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Courses

English (ENG)
Concentrations
Literature
  • ENG-L 105 Appreciation of Literature (3 cr.) An introduction to drama, fiction, and poetry, stressing the enjoyment and the humane values of each form. The course will provide experiences in listening to and studying visual adaptations of poems, novels, and dramas.
  • ENG-L 115 Literature for Today (3 cr.) P: W131. Poems, dramas, and narratives pertinent to concerns of our times: e.g., works concerning values of the individual and society, problems of humanism in the modern world, and conflicts of freedom and order.
  • ENG-L 202 Literary Interpretation (3 cr.) Students in this course develop critical skills essential to participation in the interpretive process. Through class discussion and focused writing assignments, introduces the premises and motives of literary analysis and critical methods associated with historical, generic, and/or cultural concerns.
  • ENG-L 203 Introduction to Drama (3 cr.) Representative significant plays to acquaint students with characteristics of drama as a type of literature. Readings may include plays from several ages and countries. 
  • ENG-L 204 Introduction to Fiction (3 cr.) Representative works of fiction; structural technique in the novel, theories and kinds of fiction, and thematic scope of the novel. Readings may include novels and short stories from several ages and countries.
  • ENG-L 205 Introduction to Poetry (3 cr.) A basic course that will enable students to talk and write about poetry. 
  • ENG-L 207 Women and Literature (3 cr.) Issues and approaches to critical study of women writers in British and American literature.
  • ENG-L 208 Topics in English and American Literature and Culture (3 cr.) Selected works of English and/or American literature engages students in relation to a single cultural problem or theme. Topics vary from semester to semester. May be repeated once for credit.
  • ENG-L 213 Literary Masterpieces I (3 cr.) Literary masterpieces from Homer to the present. Aims at thoughtful, intensive reading, appreciation of aesthetic values, enjoyment of reading.
  • ENG-L 214 Literary Masterpieces II (3 cr.) This course introduces students to major Western literary works from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century. Texts are selected from a variety of genres and nations, with an emphasis on works that have been particularly famous and influential. Works by Cervantes, Voltaire, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Mann, Ibsen, Kafka, and others are typically included. Emphasis will be on making the literature accessible and interesting, relating it to historical events and contexts, and working on important reading and writing skills. Non-English works will be read in English translation.
  • ENG-L 220 Introduction to Shakespeare (3 cr.) Shakespeare's best-know plays and poems.
  • ENG-L 245 Introduction to Caribbean Literature (3 cr.) This course will introduce students to the basic themes of Caribbean literature. Specifically, we will examine the ways in which Caribbean writers present a colonial past and its effect on Caribbean culture in their attempts to "write back" to imperial thought. We will examine the politics of decolonization and how writers construct/reconstruct Caribbean cultures and identities.
  • ENG-L 301 English Literature Survey I (3 cr.) Representative selections with emphasis on major writers from the beginnings to Swift and Pope. 
  • ENG-L 302 English Literature Survey II (3 cr.) Representative selections with emphasis on major writers from the rise of romanticism to the present. 
  • ENG-L 315 Major Plays of Shakespeare (3 cr.) A close reading of a representative selection of Shakespeare's major plays. 
  • ENG-L 348 Nineteenth-Century British Fiction (3 cr.) Forms, techniques, and theories of fiction as exemplified by such writers as Scott, Dickens, Eliot, and Hardy. 
  • ENG-L 351 American Literature 1800-1865 (3 cr.) This course surveys a range of texts from the formative period of the republic to the end of the Civil War. Special attention paid to the shifting definitions and constructions of U.S. American national and cultural identity, as affected by issues of race, environment, transatlantic exchanges, scientific discourse, and the emergence of women writers and writers of color.
  • ENG-L 352 American Literature 1865-1914 (3 cr.) This course surveys American literature through the development of realism, regionalism, naturalism, and the beginnings of modernism. We consider literature's relation to social and cultural phenomena of this era, such as urbanization, industrialization, immigration, racial tensions, labor strife, changing gender roles, and the spread of mass media and consumer culture.
  • ENG-L 354 American Literature since 1914 (3 cr.) This course surveys modernist and contemporary American writers in various genres, 1914 to the present, including Frost, Stein, Faulkner, O'Connor, Baldwin, Morrison, and others.
  • ENG-L 364 Native American Literature (3 cr.) A survey of traditional and modern literature by American Indians, especially of the high plains and southwest culture areas, with particular attention to the image of the Indian in both native and white literature. 
  • ENG-L 370 Recent Black American Writing (3 cr.) A study of the major black American writers, with special emphasis on recent writing. Writers such as Morrison, Mosely, Ward, Whitehead and Coates may be included.
  • ENG-L 372 Contemporary American Fiction (3 cr.) American fiction of the last twenty years, including such writers as Bellow, Barth, Didion, Malamud, Pynchon, and Updike. 
  • ENG-L 373 Interdisciplinary Approaches to English and American Literature I (3 cr.) Social, political, and psychological studies in English and American literature, 1890 to the present. Topics may vary and include, for example, Freud and literature, responses to revolution, and the literature of technology.
  • ENG-L 376 Literature for Adolescents (3 cr.) A survey of the challenging, sometimes controversial, literature written about and for young adult readers. A wide range of readings, with discussion topics that include "problem" fiction, fantasy and escapism, and censorship. This course is for future teachers and for others interested in the complex phenomenon of coming of age.
  • ENG-L 378 Studies in Women and Literature (3 cr.) This course engages in an in-depth focus on major British and American authors such as George Eliot, Gertrude Stein, or Tori Morrison; groups of authors such as the Bronte sisters or recent women poets; or genres and modes such as autobiography, film, or criticism. Topics will vary by semester.
