Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

500 Level

• ENG-G 500 Introduction to the English Language (4 cr.) An introduction to the English language: its nature, structure, and development.

• ENG-L 500 Introduction to Graduate Study for International Students (4 cr.) The methods and assumptions of graduate study in English and American literature, with special emphasis on classroom participation, the preparation and delivery of reports, and the writing of critical essays based on individual research. Admission must be approved by the departmental advisor for international students.

• ENG-L 501 Professional Scholarship in Literature (4 cr.) Materials, tools, and methods of research.

• ENG-L 502 Contexts for the Study of Writing (2-4 cr.) Historical and cognitive effects of writing, reading, and language use, and the implication of these effects for the teaching and study of literature and writing.

• ENG-L 503 Teaching of Literature in College (2-4 cr.) Classroom teaching of literature in the light of current approaches.

• ENG-L 504 Practicum on Research Techniques (2-4 cr.) Introduction to a range of general and specialized methods for advanced research in literary and cultural studies. Topics include methods for research in the History of the Book, codicology, research in popular cultural archives, digital research environments, etc.

• ENG-L 505 Teaching Children’s Literature at the Post-Secondary Level (2 cr.) Classroom teaching of children’s literature in the light of current approaches.

• ENG-L 506 Introduction to Methods of Criticism and Research (4 cr.) The conditions and assumptions of studying English, with emphasis on criticism and research on a culturally and historically diverse range of texts.

• ENG-L 507 English Outside the Academy (4 cr.) Primarily for Special Field M.A. candidates. Explores discourses and domains of thought and language use that link the academy with areas of expertise outside it, including law, publishing, the media, advertising, health, and counseling.

• ENG-L 508 Practicum on Teaching Literature in College (2-4 cr.) Topics include syllabus construction, lecture and discussion techniques, use and evaluation of written work.

• ENG-L 509 Practicum on Critical Writing (2-4 cr.) A practice-based course on the historical and current grounds and techniques of critical writing in the academy. Topics include issues of rhetoric and idiom, the problem of voice in scholarly writing, the genres of academic prose, and the publication of academic work.

• ENG-L 512 Practicum on Theoretical Bases for Advanced Research in Literary and Cultural Studies (2-4 cr.) A practice-based class in the identification and manipulation of the theoretical assumptions and motivations of contemporary criticism.

• ENG-L 553 Studies in Literature (1-3 cr.) Primarily for secondary-school and junior-college teachers of English. Emphasis on thematic, analytic, and generic study. With consent of instructor, may be repeated once for credit.

• ENG-L 599 Internship in English (1-4 cr.) Primarily for Special Field M.A. candidates. Students will define a project and secure both a faculty and an external sponsor. Likely external sponsors will include the IU Foundation, the IU Press, advertising agencies, charities, legal or political offices, health agencies, and writing centers. Number of credit hours depends on length of commitment.

ENG-R 546 Rhetoric and Public Culture (4 cr.) Introduction to rhetoric as a critical mode of a cultural production that addresses collective social and political life.

• ENG-W 500 Teaching Composition: Issues and Approaches (4 cr.) Consideration of fundamental issues in the teaching of writing and the major approaches to composition instruction. Specific topics include teaching invention and revision, diagnosing errors, teaching style and organization, making assignments, and evaluating student writing.

• ENG-W 501 Practicum on the Teaching of Composition in College (1-3 cr.) Practical teaching of composition; current theories and policies. May be offered as a practicum for new instructors of regular and basic sections of W131 or as a practicum for those teaching the non-native sections.

• ENG-W 511 Writing Fiction (4 cr.) Either W511 or W513 may count once for the M.A. or M.F.A., but not toward specified course requirements for the Ph.D.

• ENG-W 513 Writing Poetry (4 cr.) Either W511 or W513 may count once for the M.A. or M.F.A., but not toward specified course requirements for the Ph.D.

