Department of
English
Fall 2012 Course
Schedule
Undergraduate
Courses
ENGL 240A.01: Reading Non-Fiction J.
Pearson
CRN 4510 MWF
9:00-9:50 AM
Non-fiction
includes autobiography, historical narrative, personal essay, art criticism,
science writing, journalism, and just about any form of writing that claims to
be factual, whether or not it reflects truth as we know it. In this course, we’ll read a variety of
non-fiction texts, including autobiography, historical narrative, personal
essay, art criticism, nature writing, literary journalism, and other forms of
writing that claim to be factual, whether or not they reflect truth as we know
it. We will consider these texts as
both art and as artifacts of the world that they describe. Students will write a series of brief
approach papers and three short essays.
Texts in this course will include The
ENGL 241A.01: Reading Narrative M. Powell
CRN 4511 MW 2:30 – 3:45 PM
This
course introduces students to questions, concepts, and perspectives that
inform the study of narrative. It emphasizes close, attentive, critical reading
as well as different interpretive approaches to narrative texts. It examines
texts of many different eras, cultures, and genres; it introduces critical
terms, conventions, and discourses appropriate to the study of narrative.
ENGL 242A.01: Reading Lyric J.
CRN 4512 TR 4:00-5:15 PM
Introduces
students to questions, concepts, and perspectives that inform the study of the
lyric, including but not limited to poetry. It also introduces students
to a variety of lyric genres, and to lyrics produced within many different eras
and cultures. The course emphasizes attentive critical reading, as well
as thought about individual readers’ interpretative choices.
ENGL 320.01: History & Theory
of Rhetoric M. Barnes
CRN 4925 MW 4:00-5:15 PM
Focuses
on Western rhetorical history and theory, moving from classical through
Romantic to modern eras. Course examines contributions made by major
figures (such as Plato, Coleridge, Nietzsche, and Cixous) and issues of
authority in discourse.
ENGL 342W.JS: Healing &
Wholeness in Contemp Lit
CRN 4927 TR 1:00-2:15 PM
Most of
us realize how therapeutic reading can be.
We find ourselves entering the world described in the pages of a good
book and becoming involved with the characters therein. We often close the cover having gained new
insight and ideas. That is the purpose
behind the use of bibliotherapy: to assist readers in expanding their knowledge
and understanding of societal and/or world issues or the ways in which they may
have been mis-educated or in overcoming the emotional turmoil related to a
real-life problem by having him/her read literature on that topic. The text can then serve as a springboard for
discussion and possible resolution of the issue(s) it addresses. In this course, we will journey through
contemporary literature, self-help books, popular literature and chick flicks
written by various multicultural writers, such as African American, Asian
American, Euro-American and Native American authors to analyze the resolutions
offered for the real-life problems members of that group often encounter.
ENGL 343D2.JS: Feeling Global J.
Khader
CRN 5399 TR 1:00-2:15 PM
You must
all be familiar with the famous 1960 photograph of Che Guevara, the
international revolutionary figure, in which he is looking off into the distance,
gazing into the unknown but communicating a clear message of determination and
hope. How can we explain that this picture of Che has become a logo that adorns
a wide range of commodities such as T-shirts, bikinis, watches, sneakers, key
chains, coffee mugs, wallets, backpacks, beach towels and condoms around the
world? How can a global symbol of resistance to the capitalist system become
one of the most popular iconic brand names, one that is as recognizable today
as the Nike swoosh or McDonald’s golden arches?
This
course examines the diverse ways in which individuals, commodities, and ideas
travel, mutate, and become/ feel global, focusing on the extent to which these
forms of global culture are implicated in the economic imperatives of neoliberal,
global capitalism that have spurred their existence in the first place. We will
critically explore how different genres and media such as fiction, film,
travelogues, performance art, photographic essays, and literary theory reflect
and refract these forms of global culture in the realm of identity, culture,
economy, politics, and social relations. Our intention is to understand how
global capitalism uses ideological fantasy, in order to appropriate, co-opt,
and integrate every aspect of our thoughts and experiences within the system
itself, to the extent that even theories of revolution and radical politics
begin to replicate the same logic, rhetoric, and values of the dominant
economic and political order itself. We will end the course with a critical look
at possible theories of global change, with a special attention to the Occupy
Movement (OWS) and the Arab Spring.
