COURSE DESCRIPTION
BOOKLET
DEPARTMENT
OF
ENGLISH
SPRING
2011
Notes:
All ENGL pedagogy courses have been retitled with ENED as
their prefix.
The new ENED courses count the same as the prior ENGL
courses for English Adolescence Education majors.
EDU419 has been retitled and renumbered to ENED 451.
EDU430 has been retitled and renumbered to ENED 453.
•
•
•
PRE-REQUISITE OR PERMISSION OF INSTRUCTOR:
STUDENTS: You must have the appropriate pre-requisites
for Spring 2011 registration. Check the online listings to see
what the current pre-requisites are -- note that these may be
different from what is listed in the current catalogue.
TO THE STUDENT:
Before selecting a course, consider the following: You might
find it useful to decide what your purpose is in selecting a
course in English: curiosity? knowledge? involvement with
issues? background for major or career? Have you consulted
your advisor? Have you thought of asking for a conference
with the instructor of the course?
Also consider:
It is strongly advised that you take a 200-level introductory
course in literature before taking a 300-level course.
300-level courses are studies that usually require some
research, perhaps an oral report, probably a major paper.
These courses are intended for the serious student, but not
exclusively for English majors.
400-and 500-level courses are for advanced students who are
ready for specialized study and research.
FOR THE MAJOR OR MINORS IN ENGLISH:
See the catalog and/or handouts for requirements.
ENED 101 01, 02
INTRO TO ENGLISH ADOLESCENCE
EDUCATION
1.5 credit course
Description:
English-Adolescence Education majors will be introduced to
teaching English at the secondary level. Specific topics, including
teacher identity, teaching philosophy, teaching strategies, learning
styles, classroom management, and socioeconomic issue will be
addressed. In addition to examining the principles and practices of
English-Adolescence Education, students will be required to spend
twenty-five hours doing classroom observation during the month of
January.
Readings:
Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing,
Reading and Learning, 2nd Edition. Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton/Cook,
1998.
Journal articles and book chapters
Exams, Papers,:
1.
Field observation journal
2.
In-class discussion questions
3.
Double-entry reading and reflection journal
4.
Presentation
Time Class Meets:
01 TR
02 TR
Instructor:
E. Liao
8-9:20
9:30-10:50
1/24-3/10/10
1/24-3/10/10
**PLEASE NOTE: There is a required and very
important organizational meeting for this course at 5pm
on Thursday, November 11 in Fenton 127.
Everyone enrolled in the course must attend.
ENED 103 01
READINGS/OBSERVATIONS IN ENGLISH
English Adolescence Majors Only
Description:
The spring section of ENGL 103 is best-suited for students who
will enter the professional year next fall. A second field-experience
course for students who have successfully completed ENGL 101. At the
end of the Fall 2010 semester, students will arrange to observe a
minimum of 25 hours in both a middle school and high school
classroom. Class time in the spring will then draw on students’
observation experiences, course readings, and other English pedagogy
courses as together we explore advanced issues in pedagogy. Students
will continue to develop their own sense of the kind of teacher they will
be.
Readings:
Keizer, Garret. No Place but Here: A Teacher’s Vocation in a Rural
Community
Lemov, Doug. Teach Like a Champion
Exams, Papers:
Documentation of field observations
Reflection paper based on field experience
A microteaching session based on No Place but Here
Large and small group discussion
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
K. Cole
1-1:50
1/24-3/14/11
**PLEASE NOTE: There is a required and important
organizational meeting for this course on Wednesday,
November 3 in 127 Fenton Hall from 5-6pm
Everyone enrolled in the course must attend.
ENGL 106 01
THE ENGLISH MAJOR: AN INTRODUCTION
1.5 credit course
Description:
An introduction to the major areas within and current
approaches to literary studies, including literary history, issues of canon
formation, and the multiple functions of literature and writing. This 1.5credit seminar introduces new students--first-years, transfers, and
others who have just declared the English (323) major--to its goals,
requirements, structure, components, and content here at SUNY
Fredonia. It is designed to open the many different fields of English
studies to new majors and to help students develop a context for the
courses they may already have taken and will be taking throughout
their career as English majors at Fredonia. Along the way, we will
explore effective modes of library research, strategies for using
secondary sources, and important terms and concepts that are
fundamental to literary analysis. This is a required course for the
English (323) major.
Readings:



M.H. Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham, A Glossary of Literary
Terms (9th ed.)
Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
(7th ed.)
Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Exams, Papers: attendance/preparation/participation (15%), online
participation (15%), annotated bibliography (20%), 4-to-6-page critical
essay (20%), 1 7-to-10-page final reflective essay (30%)
Time Class Meets:
TR
9:30-10:50
Instructor:
B. Simon
1/24-3/10/11
ENGL 160 01, 02
VISITING WRITERS PROGRAM
Writing Minors Only
ENGL 160 01 CO-REQ: ENGL 361
ENGL 160 02 CO-REQ: ENGL 462
Description:
Attendance and participation in the activities surrounding the
visiting writers during the semester. These classes are attached to the
intermediate and advanced creative writing courses and are part of the
writing minor requirements for the semester.
Students must be enrolled in co-req 362 or 361 in
conjunction with 160.
Readings:
Boys and Girls Like You and Me. Kyle, Aryn.
Up Jump the Boogie. John Murillo
Exams, Papers, etc.:
Two examinations of the visiting writers and their work
Time Class Meets:
R
4-5:00 and 7-8:30
Instructor:
01
02
D. Parsons
A. Nezhukumatathil
ENGL 200-01
AMST 202-01
INTRO TO AMERICAN STUDIES
Description:
The aim of this course is to introduce you to various
interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives appropriate for
American Studies. This is a course about perspectives and perceptions:
about the continuing process of intercultural encounter, about how
individual, ethnic and national identities come to be constructed and
reconstructed as a result of that process, about how various disciplinary
and critical approaches can inform each other and expand awareness
and finally, how you as a student learn to refine your own perceptions
as a result of expanding your perspective. Historically, we begin before
European settlement, move to the establishment of the colonies; discuss
such issues as slavery and abolition; Indians, including relocation
policies, contact accounts from both sides, and captivity narratives; the
Civil War and its aftermath; industrialization and reconstruction;
modernism, and finally the present. Methodologically, our approaches
will include sources from history, literature, anthropology, and
probably various art and media.
Texts and assignments are still to be determined, but your work will
most likely consist of various short projects and a final exam.
Time Class Meets:
TR
9:30-10:50
Instructor:
S. McRae
ENGL 205 01, 02
EPIC AND ROMANCE
Description:
In this course we will read epics and romances from assorted times,
cultures and locations. We will consider the continuities and transformations
between the texts and discuss their social role in defining individual and
communal identities.
Readings:
The Odyssey
The Aeneid (selections)
Arthurian Romances(selections) de Troyes
Aurora Leigh Browning
Canto General Neruda
Exams, Papers:
Response papers, Class participation, Final Paper, quizzes
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major.
Time Class Meets:
MWF
9-9:50
Instructor:
S. McGee
ENGL 205 03, 04
EPIC AND ROMANCE
Description:
In this course, we’ll read a number of texts from the ancient
civilizations of Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, together with modern
literary works from England, France, and the United States. Emphasis
will be placed on the contextualization of these works within their
respective time periods and places; understanding the literary genres to
which they belong; and drawing connections across time between the
stories they tell. A continuing theme throughout the course will be the
“quarrel” between the Ancients and the Moderns, i.e. how do modern
writers relate to their predecessors of the distant past?
Readings: (subject to change)
David Damrosch (ed.) The Longman Anthology of World Literature
Volume A: The
Ancient World (Pearson Longman)
Voltaire. Candide (Penguin)
Mary Shelley. Frankenstein (Signet)
Thomas Pynchon. The Crying of Lot 49 (Harper Perennial)
Exams, Papers:
Students will be evaluated via active participation; weekly
participation on the Angel discussion forum; a research paper; and
possibly a midterm exam.
