Graduate English Program
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Graduate School- Newark
The following courses will be offered by the Graduate English
Program in Spring 2014.
The American Novel Between the Wars
Professor Barbara Foley
26:352:509 Monday 5:30-8:10
We will study novels from the 1920s and 1930s that embody the confluence of key literary trends: realism
and modernism; the Harlem Renaissance and literary proletarianism. Our primary focus will be upon the
form of the U.S. novel as it registers the impact of the political and cultural developments of the era. A
provisional reading list includes the following: Willa Cather, The Professor’s House; William Faulkner,
The Sound and the Fury; Langston Hughes, Not Without Laughter; John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer;
Zora Neale Hurston, Jonah’s Gourd Vine; William Attaway, Blood on the Forge; Meridel Le Sueur, The
Girl; Guy Endore, Babouk; Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls. We will also read selected
critical and theoretical essays. Non-matriculated students are admitted only with the permission of the
instructor. For queries, send email to Professor Foley at bfoley@andromeda.rutgers.edu
Early American Revolution
Professor Mal Kiniry
26:352:528 Monday 5:30-8:10
This course extends the pre-occupations of “The Literature of the American Revolution” (527) into the
post-revolutionary generation. One of its working assumptions is that the period’s most important literary
texts are not poems, plays, or fiction but political writing in its various forms—pamphlets, speeches,
sermons, letters, histories, and (especially) journalism. But the period does also see the stirring of selfconsciously American efforts in poertry, fiction, and dram We’ll be looking at several purported “firsts”:
the first slave narrative, the first American novel, the first American play, the first satirical treatment of
New York. Still, the focus will remain political, particularly the politics in and around the Washington and
Adams administrations. Open to non-matriculated students. For queries, send email to Professor Kiniry
at kiniry@andromeda.rutgers.edu.
Milton
Professor David Baker
26:350:554 Tuesday 5:30-8:10
The course examines the writings of a figure much involved in the “public contests” of the seventeenth
century. Known then for his revolutionary stances on divorce law and regicide, Milton is today studied
primarily for his poetry, ranging from the lyric and the masque to biblical epic. In this course, we will be
reading both the poetry and the prose in order to understand the importance of Milton in his own time and
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in our own. Open to non-matriculated students by faculty permission only. For queries, send email to
Professor Baker at dwbaker@andromeda.rutgers.edu
The History of the English Language
Professor Jack Lynch
26:350:513 Wednesday 5:30-8:10
Not an in-depth investigation of English philology, but a series of short readings from Old English through
World English, with attention to the changing forms of the language. Each class will include a few
textbook chapters on the history of the language, along with brief selections from literary works, many
from the MA Exam reading list. We'll do very close readings of the texts against the linguistic
background. Topics will include the difference between manuscript and print culture, theories of language,
the search for "standard English," lexicography, African American Vernacular English, profanity, hate
speech, the place of English in colonial societies, and the rise of global English. An in-progress
provisional syllabus is at http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/14/513/ Open to non-matriculated
students. For queries, send email to Professor Lynch at jlynch@andromeda.rutgers.edu
Topics in Literature: Literature and Medicine
Professor Rachel Hadas
26:350:521 Wednesday 2:30-5:20
The intersection of medicine and the humanities is a cultural trend that now reaches from top medical
schools to Broadway and TV. On the literary front, this interface is at once new and fresh and very old.
We'll explore the literature-medicine connection as it plays out in genres ranging from Greek drama to
contemporary fiction, poetry, and memoir. In addition to papers and seminar reports, student research
projects will include field work undertaken to investigate how the literature/medicine connection is
playing out in institutional or societal frameworks. One or more guest speakers. Students may also choose
to concentrate on a particular disease family (cancer, AIDS, and dementia come to mind) on which to
focus throughout their semester's study Open to non-matriculated students. For queries, send email to
Professor Hadas at rhadas@andromeda.rutgers.edu
Latino/a Literature: Afro-latinidad in text, performance and archive
Professor Laura Lomas
26:352:519 Wednesday 5:30-8:10
In this Master’s seminar, we will focus on Latina/o literary texts that represent Afro-Latinidad, or texts by
Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican and Latin American-descended authors in the United States, in Spanish
or in English. Reading a range of literary genres, including poetry, crónicas, novels, performance
(including music) and essays, we will examine how race, sex, class, immigration status and linguistic
difference intersect with “Afro-latinidad.” In overcoming the myth of race-lessness, how have AfroLatina/o authors represented processes of racialization in the Caribbean or Latin America as compared to
the United States? How is Afro-Latino/a literature related to and in dialogue with U.S. and Latin American
literatures? How do texts—by white Latino/a writers—figure Africanity in the Caribbean and in Latina/o
cultural forms? Authors may include, but are not limited to Cirilo Villaverde, Rafael Serra, Martín Morua
Delgado, Arturo Schomburg, Sotero Figueroa, Julia de Burgos, Jesus Colón, Tato Laviera, Junot Díaz,
Angie Cruz, Nelly Rosario, Maria Moreno, María Teresa "Mariposa" Fernández, H.G. Carillo.
Open to non-matriculated students. For queries, send email to Professor Lomas at
llomas@andromeda.rutgers.edu.
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Studies in American Drama: Hitchcock
Professor Gabriel Miller
26:352:514 Thursday 5:30-8:10
This course will examine the career of one of the pre-eminent directors in film history. Hitchcock’s career
parallels the history and evolution of film in the twentieth century. Hitchcock started directing films
during the silent era and made the transition to sound. In fact, he directed the first British sound film,
BLACKMAIL and was considered England’s leading director when he moved to Hollywood in 1939.
During the semester we will study Hitchcock’s style and the evolution of his themes by examining some
of his greatest films including: THE LODGER, THE 39 STEPS, PSYCHO, VERTIGO, REAR
WINDOW, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, ROPE, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, THE WRONG MAN and
others.
We will also be reading some theoretical texts on film and Hitchcock’s films as well as at least one
Hitchcock biography. Open to non-matriculated students by faculty permission only. For queries, send
email to Professor Miller at gamiller@andromeda.rutgers.edu.
Independent Study
26:350:522 By arrangement with Professor
Master’s Thesis
26:350:697 By arrangement with Professor
Feminist Research & Methods
Professor Josephson
26:988:570:01
Thursday, 5:30 - 8:10 pm
Email: jylj@andromeda.rutgers.edu
The Rutgers New Brunswick English Doctoral Program offers seminars that are open to English R-N
Master's degree students if the professor agrees to a request. The inquirer should explain his/her
background for the course and status in our Program. Forward the positive response and request for a
Special Permission number to Cheryl Robinson in the doctoral program office
<carobin@rci.rutgers.edu>. (Although Dr. Larson's permission is not required, it's best to inform her of
your intentions.) Check their schedule online (School 16).
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