INTRODUCTION TO COLLEGE WRITING AND ACADEMIC DISCOURSE
4 credits
English 100 introduces students to the sometimes-challenging requirements of college writing and particularly to the genre of the academic essay. The course includes a strong focus on critical reading as well.
COLLEGE WRITING I: PERSUASION
3 credits
Powers
This course introduces students to rhetorical analysis and argument, while helping students to improve their writing skills and to develop a writing process suited for college-level work. Students learn to read critically from a variety of texts, disciplines, and media. They learn to synthesize texts to develop original arguments aimed at an academic audience. The course establishes a community of learners whose writing engages in ethical inquiry and reasoned debate, and it prompts students to use writing to make meaningful connections between and among their academic, social, and political lives.
INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
3 credits
Patterns 1
This introductory course, designed for students who are not majoring in English, takes an historical and generic approach to literature. Students will study works from multiple genres, including film. Syllabi will vary by section, but all sections are designed to teach students how to read, write, and think about primary texts.
INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY STUDY
3 credits
Patterns 1
Required of all day English majors in lieu of English 150, this introductory course acquaints students with fundamental principles and practices of studying literature, with a general overview of literary periods and genres and theories, and with library and database resources essential for this discipline.
COLLEGE WRITING II: RESEARCH
3 credits
Powers
This course builds upon the writing skills and rhetorical knowledge students gained in ENG 110, training them to conduct academic research and to compose innovative and original research papers that are appropriate for upper-division coursework in a variety of disciplines. Built around shared texts, concerns, or themes, this course is driven by individual research projects that students develop through consultation with the instructor and in conversation with the projects of their peers. Students learn to develop strong research questions, and they learn to find, critically evaluate, and synthesize a broad range of academic texts. Prerequisite: A grade of C or better in ENG 110.
RELIGION AND CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
3 credits
A study of religion and religious themes in literature. Attention will be paid both to literary critical concern and to religious analysis of poetry, fiction, and drama. Cross-listed as REL 243.
SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE TO 1798
3 credits
Patterns 2
This survey course considers important authors, works, and literary movements in British literature from its beginnings to 1798 within the context of shifts in British history and culture to the threshold of the Romantic and Victorian periods. Students gain not only an overview of significant works within this time frame, including early Celtic literature, but also a broad understanding of the cultural and aesthetic underpinnings indicated by terms like Medieval literature, Renaissance or Early Modern literature, and Restoration and 18th-century literature.
SURVEY OF BRITISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE SINCE 1798
3 credits
Patterns 2
This survey course considers important authors, works, and literary movements in British literature from 1798 to the present within the context of shifts in British history and culture. Students gain not only an overview of significant works within this time frame, including Irish literature, but also a broad understanding of the cultural and aesthetic underpinnings indicated by terms like Modernism and Post-Modernism.
SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE TO 1865
3 credits
Patterns 2
This survey course considers important authors, works, and literary movements of early American literature from its beginnings to the Civil War. Students gain not only an overview of significant works within this time frame, but also a broad understanding of the cultural and aesthetic underpinnings indicated by terms like the Age of Faith, the Age of Reason and Revolution, Transcendentalism, and the American Renaissance.
SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE SINCE 1865
3 credits
Patterns 2
This survey course is the standard second half of the college survey of American literature written during the great transformations from 1865 to the present. Students will deepen their awareness of literary movements such as Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. Students will also improve their familiarity with the works of important writers during this period.
LITERATURE AND CULTURE
3 credits
Patterns 2
In this intermediate literature course, students discuss a literary theme in its cultural contexts. Topics vary by section (Literature and the Family, Literature and Gender, Literature and Food, and so on) and will be discussed in terms of multiple genres, including film, and different historical and social contexts.
LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF GREAT BRITAIN 1700 - 1900
3 credits
Patterns 1
This survey course considers important authors and works of British literature from 1700 to 1900 within the context of shifts in British history and culture. Students gain not only an overview of significant works within this time frame, but also a broad understanding of the cultural and aesthetic underpinnings indicated by terms like Neo-classicism, Romanticism, and Victorianism.
LITERATURE AND CULTURE OF AMERICA 1861 TO 1911
3 credits
Patterns 1
This survey course considers important authors and works of American literature from the beginning of the Civil War to the pre-World War I period. Students gain not only an overview of significant works within this time frame, but also a broad understanding of the cultural and aesthetic underpinnings indicated by terms like the Age of Realism.
