Department of English Language and Literature

3010-001

TR 12:55-2:15

3010-002

TR 2:30-3:50

Creative Writing

Pearson

3150/5150-001

(LING)

MW 12:55-2:15

Linguistic Principles

Reichelt

An introduction to modern linguistic theories about the nature and structure of language with emphasis on English.

3360-001

MW 4:00-5:20

Intro to Poetry & Poetics

Mattison

This course is designed to help literature students interpret and creative writing students write poetry by providing a disciplinary foundation for their work. It is an “introduction” not in the sense that it is preliminary, but in that it is intended to be a general discussion of the types and forms of poetry that will support more specific work. The discipline of poetics was first defined explicitly by Aristotle in the 4th century BC and has been an active subject of debate to the present. It concerns three central questions regarding poetry specifically, all of which can be and have been applied to literature more generally: what is poetry? what is its function? and what are the means with which it achieves that function? The first question relates to genre; the second to the relation between works and their audience or readership; the last to form (the recognizable arrangements of words by which we know a poem is a poem) and representation (the means by which a poem presents the details of its subject to a reader). These will be our primary topics.

Throughout the course, we will examine the mechanics of poetry both as conceived of by critics and as practiced by poets, with the emphasis on the latter. We will read philosophical works and personal statements on writing poetry ranging from Aristotle’s Poetics to Terrance Hayes’s reflections on poetic influence. Poets read in depth will include Robert Herrick, Charlotte Smith, Wallace Stevens, Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Etheridge Knight, Frank Bidart, Gwendolyn Brooks, and a wide range of currently writing poets. Assignments will focus on specific skills of formal analysis and concepts in poetics, rather than long research papers.

3610-001

MW 9:35-10:55

British Literary Traditions

Kim

What do we mean when we refer to “British literature?” This course surveys representative British literature by major authors from the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. We will put literary texts in conversation with such historical developments as the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the rise of nationalism and imperialism, transatlantic slavery and colonialism, new print and transportation technologies, rapidly increasing literacy rates, and a wealth of related cultural developments. We will pay attention to necessary intellectual background and reflect upon the constructed concepts of literary history, periods, and canonization—testing claims for a work’s place in the “canon” or “literary tradition” to make us better readers, writers, and thinkers. In doing so, we will develop a deeper understanding of and appreciation for “British literature” as a body of works that transcends national and cultural borders.

3670-001

MW 11:10-12:30

Literature of Diverse Nonwhite Communities: Migrant Literatures

Bonifacio

In this course, students will read, write, and think critically about how immigration, citizenship, and home shape our identities, cultures, and way of life, and how these very ideas are a source of literary and artistic expression. We will read authors and activists like Ana Castillo, Edwidge Danticat, Valeria Luiselli, Ocean Vuong, Teju Cole, and others as to better understand what it means to be a “migrant” and to be/not to be at “home.” We will also examine identity-formation, hybridity, and culture at the intersections of gender and sexuality, Blackness and Latinidad, indigeneity and Americanness, as well as language and society. By writing short essays and active class discussions, students will consider the social and legal implications of (un)documented, exile, diasporic, and a refugee and how these categories inform notions of assimilation, acculturation, and transculturation. These topics will help us to critically examine, read, and appreciate the rich diversity, history, and influence of migrant literatures and cultures.

3770-001

TR 11:10-12:30

World Literature & Cultures

Sarkar

This course, by focusing specifically on the theme of "crossing borders" in contemporary literature will explore how border crossings influence an individual’s identity in the twenty-first century. By examining literary works from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America, and adopting a multi-genre approach (fiction, memoir, poetry, and film), we will try to probe the reasons behind the increasing emphasis on “border crossing” in modern times. In particular, we will try to answer some of the following questions. How do transnational migration and a rapidly flourishing consumer culture affect individual identity in the twenty-first century? Does racial/sexual politics assume new dimensions with the rising tide of worldwide displacement and migration? How do migrants resolve tension between tradition and modernity?  Simultaneously, as we will discover, all the texts, in some form or other are “coming of age” narratives. So, through our analysis of world literature, we will also try to explore what it means to grow up and live in a twenty-first century world. Additionally, over the semester, students will be encouraged to develop critical thinking skills as well as hone their speaking and writing abilities.

3810-001

TR 12:55-2:15

Shakespeare I

Fitzgerald

This course introduces students to the close reading, study, and interpretation of Shakespeare’s works, especially his plays, with attention to historical and performance context. As a 3000-level course, Shakespeare I aims to give students the knowledge and skills to read, interpret, and enjoy the works of William Shakespeare so that they may continue to study his writing at a more advanced level, enjoy Shakespeare on their own in performance or in reading, and/or impart their knowledge and enjoyment to others in the middle or high school classroom. In this version of the class, we will use both close-reading and performance as tools of understanding and interpretation, and look at the history of performance, from Shakespeare's own day to today, as a history of the changing interpretation and reception of his plays over time. Assignments will include a series of short essays with various critical goals and a final group performance (during the final exam time slot) with an accompanying interpretative essay.