• ENG-W 550 Practicum in Teaching Creative Writing in the Community (3 cr.) P: Permission of Instructor required. Practicum in community-based pedagogies, community literacy and arts collaboration.

• ENG-W 553 Theory and Practice of Exposition (1-3 cr.) Primarily for secondary-school and junior-college teachers of English.

• ENG-W 554 Practicum on the Teaching Creative Writing (2 cr.) Theory and practice of teaching the writing of poetry and fiction at the college level, with attention to matters of curricular design and classroom technique. Required of those teaching W103 for the first time. Open also to graduate students not in the creative writing program.

600 Level

• ENG-G 601 Medieval Languages (4 cr.) Introductory language instruction in the vernacular medieval languages of the British Isles.  Course may cover Old English, Middle English, Old Irish, or Middle Welsh.

• ENG-G 602 Readings in Language, History, and Culture (4 cr.) Consideration of the structure, use, and attitudes toward English in relationship to relevant historical or cultural contexts. Course topics may include the structural development of English, social or regional varieties of English, stylistics, usage controversies, language in history, lexicography.

• ENG-G 603 Celtic Languages and Literature (4 cr.) P: G500 or its equivalent. Introduction to such languages as Old Irish and Welsh, or literatures in these languages. Topic varies.

• ENG-G 651 American English (4 cr.) Growth and development of the English language in America from the first settlements to the present; dialectal diversity of American English.

• ENG-G 655 History of the English Language (4 cr.) A survey of the evolution of the English language from its earliest stages to the present, with reference to its external history and to its phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary.

• ENG-G 660 Stylistics (3-4 cr.) Survey of traditional and linguistic approaches to the study of prose and poetic style. Attention will center on the description of the verbal characteristics of texts, what those characteristics reflect about the author, and how they affect the reader.

• ENG-L 605 Critical and Interpretive Theory (4 cr.) Introduction to one or more major modes of contemporary criticism or critical theory.

• ENG-L 607 Hist of Lit Crit to Enlightenment (4 cr.) A survey of the history of literary criticism and theory from Plato and Aristotle to the Enlightenment, including works by Greco-Roman, medieval, and Renaissance figures.

• ENG-L 608 History of Literary Criticism from 1750 to 1960 (4 cr.) A survey of the history of literary criticism and theory from the late Enlightenment or early Romantic periods to 1960, including a variety of modern literary critics and theorists.

• ENG-L 609 Readings in Early Medieval Literature and Culture (4 cr.) Variable topics in the cultures and literatures of post-conquest Britain (11th through the 13th centuries) including Anglo-Norman, Latin, early Middle English, and related writings.

• ENG-L 610 Readings in Late Medieval Literature and Culture (4 cr.) Variable topics in the cultures and literatures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. May include poetry, drama, prose, performance and non-literary texts.

• ENG-L 611 Readings in Early Modern English Literature and Culture, 1500–1660 (4 cr.) Variable topics in the cultures and literatures of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. May include poetry, drama, prose, performance, and non-literary texts.

• ENG-L 612 Chaucer (4 cr.) Critical analysis of The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, and selected shorter poems.

• ENG-L 613 Middle English Literature (4 cr.) P: L612 or G602 or equivalent.

• ENG-L 615 Readings in Poetry and Poetics, to 1800 (4 cr.) Extensive reading in the theories and practices of early English poetry. May survey the development of poetics or study a singular mode, genre, or school.

• ENG-L 616 English Drama to the 1590s, Exclusive of Shakespeare (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 617 Readings in Poetry and Poetics, from 1790 to the Present (4 cr.) A study of styles, techniques, forms, and conceptions of poetry.

• ENG-L 621 English Literature 1500–1660 (4 cr.) Extensive reading in non-dramatic literature.

• ENG-L 622 Spenser and Milton (4 cr.) Critical analysis of the major texts.

• ENG-L 623 Eng Drama 1590-1800 Exc Shakespr (4 cr.) P: Familiarity with half a dozen plays of Shakespeare.

