Fall 2018 English Department Course Descriptions
ENGL 101: Intro to Creative Writing (AR)
TBA
MWF 8:00-8:50
Examines theory and practice of writing creatively. Reading combined with practice
in the basic processes of and strategies for writing fiction, poetry, or drama. Offered
annually.
ENGL 101: Intro to Creative Writing (AR)
TBA
TTh 8:00-9:15
Examines theory and practice of writing creatively. Reading combined with practice
in the basic processes of and strategies for writing fiction, poetry, or drama. Offered
annually.
ENGL 110: Short Story (LIT)
Kathleen O’Gorman
MWF 9:00-9:15
With an emphasis on modern and contemporary texts, we will study short stories to
see what they suggest about the genre. In considering the traditional elements of
fiction—plot, character, setting, point of view, thematic concerns—we will look at
how those elements can propose and/or subvert meaning. We will consider, too, the
limits of the short story: what it can and cannot accomplish. We will consider the
kinds of fictions we offer ourselves and one another and try to discover what that
says about us all. Prerequisite(s): None
ENGL 115: Sci Fi (LIT)
Wes Chapman
MWF 2:00-2:50
Science fiction has long suffered from a reputation as escapist fare unworthy of consideration
as serious literature. One reason for this may be that, by definition, science fiction
represents that which does not (or does not yet) exist. In this course, we will consider
how science fiction uses “that which does not exist”—imagined futures, alternate histories,
alien cultures, utopias and dystopias, etc.—to grapple with genuine historical, social
and philosophical concerns. Prerequisite(s): None
ENGL 129: Third World Women Speak (LIT, G)
Alison Sainsbury
MWF 3:00-3:50
This course receives general education credit in both literature and global diversity;
it counts for the major and minor in English, and for the major and minor in women’s
studies and international studies (development studies).
Women’s writing from countries in the Muslim world with which the United States has been crucially engaged will be our focus this term. Readings include a range of genres, including a one-woman play about the wars in Iraq, “chick lit” from Saudi Arabia, women’s poetry from Afghanistan, and a graphic memoir about coming of age in Iran during the Iranian Revolution. Work for the course will include quizzes, short papers, and essay exams. Prerequisite(s): None
ENGL 170: The Sixties (LIT)
Wes Chapman
TTh 2:35-3:50
The 1960s have taken hold of the national consciousness as few decades have. In this
course, we will examine the literature of the 60s, especially the literature which
arose out of the main protest movements of the time (the Civil Rights movement, 1960s
feminism, anti-war protests, and the counterculture), as well as some of the reactions
of “mainstream” America to those movements. Authors discussed may include Margaret
Atwood, LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Gwendolyn Brooks, Michael Herr, Kurt Vonnegut,
Sylvia Plath, and Thomas Pynchon. Prerequisite(s): None
ENGL 201: Writing Fiction
Brandi Reissenweber
TTh 9:25-10:40
Workshop in reading and writing fiction. The course will focus on the principles and
techniques used by accomplished writers in their stories as well as on key elements
of the story form. Students will complete stories and develop a portfolio. Prerequisite(s): Gateway Colloquium
ENGL 220: Thinking Like a Mountain (LIT, W)
Alison Sainsbury
MWF 1:00-1:15
From Aldo Leopold's attempt to think "like a mountain" to Gary Snyder's challenge
to bring "the wild" into our lives no matter where we live, writers and poets have
played an important part in the forging of a contemporary environmental consciousness.
Readings will include the classic and the contemporary, the pragmatic and the visionary.
Although the course is writing based and writing intensive, assignments will take
you outside of the classroom to engage more directly the natural world. Prerequisite(s): Gateway Colloquium
ENGL 233: American Drama (LIT)
Kathleen O’Gorman
MF 11:00-12:15
A study of American drama of the past sixty to seventy years, with special focus on
theatrical innovation and the staging of social issues. Prerequisite(s): Gateway Colloquium.
ENGL 280: Understanding Literature (W)
Molly Robey
MWF 1:00-1:15
Understanding Literature is an introduction to literary study, designed for English
majors and minors. Because no single course can cover the wide range of interpretive
strategies employed in literary criticism today, much less survey its object of study, Understanding
Literature offers a systematic smorgasbord of approaches and genres, designed to meet
the following goals:
- to develop your vocabulary for talking about literature and your strategies for interpreting it;
- to give you practice in reading and writing about a variety of literary genres, in particular fiction, poetry, and drama;
- to introduce you to the use of secondary sources;
- and to engage you in the extended conversation of critical discourse.