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major.
Time Class Meets:
MWF
11-11:50
Instructor:
B. Vanwesenbeeck
ENGL 205 05, 06
EPIC & ROMANCE
Description:
The course will examine epics and romances from ancient Greece
to modern times. Our concern will be to see how these works function
as independent pieces of literature, what they have in common, and
what they tell us about how different cultures and different people
approach the difficult task of being human.
Readings:
Homer: Iliad and Odyssey
Beowulf
Death of King Arthur
Austen: Northanger Abbey
Tolstoy: War and Peace
Exams, Papers:
weekly response papers
three major papers
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major.
Time Class Meets:
MW
3-4:20
Instructor:
T. Steinberg
ENGL 205 07, 08
EPIC AND ROMANCE
Description:
Look forward to reading works from a variety of geographical
locations and historical periods. We will consider the works as
individual pieces and also the manner in which they may relate with
regard to theme, characters, values, and structure.
Readings: (subject to change)
Epic of Gilgamesh
The Odyssey
Beowulf
Grendle
Divine Comedy (selections)
The Lais of Marie de France
Romance of Tristan and Iseult
Exams, Papers:
Quizzes, response papers, critical papers, reading journal, etc.,
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
J. Glovack
Core course in English major.
12:30-1:50
ENGL 206 01
SURVEY OF AMERICAN LIT
Description:
This class looks at the diverse traditions of “American literature.”
We will read and discuss literature from a variety of perspectives across lines of race, gender, class, and sexuality - in order to come to
terms with the complex set of agendas, issues, styles, and dialogues that
comprise American literary history from periods preceding colonization
to the presen day. In the interests of truly surveying such a vast and
diverse period, we will be moving rapidly back and forth between
different worldviews, agendas, historical moments, genres, and literary
styles.
An overarching theme we will consider in this class is the question
of canon formation. In other words, we’ll frequently ask the question,
What is American literature? (This is especially important given our
reliance, for practical purposes, on an anthology.) Inevitably, some texts
get left out of (or underrepresented in) so-called comprehensive
American literary studies, because of the limits of time (e.g., a semester)
and space (an anthology), and even politics. Throughout the semester,
we’ll interrogate the traditions of canon-making and come to an
understanding of the roles we each play in shaping our own memories of
American literature.
Readings: TBA, but most likely:
Heath Anthology of American Literature, vol. 1
Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette
Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Exams, Papers:
Assignments will include at least 2 brief essays, as well as a final exam, a
group presentation, and contributions to in-class and ANGEL
discussions.
Time Class Meets:
MWF
10-10:50
Instructor:
E. VanDette
ENGL 207 01, 02
DRAMA AND FILM
Description:
Through the medium of plays and films, we will critically examine
the topic of empowerment by exploring the ramifications of such themes
as race, gender, sexuality, and class, among others. We will discuss
identity formation and social structures, as well as explore the theatrical
history of plays and film and the various techniques employed by
authors and directors.
Readings:
Aristophanes. Lysistrata
Brecht, Bertolt. Mother Courage
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House
Kushner, Tony. Angels in America
Parks, Suzan-Lori. In the Blood
Pirandello, Luigi. Six Characters in Search of an Author
Shakespeare, William. King Lear
Sophocles. Oedipus Rex
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire
Exams, Papers:
Midterm, Final, Discussion Questions, Group Presentation
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major
Time Class Meets:
MWF
9-9:50
W
4:30-7
SCREENING:
Instructor:
A. Fearman
ENGL 207 03, 04
DRAMA AND FILM
Description:
This course is dedicated to the study of classical and modern plays
and their film adaptations. Among others we will read Aristophanes’
Lysistrata, Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk
Circle, Shaffer’s Amadeus, Ibsen’s The Enemy of The People,
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Chekov’s Cherry Orchard.
Readings:
Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, Brecht’s The
Caucasian Chalk Circle, Shaffer’s Amadeus, Ibsen’s The Enemy of The
People, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Chekov’s Cherry Orchard and a few
others.
Exams, Papers:
Weekly ANGEL postings, two reviews, five-page paper.
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Time Class Meets:
TR
2-3:20
T
4:30-7:00
SCREENING:
Instructor:
Core course in English major
I. Vanwesenbeeck
ENGL 207 05, 06
DRAMA AND FILM
Description:
We will explore drama from many different cultures and time
periods, from the ancient Greeks to works of a more contemporary
nature. The films we view will also offer the work of a variety of
filmmakers from a diversified selection of countries and time periods.
Readings:
The Bedford Introduction to Drama 5th Edition
Edited by: Lee A. Jacobus
Exams, Papers:
- Participation in Class Discussions
- Response papers
- A Midterm Exam
- One longer paper of analysis/synthesis
- Student led class discussion
- Reading quizzes
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major
Time Class Meets:
MWF
2-2:50
W
4:30-7:00
SCREENING:
Instructor:
C. Thomas Craig
ENGL 209-01, 02
NOVELS AND TALES
Description:
In this section of Novels and Tales, we will be focusing on a genre
of fiction known as Gothic literature. Since its inception in the 18th
century, Gothic literature has been defined as “the literature of terror.”
Its intent is, simply, to scare the reader. The ways in which authors,
either through novels or short stories, have instilled fear in their readers
across various time periods and in different regions will be looked at.
The sources of these terrors will be considered. What causes us to be
afraid of certain things? How does literature help society deal with our
fears? Is fear time period or geographically specific? We will examine
how Gothic literature, and its literary siblings science fiction and
fantasy, has alleviated, and perhaps even created, society’s fears.
Readings:
Readings will include, but not be limited to:
The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales, Ed. Chris Baldick.
The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole. Oxford UP.
Dracula, Bram Stoker.
Exams, Papers:
There will be short response papers throughout the semester, as
well as a longer midterm essay and essay at the end of the semester.
There may also be occasional reading quizzes in class.
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major
Time Class Meets:
MWF
9-9:50
Instructor:
S. Liggins
ENGL 209 03, 04, 05, 06
NOVELS AND TALES
Description:
These sections of Novels and Tales focus on characters who are inbetween identities – characters who are caught or torn between
competing cultural, gender, racial, or other identities. We will explore
how writers from different times and places depict the problems faced
and the strategies adopted by their in-between characters in dealing
with conflicting norms of behavior and self-definition.
Readings:
We will read several kinds of long and short fiction from a variety
of cultures and times, including a 13th-century French romance; novels
from Africa, Russia, and Sri Lanka; and short fiction from Ireland,
India, and the United States.
Exams, Papers, etc
Mandatory attendance, three 4-6 page comparative essays,
scheduled reading quizzes, and writing mechanics worksheets.
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major
Time Class Meets:
03, 04
05, 06
MWF
MWF
Instructor:
D. Kaplin
10-10:50
1-1:50
ENGL 209 07, 08
NOVELS AND TALES
Description:
The course of Novels and Tales offers a study of long and short
fiction of several kinds, including myth, fable, and realistic narrative,
from a variety of places and times, and their relation to their different
cultures. This course will familiarize students with basic approaches to
reading, interpretation, and literary analysis. Another goal of this
course is to improve students’ skill at expressing their observations in
writing.
Readings:
Short Novels of the Masters, Edited with an Introduction by Charles
Neider; Cooper Square Press, 2001.
Exams, Papers:
Critical/analytical essays, one final exam research paper,
additional exercises and papers as assigned.
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
J. Mineeva-Braun
5-6:20
ENGL 209 09, 10, 11, 12
NOVELS AND TALES
Powers of Narrative
Description:
Readings in world literature from ancient to contemporary. The
course teaches analysis of varying narrative styles and approaches and
the relationship of narrative to culture. These sections of ENGL 209
focus on the powers of narrative. Attending to the meanings, purposes,
and effects of the act--and art--of storytelling, we will consider how
narratives both represent and affect our understandings of and
responses to social reality, the self and others, and ethico-political issues.
