The English Majors
Miscellany
A compendium of useful and diverting information presented for the edification and
delight of English majors, minors, and assorted other literary hangers -on
Fall 2016 Upper-Level Courses
ENG 331 Renaissance Literature TF 2:00-3:15
R. Grinnell
The Renaissance in England (1485-1640) was a time of dramatic energy and
change. It saw the blossoming of theatre as we know it, of poetry, and of the
first prose adventures that would later lead to the development of the novel. It
was a heady and exciting time for literature and this course will give you a sense
of it, tracking the literature of the time from Thomas More’s Utopia to the
drama of Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Dekker, the poetry of Sir Philip
Sidney and Isabella Whitney, the adventure tales of Robert Greene and Thomas
Deloney, and ending finally with the metaphysical poetry of John Donne (among
many others of wit and note). This is a reading and discussion class.
The course may be used to satisfy the contiguous-period requirement in the literature
concentration when paired with either Eng 330 (Medieval Literature) or Eng 329 (17th
Century Literature), as a part of the mini-concentration in the Literature concentration,
or as a general upper-level literature course for writing or theatre concentrations.
ENG 340 American Drama l TF 12:30-1:45
E. Curley
This course will be a survey of American drama and theatre from colonial times
through the early 20th century. The history of American theatre begins with bar
fights, lawsuits, political satire, and failed British companies forced to ply their
wares in the New World. After exploring these perhaps inauspicious origins, we
will investigate whether our theatrical tendencies ever changed. The course
spans a tumultuous time in American history, and the drama which emerges
reflects the new nation’s constant negotiation of its identity. Accordingly, we will
read plays that explore the wars, slavery, westward expansion, anti-theatrical
tendencies, and complex class and racial issues which haunt America’s quest for
a national identity. Please be advised that many of these texts may contain
material which will be offensive to a modern reader, particularly when it comes
to the presentation of race, class and gender. Yet, we cannot study this period
without coming to terms with our sometimes ugly past which rears its head in
theatrical forms like the minstrel show.
This course counts as a genre course for the literature concentration, an upper-level lit
for writing concentrations and minors, and as a dramatic literature course for the
theatre concentration and minor.
Upcoming Events
Poetry Slam!
April 6 at 9 pm in the
Cabaret
YA Literature Night
April 12 7 pm HHR
MCCTA Production of
Dog Sees God April 14-17,
Nelly Goletti Theatre
26th Annual Holocaust
Remembrance
Program: Dr. Moshe
Avital 7pm Nelly Goletti
Theatre
Shakespeare’s Death
Celebration April 22
STD Stoling Ceremony
April 27 7 pm HHR
Also Coming Soon!
Anderson Festival of
Student-Written Plays
HuMarists Improv Troupe
Big Show in May
Registration Reminder:
Registration starts April 12th.
Full registration information is
located here:
http://www.marist.edu/
registrar/registration.html
Volume 24, Number 2
Fa l l 2 0 1 6 U p p e r - L e v e l C o u r s e s
ENG 350 Directing TR 11-12:15
M. Andrews
Directing is a hands-on course in the art of directing for the stage. Sections of the course/topics include
script analysis, working with actors, fundamentals of staging, problem-solving in production and developing
concept approach. Assignments will include exercises in staging, leading production meetings, defining
concept, directing short scenes and directing a culminating final scene.
This course fulfills a requirement for the theatre concentration and theatre minor. Pre-requisite of any one of the
following: Acting I, Acting II, Acting III or Instructor's Permission. Junior/Senior status only.
ENG 353 Ethnic American Literature W 6:30-9:00
R. De Angelis
The course will examine the challenges, images, and experiences of African-American and Italian-American
men and women in literature by and about them. Some of the class discussions will focus on the immigrant
experience, identity, colorism, black/white societal conflict, gender relationships, and family politics. I hope
students will come away with a better understanding of these two ethnic groups, their complexities, and
their accomplishments—literary, social, and political. We will read Di Donato's Christ in Concrete,
Barolini's Umbertina, Puzo's The Fortunate Pilgrim, Walker's The Color Purple, Larsen's Passing, and
Morrison's God Help the Child, among others.
ENG 380 Nonfiction Workshop TF 9:30-10:45
J. Kotzin
This class is a workshop-based writing course. Students will devote most of their energy to writing
numerous short exercises and more polished works of nonfiction, including personal essays, reviews, and
