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Home > Graduate Studies > Courses : Fall 2007

English Graduate Courses Fall 2007

EngL

ENGL 4003 History of Literary Theory

(A-F only, unless otherwise noted)

54655-00101 LEC, 08:15 A.M. - 09:30 A.M., M,W  (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), TCEASTBANK, Farber, Lianna, 3 credits.

This course explores some of the major questions about literary theory that preoccupied important thinkers from antiquity through modernism by looking at how they posed and answered questions about language (how words mean), audience (to whom they mean) and the literary (how literary writing differs from other forms of writing). We will begin by examining how theorists thought that words bear meaning: when, for example, can words carry more than their literal meaning? Must they always carry more than their literal meaning? If and when they do carry "extra" meaning, how do we know what to understand? Next, we will look to questions of audience: who is the implied audience for literature? Is the implied audience necessarily male? Is the audience's understanding of a work of literature the same as the author's? How can the author manipulate understanding? What is the relationship between literature and rhetoric? Finally, we will explore these theorists' understanding of what literature is and how it differs from other kinds of writing. Readings will include works by Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Christine de Pizan, Dante, Sidney, Behn, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, and Woolf.

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ENGL 4090 General Topics

(Max crs 12; 3 repeats available)

50700-001 LEC, 11:15 A.M. - 12:30 P.M., Tu,Th  (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), TCEASTBANK, Tom Clayton, Classics of Literary Criticism, 3 credits.

Critical reading and discussion of selected major works and writers from classical antiquity to the twentieth century, including Plato, Aristotle, Horace, and Longinus; and English critics from Sir Philip Sidney to T. S. Eliot, including Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, William Wordsworth, S. T. Coleridge, and others. Some of the works are themselves in recognized literary forms, as in dialogues (Plato, Wilde) or in verse (Horace, Pope). Some writers address primary principles and issues (Plato, Aristotle, Sidney, others), and Aristotle laid the foundation for much that has been written since, asking of any work, in effect, "What is it(s) for (m?" Others address literary works themselves, especially (Longinus, Dryden, Johnson, Coleridge, Eliot). Coleridge wrote half-seriously that everyone is born an Aristotelian or a Platonist, a position taken up in Minnesota writer Robert Pirsig's philosophical autobiographical novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, itself now something of a classic. A basic aim of this course is to cultivate a clear sense of the principles, criteria, and practices involved in the criticism of works we identify as literary (and of much else); and of the thinking by which we arrive at them. Attention will be paid also to such central terms and concepts as literature, and to the curious contention that there is no such thing except by arbitrary privileging, which is refuted daily both on reflection and in practical experience.

55853 -002  LEC, 11:15 A.M. - 12:30 P.M., Tu,Th  (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), FolH   108, TCEASTBANK, Sahota,Guriqbal Singh, The White Man's Burden and Other Colonial Fictions, 3 credits.

The pro-imperialist Anglo-Indian writer Rudyard Kipling urged his audience to “Take up the White Man’s burden – / Send forth the best ye breed – / Go bind your sons to exile / To serve your captives’ need; / To wait on heavy harness / On fluttered folk and wild – / Your new caught, sullen peoples / Half devil and half child.” Kipling’s famous lines provoke one of the essential questions of this course: What kinds of fictions sustained imperial ideology from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century? The other main question of the course is: In what way exactly were Asian societies impacted by Western domination? The colonial fictions we will cover include secure domestic spheres, imperial salvation, martial races, golden ages, ancient lineages, harmonious communities, and liberal futures. The British Empire will be the focus, but we will also touch on Dutch, French, and late Spanish imperial orders. Among the Asian regions, India will be the center of gravity, but Java, Indochina, and the Philippines will also be discussed. As for genres of discourse, the novel will be central, but other kinds of writing will be analyzed. The essential connections between ideology, fiction, and truth will be worked out. Graduate students will have the opportunity to advance their learning in theories of ideology and various problems in postcolonial thought.

Meets with: ALL 3900 section 001, ALL 5900 section 001

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ENGL 4152 Nineteenth Century British Novel

(A-F only, unless otherwise noted)

54654-001 LEC, 06:20 P.M. - 08:50 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 207A, TCEASTBANK, Luke, David B, 3 credits, 1 seat(s) reserved for non-PSEO, non-admitted student .

The course will study the cultural developments of the 19th-C English novel from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein through Bronte, Dickens, Eliot and Hardy, to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1898) in terms of aesthetic, psychological, philosophical, and social issues.