In the "The Scheherazade Situation," we will examine stories that
engage loss, trauma, disaster, and death in order to explore the powers
and limits of storytelling. In the "The Cinderella Scenario," we will
examine stories that interact with fairy tales and fables in order to
reflect on the meaning and significance of storytelling.
Readings:
The Arabian Nights, trans. Husain Haddawy, ed. Daniel HellerRoazen (2nd ed.)
Naguib Mahfouz, Arabian Nights and Days
Patricia Grace, Potiki
Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Maria Tatar, ed., The Classic Fairy Tales [CFT]
Sheri Tepper, Beauty
Jane Yolen, Briar Rose
Exams, Papers: attendance/preparation/participation (15%), online
participation (15%), 2 4-to-6-page critical essays (20% each), 1 7-to-10page final research project (30%)
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Core course in English major
Time Class Meets:
09, 10
11, 12
TR
TR
Instructor:
B. Simon
2-3:20
3:30-4:50
ENGL 211 01, 02
WORLD POETRY
Description:
We will read classics of lyric poetry, from different eras,
continents, languages, and cultures. The core energy of our class will be
directed first toward learning how to read poems (i.e., to attend closely
to all the elements that constitute a poem) and then toward learning
how to analyze poems both as literary texts and, to a lesser extent, as
cultural artifacts. The poets and poetry styles we read will employ the
lyric toward many different goals: as a mechanism for conveying
religious awe and instruction, an outlet for personal expression, a mode
appropriate to clarifying thought, a means of speaking truth to power,
and as witness to, as well as protest of, modern-day atrocities. This
course will also emphasize key steps required for writing original
literary scholarship, from performing a close reading of a poem and
conducting research to integrating scholarly sources into your original
writing.
Readings:
The poets and styles we read will include some but not all of the
following: ancient poetry and religious texts, Sappho, Rumi, haiku,
Pablo Neruda, postwar Polish poetry, Bei Dao, Amiri Baraka, and
contemporary poets from Poetry International Web. The majority of
the course readings will be posted to ANGEL or distributed via
handouts. Likely required texts for longer units are two or three of the
following texts: The Essential Rumi, The Essential Haiku, and Somebody
Blew Up America and Other Poems.
Exams, Papers: 5 short assignments (a worksheet on poetic devices; a
close reading of a poem; an annotation/summary of a scholarly article;
a research assignment using the library’s databases and print
resources; a group presentation of your research), plus a critical essay,
with Works Cited page, following MLA format and documentation
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
N. Gerber
9-9:50
ENGL 211 03, 04
WORLD POETRY
Description:
We will study poetry that loosely falls into the theme of “All’s fair
in love and war,” that is, love and war poetry from various cultures
with an emphasis on what poetry does and can do rather than trying to
parse what a poem “means.” What needs and desires does poetry
accomplish in its writers and readers? How does culture affect the way
one defines and values poetry? We will examine conceptions of the role
of the poet, poetic forms and styles, and individual authors. Our
readings will range far and wide, from transcriptions of ancient oral
traditions to the kinetic performance poetry of the present day; printed
texts will be supplemented whenever possible with audio and videorecordings. We will also compose our own original poems and read a
number of non-English works in translation, all with the goal of having
you ultimately see language and poetry in a revitalized and personally
meaningful way.
Readings:
Brian Turner’s Here, Bullet
John Murrillo’s Up Jump the Boogie **visiting writer!
ed. Clifton Fadiman, World Poetry (WW. Norton)
(and other poetry handouts)
Exams, Papers: weekly reading responses/quizzes, 3 papers, midterm,
one longer final project
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
A. Nezhukumatathil
9:30-10:50
ENGL 211 05, 06
WORLD POETRY
Description:
This course will set sail on a journey through ages, cultures, and
themes, from Babylon to Native America. We will examine how poetry
is a human connective of past and future theory, discussions of the old,
the new, the then and now.
Readings:
TBA.
Guest speakers and presentations.
Exams, Papers:
Papers: 3 Short; 1 long;
Exam TBA
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 5
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
S. Lord
11-12:20
ENGL 260 01, 02, 03, 04
INTRO TO CREATIVE WRITING
Description:
This introductory creative writing course will focus on
poetry and fiction (and the fine line that often seems to exist between the
two). Writing can sometimes be an uncomfortable and discouraging
process, even for those who claim to love it and make a living from it.
The goal of this course is to help students get words onto the page and to
introduce them to some of the various stages and processes involved in
writing poetry and short fiction (which will help students learn how to
inspire themselves outside of the classroom setting).
Readings:
The aim of this course is to help students become not only better
writers, but better readers, as well. The more we read and respond to
what we read, the more invested we become in our own writing.
Students will read and respond to poems and stories written by
established authors as well as their fellow classmates. (Specific course
texts TBA.)
Exams, Papers:
Students will complete several writing assignments (about 5
poems and about 5 pieces of short fiction), as well as in-class exercises, a
Reader Response Journal, and written critiques during workshop
periods. At the end of the semester, students will turn in a portfolio of
polished, revised written work from the course.
CCC Fulfilled:
Arts (4)
Time Class Meets:
01, 02
03, 04
05, 06
Instructor:
S. Gerkensmeyer
MWF
MWF
MWF
1-1:50
2-2:50
3-3:50
ENGL 260 07, 08
INTRO TO CREATIVE WRITING
Description:
This course is intended to be an introduction to the basic forms,
techniques, theories and problems of poetry and short fiction. That
introduction is made by way of the student’s own work and through
discussion of the problems encountered in the process of writing. The
class will focus, to a limited extent, on professional writers as
“teachers,” but primarily it examines student work. The class is
designed to help develop an understanding of fiction and poems as a
craft, as well as an art and to encourage development of individual
styles and techniques.
Exams, Papers:
A minimum of ten poems and two short stories should be
completed by the end of the semester. No exams will be given. An all
inclusive portfolio will be required. The final exam period will be used
for an evaluation of the course and self-evaluation of individual
students. Class attendance is required, since much of the course will
take the form of workshops and there is no way to make up lost class
time.
CCC Fulfilled:
Arts (4)
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
S. Lord
12:30-1:50
ENGL 261 01
LITERARY PUBLISHING
Description:
Introduction to Literary Publishing is a workshop course where
much of class time is dedicated to working on the projects that will
ultimately be presented to the campus and community. There will, of
course, also be lessons in proofreading and design, avenues for
creativity, and time to work as a group to produce the best possible
product. During the semester, the class will produce The Trident in print
form and the production of independent individual work. There will
also be papers that will ask students to reflect critically on the choices
each student made.
Readings:
Boys and Girls Like You and Me. Kyle, Aryn.
Up Jump the Boogie. John Murillo
Exams, Papers, etc.:
Mid-term and Final portfolio.
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
D. Parsons
1-1:50
ENGL 296 01
AMST 296-01
AMERICAN IDENTITIES
*This course will offer a fourth-credit service-learning
option for interested students
Description:
This class investigates representations of and connections between
gender, class, racism, and violence in American culture. Beginning with
some 18th-century writings on relations between Euro-American
colonists and Native Americans, the course will move chronologically
and topically to the present. Obviously we won’t be able to examine
every relevant event, text, and cultural practice from the past three
hundred years, but the course should provide several key sites for
engaging these topics. While literary works will make up the majority of
our class texts, the course will utilize an interdisciplinary approach,
integrating readings and audiovisual materials from history, women’s
studies, sociology, education, and other fields.
Readings:
Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ed. The Classic Slave Narratives (Douglass and
Jacobs)
Anthony Swofford, Jarhead
Cynthia Ozick, The Shawl
Karen Tei Yamashita, Tropic of Orange
Several xeroxed essays (on reserve at the library)
(Final reading list subject to minor revisions)
Exams, Papers: Several 4-page papers, discussion questions/discussion
leading, collaborative group project (with presentation), midterm and
final exams, and lively participation.
