course students examine the different ways that it manages (or fails to manage) historically specific problems of sexual, political, and racial difference.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 245

African Novel

Novels from the 1950s to the present that reflect Africa’s diverse cultures and history.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 248

The Holocaust in Lit, Theory & Film

This course explores representations of the Holocaust. Students consider what it means to represent an extreme or limit experience—one felt by perpetrators and victims alike to be unrepresentable. Course texts include novels, memoirs, graphic novels, films, and excerpts from theoretical works.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 249

Literature and/as Illness

The course examines responses to illness in literary, cinematic, and theoretical texts from the late 19th century to the present. Is illness an aberration that should be ameliorated in any way possible? Or is it an alternative to a painful, unhealthy normativity? How do we do justice to the illnesses/aberrations that characterize bodies and texts alike and still diagnose or interpret them?

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 250

Women and African Literature

Works by women writers from a variety of African regions and cultures.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 256

Consent of Governed: 19th c Am Lit

An examination of the many literary cultures that flourished in the nineteenth-century United States, with special attention to how authors imagined issues of consent and governance. Course texts include novels, short fiction, essays, poetry, and possibly drama, along with short selections from critical and theoretical texts.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 258

American War Literature

An examination of narrative, poetic, and cinematic responses to war from the Civil War to the present. The focus of the course varies, with three chief versions: a chronological survey of the entire span; an examination of a more limited period (even to one armed conflict); and an inquiry on the human body as an instrument and artifact of war. Not all authors are combatants/veterans/men/U.S. citizens.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 263

Rebels, Realists & Rise of Novel US

An introduction to the novel form as it developed in the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century United States. Discussions connect the novel's evolution to the shifting social and political circumstances it addressed.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 265

Masterpieces of World Literature

An examination of various aspects of world literature; areas covered include Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, India, Japan, China, and Africa.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 271

Crime Literature and Film

An examination of crime fiction and non-fiction from the 1840’s to the present, including focuses on Poe’s early detective stories, Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes canon, the Golden Age of British detective fiction, the American “hard-boiled” detective genre, and police procedurals. Crime film offerings include film noir, Hitchcock’s canonical works, and neo-noir.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 273

Studies in Literature (pre-1900)

A topics course in pre-1900 literary studies. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Recent section topics include The Essay, Literature and the Body, Reason vs. Desire in Literature, Digital Humanities. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 275

American Lit & the Environment

An examination of how American writers have depicted their culture’s relationship to the environment, mostly through fictional representations (novels and short stories), but with some attention paid to nonfiction, poetry, and theoretical writing. The course examines how writers have imagined their environment and their place in it, though other aspects of the texts will also be studied (character, point of view, gender, race, or economics). Cross-listed as EVST 275.

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
ENGL 285

Science Fictions & Fictions of Sci

A trans-historical introduction to the genre of science fiction. Focusing on novels, romances, short stories, and films, we explore relations between real and imagined worlds, the figure of the alien, and radical communities of humans and non-humans. Students consider how fictions of science formally and thematically expand possibilities of creation, transformation, and deformation. Our governing questions: how does escape into fictional realms alter contours of selfhood, while challenging structures including race, gender, and class? How does fiction shape ideas about power, policy, and change? Can vibrant worlds of scientific imagination model collaborations between the “two cultures” of “literature” and “science”?

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 1 W1
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Advanced Studies in Literature Courses

Prerequisite: completion of one 200-level literary studies course or permission of the instructor

ENGL 280

Title Unavailable

ENGL 305

Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde"

A reading of Chaucer's masterpiece as a work of comedy, tragedy, and romance. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 312

British Writers to 1800

Introduction to outstanding works of British literature from the medieval period to the close of the eighteenth century, studied in chronological sequence and with some attention to historical context.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 313

Shakespeare

An examination of Shakespeare’s works.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 314

Topics in Renaissance Literature

A topics course in British literature from 1500-1660. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 317

Major Tudor & Stuart Drama

A study of English drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries excluding the plays of Shakespeare. Plays are selected from the major works of Kyd, Marlowe, Jonson, Middleton, Webster, Ford, Tourneur, and Marston. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 318

Restoration Literature

A survey of English literature from 1660 to 1707, with an emphasis on the poetry, drama, and criticism of the era. Special attention is paid to works by Dryden, Pepys, Wycherly, and Congreve. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 319

Rise of the Novel

This course explores the emergence and early development of the British novel. Working with several representative novels, students discuss and write about the narrative conventions eighteenth-century writers absorbed, resisted, or created; competing ideas about readers and readership in the period; and the place of the upstart novel among more well-established literary objects. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 320