• ENG-L 625 Readings in Shakespeare (4 cr.) Critical analysis of selected texts.

• ENG-L 626 British Lit & Cltr, 1660-1790 (4 cr.) Selected readings of text written in English from the Restoration to the U.S. Constitution. May include all genres and relevant secondary works.

• ENG-L 627 Readings in Nineteenth-century British Literature and Culture, 1790-1900 (4 cr.) Selected readings of nineteenth-century British texts both literary and non-literary.

• ENG-L 628 Readings in Narrative Literature to 1800 (4 cr.) Selected readings of narrative texts composed before 1800, with an emphasis on prose fiction. 

• ENG-L 629 Readings in Narrative Literature, from 1800 (4 cr.) Selected readings of narrative texts composed since 1800, with an emphasis on prose fiction.

• ENG-L 631 English Literature 1660–1790 (4 cr.) Extensive reading in poetry and nonfictional prose.

• ENG-L 632 Readings in 19th century American Literature and Culture (4 cr.) Study of American Literature and culture from 1800–1900.

• ENG-L 634 Readings in 20th- and 21st-century American Literature and Culture (4 cr.) Study of American Literature and Culture from 1900 to the present.

• ENG-L 635 Readings in American Ethnic Literature and Culture (4 cr.) In-depth comparative study of African-American, Asian American, Latino/a, Chicano/a, Native American, and/or other American ethnic literature and culture.

• ENG-L 636 Readings in Drama and Performance, to 1800 (4 cr.) Historical and critical study of dramatic literature and performance through 1800.

• ENG-L 637 Readings in Drama and Performance, 1800 to the present (4 cr.) Historical and critical study of modern dramatic literature and performance (British, Irish, American, and/or other English language drama).

• ENG-L 638 Readings in Contemporary Literature (4 cr.) Readings in late-20th and early 21st-century literature and its historical, cultural, and theoretical contexts.

• ENG-L 639 English Fiction to 1800 (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 640 Readings in Transatlantic Literature (4 cr.) Study of Literature on both sides of the Atlantic.

• ENG-L 641 English Literature 1790–1900 (4 cr.) Extensive reading in poetry and nonfictional prose.

• ENG-L 643 Readings in Colonial and Postcolonial Literatures (4 cr.) Study of literatures within the historical, cultural, and political context of European colonialism and anti- or post-colonial resistance.

• ENG-L 644 Readings in Performance Studies (4 cr.) Introduction to major works, methods, issues, and developments in performance theory and criticism.

• ENG-L 645 English Fiction 1800–1900 (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 646 Readings in Media, Literature, and Culture (4 cr.) Introductory study of issues in literary editing, textual cultures, or digital humanities.

• ENG-L 648 Readings in Comparative Ethnic and Postcolonial Studies (4 cr.) Introduction to the major works, methods, issues, and developments in comparative ethnic and postcolonial cultural studies.

• ENG-L 649 British Literature since 1900 (4 cr.) Extensive reading in all genres.

• ENG-L 651 American Literature 1609–1800 (4 cr.) Intensive historical and critical study of all genres from John Smith through Charles Brockden Brown.

• ENG-L 652 Readings in 20th and 21st century British Literature and Culture (4 cr.) Study of British Literature from 1900 to the Present.

• ENG-L 653 American Literature 1800–1900 (4 cr.) Intensive historical and critical study of all genres from Washington Irving through Frank Norris.

• ENG-L 655 American Literature and Culture 1900–1945 (4 cr.) Study of American literature and culture from the turn of the century to 1945.

• ENG-L 656 American Literature and Culture 1945 to the Present (4 cr.) Studies in American literature and culture from 1945 to the present.

• ENG-L 657 Readings in Literature and Critical Theory (4 cr.) Study of major movements, figures, or topics in literary and/or critical theory.

• ENG-L 663 Readings in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (4 cr.) An introduction to and examination of major works, methods, issues, and developments.