*This course will offer a fourth-credit service-learning option for
interested students
CCC Fulfilled:
American History (8B) + Speaking Intensive
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
C. Jarvis
2-3:20
ENGL 302-01
BRITISH LITERARY LANDMARKS
Description:
We will be examining works that are generally considered to be
among the landmarks of British literature. One of the questions we will
be asking is why they are considered to be among the landmarks of
British literature. One of the primary answers is that they are
enjoyable to read. We will be looking at questions involving meaning,
gender, and periodicity.
Readings:
Spenser, Faerie Queene, Book II; poetry of Keats; Dickens, Bleak
House; Eliot, Adam Bede; Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man;
Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway.
Exams, Papers:
Weekly response papers, 3 major papers.
Time Class Meets:
MWF
11-11:50
Instructor:
T. Steinberg
ENGL 310-01
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
Period Course
Description:
We will be examining the literature of the Middle Ages in its
cultural contexts, which means that we will also be looking at the art,
music, philosophy, and history of the Middle Ages. We will read works
about King Arthur, about life after death, and mostly about love.
Readings:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl
Dante, Purgatorio
Marie de France, Lais
Beowulf
Hebrew and Arabic poetry
Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy
Exams, Papers:
Weekly response papers
3 major papers
CCC Fulfilled:
Western Civ
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
T. Steinberg
10-10:50
ENGL 330-01
THE CONTEMPORARY NOVEL
Description:
This course will focus on the “crisis” of the contemporary
(American) novel, as noted by such different authorities as the Nobel
Prize Committee (which has said that it is unlikely that another
American writer would win the prestigious prize any time soon); the
author Jonathan Franzen; and the critic Fredric Jameson. Has the
novel—as Jameson implies—been the weakest among the contemporary
art forms in formulating an effective response to the challenges and
demands posed by our contemporary technocratic and media-saturated
environment? Is it still possible for an author to write a “social novel,”
i.e. a book that is not just read by English majors and their professors
but that manages to appeal to society as a whole?
In order to address these (and other) questions, we’ll start with
Franzen’s controversial 1996 Harper’s essay “Why Bother?” before
turning to Don DeLillo’s novel, Mao II. Next, we’ll turn our attention to
two recent Nobel Prize winners (and one Nobel Prize candidate) from
Africa, the Middle East and Europe in order to explore whether the
global contemporary novel has fared any better than its besieged
American peer.
Readings: (subject to change)
Jonathan Franzen. How to Be Alone. Essays
Don DeLillo. Mao II
Harry Mulisch. The Assault
J.M. Coetzee. Waiting for the Barbarians
Orhan Pamuk. Snow
Additional shorter readings will be provided by the instructor in class
or posted on Angel.
Exams, Papers:
Students will be evaluated via active participation; in-class
presentations; response papers; and a final research paper
Time Class Meets:
MWF
2-2:50
Instructor:
B. Vanwesenbeeck
ENGL 331 01
AMERICAN LITERARY ROOTS
Description:
Where, when, and how did American literature begin? What are
the consequences of those beginnings, not just on literary traditions, but
also on myriad American identities -- artistic, cultural, ethnic, political,
philosophical, racial, religious, and sexual? In this course, we will
develop a deeper awareness of the American experience, American
psyche, and American identity through the earliest periods of American
literature. We’ll achieve that goal by reading, analyzing, and discussing
a diverse group of texts, beginning with examples of Native American
oral literatures and Puritan voices, moving onto the polemical
literatures of the Revolutionary era, and culminating in the emerging
voices of American poets, dramatists, and fiction writers.
Our investigation into the roots of American literary traditions
will focus on the diversity of perspectives, agendas, and styles involved
with the making of American literary history and of American
identities. Among our many lines of inquiry, we’ll ask, what does it
mean to be American? What are the roots of that identity? Where do I
place myself in this context? How does literature help us to explore
these questions? And what are the far-reaching consequences of the socalled “roots” of American literature?
Readings:
TBA (we will use The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Seventh
Edition, Vol. A, Beginnings to 1820)
Exams, Papers:
There will be several short papers, and at least 2 thesis-driven,
analytical essay assignments, student presentations, and a substantial
research project.
CCC Requirements:
American History (B)
Time Class Meet:
MWF
Instructor:
E. VanDette
9-9:50
ENGL 333-01
ENVIRONMENTAL LITERATURE
Description:
This course will provide a survey of American nature writing, focusing
on the latter half of the twentieth century and the contemporary
sustainability movement. In addition to exploring the ways in which
various writers viewed and described the natural world, we will
examine the ethics, politics, and relevant debates that surrounded their
writings. The course will include field trips and various opportunities to
study and to engage our local environments.
Readings:
Elizabeth Dodd, Archetypal Light
Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild
Janisse Ray, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
Bill McKibben, ed, American Earth: Environmental Writing Since
Thoreau (We will read selections by Thoreau, Muir, Whitman, Olmsted,
Teddy Roosevelt, Austin, Carson, Jacobs, Leopold, Abbey, Berry,
Dillard, Kingsolver, Hawken, Pollan, Gore, McKibben, Lovins, Silko,
Wilson, Oliver, Gibbs, and others)
Exams, Papers, etc.: Nature journal, service-learning tree-planting
project and reflection, final project, midterm exam, and lively
participation. (If you take this course, be ready to spend lots of time
outside, to get your hands dirty, and to unplug yourself periodically
from your digital world.)
* N.B. This course contains a required service-learning project with
Greystone Nature Preserve. You will be required to help plan and
participate in a weekend tree-planting event in April at Greystone.
(Transportation will be provided.)
CCC Fulfilled:
American History (8B)
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
C. Jarvis
12:30-1:50
ENGL 340-01
WOST 340
BLACK WOMEN WRITERS
Description:
In this section of Black Women Writers, we will be reading texts
written by black women that offer various depictions of the experiences
of African-American men and women in the United States.
Additionally, we will be looking at the cinematic versions of these texts,
comparing and contrasting the ways in which the film version differs
from or is similar to the literary version. We will consider such
questions as: What demands are placed on a film that aren’t placed on
a literary text? Is the public response to the film version different from
the response to the literary version? If so, why?
Readings:
Texts will include, but not be limited to: Alice Walker’s The Color
Purple, and the Steven Spielberg-directed film of the same name;
Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, and one of the many
cinematic or television versions; Sapphire’s novel Push, and last year’s
Academy-Award-nominated film, Precious.
Exams, Papers:
There will be various writing assignments throughout the semester,
including response papers and longer essays.
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC 12 Upper Level
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
S. Liggins
11-11:50
ENGL 345-01
CRITICAL READING
Description:
The main purpose of this course is to introduce you to twentiethcentury theories that have influenced the ways in which we read literary
texts. Among others, we will explore the following questions: What is it
that makes a text “literary?” Is historical context relevant to the study
of literature? How are class, gender, and race represented in literary
texts? In order to answer these questions, we will examine various
schools of criticism from Russian Formalism and New Criticism to
psychoanalysis and genetic criticism. Several shorter literary texts will
serve as examples and reference points for the explanation of theoretical
issues.
Readings:
David Richter. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts
and Contemporary Trends
Exams, Papers:
Midterm exam, final exam, and final paper.
Time Class Meets:
MWF
9-9:50
Instructor:
B. Vanwesenbeeck
ENGL 349 01
WOST/PHIL
FEMINIST THEORY
Criticism Elective
Description:
This course offers an overview of some of the theoretical issues
and political and intellectual debates that are at the foundation of
contemporary feminist theory. The course will briefly examine a few of
the key issues in “first wave” (1792-1920) and “second wave” feminism
(1920-1980), but our focus will be on selected debates and work in
“third wave” and transnational feminisms. As we examine these topics,
we will also analyze the ways in which specific cultural representations
and constructions of gender sparked feminist writings on politics, class,
race and ethnicity, globalization, work, history, sexuality, art, the self,
the academy, technologies, etc. There will be a strong emphasis on
applying the theory we read to literary texts, popular media
representations, and campus and community events.