18th C. English Literature

A study of eighteenth-century prose and poetry (excluding the novel) and drama. Special attention is focused on the works of Pope, Swift, Gray, Johnson, Sheridan, and Blake. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 321

Post-Colonial Literature

Fiction, drama, and poetry from the former British Empire, addressing the diversity of colonial legacies in the Caribbean, India, Africa, and Asia.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 322

Money,Class,Marriage in BritNovel

The impact of social institutions on domestic happiness in novels from Defoe to Hardy. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 325

British Romanticism

A study of Romantic poetry, fiction, and criticism. The course is centered on careful reading of the literature, but also considers the connection of Romanticism to contemporary politics and culture.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 327

Long/Short 19th Century Poetry

A focused study of nineteenth-century British poetry, with attention to issues of length, completeness, and closure. Poems studied range in length from several lines to several hundred pages. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 328

Victorian Literature & Culture

An examination of Victorian poetry and prose. The course explores formal developments in the period, as well as contemporary theories of art and the connection of the literature to developments in industry, commerce, science, and religion.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 329

Sense&Sensation in American Lit

A survey of the 19th century U.S. novel, with particular attention to its attempts to provoke and shape its readers’ sense perceptions and ethical sensibilities. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 330

Modern American Poetry

Close analyses of works by Frost, Stevens, Williams, Pound, Eliot, Moore, Brooks, Hughes, Bishop, Cummings, and other representative poets. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 335

Amer Literary Modernism (1900-1945)

This course asks, What is modernism? We address that question by exploring texts from the era as artistic objects as well as framing that exploration in terms of the cultural moment they both responded to and helped create. We primarily study fiction and poetry, though other genres (film, drams, nonfiction) may receive consideration.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 336

Postmodern & Contemp Am Lit (1945-)

In what ways does postmodern literature react against or further the modernist project, and how does the post-war period contribute to this process? Where has contemporary American literature taken us? We begin to answer these questions through the study of fiction and poetry, though other genres, including drama and literary theory, may receive consideration. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 343

Sexuality before Sex in Early AmLit

An intensive survey of the literatures of the early Americas, with particular attention to the questions of gender, sexuality, and embodiment. Primary sources are drawn from the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries; secondary sources include theoretical and historical writing on gender, sexuality, and the body.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 348

Literature after Auschwitz

Uses the idea of “postmemory” to explore the afterlife of the Holocaust. What relationship does the generation that came after have to the trauma of those who came before? Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 350

Brit Lit in Age of Modernism

Emphasizes close study of the stylistic and formal strategies used by writers in Britain and its colonies in the first half of the 20th century. Also considers representations of colonialism, cosmopolitanism, industrialization, suffragism, and the institution of mass media in the period. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 353

Experimental British Fiction

This course investigates the category of “the experimental” to consider 20th century British fiction and asks students to consider the puzzling fact that in Britain the most experimental—that is, the strangest—narratives often seem to take the most conventional form.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 358

Lit Theory: History and/as Method

This course considers how literary texts are rooted in the social, political, and cultural worlds in which they were written and circulated. Students will read work by theorists, critics, and scholars who consider the interplay between literary texts and historical contexts. How did authors respond to, represent or recreate their social worlds? And how did these societies receive, adapt, misuse, or reject the literary texts authors wrote? As students learn how others have answered these questions, they will also seek to answer them themselves by practicing the methods these scholar5s recommend. May be used to fulfill either the department’s requirement in literary theory or one of the pre-1900 course requirements, but may not be counted for both.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 361

The Black Writer

A study of the Black literary tradition in American literature with attention to complementary works by international Black authors.

Literary Studies LS
ENGL 362

Literary Theory

Considers “theory” as an interdisciplinary enterprise that explores the meaning of signifying systems, in part by rejecting so-called common sense. Examines structuralism, post-structuralism, deconstruction, postcolonial theory, feminism, and queer theory, among others. Intended for students of all disciplines. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 363

English as a Global Language

The spread of the English language and Anglophone literature beyond England, from medieval Scotland to 20th-century Singapore. Also examines the impact of global English on indigenous languages and cultures. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 366

Creative Criticism

An intensive study of the stylistic and topical cross-pollination between texts commonly described as “literature” and those generally classified as “criticism,” this historically wide-ranging course will encourage students to experiment with both the form and the content of their own analytical writing. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 385

Topics in Literary Theory

An introduction to a school of theoretical inquiry. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Recommended: ENGL 297. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
ENGL 297. Pre
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 395

Topics in Literature (pre-1900)