• ENG-L 666 Survey of Children’s Literature (4 cr.) Survey of literature written for children and adolescents from the medieval period to the present.

• ENG-L 671 Modern British and Irish Drama (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 672 Modern American Drama (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 673 Studies in Women and Literature (4 cr.) Women’s literary accomplishments and representations of women in English from the sixteenth century to the present.

• ENG-L 674 Studies in International English Literature (4 cr.) Literatures from Africa, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific islands, the Indian subcontinent, or Canada.

• ENG-L 680 Special Topics in Literary Study and Theory (4 cr.) Readings in sociological, political, psychological, and other approaches to literature.

• ENG-L 695 Individual Readings in English (1-4 cr.)

• ENG-L 699 M.A. Thesis (arr. cr.)

• ENG-R 606 Pedagogy for Public Culture (4 cr.) Consideration of fundamental issues in the theories and practices of teaching, with focus on connecting pedagogy and public culture. Teaching understood as a civic art that both participates in public culture and prepares students for civic engagement, particularly as framed by understanding rhetoric as a teaching tradition.
• ENG-R 607 History of Rhetorical Theory I (4 cr.) First semester of overview of rhetorical theory from the ancients to the present.

• ENG-R 608 History of Rhetorical Theory II (4 cr.) Second semester of overview of rhetorical theory from the ancients to the present.

• ENG-R 611 Rhetorical Theories of Cultural Production (4 cr.) Examines theories of rhetoric as a primary source of cultural production. Possible topcs include Giambattista Vico on poetic wisdom, Friedrich Nietzsche on metaphor and the will to power, Chaim Perelman on the problem of justice, and Kenneth Burke on identification and the drama of human relations.

• ENG-R 612 Constituting Democracy in Rhetorical Discourse (4 cr.) Compares the role of rhetoric in liberal, deliberative democracy to its function in radical, participatory, and agonistic democracy. Considers problematic constructions of democracy in U.S. political culture and explores the potential for rhetoric to reconstitue the image of democracy from a diseased to a healthy political practice.

• ENG-R 615 Rhetoric of Protest in America (4 cr.) Presents key instances of protest discourse both in their historical contexts and through the lenses of rhetorical theories of dissent. The focus is illuminating the problematic and constitutive role of protest in the public culture of the United States, as manifest across a range of electronic and print media.
• ENG-R 617 Rhetoric and Visual Culture (4 cr.) Examination of the relationship between rhetoric and visual culture. Key topics to be considered include the relationship between visual rhetoric and collective memory, social and political controversy and dissent, political, style and representation, postmodern media communities, race gender, identity politics, etc.

• ENG-R 619 Feminism and Rhetorical Theory (4 cr.) Explores the relationship between feminism and rhetoric by examining advocacy by/for women, patriarchal patterns of oppression, and the development of critical perspectives that have arisen out of desires to politically reevaluate contemporary gendered norms. May be structured as a survey or focused on a specific tension, theme, or trajectory.

• ENG-R 688 Rhetorics of Transgression and/or Resistance (4 cr.) This seminar compares and contrasts choices to identify, name, and imagine certain rhetorical acts as transgression or resistance. Engaging a range of contemporary theories, methods, and vocabularies, it explores which approaches are productive depending on the particular situation, practices, and actors involved, as well as the questions one is studing.

• ENG-W 601 Development of Rhetoric and Composition (4 cr.) Traces the development of rhetorical theory from Plato through the Renaissance and up to the present; puts special emphasis on exploring how present-day composition programs and practices reflect the past.

• ENG-W 602 Contemporary Theories in Rhetoric and Composition (4 cr.) An introduction to current research in rhetoric and composition. Draws on insights from linguistic theory, cognitive theory, and rhetorical theory to develop greater understanding of the writing process and build pedagogical applications.

• ENG-W 610 Indiana Writing Workshop (2 cr.) P: Acceptance to the Indiana Writers’ Conference held in June of each year. Intensive training in various forms of writing at the conference; submission of significant body of writing before the end of the last summer session.