Readings:
Primary text: McCann and Kim, eds. Feminist Theory Reader: Local
and Global Perspectives Additional reading will include a work of
fiction, film, or poetry; frequent reading of various publications,
including The New York Times, and various women's studies journals;
reading work by whoever will be the keynote for the spring gender
conference or events connected to convocation
Assignments:
Attending and discussing the spring gender conference and writing an
appraisal; crafting a conference proposal for the National Women's
Studies Association conference or other relevant conference; a research
presentation on a topic involving the new president's social, economic or
foreign policy initiatives; a couple response papers to the reading; a
midterm annotated bibliography surveying contemporary feminist
work in major journals in women's studies and other disciplines; a
seminar paper or project
CCC Fulfilled:
Speaking-Intensive (11)
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
J. McVicker
11-12:20
ENED 353-01
READING/WRITING CHILDREN’S LIT
*ENGL Concentrators & Middle School Ext. only
Description:
In this course we will study children’s picture storybooks and
their use across the elementary school curriculum. We will also practice
the craft of writing fictional stories for children and the art of teaching
fictional story writing to them.
**Tentative** Readings:
Fletcher, What a Writer Needs
Kilborne, Peach and Blue
Buehner, Fanny’s Dream
Brinckloe, Fireflies!
Yolen, Owl Moon
Hest, When Jessie Came Across the Sea
Stewart, The Gardner
Exams, Papers, etc
Writer’s Notebook
Book Log
Genre Study & Presentation
Text Set
Read Aloud Experience & Response
Write Your Own Storybook Project
Teaching/Writing Notes
CCC Fulfilled:
IB
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
M. Wendell
1-1:50
ENED 354-01, 02
LIT FOR THE INTERMEDIATE GRADES
*CH/EC Concentrators & Middle School Ext. only
Description:
This course focuses on literature for students in the intermediate grades.
Future elementary school teachers will learn strategies for helping these young
readers become confident, capable, lifelong readers. In the process, they will
become more active, responsive, critical readers themselves.
**Tentative** Readings:
Serafini, The Reading Workshop
MacLachlan, Journey
Park, A Single Shard
Curtis, The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963
Creech, Heartbeat
Codell, Sahara Special
Ryan, Esperanza Rising
Choldenko, Al Capone Does My Shirts
Giff, Pictures of Hollis Woods
Ryan, Becoming Naomi Leon
Lin, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Park, Mick Harte Was Here
Plus 4 additional novels selected by the student, including one of the following
books:
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
**Tentative** Exams, Papers, etc.
Informal In- and Out-of-Class Reading/Writing Activities
Reading Journal
Book Group Leader Plans/Self-Evaluation
Book Group Evaluations
Literature Study Unit
Final Project
CCC Fulfilled:
IB
Time Class Meets:
01
02
Instructor:
M. Wendell
MWF
MWF
9-9:50
10-10:50
ENED 355-01
ADOLESCENT LIT
ENGL ADOL ED
Description:
In this section of the course, we will consider different ways of
working with three important aspects of teaching literature to
adolescents. Teachers need to make effective choices about what to
teach, how to organize their instruction and how to evaluate what their
students do with those texts. With a focus on a particular genre called
Young Adult Literature, we will sample a variety of strategies to engage
students in meaning making with texts. Students should plan to read,
write and participate extensively in this course.
Readings:
TBA--will include a selection of novels, critical essays and teaching texts
Exams, Papers:
Evaluation activities in this class may include some or all of the
following:
Index Card Responses to Text
Character Journal
Literature Circle Role and Responses
Book Group Leader Plans and Evaluation
Literature Focused Unit
Individual Presentation
Artistic Response to Literature
Dialogue Journal
In-class Exam
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
K. Cole
2-2:50
ENED 356 01
TEACHING WRITING SECONDARY SCHOOL
ENGL ADOL ED
Description:
This advanced writing course is designed as a workshop for
students, especially secondary English Education majors, who plan to
be teachers. The purpose of the course is twofold: 1) to examine,
practice, and improve your own writing, and 2) to explore issues related
to teaching writing at the secondary level including implications of the
writing process, the use of peer response groups, designing effective
writing assignments, and assessing writing.
Readings: TBA
Exams, Papers:
You will be asked to write extensively in order to increase your
awareness of your own writing process, to improve your writing
abilities, and to understand the writing experiences of your future
students. Other course requirements include an annotated bibliography
project and a twenty-minute classroom presentation/workshop.
CCC Fulfilled:
IB
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
S. Johnston
11-12:20
ENED 357 01, 02, 03, 04
LITERACY, LANGUAGE AND
LEARNING THEORY
Description:
Students will be introduced to philosophical, sociological,
psychological and (multi)cultural theories of literacy. By
(re)considering the reading and writing processes, students will examine
the inter-relations between language and literacy. Students will be
asked to grapple with questions, such as “How do people learn to read
and write?” and “How do people make meanings from print and other
media?” Students will also be encouraged to explore the implications
and implementations of those theoretical frameworks within K-12
classroom settings.
Readings:
 Required Textbooks:
Delpit, Lisa. (2006). Other People’s Children. 2nd Edition. New
York, NY: The New Press.
Delpit, Lisa. (2002). The Skin That We Speak. New York, NY:
The New Press.
Other Supplemental readings
 Recommended Textbooks:
Atwell, Nancie. (1998). In the Middle: New Understandings About
Writing, Reading and Learning. 2nd Edition.
Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton/Cook.
Exams, Papers:
 Double-Entry Journal
 Short Critical Papers
 Midterm Paper
 Final Group Project
 Presentations
Time Class Meets:
01, 02
03, 04
* Additional Hours:
Instructor:
E. Liao
TR
TR
M
3:30-4:50
2-3:20
7-9pm W101 Thompson
ENED 359 01
TEACHING POETRY IN ELEMEMTARY
AND MIDDLE SCHOOL
*CH/EC Concentrators & Middle School Ext. only
Description:
In this course future educators will develop competence and
confidence as readers, writers, and teachers of poetry. They will use the
knowledge they gain from class discussions, readings, activities and
projects to develop their own philosophies and strategies for
approaching poetry with elementary and middle school students.
Tentative Readings:
Creech, Love That Dog
Fletcher, Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out
Heard, For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry
Heard, Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle
School
Creech, Hate That Cat
Exams, Papers, etc.:
Informal In- and Out-of-Class Reading/Writing Activities
Poet’s Journal
Original Poetry
Choral Readings
Poetry Readings/Recitations
Heart Maps
Poetry Notebook (collected poems)
Poetry Anthology + Presentation
Final Project
CCC Fulfilled:
Speaking intensive (11)
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
M. Wendell
11-11:50
ENGL 361 01
INTERMEDIATE FICTION WRITING
CO-REQ
ENGL 160 01
*Portfolios Due: 10/22/10
Description:
The class focuses on the creation and evaluation of original
fiction. This is a workshop class, so students will be showcasing their
own work created during this semester. The class will also build on the
knowledge of introductory creative writing and focus in more depth on
form, techniques and problems evident in contemporary creative
writing. Students will do exercises in class and outside of class for
discussion as well as a great deal of reading.
Readings:
Behind the Short Story Ed. Van Cleave and Pierce
Best American Short Stories: 2009—Edited by Alice Sebold.
Flash Fiction Forward. Thomas, James and Robert Shapard (eds).
Boys and Girls Like You and Me. Kyle, Aryn.
Exams, Papers, etc.:
Regular reflections on revision of 2 stories over the course of the
semester
Written project on contemporary fiction writer
CCC Fulfilled:
CO4
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
D. Parsons
3-3:50
ENGL 362 01
INTERMEDIATE POETRY WRITING
*Portfolio Due: 10/22/10
Description:
The class focuses on the creation and evaluation of original
creative work as well as the study of craft beyond the beginner’s level.
Students will be showcasing their own work created during this
semester as well as analyze in great depth form, techniques and
problems evident in contemporary American poetry. Students will do
exercises in class and outside of class for discussion as well as a great
deal of reading.
Readings:
Ordinary Genius. Kim Addonizio
Up Jump the Boogie. John Murillo
Mint Snowball. Naomi Shihab Nye.