A topics course in pre-1900 literature. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Recent section topics include Slavery in American Literature, American Renaissance and its Others, Sense and Sensation in 19th Century America, Literary Landscapes: Arkansas, Books: Reading in the Digital Age. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
ENGL 397

Imagined Vietnam

This course aims to develop an appreciation and understanding of how Vietnam has been imagined in literature and film by Vietnamese, American, and European artists, within the context of Vietnamese history from the early 19th century to the present. Course material covers the spectrum of narrative expression by including prose fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and film. Prerequisite: Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 200-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
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Seminars in Literary Studies Courses

Prerequisite: completion of any 300-level course in English

ENGL 414

Topics in Renaissance Literature

An intensive topics course in British Literature from 1500-1660. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 416

The Satire of Pope, Swift & Gay

An in-depth study of the major satires of Pope, Swift, and Gay. Prerequisite: completion of any 300-level course in English.

completion of any 300-level course in English.
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 418

Blake

A survey of Blake’s view of society and religion as these are reflected in his lyrics, his prophetic books, and his paintings. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 420

Topics in Romantic Literature

An intensive topics course in Romantic literature or on a writer from the Romantic period. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Completion of any 300-level course in English.

Completion of any 300-level course in English.
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 432

Jane Austen

A study of Austen’s Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 435

The Brontes

An examination of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey, and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Shirley, and Villette. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 441

Topics in Victorian Literature

An intensive topics course in Victorian literature or on a writer from the Romantic period. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Completion of any 300-level course in English.

Completion of any 300-level course in English.
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 450

Topics in Modern British Literature

An intensive topics course in modern British literature or on a writer from this period. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Completion of any 300-level course in English.

Completion of any 300-level course in English.
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 454

Topics: Lawrence & Woolf- WII

A study of fictional and non-fictional prose by the modernist British writers D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. We suggest that, despite differences in style, the two writers are similarly preoccupied by the concept of the irrational, especially as it is figured as antagonism, aggression, and war. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 455

Chinua Achebe & Wole Soyinka

A study of Achebe’s classic novels and short stories and of Soyinka’s masterworks of drama, autobiography, and fiction. Works include No Longer At Ease, A Man of the People, Death and the King’s Horseman, and Ake’. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 460

Topics in American Literature

An intensive topics course in American literature. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 463

Amer19th c:Great Books Then & Now

In this course, we critically examine the shifting standards by which literary scholars have deemed some texts “great.” Our conversations focus on the assumptions those scholars bring to the act of literary interpretation and the methods of reading and analysis those assumptions dictate. Readings include novels, narratives, and perhaps poetry written and read in the nineteenth-century United States, as well as extensive selections from critical commentaries past and present. Prerequisite: completion of any 300-level course in English.

completion of any 300-level course in English.
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 464

Faulkner & Wideman

William Faulkner and John Edgar Wideman provide a study in contrast and a study of deep similarities: a white rural Mississippian writing in the early part of the century and a black urban Pennsylvanian writing in the current era, both of whose works not only show stylistic similarities but also share persistent concerns of the past’s presence in the present; of place; of race and gender; and of the use of fiction to investigate the authors’ personal sense of history, home, and self. We explore three of Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha novels and then Wideman’s Homewood trilogy. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 465

Ernest Hemingway

An in-depth study of Hemingway’s career, from In Our Time to his posthumously published The Garden of Eden. Literary criticism of Hemingway is also be a major subject of study. In addition to paper(s), students are expected to research the criticism and to lead class discussions based upon their research. Prerequisite: Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 467

Nathanial Hawthorne

This seminar will provide an in-depth study of representative works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Class time is spent in review of the historical and cultural contexts surrounding Hawthorne’s major works and in discussion of his stylistic development. Prerequisite: completion of any 300-level course in English.

completion of any 300-level course in English.
Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 490

Seminar in Literature (pre-1900)

An intensive topics course in pre-1900 literature. This course can be repeated for additional credits as long as the section topics are different. Consult the online course schedule for information about the topics currently scheduled to be taught. Any 300-level ENGL/ENGF course

Literary Studies LS
Writing Level 2 W2
ENGL 497

Senior Thesis Seminar

This course taken during spring of the senior year focuses on independent research projects. Departmental faculty and other seminar members provide input and critiques as the student works toward a significant piece of original literary criticism. The project is presented/defended orally. Each student must have a second reader (advisor); the student must solicit the second reader and receive approval of the project early in the fall semester. The second reader does not necessarily need to be an English Department faculty member. The ENGL 497 instructor and the second reader consult to determine the student’s grade. This course is limited to senior English majors. Prerequisite: completion of any 300-level course in English.

completion of any 300-level course in English.
Undergraduate Research UR
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