biographical sketches. Members of the class will be expected to read their classmates’ work and respond in
a productive and disciplined manner. We will also read a variety of contemporary published works of
nonfiction as a basis for class discussion and a source of ideas about the many forms nonfiction can take in
the current literary marketplace.
This course satisfies the upper-level workshop requirement for the writing concentration.
Get involved! Marist English Department
Affiliated Student Organizations
Literary Arts Society: Marisa Macaro
Sigma Tau Delta: Kimberly Poss
Alpha Psi Omega: Michael Parisi
MCCTA: Tara Higgins
HuMarists: Anthony Passaretti
Fa l l 2 0 1 6 U p p e r - L e v e l C o u r s e s
ENG 382 Fiction Workshop MR 2:00-3:15
T. Zurhellen
A fiction writing workshop is a community of writers dedicated to improving each other’s own personal craft
of storytelling. For this course, we’ll spend the first several weeks reading outside texts and building the
vocabulary and techniques associated with the art of fiction writing. The remainder of the course will focus on
the critique of student work in a positive workshop environment. Good writers must also be good readers;
therefore a significant portion of the class depends upon effective reading of various texts. Students are
required to write two (2) complete and original short stories for workshop, in addition to daily writing
assignments. In addition to workshop, students will work individually with the instructor to revise one of their
stories for a final revision project. There are no examinations or quizzes for this class; however, students
should be aware that a significant portion of the course grade will depend on workshop participation.
The course counts as an upper-level writing workshop for the writing concentration.
ENG 393 Special Topic: Rhetorical Theory M 11:00 / W 9:30
M. Smith
In our everyday lives, we frequently try to persuade others with words, and we are frequently the objects of
persuasion ourselves. You are already a skilled rhetor—someone who creates change in the world through the
purposeful use of symbols. But your rhetorical skills likely come from observation and intuition, rather than the
academic study of rhetoric, the so-called “art of persuasion.” This course will teach you to think as a
rhetorician—a rhetorical theorist. In other words, you will develop opinions on the nature, function, and scope
of rhetoric, defending them orally and in writing.
As rhetoric is associated more and more with manipulation, deceit, and distraction, we run the risk of
forgetting that rhetoric is a quintessentially democratic skill, one central to a democratic way of life. Moreover,
fears about rhetorical manipulation run back to rhetoric’s origins and are, in fact, one important reason to
study rhetoric—we must learn to not only argue fairly ourselves, but also detect and disarm rhetorical tactics
that undermine democratic debate. With these goals in mind, we will trace several binaries that relate to
rhetoric’s double nature, its democratic and demogagic power: truth versus opinion; reason versus emotion;
language versus action.
This course counts as a theory course for the writing and literature concentrations.
English Internships Listings Now on Twitter
Starting in March 2016, all internship & job postings received by the department will be posted to the new
Twitter account. Postings received by Marist will continue to appear in FoxQuest, so please get in the habit of
checking both venues.
You do not need to be Twitter member to see the listings at MaristEnglishInterns or @EnglishInterns
Fall 2016 upper-Level Course
ENG 477 Capping: Learning from a Masterpiece—Tolstoy’s War and
Peace MW 3:30-4:45
M. Morreale
In an 1865 letter to P. D. Boborykin Tolstoy proclaimed that “the goal of the artist
is not to solve a question irrefutably, but to force people to love life in all its
innumerable, inexhaustible manifestations. If I were told that I could write a novel in
which I should set forth the apparently correct attitudes toward all social questions,
I would not devote even two hours of work to such a novel. But if I were told that
what I shall write will be read in twenty years by the children of today and that they
will weep and smile over it and will fall in love with life, I would devote all my life
and all my strengths to it.”
More than forty years later, Aylmer Maude, one of Tolstoy’s best translators, made
the following comment: “War and Peace presents us with a complete picture of
human life; a complete picture of the Russia of those days; a complete historic
picture of the struggle of nations; and a complete picture of the things in which men
set their happiness and greatness, their sorrow and their shame. It is a work so
amazingly great that though many have felt its greatness, few have understood how
great it is. Tolstoy is one who reveals the secrets of life and death. The meaning of
history, the strength of nations, the mystery of death, the reality of love and family