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ENGL 4233 Modern and Contemporary Drama

(A-F only, unless otherwise noted)

54656-001 Lec 11:15 A.M. - 12:30 P.M., Tu,Th (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 305, TCEASTBANK, 3 credits.

This course surveys a range of works written for theater in the 19th and 20th century, including the work of Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw, Elizabeth Robins, Anton Chekhov, August Strindberg, Eugene O'Neill, Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Caryl Churchill, and others. We will emphasize how the major aesthetic forms of modern drama--the well-made play, realism, expressionism, symbolism, epic theater, absurdism-were not just distinctive theatrical styles, but also new ways of "seeing" for the theatrical spectator. We will also look at how social differences such as gender, class, and race inform the content and presentation of these plays. Through lecture, reading, discussion, and sustained writing, students will learn both to analyze dramatic texts, to develop arguments about interpretation, and to appreciate the art of writing for the theater in both its aesthetic and social aspects.

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ENGL 5001 Introduction to Methods in Literary Studies

(prereq grad or instr consent)

31339-001 LEC, 11:00 A.M. - 01:30 P.M., F (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH  207A, TCEASTBANK, Cucullu, Lois B, 3 credits.

This course is designed for students beginning the Ph.D. program in English. At its heart, it will attempt to engage the history of literary studies as a disciplinary formation. We will thus question how knowledge emerges and contests or adds to what is already known. As such, the course will serve as a laboratory for the various communities involved in the production of literary studies, the questions they pose, how they formulate and test their answers, and the means by which they engage audiences in their research. One central intellectual community of interest will be that of English department faculty who over the course of the semester will introduce and present on their current research projects. Their introductions will likely take the form of recent presentations or publications. Their presentations may include their research methodologies, the intellectual content they produce, or the more practical aspects of research, such identifying funding, presenting at conferences, or publishing their research. Based on their examples, class members will work on developing and focusing their own research questions, documenting the present understanding of a topic, and then writing up the results in a professional and scholarly manner. The pooled results of these diverse exchanges will lead to a common understanding of the existing rules and conventions governing the field of literary studies.

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ENGL 5090 Readings in Special Subjects

(Max crs 9; 3 repeats allowed; Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for: ENGL 5100; prereq grad student or instr consent )

41651-001 LEC, 06:20 P.M. - 08:50 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 216, TCEASTBANK, Ferguson,Jeanine, Grant Writing and Development, 3 credits  2 seat(s) reserved for non-PSEO, non-admitted student; 5 seat(s) reserved for Graduate Student.
Meets with: ENGL 3090 section 001.

54664-002 LEC, 02:30 P.M. - 05:30 P.M., Tu  (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), FolH 334, TCEASTBANK, Zipes, Jack, Transformations of the Fairy Tale, 3 credits.

This course will explore the transformations that the classical fairy tales in western culture have undergone through the processes and technologies of orality, literacy, cinema, and the Internet. Aside from focusing on Walter Ong’s major work, Orality and Literacy, as a basis for understanding how and why transformations have occurred, the course will include texts by Eric Havelock, Jack Goody, Dan Sperber, Adam Philips, Lawrence Venuti, Chris Jenks, Pierre Bourdieu, and George Landow that deal with theories of adaptation, translation, cultural reproduction and evolution, and hypertext. Primary prose works and films will be examined and compared within socio-historical contexts to understand how meanings, techniques, and styles shift within a fairy-tale discourse. Are there dominant paradigms that continue to have an influence from the medieval period to the present? How do fairy-tale discourses develop? Why do they have such a profound cultural influence in almost every artistic field? What role did French and British culture play in stabilizing the form of the fairy tale in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? Can one determine an Americanization, homogenization, or globalization of the fairy tale through film and hypertext in the twenty-first century?

The class will be divided into groups that will undertake and present case studies of how fairy tales have been adapted and transformed  Among the works and their variants that will be analyzed are “Blue Beard” (Perrault), “Hansel and Gretel” (Grimm), “The Frog Prince” (Grimm),  “Donkey-Skin”/“All Fur”/”Sapsorrow,” (Perrault, Grimm, Jacobs) “Cinderella” (Perrault and Grimm), Pinocchio (Collodi), L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ( L. Frank Baum), and Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie). In addition to this requirement, a research paper on some aspect of fairy-tale transformation is to be submitted by the end of the semester.

Meets with: CSCL 5910 section 002, CL 5910 section 001, CSDS 5910 section 004, GER 5410 section 001

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ENGL 5400 Readings in Postcolonial Literature

(Max crs 9; 3 repeats allowed; prereq Grad student or instr consent ; credit will not be granted if credit received for: 5140)

55589 -001 LEC, 06:20 P.M. - 08:50 P.M., W (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 207A, TCEASTBANK, Sugnet, Charles J, African Cinema, 3 credits.