THE GRAMMARS OF ENGLISH AND THE WRITING PROCESS
3 credits
This course introduces students to the systematic structures of English sentences and the practical applications of these systems in writing. Students investigate the meaning of a “language standard” and the controversy surrounding it, with emphasis placed on sentence combining and generative rhetoric as well as the contributions of traditional, structural, and transformational-generative studies to our understanding of English “grammar.”
LANGUAGE AND PREJUDICE
3 credits
This course studies how language affects the way we view ourselves and others in our culture. Case studies of language in relation to sexism, racism, and politics will be supplemented by discussions of introductory concepts of language systems and stylistic analysis.
WRITING FOR BUSINESS
3 credits
By providing instruction in planning and executing effective business writing, this course helps students learn to write the documents required of them as professionals: letters, resumes, memos, proposals, abstracts, and reports.
FICTION WRITING I
3 credits
An introduction to the writing of fiction.
POETRY WRITING
3 credits
A workshop in the writing of poetry.
PLAYWRITING
3 credits
A study of the art of playwriting from the traditional and contemporary point of view. Guided writing of a one-act play.
LEGAL WRITING
3 credits
Legal Writing is a challenging yet practical course in the reading, planning, and writing of effective legal documents (legal letters and memoranda, briefs, contracts, and personal statements for applications to law schools). It is designed for students planning careers in areas such as law, business, communication, and media studies.
EDITING AND PUBLISHING
3 credits
Workshop approach to provide students with experience in judging manuscripts, proofreading, typographical design, and production of short documents: e.g., forms, resumes, flyers, brochures, and newsletters. Introduction to and use of desktop publishing software.
YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
3 credits
Concentration Option
In this course, attention will be paid to the reading and discussion of contemporary young adult fiction representing a variety of themes and genres. Other topics include adolescent psychology, the history and development of young adult literature, current trends in young adult literature, and the young adult in film and other mass media. Aimed at preparing prospective and actual teachers, librarians, and parents to understand and to direct the reading of young adults.
LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM
3 credits
Readings and discussion of major critical texts in their historical setting, emphasizing the critical theories of the last several decades.
ADVANCED COMPOSITION AND THE WRITING PROCESS
3 credits
A course in writing and rewriting skills designed to show students how to write more effectively for different purposes and to different audiences: essays, articles, and reviews. Attention will be paid to a writer’s method and audiences and to the several steps in the writing process. Prerequisite: ENG 108.
SHAKESPEARE
3 credits
Concentration Option
This course considers selected poems and plays, including tragedies, comedies, history plays, and romances, exploring the literary, dramatic, and historical dimensions of Shakespeare’s art.
WEB DESIGN
3 credits
Web Design is an introduction to the practice of World Wide Web document design, grounded in an understanding of the Web’s development and theories of graphics and communication. The course focuses on researching, creating, revising, and editing Web sites, using “hard code” and applications-based layout and editing. Not to be taken with DART 230.
WOMEN WRITERS
3 credits
Concentration Option
This course examines women’s literary traditions by surveying works of women writers from several historical periods.
ETHNIC AMERICAN LITERATURE
3 credits
Concentration Option
In this course, although topics vary from section to section, students read and discuss American ethnic writers, including, but not limited to, ethnic groups such as African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. Primary texts span American history, while secondary readings include contemporary critical theory.
CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
3 credits
Concentration Option
This course examines fiction or drama or poetry from roughly 1950 to the present. It may include both Western and non-Western texts (including works in translation). The focus of the course in any given smester may be in one or more genres, with an emphasis on applying various critical methods for analysis.
CONTEMPORARY DRAMA
3 credits
Concentration Option
This course considers developments in world drama from roughly 1950 to the present, including works performed on and off Broadway, in London’s West End, fringe theaters, and innovative regional theaters. Special attention may be given to emerging third-world, minority, and women dramatists.
CONTEMPORARY POETRY
3 credits
Concentration Option
This course considers trends and significant achievements in poetry from roughly 1950 to the present. Although its emphasis is on poetry written in English, poems in translation may be included.
WRITING AND THE UNIVERSITY
3 credits
The study of peer-tutoring strategies and the rhetoric of academic prose. Application required for this course.
LITERATURE AND FILM
3 credits
This course examines the somewhat uneasy relationship between literature and film, a relation long debated by writers and filmmakers alike. Specifically, students will study a somewhat eclectic selection of literary works and an equally eclectic collection of films based on those works. The literary texts will be drawn from different genres and national literary traditions, and the films will be drawn from different cinematic traditions and genres.
SPECIAL TOPICS
3 credits
Concentration Option
Specially designed courses in literature built around a topic chosen by the instructor. Topics vary from semester to semester.