• ENG-W 611-612 Writing Fiction I-II (4-4 cr.) May be repeated once for credit.

• ENG-W 613-614 Writing Poetry I-II (4-4 cr.) May be repeated once for credit.

• ENG-W 615 Writing Creative Nonfiction (4 cr.) Writing workshop in such modes as personal essay, autobiography, and documentary. Open also to graduate students not in the creative writing program.

• ENG-W 664 Topics in Current Literature (4 cr.) The study of recent poetry and prose, emphasizing special formal, technical, and intellectual concerns of author and work. Open also to graduate students not in the creative writing program.

• ENG-W 680 Theory and Craft of Writing (4 cr.) Elements of poetic prosody or the major fictive techniques or both: nature of stress, concepts of meter, nature of rhythm, prosodic use of syntax, theories of fictive realism, nature of fictive romance, point of view, etc. Students will do some writing. Open also to graduate students not in the creative writing program.

• ENG-W 697 Independent Study in Writing (1-4 cr.) P: two semesters of W611, W612, W613 or W614.

• ENG-W 699 M.F.A. Thesis (arr. cr.)

700 Level

• ENG-G 780 Special Studies in English Language (4 cr.) P: G500 or equivalent.

• ENG-L 700 Topics in Feminist Critical Studies (4 cr.) Readings in feminist theories of representation, gender, sexuality, the institution, or other areas of feminist critical endeavor.

• ENG-L 701 Descriptive Bibliography and Textual Problems (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 705 Problems in Composition, Literacy, and Culture (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 707 Studies in Literary Theory and Criticism (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 710 Beowulf (4 cr.) P: G601. Critical reading of the text of the poem, with consideration of its relationship to other writings in Old English and the heroic tradition in literature.

• ENG-L 711 Old English Literature (4 cr.) P: G601 or equivalent.

• ENG-L 712 Chaucer (4 cr.) P: L612 or L613 or equivalent.

• ENG-L 713 Middle English Literature (4 cr.) P: L612 or L613 or equivalent.

• ENG-L 715 English and Scottish Popular Ballads (4 cr.) Student investigation of principal problems met in ballad scholarship. Special attention to textual relationships, dissemination, and unique qualities of genre.

• ENG-L 721 Spenser (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 723 Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 725 Shakespeare (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 730 Renaissance Poetry and Prose (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 731 Milton (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 733 Restoration and Augustan Literature (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 736 Age of Johnson (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 738 Research in Literary Histories and Theories of History (4 cr.) Issues and methods in literary histories and historiography. Direct research can include a range of specific topics and historical periods.

• ENG-L 739 English Fiction to 1800 (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 740 Research in Aesthetics, Genre, and Form (4 cr.) Analysis of literary and cultural aesthetics, literary form, and /or genre. Includes directed research on relevant issues across a range of historical periods.

• ENG-L 741 Romantic Literature (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 742 Research in Structure, History and Use of English and Related Languages (4 cr.) Research in all aspects of English Language Studies, including comparative philology of early Germanic languages, literary stylistics, lexicography, social and regional variation, usage and language attributes.

• ENG-L 743 Victorian Literature (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 744 Research in Drama and Performance (4 cr.) Selected topics in the study of dramatic literature, theater studies, and performance studies.

• ENG-L 745 English Fiction 1800-1900 (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 746 Research in Textual and Media Studies (4 cr.) Training and research in descriptive and analytical bibliography, textual theory and criticism, textual editing, or text technology and media theory/media studies.

• ENG-L 748 Research in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies (4 cr.) Issues and methods in colonial and postcolonial literary and cultural studies, including directed research on relevant topics from a range of historical periods.

• ENG-L 749 Twentieth-Century British Literature (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 750 Research in Race and Ethnicities (4 cr.) Issues and methods in research on race and ethnicities and literary and critical studies, including directed research on relevant topics from a range of historical periods.