3850-001

TR 9:35-10:55

LGBTQ Literature – WAC

Gamble

In this course we will focus on the literary production of LGBTQ people, primarily works produced in the United States from the 1950s to the present. Reading novels, plays, poems, and memoirs, we will ask: How do LGBTQ writers and artists engage with and represent major moments in queer history? How do LGBTQ writers address and combat (among other issues) sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and the HIV/AIDS crisis? Do LGBTQ writers have shared aesthetic concerns? As we begin to answer these questions, we will also develop our skills in literary interpretation and analysis, as well as a critical understanding of key concepts like gender, sexuality, race, class, and language. This course is a Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) course, which means that we will prioritize writing as the main means of working through the questions posed above.

4030-001

MW 12:55-2:15

Writing Workshop-Nonfiction Prose – WAC

Geiger

This course will focus on Creative Non-Fiction and its many outlets including memoir, literary journalism, and the personal essay. In addition, there will brief “warm-up” exercises on travel writing and reviews. We will read a variety of non-fiction pieces, from book length works to shorts, to gain an understanding of the craft and techniques employed by writers in service to their intent. Then, students will create their own pieces for analysis and critique by the class.

4070-001

MW 11:10-12:30

Writing Workshop – Poetry - WAC

Geiger

This workshop-format course is for the practicing poet.  Each class will begin with a serious discussion of a poetry-related topic, or a reading assignment, and advance into the actual workshop itself.    Students will work towards achieving a final unified portfolio of completed poems (a chapbook).  Grades will be based on that portfolio (chapbook) and on class discussion and participation.

4090-071/

5090-001

TR 4:00-5:20

Current Writing Theory – WAC

Edgington

This course is devoted to studying current theories, trends, and authors in the field of writing studies, with a particular focus on various literacies connected to how we read and write.  Specifically, we will focus on key articles and studies from the field of composition that guide research and practice. To better understand these studies and the underlying theories, students will read a variety of texts, complete course papers and be active participants during course discussions.  The class will be primarily discussion-based (both full class and small group), with some lecture and student presentation involved.

4190/5190-001

(LING)

MW 9:35-10:55

Sociolinguistics

Reichelt

This course covers factors influencing language variation, including region, language contact, gender, and ethnicity.  Additionally, the course addresses language change and language planning.

4420-001

MW 11:10-12:30

British Literature: Renaissance

Gamble

Why were the writers of the English Renaissance so obsessed with sex? How did they and the people reading, seeing, and hearing their work think about sex and sexuality? By reading widely in early modern English literature (c. 1557-1692), we will answer these questions and more as we trace some of the contours of historical thought about: desire, love, sex, marriage, infidelity, friendship, intimacy, identity, pleasure, violence, gender, race, and religion (among other topics). A substantial portion of the course will be concerned with queer relationships. By the end of the course, we will have a thick sense of the ways in which early moderns used literature to work through the day-to-day processes of thinking, wanting, having, liking, and disliking sex. And by better understanding how early moderns thought and wrote about sex and sexuality, we will better understand how we think about it today.

4620/5-001

MW 2:30-3:50

Transamerican Romanticism

Bonifacio

Romanticism was an aesthetic and intellectual movement that spanned from the late eighteenth-century to the mid-nineteenth century. It centralized the role of the human in literature, art, and music—primarily valuing individualism, imagination, emotions, and nature. Romanticism started in Europe as a response to a quickly industrializing world and as a reaction to the Age of Enlightenment, which championed logic, rationality, and science. The Romantic movement was national and transnational. It encompassed writers from around the world including William Wordsworth (England), Ralph Waldo Emerson (United States), Oswald Durand (Haiti), and Salomé Ureña (Dominican Republic). At the same time, as the movement expanded beyond nation-states, Romanticism’s emphasis on individualism allowed writers to conceptualize specific national Romantic traditions. In this class, we will focus on the transamerican Romantic tradition, a broad concept that will include writers from the Americas, (i.e., North, Central, and South America) writing between 1776 to 1852. Replacing the honorific “American” with “Transamerican” allows us to dislocate Romantic studies—literally, from a nationally and culturally fixed concept to a borderless movement.

4670-5-001

MW 12:55-2:15

Asian American Literature

Kim

This course explores major and selected works of “Asian American” literature. What is Asian American literature, and how do we determine its geographical and cultural scope? As Asian American populations have been deeply impacted by restrictive immigration laws and American foreign policy, “Asian American” literature is uniquely counterintuitive in terms of Americanness and belonging. We acknowledge the construction of “Asian American literature” as a category to examine these questions: What and who does Asian American literature represent? What is the relationship between Asian American literary aesthetics and political concerns? What does this genre do for re-defining a sense of self and community in relation to race, ethnicity, nationality, gender/sexuality, class, ability, health humanities, and other intersections? The course material is organized thematically, and not regionally. In other words, texts have not been chosen based on the ethnic affiliation of the authors. Rather, each work has been selected based on its wrestling with themes and images common to Asian American cultural production, including immigration and exclusion, militarism and refugee displacement, colonization, gender, and sexuality. This course will introduce students to the diverse traditions and key debates in Asian American and transpacific writing, paying special attention to historical, social, and political contexts that shape our understanding of literature.