  • ENG-L 379 American Ethnic and Minority Literature (3 cr.) A survey of representative authors and works of American ethnic and minority literature with primary focus on African American, Latinx, Asian American, and Native Americans writers.
  • ENG-L 382 Fiction of the Non-Western World (3 cr.) An in-depth study of selected narratives from the fiction of the non-Western world. Focus and selections vary from year to year. May be repeated once for credit. May be repeated once for credit.
  • ENG-L 384 Studies in American Culture (3 cr.) Study of a coherent period of American culture (such as the Revolution, the Progressive Era, the Depression), with attention to the relations between literature, the other arts, and the intellectual milieu. May be repeated once for credit.
  • ENG-L 385 Science Fiction (3 cr.) A survey of the literary and cultural developments in science fiction from its origins to the present with emphasis upon Golden Age writers such as Asimov and Heinlein, post-World War II writers such as Bradbury and Clarke, and New Wave and contemporary writers such as LeGuin, Butler and Gaiman.
  • ENG-L 387 Queer Literary Studies (3 cr.) This course offers an exploration of poetry, fiction, drama, and creative non-fiction with attention to queer style, themes, and literary histories. The course theme is the history and influence of queer identity in canonical British and American literature. Topics include queer theory, representations of LGBTQ+ experience in various literary movements, and queer poetics.
  • ENG-L 390 Children's Literature (3 cr.) Survey of a wide range (folk tales, fantasy, realistic fiction, poetry and picture books) of literature for children from the early years to junior high school. Readings from the classics of previous centuries and from the best modern works will be treated from the literary-critical perspective, from which pedagogical conclusions follow. Intended for English majors, for the general students, for teachers past and future, and for parents and librarians.
  • ENG-L 394 Film as Literature (3 cr.) The course approaches the analysis of films through the cinematic equivalents of the tools of literary criticism. It will introduce students to the elements of filmmaking and the methods of literary analysis as a way of reaching an understanding of how films produce and convey meaning.
  • ENG-L 406 Topics in African American Literature (3 cr.) Focuses on a particular genre, time period, or theme in African American literature. Topics may include twentieth-century African American women's novels, black male identity in African American literature, or African American autobiography. May be repeated once for credit with different focus.
  • ENG-L 411 Literature and Society (3 cr.) Influence of political, social, and technological trends on literary works. Topics will vary from semester to semester.
  • ENG-L 431 Topics in Literary Study (3 cr.) Study of characteristics and development of literary forms or modes (e.g., studies in narrative, studies in romanticism). Topics vary from year to year.  May be repeated once for credit.
  • ENG-L 433 Conversations with Shakespeare (3 cr.) An interdisciplinary and intertextual study of Shakespeare's work and its influence through the present day. Students will compare Shakespeare plays with more recent novels, plays, poems, and films that allude to or incorporate some aspect of Shakespeare's art.
  • ENG-L 440 Senior Seminar in English and American Literature (3 cr.) This course engages students in an in-depth study of one or more major writers or of one significant theme or form. Subject varies each semester.  May be repeated once for credit.
  • ENG-L 478 Illness Narrative (3 cr.) This course explores the world of medical storytelling in literature and the arts. We study interpretations of the experience of illness as narrated across a range of genres including nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, and film. 
  • ENG-L 495 Individual Readings in English (3 cr.) P: Consent of instructor or department chair. May be repeated once for credit.
  • ENG-W 280 Literary Editing and Publishing (3 cr.) P: Any literature course; ENG-W 206, ENG-W 207, or ENG-W 208. Principles of editing and publishing literary writing. Kinds of journals, varieties of formats (including print and e-zine), introduction to editing and production processes. Possible focus on genre publishing (fiction, poetry, non-fiction prose), grant writing, Web publishing, etc. 
  • ENG-W 365 Theories and Practices of Editing (3 cr.) Students will examine textual and literary approaches to editing given particular rhetorical contexts.  Emphasis will be placed on how to make editorial judgments that promote editorial standards without violating authorial intent.
  • ENG-Z 205 Introduction to the English Language (3 cr.) This course is an introduction to how language, and English in particular, is structured, including sounds (phonetics and phonology), words (morphology), sentences (syntax) and meaning (semantics). Discussions focus on examples from everyday language and the application of these basic concepts to real world contexts, including language teaching and learning.
  • ENG-Z 206 Introduction to Language Use (3 cr.) An introduction to how we use language in our lives. This course explores how and why language varies between different groups and places, as well as the role of context in language meaning and interpretation. Insights are applied to understanding the impact of literature, film, writing, and other disciplines. 
  • ENG-Z 301 History of the English Language (3 cr.) P: ENG-Z 205 is recommended. A study of the origins of the English language, focusing on how and why English has changed over time. Topics include: the process of language standardization and its impact on education and literacy, relationships between language and literature, and the changing role of English around the world. 
  • ENG-Z 302 Understanding Language Structure: Syntax (3 cr.) R: ENG-Z 205 is recommended. An introduction to how language is organized at the sentence level, focusing on what it means to know how to produce and understand grammatical sentences. The acqusiition of syntax by children learning their first language and non-native speakers learning a second language will be studied.
  • ENG-Z 310 Language in Context: Sociolinguistics (3 cr.) R: ENG-Z 206 is recommended. This course explores the relationships among language, society, and culture. The interplay between social factors such as age, sex, status, class, and education and language use are discussed within the framework of various theoretical and methodological approaches. Perceptions of several varieties of English are investigated.