Courses of Study
Sections
Department of English and American Literature
Last updated: September 8, 2009 at 4:26 p.m.
Undergraduate Major in English and American Literature
English and American literature has been an essential component of Brandeis from the outset. The department has three key goals in educating its students. First, students with a wide range of interests take our courses to learn about the various literary and cultural traditions that influence creative work in the English language. Second, we teach students to notice the striking and revealing features not only of literary works, but also of the texts that surround us in our daily lives. Third, those who choose to become English majors or minors will acquire the skills and the judgment required for the careful and imaginative unpacking of literary texts and their multiple contexts. For ambitious students, an honors essay or two-semester honors thesis often marks the culmination of the major.
Undergraduate Major in Creative Writing
Creative writing workshops have been taught at Brandeis since 1951. In 1977 creative writing became one of the English tracks, and in 2003 a major in its own right. It is also a popular choice in a minor. The Creative Writing Program is structured to allow flexible participation in its activities by a diverse body of students, whose interest or commitment may vary in nature or over time. The major consists of a combination of writing workshops, literature courses, studio art, and independent study, culminating in a body of creative work of high caliber, and a historical and contemporary grasp of literary currents. Under the thesis option, it culminates in a book-length thesis in poetry, fiction, or another literary genre, written under the close supervision of a creative writing faculty member over the two semesters of the senior year.
The graduate program in English and American literature is designed to offer training in the interpretation and evaluation of literary texts in their historical and cultural contexts.
Literature
There are no prerequisites for declaring the major, and students may declare at any time; the first step is an appointment with the undergraduate advising head (UAH), who will assign a suitable adviser based on a student’s interests. Prospective majors are encouraged to take two or three courses in the department in their first and second years. ENG 1a (Introduction to Literary Studies) focuses on the essential skills needed for studying literature and is required for the major; it is an excellent first course for those commencing the major as well as for first or second years who are considering the major. Courses with numbers below 100 are especially suitable for beginning students.
Students interested in the creative writing program should consult the pamphlet Creative Writing at Brandeis that is available at www.brandeis.edu/departments/english/creativewriting_brochure.html.
Paul Morrison, Chair
Modernism. Literary criticism and theory.
Aliyyah Abdur-Rahman
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century African-American literature and culture. Gender, queer theory, and sexual politics. Critical race theory. Multiethnic feminisms.
Ulka Anjaria
Nineteenth- and twentieth-century South Asian literature and modernity. Postcolonial studies. Theories of the novel. Nationalism. Literature and the modern state. Cultural anthropology.
Poetry.
American literature. Romanticism. Composition. Philosophy of education. Literature of the American South. Poetry.
Mary Baine Campbell
Medieval literature. Poetry. Renaissance literature.
William Flesch
Poetry. Renaissance. Theory.
Michael Gilmore
Puritanism. Literature of the American Revolution. American Renaissance. Film studies.
Caren Irr
Twentieth-century American literature. Theory. Cultural studies.
Gish Jen, Co-Director of Creative Writing
Fiction.
Thomas King
Performance studies. Gender studies. Gay studies. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century drama.
Susan S. Lanser
Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British and French studies. Women writers. The novel. Women's studies and lesbian/gay studies. Comparative literature.
Stephen McCauley
Writer-in-Residence.
John Plotz, Undergraduate Advising Head
Victorian literature. The novel. Politics and aesthetics.
Laura Quinney, Graduate Advising Head
Romanticism. Literature and philosophy. Eighteenth-century literature.
David Sherman
Modernism. Contemporary British literature. Narrative theory. Ethical philosophy. Elegy.
Dawn Skorczewski, Director of University Writing
Twentieth-century poetry. Psychoanalysis and pedagogy. Composition studies.
Faith Smith
African and Afro-American literature. Caribbean literature.
Elizabeth Swanstrom, The Florence Levy Kay Fellow in the Digital Humanities
Digital culture and electronic literature. History of science. Media theory. Twentieth-century American and Latin American literature.
Renaissance literature. Shakespeare. Religion and literature.
Michaele Whelan, Vice Provost
Contemporary Anglophone literature. American literature. Theory.
Franz Wright.
Jacob Ziskind Visiting Poet-in-Residence.
Courses are listed by category after the descriptions of the majors and minors. Courses only fulfill the requirement under which they are listed. For other restrictions, please see the section, Special Notes Relating to Undergraduates.
Literature Major
Ten semester courses are required, including the following:
A. ENG 1a (Introduction to Literary Studies). This is the gateway course for all students contemplating a major in English; it is also a writing-intensive course. It is a first encounter with the theories, critical methods, and forms of close attention to texts that the English major has to offer. The ENG 1a reading list posted on the English department Web site gives a sense of authors covered.
B. Two semester courses dealing primarily with literature in English written before 1800. For specific information about whether a particular course fulfills the pre-1800 requirement, please consult the instructor or the undergraduate advising head. See the listing of courses below.
C. Two semester courses dealing primarily with literature in English written after 1800. By definition, film courses cannot fulfill the literature distribution requirements. See the listing of courses below.
D. One course each from at least two of the following three categories:
1) Literary Theory
2) Media/Film
3) Multicultural Literature / World Anglophone:
Multicultural literature courses are those that focus on texts written by ethnic or racial minorities within the US or Great Britain; World Anglophone courses focus on texts written in English outside the United States and England (e.g., Indian, African, or Caribbean literature). See the listing of courses below.
The literary theory, media/film and multicultural literature / world Anglophone requirements must be fulfilled in addition to the historical requirements: there can be no double counting (i.e. South African literature cannot fulfill both the world Anglophone and the post-1800 requirements). By definition, film courses cannot fulfill the literature distribution requirements. See the listing of courses below.