The Country without a Post Office. Agha Shahid Ali.
leadbelly. Tyehimba Jess.
Best American Poetry: 2009—Edited by David Wagoner.
Exams, Papers, etc.:
Regular reflections on revision of 4 poems over the course of the
semester
Written project on contemporary poet
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
D. Parsons
10-10:50
ENGL 365-01
FORM AND THEORY OF WRITING
Required for Writing Minor
Course Description:
Writers at all levels of experience and in all genres need to
grapple with issues of form and theory, for one does not simply write,
one writes into an ongoing tradition and an ongoing debate about the
nature(s) and purpose(s) of writing itself. In this course, students will
gain a better understanding of the resources offered by different genres
as well as by the language itself. Students will also explore the ways in
which authors’ formal and thematic decisions exist in dialogue with a
tradition and an ever-evolving theory about writing practice that is
responsive to the cultural, political, and social issues defining one’s time.
Students will be required to explore issues of form and theory relevant
to both poetry and prose and to write in both genres; given the
significant crossover between genres these days, as well as the lessons
each genre has to offer the other (e.g., prose offers the budding poet
theories of narrative and character; poetry offers the budding prose
writer emphasis on the edge-to-edge contact of words and cadence),
these practices will enrich, diversify, and challenge students’ writings.
Readings:
Francine Prose, Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love
Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them (ISBN-10:
0060777052)
John Gardner, The Art of Fiction (ISBN: 0679734031)
James Longenbach, The Art of the Poetic Line (ISBN
10:1555974880/ISBN-13: 978-1555974886)
Annie Finch and Katherine Varnes, An Exaltation of Forms (ISBN:
0472067257)
Aryn Kyle, Boys and Girls Like You and Me (ISBN-10:
1416594809/ISBN-13:978-1416594802)
John Murillo, Up Jump the Boogie (ISBN-10: 0981913148/ISBN-13: 9780981913148)
Various handouts and/or readings and links posted to our ANGEL
course site.
Exams, Papers:
TBD, but likely to include the following: fiction project; poetry project;
class work exercises and quizzes; final project/portfolio (“-ism”: your
aesthetic manifesto and sample work); a possible presentation.
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
N. Gerber
11-11:50
ENGL 378 01
ADVANCED WRITING I: The Essay
“Re-vision--the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering
an old text from a new critical direction--is for us more than a chapter in
cultural history: it is an act of survival.” -- Adrienne Rich, “When We Dead
Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision”
Description:
Coming from the French “essai,” the essay, by definition, involves the
“action or process of trying or testing” (OED). As such, unlike other
genres of writing, the essay has been more difficult to define;
historically, adjectives such as “imperfect” or “unfinished” functioned
to mark its relationship to (and place within) literary culture. However,
as we will see, many writers have taken advantage of the essay's
“unfinished” quality, using it as an opportunity to explore or to test new
ways of thinking about--of re-seeing, reimagining, or “re-vising”--the
world in which they live. In reading and writing the essay, you will have
the opportunity to examine and “try” your hand at a variety of
approaches to writing--from personal narrative to political and social
critique, and to consider questions such as the following: How has the
essay evolved as a genre over the centuries? What purposes does it serve
(as a mode of expression) for writers in different places and at different
times? What are the possibilities and limitations of writing in the essay
genre (in terms of what it allows us to say or to address)? How might it
be used to articulate one's perspective on a particular issue or problem,
or allow us to “look back” or “see with fresh eyes?”
Possible Readings:
Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers (8th edition)
Andrea A. Lunsford, Everything's an Argument (4th edition)
Bill Roorbach, Writing Life Stories
Exams, Papers:
Participation (15%)
Writer's Journal (15%)
Rhetorical Analysis Papers (20%)
Essays (2 short, 2 long) (50%)
Time Class Meets:
Instructor:
TR 11-12:20
K. Hanley
ENGL 380 01
NARRATIVE FILM: SILENCE TO SOUND
* 4 cr. hr. course
Description:
This historical survey presents early film as in intersection of art,
technology, economics and popular culture from the dawn of the
twentieth century on up through the Depression. We focus on the
“classic” films, filmmakers and personalities that shaped and defined
the cinematic art, including the phenomenon of Hollywood, but also
explore various avant-garde experiments that were occurring in
America and Europe and on early animation.
Particular attention will be given to changing cinematic depictions
of gender, race, sexuality, class, and to glamour as a newly-emergent
cultural force.
Readings: TBA
Exams, Papers:
Course work will include short papers and essay exams.
Time Class Meets:
R
3:30-4:30
SCREENING: T
3:30-5:50
Instructor:
S. McRae
ENGL 391-01
ROMANTICISM IN WORLD LIT
Description:
This course compares the development of what we now call the
Romantic Movement in the literature, painting, and music of four
Western cultures – German, French, Russian, and English. We will
investigate common and distinctive Romantic themes and images in
order to evaluate how and why these different cultures pushed the
aesthetic, political, and philosophical concerns of the period in different
directions. We will also discuss how each art form influenced the others
within the period and across cultures. Therefore, while the course will
emphasize reading and textual interpretation skills, students with
interests or experience in visual arts and music may also find the course
rewarding.
Readings:
We will read a variety of poetry, short fiction, drama, and nonfiction prose, including works by J.W. von Goethe, E.T.A. Hoffmann,
Friedrich Schiller, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Prosper
Merimée, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, William
Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, and John Keats.
Students will give presentations on Romantic-era artists or composers
of their choice.
Exams, Papers:
Three in-class exams; one 7-10 minute class presentation; one
10-12 page essay, or equivalent creative project, that will require
independent research.
CCC Fulfilled:
CCC Upper-Level
Time Class Meets:
MWF
Instructor:
D. Kaplin
2-2:50
ENGL 399-01
HIST 399
INED 399
SPECIAL TOPICS:
Niagara’s Underground Railroad
Description:
This class is a team-taught course with Dr. Saundra Liggins from
English, and Dr. Jennifer Hildebrand, from the department of History.
This course will introduce students to the local history surrounding the
Underground Railroad in the Niagara region. Not only will students
gain knowledge of the Underground Railroad’s presence in western
New York and southeastern Canada, but fictional and non-fictional
accounts - ranging from adult to children’s literature - of slaves’
experiences on the Underground Railroad will give the students a more
personal account of slavery in the 19th century.
Readings:
Potential texts will include, but not be limited to: David Blight,
The Underground Railroad in History and Memory; Sketches in the
History of the Underground Railroad, by Eber Petit; Under the Quilt of
Night, by Deborah Hopkinson.
Exams, Papers:
Various exams and writing assignment will be given throughout
the semester.
Time Class Meets:
MWF
2-2:50
Instructors:
S. Liggins – English
J. Hildebrand – History
ENGL 399-02
SPECIAL TOPICS:
Bloomsbury Modernism [423]
Period Course
Description:
Within the wide horizon of international modernism, the
Bloomsbury Group continues to fascinate: this course seeks to expand
students’ understanding of the modernist period and its ongoing
legacies for contemporary thinking. The Bloomsbury Group –
individually and collectively – helped shift attitudes about the nature
and function of art, its relation to philosophy, science, economics,
politics and culture. Like the rest of the moderns, they experienced the
cataclysms of World War I (and some of them, World War II), global
economic depression, the epitome and fall of the British Empire, the
paroxyms of fascism and totalitarianism, the rise of market consumer
capitalism, the changing role of women, and the introduction of new
technologies (e.g., cinema, automobiles, weapons of mass destruction),
and changing views about the nature of reality on the heels of scientific
discoverises and philosophical speculation. They explored the limits of
sexuality and intimate relationships and scandalized much of proper
British society in the way they lived and worked. For them, personal
living space was a canvas for aesthetic contemplation; they challenged
conventional thinking about imperialism, war, the role of women and
homosexuals in society, and much more.