This course will survey the major figures in African cinema from its beginnings to the present (Sembene, Mambety Diop, Cisse, Sissako, and others), but with special attention to the meanings of locomotion in African cinema, a topic the instructor is researching. The films will be thoroughly contextualized, and discussion will include thematic issues of general interest to students from a variety of disciplines. Some attention will be given to African videofilms and to music videos produced in Africa.

Meets with: ENGL 3040 section 002

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ENGL 5711 Introduction to Editing

(credit will not be granted if credit received for: 5401)

37379-001  WKS, 04:40 P.M. - 06:35 P.M., M,W  (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 325, TCEASTBANK, Zuckerman, Jeffrey Jay, 4 credits, 2 seat(s) reserved for non-PSEO, non-admitted student

This course is an introduction to the editing process--specifically, learning about the editor-author-publisher relationship, with an emphasis on building skills in basic copyediting, style, grammar, and mechanics. We focus primarily on nonfiction editing; assignments vary from newspaper and magazine articles to academic editing and, briefly, fiction editing. Professional editors from the community visit on several occasions. The course texts include "The Chicago Manual of Style" and several copyediting textbooks. Weekly practice homework assignments are given. There are two midcourse exams and one final. Each has two parts: a take-home portion, in which students have one week to edit an article and query the author, and an in-class portion, in which students show their knowledge of mechanics, grammar, and style in a deadline-driven (and open-book) publishing environment. Email access is required.

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ENGL 5800 Practicum in the Teaching of English

(prereq Grad student or instr consent )

27267-001 SEM,  02:00 P.M. - 03:55 P.M., F  (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 203, TCEASTBANK, Daigre, Eric Stephen, 2 credits. NOTE: Students may register for a letter grade and produce a paper, or for S/N.

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ENGL 5992 Directed Readings, Study, or Research

(Max crs 15; 15 repeats allowed; prereq instr consent , college consent )

29841-001 DRD (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), TCEASTBANK, 1 - 3 credits

44083-002 DRD (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), TCEASTBANK, 1 - 3 credits

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ENGL 8090 Seminar in Special Subjects

(Max crs 12; 4 repeats allowed; prereq Engl grad student or instr consent )

47503-001 SEM, 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., W (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 202, TCEASTBANK, Damon, Maria, Contemporary African American Poetries, 3 credits.

This course will concentrate on reading the work of poets participating in (formally and politically) dissenting traditions and/or movements such as the Black Arts Movement and its descendants, CAM (Caribbean Arts Movement), the Umbra School, the Darkroom Collective, Black Took, etc., and spoken word/hiphop-influenced material. Such writers/editors may include writers such as Kamau Brathwaite, Amiri Baraka, Gwendolyn Brooks, Jayne Cortez, Ntozake Shange, Harryette Mullen, Nathaniel Mackey, Lorenzo Thomas, Bob Kaufman, giovanni singleton, Renée Gladman and forerunner Jean Toomer. Important aspects of complementary art forms, especially music (jazz) will be attended to, as will the ambient journal and literary magazine "scene" and relevant theoretical and critical writings (by, for instance, Paul Gilroy, Fred Moten, Brent Edwards, Aldon Nielsen etc).  

54657-002 SEM, 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., Th (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 207A, TCEASTBANK, Matar, Nabil, Britain & Islamic Mediterranean: 1588-1713, 3 credits.

The course examines the intellectual and historical contacts between early modern England and the Muslim Mediterranean. The material to be covered includes drama, travel literature, captivity accounts and theological polemic. The course adopts a literary as well as a historical approach, moving chronologically from the victory of the English Armada to the Peace of Utrecht, and showing the transformation in English perceptions of Islam from the period of Elizabethan cooperation to the beginning of British imperial control of the Mediterranean.

54952-003 SEM, 01:00 P.M. - 03:30 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), EddyH 20, TCEASTBANK, Lee, Josephine D, Asian American Cultural Criticism, 3 credits.

This seminar will consider contemporary formulations of Asian American racial formation, identity, history, community, culture, and politics. We will discuss postwar versions of Orientalism, the legacies of civil rights activism and cultural nationalism, and some contemporary directions for imagining “Asian America.”  We will also look at a number of models for current research in Asian American Studies.  Readings will include John Kuo Wei Tchen’s New York Before Chinatown, David Palumbo-Liu’s Asian/American, and Aihwa Ong’s Flexible Citizenship. Participants will be expected to collect, analyze, and present a number of source materials as well as write a final research paper.