TOPICS IN CREATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING II
3 credits
Special topics in advanced writing, including memoir writing, magazine writing, advanced business writing, advanced poetry writing, and writing about the environment. May be repeated for credit.
ADVANCED FICTION WORKSHOP
3 credits
Workshop format in the writing of fiction. Prerequisite: ENG 305. May be repeated for credit.
TECHNICAL PUBLISHING
3 credits
Directed practice in writing popular technical and scientific articles, technical reports and proposals, abstracts, and in using technical reference materials.
ELECTRONIC AUTHORING
3 credits
Electronic Authoring and Publishing explores the relationship between print and online media. Students hone their editorial and design skills as well as their computer skills and knowledge of several applications. While it is at once an advanced course in the practice of desktop publishing and in pre-print software, such as Quark Xpress, it also introduces students to non-print publishing concepts and practices, such as those of the World Wide Web.
HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
3 credits
This course studies the ways in which the language we call English has developed over the centuries, the kinds of English that are spoken in the world today, and the underlying structure of these Englishes and their grammars. It combines theory with text, using works by authors from the 7th century to the 21st as base texts in which to analyze how English has continued to develop as an important linguistic force throughout the world.
WOMEN, LITERATURE, AND CULTURE
3 credits
Concentration Option
A study of feminist literary theory and an application of feminist literary criticism to a major writer, coterie, movement, or era.
WORLD LITERATURE: THE WESTERN TRADITION
3 credits
Concentration Option
This course surveys the literature of Western Europe from the ancient Greeks to the modern period, emphasizing drama and narrative in their many forms. Literary works will be studied in relationship to their historical and cultural contexts.
WORLD LITERATURE, THE NON-WESTERN TRADITION
3 credits
Concentration Option
This course considers primarily 20th- and 21st-century readings in selected works from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim, emphasizing literature as a reflection of its cultural background.
STUDIES IN BRITISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE 1700-1900
3 credits
Concentration Option
In this course, students intensively study the Restoration, 18th- and 19th-century literature, and the culture of the British Isles. Although topics may vary from section to section, this course concentrates on selected authors from this time period, examining them in the light of their historical, literary, and cultural contexts, as well as competitive or complementary continental traditions.
STUDIES IN BRITISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE SINCE 1900
3 credits
Concentration Option
In this course, students intensively study British literature and culture from 1900 to the present. Although topics may vary from section to section, this course concentrates on selected authors from this time period, examining them in the light of their historical and cultural contexts, as well as continental traditions.
STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE TO 1900
3 credits
Concentration Option
In this course, students intensively study American literature from its beginnings to 1900. Although topics may vary from section to section, this course concentrates on selected authors from this time period, examining them in the light of their historical and cultural contexts.
STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE SINCE 1900
3 credits
Concentration Option
In this course, students intensively study American literature from 1900 to the present. Although topics may vary from section to section, this course concentrates on selected authors from this time period, examining them in the light of their historical and cultural contexts.
STUDIES IN BRITISH LITERATURE TO 1500
3 credits
Concentration Option
In this course, students intensively study Medieval British literature. Although topics may vary from section to section, this course concentrates on selected authors from this time period, examining them in light of their historical and cultural contexts, as well as continental traditions.
STUDIES IN BRITISH LITERATURE 1800 - 1900
3 credits
Concentration Option
In this course, students intensively study 19th-century British literature. Although topics may vary from section to section, this course concentrates on selected authors from this time period, examining them in the light of their historical and cultural contexts, as well as continental traditions.
INTERNSHIP
3 credits
Students may intern at a variety of sites including advertising and public relations firms, publishing and broadcasting companies, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and social service and health care agencies. Working under professional supervision 12 to 15 hours a week (3 credits) or 24 to 30 hours a week (6 credits), students learn how to apply their education to the everyday demands of the world of work. Required: junior or senior standing, 2.75 grade point average both overall and in the major, and recommendation of the internship coordinator.
CAPSTONE SEMINAR
3 credits
Concentration Option
The major and double major in English concludes with a capstone seminar in which students pursue an independent research, pedagogical, or writing project of significant depth and scope directed by a faculty facilitator and in consultation with faculty knowledgeable in each student’s field of inquiry. The goal of the capstone seminar is to provide students with the opportunity to pursue a topic of interest in a sustained way and to support each student’s project through the discussion and application of advanced research in the discipline and a workshop in which the student is able to present material in draft on the way to the production of the final project. The capstone provides a forum in which students can share ideas, provide feedback to one another, and solve problems related to scholarly research, pedagogy, and creative projects. ENG 480 may also be taken by students minoring in English.