Required texts:
A Bloomsbury Group Reader, ed. S.P. Rosenbaum (Wiley-Blackwell:
ISBN 978-0631190597)
The Bloomsbury Group: Memoirs, ed. S.P. Rosenbaum (University of
Toronto Press: ISBN 978-0802076403
Eminent Victorians, Lytton Strachey (Dover)
The Economic Consequences of the Peace, John Maynard Keynes
(Skyhorse Publishers)
Moments of Being, Virginia Woolf (Mariner: ISBN 978-156619180)
One novel by E.M. Forster, chosen by students
One novel by Virginia Woolf, chosen by students
Lots of ANGEL scans of art by Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry, Duncan Grant,
Dora Carrington + essays (by these as well as Clive Bell and others on
art/aesthetics/philosophy) + recordings of Bloomsbury Group members
Recommended text:
1. The Cambridge Companion to Modernism
Assignments:
Two response papers, one context presentation, one critical
review, one seminar paper/project
Time Class Meets:
TR
2-3:20
Instructor:
J. McVicker
ENGL 399-03
SPECIAL TOPICS:
Nature Writing
Writing Minor Elective
Description:
This class in nature writing is ultimately designed to be a field
course in writing about the natural world, offering you the opportunity
to develop and practice general techniques and processes of poetry and
nonfiction writing. In the process of reading, discussing and practicing
different kinds of environmental writing, students will develop a variety
of writing skills in addition to an appreciation of writing as an
important form of environmental action. The course also considers
writing in relation to oral traditions and newer technologies. This
course will introduce students to a range of modes of writing in
environmental studies, with the focus on poetry and creative non-fiction
essays with regard to the following passage:
Human beings simply cannot go on as they are now going,
exhausting the earth's resources, altering the composition of the
earth's atmosphere, depleting the numbers and varieties of other
species upon whose survival we, in the end, depend. It is not
simply wrong, it is a piece of stupidity on the grandest scale for us
to assume that we can simply take over the earth as though it
were part farm, part park, part zoo, and domesticate it, and still
survive as a species. Up until quite recently we firmly believed
that we could do just this, and we regarded the prospect as man's
natural destiny. (Lewis Thomas, The Fragile Species, New York:
Collier/Macmillan, 1992: 122.)
But we won’t just be writing--we will also be learning to see what
is around us in new ways. We’ll spend some time outdoors (weather
permitting!) observing the natural world. Along the way we’ll read
work by nature writers, meet and talk to some nature writers via Skype,
and explore some of the aesthetic, ethical and philosophical issues that
are inherent in writing about the natural world.
Students are also required to participate in a campus-wide
convocation event on Apr.19 entitled,"The Alphabet of the Birds, Bees,
and Trees: A Celebration of Student Nature Writing," where each
student gets the opportunity to share some of the work that was written
in this class.
Readings:
1)Lit Windowpane, by Suzanne Frickshorn
2)Blood Dazzler, by Patricia Smith
3)Writing Life Stories, by Bill Roorbach
4) American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, by Bill
McKibbins
5) Beautiful in the Mouth, by Keetje Kuipers and a bevy of other
poet/essay handouts
Time Class Meets:
TR
2-3:20
Instructor:
A. Nezhukumatathil
ENGL 400 01
SENIOR SEMINAR
CO REQ: 401-01
Description:
This course will focus on the relevance of English studies to the
“real world,” and the relevance of the “real world” to English studies.
We’ll spend the semester pondering a couple of the biggest questions
about our discipline, especially in the context of the real world. Some
questions we will ask: How do people, both in the real-world and in
academic settings, READ and REMEMBER literature? And what is the
relationship of academic literary studies to the reading and reception of
books in the real world? In what ways and to what ends can
intellectuals engage in real-world reception, discussion, and treatment
of literature? Why and with what potential consequences would we do
that? Students will study and research a literary tradition, text, or
author, with the purpose of producing and participating in both realworld and academic critical conversations.
Readings: TBA
Exams, Papers:
This course will require much writing, both formal and informal, and
for a wide variety of rhetorical situations. Writing assignments will
range from professional to academic, and will include technological,
journalistic, and academic approaches. Students will also share their
work in presentations and community-based venues, as well.
Time Class Meets:
MW
3-4:20
Instructor:
E. VanDette
ENGL 400-02
SENIOR SEMINAR:
Literary History, the Canon, and
the English Major
CO-REQ: 401-02
PRE-REQ: 345
Description:
Students will reflect back upon their careers as English majors,
and consider the role that the writer plays in contemporary culture.
Readings will examine poetry, fiction, and dramatic texts that explore
contemporary political concerns.
Selections from the following readings:
DeLillo, Mao II
Kushner, Homebody/Kabul
Churchill, Far Away
Turner, Here Bullet
Satrapi, Persepolis
Exams, Papers, etc.
Two oral presentations, discussion questions, research paper,
learning analysis, personal bibliography.
CCC Requirements:
Speaking intensive (11)
CCC Fulfilled:
Speaking intensive (11)
Time Class Meets:
TR
Instructor:
A. McCormick
11-12:20
ENGL 412 01
EARLY SHAKESPEARE
Author Course
Description:
We will read some of Shakespeare’s early plays. Our main focus
will be Shakespeare’s experimentation with the genre of tragedy.
Readings:
Titus Andronicus
Romeo and Juliet
As You Like It
Richard II
Julius Caesar
The Merchant of Venice
The Norton Shakespeare, Volume I
Exams, Papers:
Presentation, midterm, final research paper
Time Class Meets:
TR
12:30-1:50
Instructor:
I. Vanwesenbeeck
ENGL 427 01
MAJOR WRITERS:
CHARLES DICKENS
Author Course
Description:
We will systematically explore, in chronological order, four of the
best (and most representative) of Dickens’ novels (see list below).
During the semester, we will work toward answering several big
questions: How do Dickens’ novels relate to the social/historical
contexts in which they were written? Why is Dickens considered by
many readers and scholars to be the most important (best?) novelist in
the history of the English language (i.e., history of his reception)? Why
does Dickens continue to be one of the most popular novelists in the
Anglophone world? How do various theories of the novel and of how to
pursue literary history help us to read, understand, and appreciate the
works of Dickens? What does Dickens have to offer the current
generation of students? Please note: It is important that you purchase
the editions that I have ordered for this course. We will be referring to
page numbers throughout the semester, and it will be impossible to
make sense of the course if you can’t find the passages we will be
discussing.
Readings:
Novels by Dickens:
 Oliver Twist
 Dombey and Son
 Hard Times
 Great Expectations
John Bowen and Robert L. Patten, eds. Palgrave Advances in Charles
Dickens Studies
Exams, Papers:
Daily reading notes, two short papers, presentation, mid-term, final
Time Class Meets:
MWF 9:00-9:50
Instructor:
J. Kijinski
ENED 452 01, 02
INQUIRIES IN STUDENT TEACHING
Brief Description:
This course serves as a complement to student teaching
experiences in English Adolescence Education and examines
professional issues that arise in classrooms with emphasis on
learner-initiated and shaped professional development.
Readings:
Student-determined readings from current professional journals
Exams, Papers:
 Teaching journal entries posted throughout the semester
 Presentation of a teaching inquiry along with supporting
artifact(s)
 A reflection on your presentation and action plan/research
proposal
 An appropriate “report” of your teaching inquiry. Some
possibilities include a conference paper, professional
development seminar materials, a newsletter or a film.
Time Class Meets:
01
02
T
W
Instructor:
S. Spangler
4:30-7
4:30-7
ENGL 455 01
WRITING TUTORS - CO-REQ: ENGL 456
ENGL 456 01
ESL TUTORING -
CO-REQ: ENGL 455
*Enrollment requires permission of the instructor,
Dr. KimMarie Cole
Description:
In these two courses, we will examine the theories and practices of
tutoring individual writers on their work. We will consider both the
needs of native English speakers and English Language Learners. The
focus will be on writing in a number of disciplines. In addition you will
experience all the roles in the tutoring process: observer, co-tutor, a
tutee and a tutor.