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ENGL 8110 Seminar: Medieval Literature and Culture

(Max crs 12; 4 repeats allowed)

54743-001 SEM, 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., Th (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 216, TCEASTBANK, Shuffelton, George, Popular Literature of Late Medieval England, 3 credits.

An examination of Middle English works that appealed to the widest variety of medieval audiences, including romances, lyrics, saints' lives, conduct books, and short narratives of every stripe. Special attention will be paid to the context provided by manuscripts, as well as trends in religious practice, visual art, and material culture. The class will also consider theories of popular culture, audience, and performance.

54798-002 SEM, 01:00 P.M. - 03:30 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), FolH 131, TCEASTBANK, Brown, Mary Frances, Roman de la Rose, 3 credits.

Meets with: MEST 8110 section 001, FREN 8290 section 001

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ENGL 8120 Seminar in Early Modern Literature and Culture

(Max crs 12; 4 repeats allowed; A-F only, unless otherwise noted; prereq Grad major or instr consent )

44849-001 SEM, 06:20 P.M. - 08:50 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 202, TCEASTBANK, Scheil, Katherine West, Women in Early Modern England, A-F only, 3 credits.

This seminar explores the subject of women in early modern England from a variety of angles: the historical and social conditions for women, women writers, women as subjects in literature, women as performers and patrons, and the complexities involved for a woman monarch (Queen Elizabeth I) in a patriarchal society. Assignments will combine training in research methods with experience to prepare students for the academic profession, including seminar presentations and short papers, book reviews, a research paper, and an editing assignment.

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ENGL 8400 Seminar in Post-Colonial Literature, Culture, and Theory

(Max crs 12; 4 repeats allowed)

54658-001 SEM, 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), EddyH 102, TCEASTBANK, Ismail,Qadri M, Culture & Colonialism, 3 credits.

The term culture was not used in the Anglo-U.S. episteme, at least in the sense we understand it today, until the later part of the nineteenth century. Put differently, until then we didn't all know we "had" a culture. In this course, we will consider the implications of that statement. Or, more exactly, of this question: how might one read the emergence of culture at that politico-epistemological moment in modern, colonial Britain?

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ENGL 8444 FTE: Doctoral

(No Grade Associated, unless otherwise noted; prereq Doctoral student, adviser and DGS consent)

29143-001 THE, TCEASTBANK, 1 credit.

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ENGL 8666 Doctoral Pre-Thesis Credits

(Max crs 60; 4 repeats allowed; No Grade Associated, unless otherwise noted; prereq Max 18 cr per semester or summer; doctoral student who has not passed prelim oral).

29445-001 THE, TCEASTBANK, 1 - 18 credits.

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ENGL 8888 Thesis Credit: Doctoral

(Max crs 100; 10 repeats allowed; No Grade Associated, unless otherwise noted; prereq Max 18 cr per semester or summer; 24 cr required).

35429-001 THE, TCEASTBANK, 1 - 24 credits.

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ENGL 8992 Directed Reading in Language, Literature, Culture, Rhetoric, Composition, or Creative Writing

(Max crs 15; 15 repeats allowed; prereq instr consent, dept consent).

27227-001 DRD (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), TCEASTBANK, 1 - 9 credits

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EngW

ENGW 5102 Advanced Fiction Writing

(max crs 8; 2 repeats allowed; prereq dept consent).

20129-001 WKS, 06:20 P.M. - 08:50 P.M., M (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 203, TCEASTBANK (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), 4 credits.

We will read and critique student fiction. Each student is expected to have two new short stories at the beginning of the term that they will present and that will be critiqued by their fellow students. Additionally, we will read and analyze published work with an eye toward structure and style. Students are expected to practice editorial skills, apply criticism, and re-draft at least one of the stories they have presented in class. Students will be graded on improved writing proficiency, editorial contributions, and class participation.

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ENGW 5104 Advanced Poetry Writing

(max crs 8; 2 repeats allowed; prereq dept consent).

20131-001 WKS, 11:00 A.M. - 01:30 P.M., F (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 302, TCEASTBANK, 4 credits.

We will read and critique student poetry. We will also read and analyze published work. Students are also encouraged to keep notebooks, to memorize, and to bring to class favorite poems and statements on poetry and poetics for discussion and reading. At the end of the semester, students turn in a portfolio of poems, including revisions.