• ENG-L 751 Major American Writers 1700–1855 (4 cr.) Two or three writers. Techniques and thematic comparisons.

• ENG-L 752 Research in Gender and Sexuality (4 cr.) Issues and methods in gender and sexuality and literary and cultural studies, including directed research on relevant topics from a range of historical periods.

• ENG-L 753 Major American Writers 1855 to the Present (4 cr.) Two or three writers. Techniques and thematic comparisons.

• ENG-L 754 Research in Literary Geographies (4 cr.) Intensive study of literature in relation to space and geography. Topics might include relations between political and aesthetic conceptions of space, literary forms across space and time, or notions of national, transnational, transatlantic, hemispheric, and global space as they impact cultural expression.

• ENG-L 756 Research in Rhetorical Studies (4 cr.) Advanced research in rhetoric. Draws on insights from linguistic, cognitive, and rhetorical theories.

• ENG-L 758 Research in Interdisciplinary Studies (4 cr.) Social, political, and psychological studies in literature written in English.

• ENG-L 760 Research in Specific Author(s) or Work(s) (4 cr.) Critical reading and research into a single text or author, or a closely related group of texts or authors.

• ENG-L 761 American Poetry (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 762 Research in Composition, Literacy, and Culture (4 cr.) Advanced study of selected topics in the history of writing practices, with attention to how culture influences theories of rhetoric and literacy.

• ENG-L 764 Research in Literature and Critical Theory (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 766 Children’s Literature (4 cr.) Issues in the critical and historical study of literature for children or young adults.

• ENG-L 769 Research in Literature and Science (4 cr.) Major developments in modern science, the philosophical issues they raise, and their influence on modern thought and literature.

• ENG-L 773 Topics in Feminist Literary History (4 cr.) Feminist critical research on literary texts in cultural contexts; or focusing on a particular historical period, theme, genre, or author.

• ENG-L 774 Topics in International English Literature (4 cr.) Topics in English literature from Africa, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, the Indian subcontinent, or Canada.

• ENG-L 775 Studies in Modern Drama (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 776 Comparative Drama (4 cr.) Selected topics in comedy or tragedy.

• ENG-L 779 Literature and Society (4 cr.) Analysis of representative works of different periods to illustrate the study of literature in relation to its age, or as a social product. Consideration of economic, political, class, and other cultural influences.

• ENG-L 780 Special Studies in English and American Literature (4 cr.)

• ENG-L 790 Independent Study (arr. cr.) Consent of the instructor required. Open to Ph.D. candidates in English only.

• ENG-L 799 Ph.D. Thesis (arr. cr.)

• ENG-R 713 Rhetorical and Socio-Political Judgment (4 cr.) Exploration of the role that rhetoric plays in the production and performance of collective or socio-political judgment. The focus will be on the tension between modern and late or postmodern conceptions of judgment as they implicate the problems and possibilities of rhetorical praxis in contemporary democratic policy.

• ENG-R 714 Rhetoric, Ideology, and Hegemony (4 cr.) Examination of the relationship between rhetoric, ideology, and hegemony in contemporary social and political thought. The emphasis will be on conceptions of “hegemony” as a site of praxis for negotiating the tensions between rhetoric and ideology in the production of social and political change (or permanence) in late or postmodernity.

• ENG-R 716 Rhetorical Critiques of War (4 cr.) Rhetoric as a heuristic for critically engaging discourses of war and transforming the legitimization of war into a cultural problematic. Focuses on the problem of war in U.S. political culture.

• ENG-R 770 Rhetoric in Contemporary Theory (4 cr.) Examines the role of rhetoric in emerging social, political, aesthetic, and cultural theories and on the implications of such theories for rhetorical inquiry.

• ENG-W 780 Special Studies in Composition (4 cr.)

• ENG-W 795 Dissertation Prospectus Workshop (2 cr.) Provides models of successful prospectuses and guidance in the actual writing of prospectuses.