life—such are the subjects he deals with.” Are you ready to be inspired? You are
about to live in the company of greatness, with a grand theme to share, and I assure
you, you will be moved to tears, you will laugh, you will agonize with Tolstoy’s
characters as you would for members of your own family. You are about to have
your life changed forever.
I expect students to read the novel over the summer.
I will send you a series of questions as the summer progresses regarding the novel.
These questions are meant to spur discussion upon our return in the fall. However,
feel free to send me questions too! Several members of the SLA faculty and Marist
alumni have also committed to reading this novel over the summer with you. In
April, I will send students a memo spelling out in more detail the types of
assignments we’ll be doing. Look for that letter!
Full List of UpperLevel Courses for
Fall 2016:
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ENG 331
Renaissance
Literature
ENG 318 Forms in
Writing
ENG 340 American
Drama I
ENG 350 Directing
ENG 353 Ethnic
American
Literature
ENG 380 NonFiction Workshop
ENG 382 Fiction
Workshop
ENG 392/SPAN
392 Latin American
Women Writers
ENG 393
Rhetorical Theory
ENG 477 Capping
ENG 486
Internships
Are you considering a
career in secondary
education, writing or
editing? Would you
like an on-campus internship?
The Writing Center Needs
Interns each semester.
Please contact English Professor Joe Zeppetello for
details
Joseph.zeppetello@marist.edu
“The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” - Hamlet
Join us to Celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s Death!
Where to Find Us:
The English Department with friends from around campus will celebrate
Shakespeare’s life and work at a party on or near Friday, April 22. Brush up
your Shakespeare! And join us! And stay tuned as the details of this
celebration become clearer.
Marist College
English Department
Fontaine Hall
School of Liberal Arts
3399 North Road
Poughkeepsie NY 12601
Fa l l 2 0 1 6 H o n o r s E n g l i s h C o u r s e s
HONR 380 Veterans’ Literature TR 5-6:15
T. Zurhellen
What is a veteran? The answer to that question may be more complex than we first think. This class will
explore the role and impact of veterans on American society using a variety of perspectives, including but
not limited to gender studies, literary theory, and mental health issues. By reading and discussing a variety of
prose and poetry written by veterans, this class will examine the myriad issues facing American war veterans
over the last hundred years. Students will be graded through a series of daily writing assignments, a formal
research project including an oral presentation, a midterm exam, and a final exam. This is primarily a
literature course, so students should expect a substantial amount of reading and writing assignments
throughout the semester.
This course can fulfill an upper-level literature requirement in the English major.
Fall 2016 200-Level Special topics Course
ENG 293 Special Topic: Children’s Literature TF 9:30-10:45
M. Fitzgibbons
This special-topics course will place you in conversation with children’s picture and chapter books drawn
from a wide variety of genres and time periods. What happens when we read Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of
Peter Rabbit" alongside "The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food" and The One and Only Ivan? We
will consider theories of human development; pedagogy; gender and sexuality; and racial and ethnic identity.
Among the big-picture questions we will consider are: (1) What kinds of agency do children’s books provide
for juvenile protagonists as individuals? (2) In what ways do our course texts support or challenge
patriarchal, heteronormative, and racist perspectives? (3) What common threads (if any) connect early folk
literature and didactic works to more recent work targeted to children?
Your papers and fieldwork for the course will involve encyclopedias, scholarly journal articles, Stith
Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, and other research tools. I look forward to seeing how you
connect these works to your own interests!
Please note: This course counts toward the Literature Breadth requirement for the Core and toward the Pathways in
Cognitive Science Studies, Gender Studies, and Religion and Society.
English Foundation Courses:
(please check your individual concentration requirements)
ENG 150 Intro to Theatre
MW 5-6:15
MR 9:30-10:45
TF 9:30-10:45
TF 2-3:15
ENG 185 Writing as a Discipline
MR 2-3:15
ENG 222 Intro Professional Writ.
MR 9:30-10:45
ENG 270 Classics of Western Lit
MR 9:30-10:45
ENG 280 Intro Creative Writing
MW 5-6:15
M 6:30-9
T 6:30-9
D o y o u wa n t t o C o m p l e t e a n i n t e r n s h i p ?
If so, please contact Dr. Curley, as well as Career Services, and refer to the following quick guide:
A few things to keep in mind about interning for English credit:

Each internship has a specific site-work component and a corresponding academic component overseen by one of
the English department Internship Coordinator (Dr. Curley). You will be completing academic course assignments
as well as placement-based work. Please do not forget the academic component of the course.

Before you can intern, you need to obtain approvals from Career Services, the English Department Internship CoCoordinators, and your site supervisor. The approval process happens as described below.

You must be academically eligible for internships at Marist (60 credit hours completed and 2.5 GPA) See full eligibility requirements here: http://www.marist.edu/careerservices/feb.html

Summer/winter sessions & overloads require that you fill out additional financial eligibility paperwork
Your First Step:

Sign up for FoxQuest with Career Services: http://www.marist.edu/careerservices/register.html
Need help finding an internship?

Talk to Career Services and/or the Dr. Curley, and use your research skills to locate internships of interest to you.
Recent opportunities are posted on the English Internship bulletin board on Fontaine second, north end. Also
look on Twitter (MaristEnglishInterns or @EnglishInterns), FoxQuest, the Career Services website, and Dr.
Curley’s list of standing internships at: http://foxweb.marist.edu/users/eileen.curley/page13/index.html

A Search Tip: When looking for internships on FoxQuest, search by keyword rather than by major. If you
want an editorial position, then search for editor, editorial, editing, writing, publishing, etc. If you’d like to work at
a magazine, then search magazine. Broad search terms (public relations, writing, editor, radio, theatre/theater) will
provide much better results than the other system listing options, even if there are some irrelevant posts.
The Registration Process, once you have been offered an internship position:

Go directly into the FoxQuest system at: http://marist-csm.symplicity.com/sso/students

Click on the “Profile” tab

Look for the “Experiential Learning” section and select the “Add New Experience” button

This will bring up the “Internship Registration and Learning Contract Form.”

If your employer is in FoxQuest already, then enter them under “Employer.” This will bring up a list of Internships from that employer in the next bar; select the appropriate one. If you cannot locate the employer or if it is
new, then just add “New Employer.”

Other information you will need to fill out this form includes:

The semester in which you will intern and the number of credits for which you will register

Employer mailing address

Internship Supervisor name, email and phone (or HR contact person if not yet assigned)

A brief internship description (you can upload a posting if you have it digitally)

Start and end date, as well as expected hours per week and planned weekly work schedule

Compensation type (salary & credit or credit only)
Everything with a red star must be filled out in order for the form to be accepted and processed.
What’s Next?

A link to the form will be electronically sent to your internship supervisor, who will fill out their expectations of
you, your areas of responsibility, and their provisions for supervision. Please tell your supervisor to expect an
email from Career.services@marist.edu which will have the subject of “Student Experiential Learning Approval
Required.” They will be asked to enter FoxQuest, verify the information you have provided, and add their content.
Recent
English
Internship
Placement
Sites:

A link to the
form will then be
electronically sent to the
internship co-coordinators
at Marist, who will look over
all materials. If the site and workload are approved, then they will sign it and send it to Career Services.
Elle
NYC
Cumulus
Broadcasting/Town Square

Career Services will then contact theDowntown
Registrar’sMagazine,
office to manually
register you
for credit.
Martinelli
Publishing
Saturday
Night
Live
Media

You can track the status of these forms through FoxQuest.
Hudson RiverYou
Valley
Spike TV until this registration process has been completed.
mayInstitute
not begin your internship
Marist College Writing Center
NYS Unified Courts Public Affairs
Hudson Valley Magazine
Mid-Hudson
Cross
Questions?
Contact Dr.Valley
CurleyRed
at: Eileen.curley@marist.edu