Readings
include Manfred B.
Steger’s Globalization: A Very Short Introduction; Iyer’s Video
nights in Kathmandu; Guillermo Gomez-Pena, The new world border; Rigoberta
Menchu’s Crossing Borders; Michael Casey’s Che’s Afterlife: The Legacy of an
Image; Pico Dan Koeppel, Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World;
Edward Said’s After the Last Sky; Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others;
and Stuart Bramhall’s 21st Century Revolution. We will also watch different films
such as The Matrix, Princesas, and The Battle for
ENGL 348.01: Survey of American
Literature J.
Pearson
CRN 5400 MWF 11:00-11:50
AM
The
Survey of American Literature offers a broad overview of American literature
from the discovery period to the present.
After considering the slippery nature of the terms American and literature, we’ll
study the traditional division of American literary history into periods and
literary movements while acknowledging the largely artificial nature of these
divisions. All texts will be read in
light of their historical and cultural contexts. Ideas about nature, individualism, human
rights, industry and technology, money, personal responsibility, and faith
permeate American literature and will inform our daily discussions.
This course
will be taught as a lecture/discussion.
The main text will be an anthology of American literature. Course requirements are engaged participation,
three short essays, and three exams.
ENGL 381.01: Text-Theory-Criticism
J.
Khader
CRN 5392 TR 10:00-11:15 AM
This
course aims to introduce students to contemporary literary theory such as
psychoanalysis, feminism, Marxism, queer theory, and postcolonial studies that
have shaped the principles and assumptions that govern the critical
interpretation of literary texts in the last few decades. We will examine how
contemporary literary theory help us not only to develop alternative ways of
thinking about and responding to literary texts, but also to question at a more
fundamental level what we take for granted in our lives. Furthermore, we will read Bram Stoker’s
Dracula and Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, as well as various critical
interpretations of these novels that draw on these theories. In this way,
students will be able to accomplish the following goals: 1) engage key
theoretical concepts, principles, and assumptions first hand in the primary
theoretical texts themselves; 2) analyze and evaluate how these theoretical
principles are actually applied by the critics to the literary texts; and 3)
develop their own theoretical approaches to literary texts. Required texts
include: The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, ed. Vincent B. Leitch et
al., ed.; Lois Tyson’s Critical Theory Today; Bram Stoker’s Dracula, eds.
Auerbach and Skal (Norton Critical Edition, 1997); and Jean Rhys’s Wide
Sargasso Sea, ed. Judith Raiskin (Norton Critical Edition, 1998). Requirements
include: Attendance and participation; response papers; 2 short analytical
papers; and a research paper.
ENGL 465.01: Seminar:
International Chaucer T.
Farrell
CRN 5401 TR 2:30-3:45 PM
Although
Geoffrey Chaucer has often been portrayed as an originator of English
literature, he can hardly have imagined himself in such terms. Rather
clearly, Chaucer's ambition lay in his desire to contribute an English voice to
fourteenth-century European literary culture, to a textual tradition in several
languages that gives some justification to my anachronistic term
"international" because, although "nations" like Italy,
Spain, France, and the Low Countries did not yet exist, the geographic regions
were building distinct literatures on a common and shared base.
We will
spend the beginning of the semester learning about that shared culture by
considering in one way or another the Ćneid, the Consolation of Philosophy, the
troubadours, The Romance of the Rose, the poetry of Guillaume de Machaut, and
the Italian triumvirate of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. The bulk of
the course will be devoted to studying Chaucer's absorption of and responses to
those traditions in such shorter works as The Book of the Duchess, The House of
Fame, The Parliament of Fowls, and especially in "the greatest long
poem in English," Troilus. We will conclude by considering the final
phase of Chaucer's career, looking hard at 3-4 Canterbury Tales and 1-2
examples from The Legend of Good Women.
Students
will help to present the "international" backgrounds and serve as
discussion leaders for the short poems. There will be several short
writing assignments as well as the seminar essay.
ENGL 465.02: Seminar:
Virginia Woolf K.