Prerequisite(s): Gateway Colloquium
ENGL 301: Seminar in Creative Writing: Flash Fiction (AR)
Alison Sainsbury
TTh 1:10-2:25
This course will examine nonfiction that exhibits, as Bernard Cooper puts it, “the
disproportionate power of the small”: flash nonfictions, succinct, but not slight. We’ll read a variety of forms, from the more reportorial to the unabashedly lyric,
weigh the value of memory’s truth, and walk the fine line of that shifting boundary
between fiction and nonfiction. Throughout, we’ll keep before us what Judith Kitchen
refers to as the “fundamental mark of an essay—the building of a process of thought
through a singular contemplative voice.” Readings will set the theme for weekly or
biweekly flash nonfictions of your own. May be repeat for credit if subject matter not duplicated. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 201 (if fiction), 202 (if poetry), 206 (if nonfiction), or consent
of the instructor. These courses may be waived by the instructor based on evaluation
of student’s portfolio. Priority enrollment given to writing concentration majors
when necessary.
ENGL 351: Manifest Destinies: American Literature to 1865 (LIT, U)
Molly Robey
TTh 2:35-3:50
One of the dominant myths of US nationalism is “Manifest Destiny,” the idea that the
United States’ continental expansion and development into a world power was inevitable.
In actuality, there was nothing inevitable about an unstable post-colonial state with no national language and little shared history coming to dominate a continent and its residents. Americans’ move west was characterized by anxiety, conflict, and conquest. This course explores the narratives of community and nation that competed during this time of national uncertainty. Specifically, we’ll explore notions of American character from the vantage of those who were often excluded from national belonging: African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and white women, and we will examine the ways that gender and sexuality shaped and were shaped by national narratives. Prerequisite(s): Gateway Colloquium and 1 course from ENGL 109-170 or 220-259, plus 280.
ENGL 393: Love, Marriage, Sex, Power: Shakespeare’s Comedies and Histories (LIT)
Joanne Diaz
TTh 8:00-9:15
This course focuses on the contests that Shakespeare's comedies and histories stage.
It begins with a close study of the rhetorical, literary, and dramatic strategies
the plays deploy to articulate these thematic concerns, and then it moves on to using
critical theory to understand the role Shakespeare’s texts played in his culture’s
“wars” and the roles they play in our own contemporary world. Prerequisite(s): Gateway Colloquium and one of the following: ENGL 280, THEA 241,
HIST 290, 321, 323
ENGL 398: Joyce (LIT)
Kathleen O’Gorman
TTh 10:50-12:05
This course examines James Joyce’s major works in cultural and historical contexts;
emphasis on Ulysses. Prerequisite(s): Gateway Colloquium and 1 course from ENGL 109-170 or 220-259, plus
280.
ENGL 401: Senior Writing Project (W)
Brandi Reissenweber
W 7:00-9:30pm
Creative Writing Senior Seminar: Capstone experience for English-Writing majors requires
thoughtful study of portfolio work and completion of an extensive, ambitious individual
project that’s both a logical extension of the student’s work and a new challenge.
The course will be multi-genre, with an emphasis on feedback and support. Prerequisite(s): At least one ENGL 300-level writing course and senior standing, or
by permission of instructor.
JOUR 211: Newswriting and Reporting (W)
James Plath
MWF 9:00-9:50
The fundamentals of newswriting, with emphasis on AP style, structure, and methods
of news reporting. Prerequisite(s): None
Courses Taught by English Faculty in Other Disciplines
FA 110: Film Aesthetics (AR)
James Plath
TTh 9:25-10:40
GW 100: Citizens of the World
Molly Robey
MW 2:00-3:15
GW 100: Happiness
Wes Chapman
MWF 10:00-10:50
GW 100: What Is a University?
Joanne Diaz
MWF 8:00-8:50
LC 270: Form and Void: Japanese Poetry and Poetics
Team-Taught by Profs. Jeremy Sather (Japanese) and Michael Theune (English)
TTh 1:10-2:25
Introduction to Japanese poetic tradition and how it migrated into English-speaking poetry. Involves study of shaping cultural-historical forces and the concentrated efforts of singular practitioners, as well as practice in the use of poetic forms such as waka, haiku, renga, haibun, and haiga. Offered Fall, 2018. Arts credit.
This course may count, with the submission of a substitution form, as a 200-level creative writing course in English department majors and minors. Prerequisite(s):
PSYC 370: Psycomedy: The Science and Art of Humor (W)
Team-Taught by Prof. Michael Theune (English) and Joe Williams (Psychology)
MW 2:00-3:15
Investigation into the science and art of humor. Employs the tools and approaches of psychology to experiment with and reflect on the processes of appreciating and producing--in writing and through performance--comedy. Offered Fall, 2018. Writing Intensive credit.
This course may count, with the submission of a substitution form, as a 300-level creative writing course in English department majors and minors. Prerequisites: junior status, or consent of instructors.