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ENGW 5106 Advanced Literary Nonfiction Writing

(max crs 8; 2 repeats allowed; prereq dept consent).

35267-001 WLS, 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., W (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 215, TCEASTBANK, 4 credits.

Students will discuss and analyze a range of nonfiction works (memoir, essay, journalism), and submit their own work for class discussion/critique.

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ENGW 5205 Screenwriting

(prereq jr or sr, one EngW 3xxx course, dept consent permission number available in creative writing office).

32141-001 WKS, 06:20 P.M. - 08:50 P.M., Th (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), AkerH 215, TCEASTBANK, 4 credits.

A hands-on advanced workshop for students with experience in creative writing and/or a working knowledge of basic screenplay format. Students’ scripts-in-progress may be either a complete short film or an excerpt from a feature-length film. Class critiques will emphasize issues of imagery, characterization, plot and structure, as well as the creative process within screenwriting. Also expect in-class screenings, guests, and nuts and bolts discussion about story pitches, synopses and other vagaries of the professional industry. For advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and writers from the community interested in continuing education. Non-MFA students must either be a junior or a senior with at least one completed 3000-level EngL/EngC/EngW course. Students need not be English majors. Application form available in 209 Lind.

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ENGW 5606 Literary Aspects of Journalism

(A-F only, unless otherwise noted; Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for: JOUR 5606W).

55478-001 WKS, 12:20 P.M. - 01:10 P.M., M,W,F (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), TCEASTBANK, 3 credits.

Literary aspects of journalism as exemplified in, and influenced by, works of American/British writers, past/present. Lectures, discussions, weekly papers, critiques.

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ENGW 5993 Directed Study in Writing

(max crs 18; 18 repeats allowed; prereq instr consent, dept consent, college consent).

21113-001 DST (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), TCEASTBANK, 1 - 4 credits
28609-002 DST (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), TCEASTBANK, 1 - 4 credits

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ENGW 8101 Reading Across Genres

(S-N only, unless otherwise noted; prereq creative writing MFA student, dept consent).

20133-001 SEM, 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., Th (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), AmundH 162, TCEASTBANK, Gonzalez, Ray, 4 credits.

This class is designed for students beginning the MFA program. Students will be introduced to the program, how it functions, and how to make the best use of the three years. Students will read and discuss short works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, with a number of the books focusing on the writing life and the craft of working in various genres. There will be visits by members of the Creative Writing faculty throughout the semester. Packets containing samples of writing from the faculty will be discussed during each visit. Class time will consist of discussion of the required texts, writing assignments, and several workshop sessions. The main focus will be studying the three major genres taught in the program (poetry, fiction, and non-fiction) with an emphasis on writing and developing skills in more than one genre.

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ENGW 8140 Thesis Seminar: Poetry

(max crs 8; 2 repeats allowed; prereq creative writing MFA student, instr consent ).

43291-001 SEM, 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 202, TCEASTBANK, Browne, M D, 4 credits.

This course is designed for students who are constructing or completing their MFA theses in poetry. Required for students in the second and third years.

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ENGW 8150 Thesis Seminar: Fiction

(max crs 8; 2 repeats allowed; prereq creative writing MFA student, instr consent ).

46811-001 SEM, 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), AmundH 162, TCEASTBANK, Schumacher, Julie, 4 credits.

This course is designed for students who are constructing or completing their MFA theses in fiction. Required for students in the second and third years.

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ENGW 8160 Thesis Seminar: Nonfiction

(max crs 8; 2 repeats allowed; prereq creative writing MFA student, instr consent ).

46813-001 SEM 03:35 P.M. - 06:05 P.M., Tu (09/04/2007 - 12/12/2007), LindH 207A, TCEASTBANK, Sprengnether, Madelon M, 4 credits.

This course is designed for students who are constructing or completing their MFA thesis in nonfiction. Required for students in the second and third years.

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ENGW 8333 FTE: Master's

(No Grade Associated, unless otherwise noted; prereq Master's student, adviser and DGS consent).

28791-001 THE, TCEASTBANK , 1 credit

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ENGW 8990 MFA Creative Thesis

(max crs 48; 24 repeats allowed; prereq 8140, 8150, 8160, creative writing MFA student, instr consent).

25027-001 THE (09/05/2006 - 12/13/2006), TCEASTBANK, 2 - 8 credits
27919-002 THE (09/05/2006 - 12/13/2006), TCEASTBANK, 2 - 8 credits

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Professor Jani Scandura leads graduate seminar

Professor Jani Scandura leads graduate seminar