Readings:
Articles and papers that will distributed during the semester.
A tutoring handbook
Assessment:
Reader’s notes, annotated bibliography, formal essays, reflective pieces
on tutoring practice
Time Class Meets:
MW
Instructor:
K. Cole
3-4:20
ENGL 460 01
ADVANCED POETRY WRITING
CO-REQ
ENGL 160 02
Description:
In this class, we hope to welcome each other into an advanced
writing community and to give credence to the belief that finding
community with other writers is as necessary and as important as
cultivating writerly solitude in a room of one's own. As Robert Wallace
notes in his introduction to Writing Poems, “Poets keep in mind the
discoveries other poems have brought to light.” With this in mind, we
will investigate ways to build community through poetry and, of course,
sharpen our critical eye by reading contemporary poets and
writing/risking in a class that features the traditional half-lecture, halfworkshop format. Additionally, students are expected to participate in a
public reading of their work at semester's end.
Readings: (TBA, but for now, include the following):
John Murrillo’s Up Jump the Boogie **visiting writer!
Ideal Cities, by Erika Meitner
Tell Me, by Kim Addonizio
In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop, by Steve
Kowit;
Sailing Alone Around the Room, by Billy Collins
and other poetics essays, as needed
Exams, Papers:
A poetics essay, a mid-term research project, regular and intense
workshopping of poems, weekly writing exercises, a poster-sized visual
reproduction of a poem including the creation of your own writing
'tool,' culminating in a class presentation at the campus OSCAR expo,
and the production of a chapbook of poems by semester's end.
Time Class Meets:
TR
3:30-4:50
Instructor:
A. Nezhukumatathil
ENGL 510 01
MAJOR WRITER:
Orhan Pamuk
Author Course
Description:
We will read the Turkish Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk’s entire
oeuvre. The course will explore questions of identity, belonging, and
exile.
Readings:
The Black Book
My Name is Red
Museum of Innocence
Snow
Other Colors
Istanbul
New Life
White Castle
* Other secondary articles and reviews.
Exams, Papers:
4000-word publishable article, active participation in class, and weekly
ANGEL posts.
Time Class Meets:
R
4:30-7
Instructor:
I. Vanwesenbeeck
ENGL 512 01
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:
Bloomsbury Modernism
Description:
Over the past 25 years, the critical assessment of “modernism” has
shifted significantly. Recontextualizing the legacy of the Bloomsbury
Group is, of course, an important dimension to the reconsideration of
modernism generally. While the work of Virginia Woolf is quite well
known now, seeing her work and life in the context of these peers
expands our understanding of her place in arts and letters, politics and
the social order. Their collective and individual contributions to a
rethinking of art, politics, culture and gender are crucial barometers for
the shifts in early 20th century thinking.
For these individuals, literature and art never exist in a vacuum; they
are not secondary to politics or to be used as mere propaganda; they are
fundamentally linked to events and ideas in science, philosophy and
culture. Bloomsbury was a truly multi-disciplinary group of
professional people who saw their personal lives and their work as
thoroughly linked. John Maynard Keynes was a member of the British
political world and critical economist whose work continues to resonate;
Vanessa Bell, Clive Bell, Duncan Grant and Roger Fry stunned Europe
at the turn of the century with their painting along with the other ‘postimpressionists’ (the most famous exhibit of such art was curated by
Fry). Leonard Woolf had been a colonial administrator in what was
then Ceylon (Sri Lanka), who came back to England and wrote novels
as well as diplomatic policy that helped found the precursor to the
United Nations; Lytton Strachey reinvented the public ‘biography’
form.
Readings:
1. A Bloomsbury Group Reader, ed. S.P. Rosenbaum (WileyBlackwell: ISBN 978-0631190597)
2. The Bloomsbury Group: Memoirs, ed. S.P. Rosenbaum (University
of Toronto Press: ISBN 978-0802076403
3. Eminent Victorians, Lytton Strachey (Dover)
4. The Economic Consequences of the Peace, John Maynard Keynes
(Skyhorse)
5. Moments of Being, Virginia Woolf (Mariner: ISBN 978156619180)
6. The Waves, Virginia Woolf (Mariner: 978-0156031578)
7. One novel by E.M. Forster, chosen by students
8. Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Avant-Garde, Christine Froula
(Columbia University Press, 2007: ISBN 978-0231134453)
9. Lots of ANGEL scans of art [Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington,
Roger Fry, Duncan Grant]+ essays [on aesthetics, philosophy,
science] on ANGEL, both by primary members of the BG as well
as other writers, artists, philosophers, and contemporary criticism
Recommended: Cambridge Companion to Modernism; Cambridge
Companion to Virginia Woolf; Palgrave Advances in Virginia Woolf
Studies
Assignments:
One comparative response paper; one in-depth critical research
presentation; frequent contributions to the course discussion board; one
seminar project/paper
Time Class Meets:
TR
3:30-4:50
Instructor:
J. McVicker
ENGL 520-01
GRAD SEMINAR IN LIT/CULTURE:
Film and Theory
Description:
In this course, we interpret and analyze selected films from various
critical perspectives. Beginning with the earliest debates in film
criticism concerning the obligations of the filmmaker to represent
reality and the potential polemical and ideological uses to which film
can be put, we will learn to understand and apply the major critical and
interpretive methods which have evolved as the field of film studies
developed. These approaches will most likely include: psychoanalytic,
Marxist (particularly Frankfurt School), auteur theory, form and
language, narrative and genre studies, feminist, structuralist and poststructuralist, and queer theory. As these critical approaches closely
parallel similar developments in literary studies, you will find that they
provide a useful framework for your literary studies as well.
Each week, we will study one film in a way that highlights one or two
specific approaches. As we only meet once a week, you will be
responsible for watching the film on your own as well as preparing that
week’s reading for class. Class time will be spent watching key clips,
discussing that week’s film, and working through the readings and
theories they present.
Readings:
Braudy and Cohen, Film Theory and Criticism, 7th Edition.
Oxford UP 0195365623
Exams, Papers:
You will be required to keep a weekly viewing journal in which you also
work through your theoretical reading, and to complete a seminarlength paper.
Time Class Meets:
W
4:30-7
Instructor:
S. McRae
ENGL 590-01
SPECIAL TOPICS:
Studies in Composition Theory
Description:
This course will introduce students to the field of composition
studies, its history, and key theoretical perspectives. Over the course of
the semester, we will examine different approaches to composition
pedagogy (process, feminist, critical, etc.), the theories/debates that
inform them, and the development of significant writing program
initiatives in higher education. Readings for the course will primarily
consist of scholarly articles from the field and discourse theory.
Students will be asked to connect theory and practice by reflecting
on/exploring their teaching experiences through the lens of the texts we
address.
Readings:
M.M. Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination (Texas UP, 1981)
Jean Ferguson Carr, Stephen L. Carr, and Lucille Schultz, Archives of
Instruction: Nineteenth-Century Rhetorics, Readers, and
Composition Books in the United States. (Southern Illinois UP,
2005)
Susan Miller, The Norton Book of Composition Studies (W.W. Norton
and Co., 2009)
selections from key journals
Exams, Papers:
Presentations on journal articles
Final Research Paper
Time Class Meets:
T
5-7:30
Instructor:
K. Hanley
ENGL 600-01
GRAD SEMINAR IN
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Description:
The department adopted this course as a formal capstone to our
graduate programs, bringing students together from all major tracks to
participate in assignments and discussions that will help them transition
to the professional world as they look back to review their
accomplishments in the program. The course is structured to meet the
final obligations for candidates for professional certification, while
providing multiple opportunities for all degree candidates to evaluate
their own learning in the program, gain additional practice with
technology, and contemplate the current state of the profession as it
continues to evolve and change.
Required Text:
Dodd, Elizabeth. In the Mind's Eye: Essays Across the Animate World
1 more text, TBA (depends on the Red Book Dialogue dates, not
available at this time)
Time Class Meets:
M
4:30-7:00
Instructor:
K. Cole
1/24-3/14/11