4860-001

MW 5:30-6:50

American Author: Joan Didion

Stroud

An exploration of the works of novelist and essayist Joan Didion

4900-001

W 4:00-4:55

English Honors Seminar

Mack

This course is a workshop designed to help you develop, draft, and finish an Honors thesis project. You will select the topic in conjunction with the Honors Adviser and the English department faculty; the course will help you to refine and develop it. You will be assigned a sequence of reading and writing assignments to help you successfully accomplish the various stages of your thesis. The weekly meeting will give you the opportunity to share and workshop your preliminary research and drafts in a structured environment, and the rest of the work will occur through independent research, writing, and tutorials with your seminar professor (Dr. Mack) and your Thesis Director. This is an ideal course for those students who are considering graduate school (not just in English) or who simply wish to experience the pleasure of pursuing an independent project. Prerequisite: Approval of the Honors Committee.

4950-001

TR 5:30-6:50

Special Topics: Graphic Narratives & Adaptations

Pearson

What is a graphic narrative? What does it mean to adapt a creative work from one medium to another? What are the creative considerations? What are the implications for audience and accessibility? We will keep these questions in mind as we read through and otherwise consume various graphic narratives, adaptations, and their original source material. We will work up to adapting our own creative work in visual and audio media after closely considering various pros and cons, and afterward, the successes and failures of such an aspiration. This course will require students to engage with various critical and theoretical works, literature, media, and create original written and visual media. Assignments will include reading responses, short essays, multi-genre creative writing, and the compilation of a final portfolio.

5790-001

TR 2:30-3:50

Research in English

Sarkar

This course is designed to teach you how to do research in English, specifically in literary studies, but more generally it is designed to enable you to function effectively in graduate school. It should give you the basic information and tools that will help you make the most of our M.A. in Literature program as well as help if you choose to pursue a PhD program or choose a career somewhat related to literary studies. In other words, it is not a traditional literary course per se; instead, it is a course about the profession of literary studies and how to be an effective member of the profession. Contrary to what you may think, doing professional research and writing about literature is not a solitary activity. Rather, it involves entering a conversation that has been carried on by experienced scholars for decades or even centuries. This class seeks to teach you the conventions of this critical conversation along with the tools you need to enter it with authority. It is a safe space for you to ask questions and learn what you need to do in your two years here and beyond.

6010-001

M 4:00-6:45

Teaching College Composition

Edgington

James Zebroski argues that “Theory is practice, and practice is always theoretical.” This course will focus on this connection. Using keywords from the field of writing studies, we will look at how theory and practice is interconnected in areas such as process theory, the classroom environment, curriculum development, and methods of assessing and responding to student writing. Students will be asked to read literature and research studies in the field of composition, participate in both in-class and online discussions of the readings, and develop a pedagogical assignment that could be used in the classroom. The class culminates in the production of a statement of teaching philosophy, a revised syllabus, and a paper which argues for how the syllabus enacts the philosophy.

6410-001

T 4:00-6:45

Seminar: Performative Middle Ages

Fitzgerald

Unlike our sense of private, silent reading, literary culture through the Middle Ages was often public, interactive, multimedia, voiced, and social. In this course, we will study drama and other kinds of public performance, but also a wide range of other kinds of texts that were either meant to be performed or voiced in some way (including public readings), or invited embodied interaction with them, or asked readers to construct imagined performances. (Primary readings may include various drama and lyric poetry, selections from The Canterbury Tales, romances such as Gawain and the Green Knight or Sir Orfeo, devotional works, sermons, selections from The Book of Margery Kempe, etc.) In addition to more conventional reading and discussion, this course will require periodical oral presentation, reading aloud, performing, declaiming, chanting, and employing gesture throughout the semester as part of our investigations into the performativity of the texts studied. We will also think about “performance” in a more theoretical and figurative sense, looking at the ways that social roles and identities are performed through cultural and material practices, and how literary texts participated in and shaped those practices and identities. Along the way, we will learn about many genres and types of literature, giving us a view not only of the variety of literature of the period, but of its readers’ wide-ranging tastes. Thus, the course will serve as a survey of medieval literature for students new to the period. (Prior courses in medieval literature are not a prerequisite for this seminar.) We will also read key critical and theoretical texts on the nature of “performativity” in medieval literature and culture and in literary and cultural studies more broadly. The critical and theoretical reading will allow students to take the concepts of the course and apply them to other areas of study.