Kaivola
CRN 5403 TR 11:30-12:45
PM
Over the
past several decades, Virginia Woolf has been elevated to the status of
cultural icon. Today, with her image reproduced on t-shirts, coffee cups,
calendars, and magnets, and with the production of numerous films inspired by
her work, “Virginia Woolf” evokes multiple and sometimes contradictory
meanings: woman writer, modernist innovator, cultural insider (and
outsider), feminist advocate, Bloomsbury radical, married "sapphist",
and neurotic suicide—to name just a few. Her work complicates clear
distinctions between art and politics, high and popular culture, masculinity
and femininity, straight and gay, text and image. Paying close attention
to the contexts—biographical, aesthetic, cultural, historical, political—as
well as the friendships and relationships that shaped Woolf’s life and work, we
will follow the trajectory of her work as an artist, public intellectual, and
woman through the major texts of the 1920s and 1930s.
Texts:
Jacob’s Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, A Room of One’s Own, Orlando, The
Waves, Three Guineas, and Between the Acts.
Requirements:
several short papers (or equivalent), presentations, and an independently
researched seminar paper on a topic chosen by the student and developed in
collaboration with the professor.
ENGL 499.01: Senior Colloquium T.
Farrell
CRN 4524 MWF
1:30-2:20 PM
Provides
a review of and further grounding in the methods, materials, and critical
approaches appropriate for advanced literary research, culminating in a
substantial written project. Students
will pursue in-depth study of a literary topic, discuss typical problems in
their writing and research, and participate in groups to read and discuss work
in progress. It includes both written
and oral presentation of projects.
Seniors with advanced standing are encouraged to take the course in the
fall. (Prerequisite: three units from
ENGL 220, ENGL 240A, ENGL 241A, ENGL 242A, and ENGL 243A, plus EH 381, and one
course numbered 400 or above.)
Creative Writing
Courses for Undergraduates
Fall 2012
ENCW 215A.01: Multi-Genre Workshop T. Witek, A. Dehnart & M. Powell
CRN 4931 MW 12:00-1:15 PM
Taught by
three different practitioners, this course asks you to write in three different
literary genres: poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction, in order to develop
a composite portfolio of your work. This course is especially appropriate for
those who’d like to test the pleasures and perils of working in literary forms
which vary technically, historically, and in the marketplace.
ENCW 312A.30: Fiction Workshop M.
Powell
CRN 4744 W 6:00-9:00 PM
This
course introduces and helps students develop their skills in such fiction
techniques as characterization, plot, setting, point of view, and style. You
are required to read all assigned material, complete all writing exercises,
offer written critiques of peer work, participate in discussions, and workshop
two stories.
ENCW 313A.30: Poetry Workshop T. Witek
CRN 4527 T 6:00-9:00 PM
This
course is an intensive workshop in poetic method. Over the course of the
semester, each student will construct a portfolio of eight poems, at least four
of them using techniques other than free verse. We will examine several books
of contemporary poetry for strategies and attend campus reading events. Crossover students from other studio arts are
welcome and encouraged to work in combinatory forms. Graduate students will do
an extra review project.
Permission
of instructor required.
ENCW 413.30: Advanced Poetry
Workshop T. Witek
CRN 4582 T 6:00-9:00
PM
This course
is an intensive workshop in poetic method. Over the course of the semester,
each student will construct a portfolio of eight poems, at least four of them
using techniques other than free verse. We will examine several books of
contemporary poetry for strategies and attend campus reading events. Crossover students from other studio arts are
welcome and encouraged to work in combinatory forms. Graduate students will do
an extra review project.
Permission
of instructor required.
GRADUATE COURSES
ENGL 520.01: History & Theory
of Rhetoric M. Barnes
CRN 4998 MW 4:00-5:15 PM
Focuses
on Western rhetorical history and theory, moving from classical through
Romantic to modern eras. Course examines contributions made by major
figures (such as Plato, Coleridge, Nietzsche, and Cixous) and issues of
authority in discourse.
ENGL 565.01: Seminar:
International Chaucer T.
Farrell
CRN 5402 TR 2:30-3:45 PM
Although
Geoffrey Chaucer has often been portrayed as an originator of English
literature, he can hardly have imagined himself in such terms. Rather
clearly, Chaucer's ambition lay in his desire to contribute an English voice to
fourteenth-century European literary culture, to a textual tradition in several
languages that gives some justification to my anachronistic term
"international" because, although "nations" like Italy,
Spain, France, and the Low Countries did not yet exist, the geographic regions
were building distinct literatures on a common and shared base.
We will
spend the beginning of the semester learning about that shared culture by
considering in one way or another the Ćneid, the Consolation of Philosophy, the
troubadours, The Romance of the Rose, the poetry of Guillaume de Machaut, and
the Italian triumvirate of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. The bulk of
the course will be devoted to studying Chaucer's absorption of and responses to
those traditions in such shorter works as The Book of the Duchess, The House of
Fame, The Parliament of Fowls, and especially in "the greatest long
poem in English," Troilus. We will conclude by considering the final
phase of Chaucer's career, looking hard at 3-4 Canterbury Tales and 1-2
examples from The Legend of Good Women.
Students
will help to present the "international" backgrounds and serve as
discussion leaders for the short poems. There will be several short
writing assignments as well as the seminar essay.
ENGL 565.02: Seminar:
Virginia Woolf K.
Kaivola
CRN 5404 TR 11:30-12:45 PM
Over the
past several decades, Virginia Woolf has been elevated to the status of
cultural icon. Today, with her image reproduced on t-shirts, coffee cups,
calendars, and magnets, and with the production of numerous films inspired by
her work, “Virginia Woolf” evokes multiple and sometimes contradictory
meanings: woman writer, modernist innovator, cultural insider (and
outsider), feminist advocate, Bloomsbury radical, married "sapphist",
and neurotic suicide—to name just a few. Her work complicates clear
distinctions between art and politics, high and popular culture, masculinity
and femininity, straight and gay, text and image. Paying close attention
to the contexts—biographical, aesthetic, cultural, historical, political—as
well as the friendships and relationships that shaped Woolf’s life and work, we
will follow the trajectory of her work as an artist, public intellectual, and
woman through the major texts of the 1920s and 1930s. Graduate students
will be expected to become conversant, through independent study of criticism
and/or theory, of a significant dimension of Woolf’s work.
Texts:
Jacob’s Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, A Room of One’s Own, Orlando,
The Waves, Three Guineas, and Between the Acts.
Requirements:
several short papers (or equivalent), presentations, and an independently
researched seminar paper, demonstrating familiarity with recent criticism, on a
topic chosen by the student.
ENGL 581.01: Text-Theory-Criticism
J.
Khader
CRN 5395 TR 10:00-11:15 AM
This
course aims to introduce students to contemporary literary theory such as
psychoanalysis, feminism, Marxism, queer theory, and postcolonial studies that
have shaped the principles and assumptions that govern the critical
interpretation of literary texts in the last few decades. We will examine how
contemporary literary theory help us not only to develop alternative ways of
thinking about and responding to literary texts, but also to question at a more
fundamental level what we take for granted in our lives. Furthermore, we will read Bram Stoker’s
Dracula and Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, as well as various critical
interpretations of these novels that draw on these theories. In this way,
students will be able to accomplish the following goals: 1) engage key
theoretical concepts, principles, and assumptions first hand in the primary
theoretical texts themselves; 2) analyze and evaluate how these theoretical
principles are actually applied by the critics to the literary texts; and 3)
develop their own theoretical approaches to literary texts. Required texts
include: The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, ed. Vincent B. Leitch et
al., ed.; Lois Tyson’s Critical Theory Today; Bram Stoker’s Dracula, eds.
Auerbach and Skal (Norton Critical Edition, 1997); and Jean Rhys’s Wide
Sargasso Sea, ed. Judith Raiskin (Norton Critical Edition, 1998). Requirements
include: Attendance and participation; response papers; 2 short analytical
papers; and a research paper.
ENCW 512.30: Fiction Workshop M.
Powell
CRN 5145 W 6:00-9:00 PM
This
course introduces and helps students develop their skills in such fiction
techniques as characterization, plot, setting, point of view, and style. You
are required to read all assigned material, complete all writing exercises,
offer written critiques of peer work, participate in discussions, and workshop
two stories.
ENCW 513.30: Poetry Workshop T. Witek
CRN 4932 T 6:00-9:00 PM
This
course is an intensive workshop in poetic method. Over the course of the
semester, each student will construct a portfolio of eight poems, at least four
of them using techniques other than free verse. We will examine several books
of contemporary poetry for strategies and attend campus reading events. Crossover students from other studio arts are
welcome and encouraged to work in combinatory forms. Graduate students will do
an extra review project.
Permission
of instructor required.