E. Three elective semester courses. These may include any course offered or cross-listed in the department with the following exceptions: no more than one creative writing workshop may be counted as an elective. Cross-listed courses (taught by non-department faculty) are considered to be outside the department and are subject to the restriction in special notes below.
F. At least two courses must be 100-level (courses ending in 9 are excluded); these may fall into any of the above categories. Normally 100-level courses will have prerequisites, such as ENG 1a plus one additional course in the department. We suggest 100-level courses be taken in the junior and senior years.
G. There is no double counting between course categories. (i.e., The Novel in India cannot count for both the world Anglophone and post-1800 requirements.)
Honors Track: Consideration for graduation with honors requires a GPA of 3.50 or higher in courses counting toward the major, and satisfactory completion of a senior honors essay (one-semester ENG 99a or 99b), which counts as an eleventh course. Qualified students may elect instead to complete the senior honors thesis (ENG 99d for two semesters) of which one section may count as an elective. To write an honors essay or thesis, students must arrange to be advised by a faculty member in the department who has agreed to direct the essay or thesis. The undergraduate advising head can assist students in finding appropriate directors. Departmental honors are awarded on the basis of excellence in all courses applied to the major, as well as all courses taken in the department, including the senior essay or thesis, as determined by the department faculty. Students in the creative writing major who complete ENG 96d will be considered to have completed a senior honors thesis.
For more information please visit http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/english/undergrad/honors.html
A student majoring in literature may double-major or minor in creative writing.
Creative Writing Major
This major may be declared upon the completion of three courses in directed writing and of ENG 1a (Introduction to Literary Studies) or ENG 11a (Literary Method). Ten semester courses are required, including the following:
A. ENG 1a (Introduction to Literary Studies) or ENG 11a (Literary Method) which should be taken as early as possible.
B. Four semester courses in directed writing (poetry, prose, or both). See course category breakdown for list of directed writing courses. One of these courses may be fulfilled by an independent study (ENG 98a or b) in the student's senior year. At least two of the required workshops must be taken with senior creative writing faculty; that is, two courses must come from the 109 and/or 119 categories. At least one course in directed writing must be completed before the end of the sophomore year. A student may take as many workshops as she or he might like, but two must be concluded before the beginning of the senior year. No more than one course in directed writing can be taken in any semester in the same genre. Two such courses may be taken in different genres. Such courses facilitate writing under direction in a creative and critical community and are offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis, with the exception of THA 104a. All directed writing courses are by instructor's signature and require a manuscript submission. Majors cannot be guaranteed entry to such courses outside the selection process of each.
C. One course in foundational texts: ENG 10a, HUM 10a or ENG 10b.
D. One course in multicultural or world Anglophone literature. Multicultural literature courses are those that focus on texts written by ethnic or racial minorities within the United States or Great Britain; World Anglophone courses focus on texts written in English outside the United States and England (e.g., Indian, African, or Caribbean literature). Other courses may also be suitable; students with questions should consult the director of creative writing. See the listing of courses below.
E. Two semester elective courses, at least one of which must be offered by faculty in the English department. Cross-listed courses (taught by non-department faculty) are considered to be outside the department and are subject to the restriction in special notes below.
F. An elective course in a studio or performing art.
Poetry or Fiction Thesis Option: Eleven semester courses are required. The directed writing requirement is reduced to a minimum of three semester courses in directed writing (poetry, prose, or both). At least two of the required workshops must be taken with senior creative writing faculty; that is, two courses must come from the 109 and/or 119 categories. Also required is the satisfactory completion of two semesters of the Senior Creative Writing Thesis (ENG 96d).
ENG 96d (Senior Creative Writing Thesis). The student will produce, under the direction of his or her adviser, a body of writing (usually a book of poems, collection of stories, or a novel) of appropriate scope (two semesters). The poetry or fiction thesis option major also requires an essay on a tutorial bibliography: a list of eight to twelve books, chosen by the candidate in collaboration with the thesis adviser and/or the director of creative writing in the candidate’s genre. The essay will be due at the end of the senior year, along with the thesis.
Admission to the poetry or fiction thesis option in creative writing is by application only. Admission will be decided by the creative writing faculty on completion by the student of at least one course from the 109 or 119 directed writing courses. The deadline for admission is at the end of April. Students are notified by the end of the spring examination period.
Recommendations for honors in the creative writing major will be made to the English and American literature department by the creative writing faculty, based on the student's work as exemplified by the senior thesis.
A student majoring in creative writing may double-major in English and American literature or minor in English, American and Anglophone literature.
English and American Literature /Creative Writing Double Major
This major may be declared upon the completion of three courses in directed writing and of ENG 1a (Introduction to Literary Studies) or ENG 11a (Introduction to Literary Method). Fourteen semester courses are required; fifteen if pursuing honors in literature or the poetry or fiction thesis option, including the following:
A. ENG 1a (Introduction to Literary Studies) or ENG 11a (Introduction to Literary Method) which should be taken as early as possible.
B. One course in foundational texts: ENG 10a, ENG 10b or HUM 10a.
C. Two semester courses dealing primarily with literature in English written before 1800. For specific information about whether a particular course fulfills the pre-1800 requirement, please consult the instructor or the undergraduate advising head. See the listing of courses below.
D. Two semester courses dealing primarily with literature in English written after 1800. By definition, film courses cannot fulfill the literature distribution requirements. See the listing of courses below.
E. One course in multicultural or world Anglophone literature. Multicultural literature courses are those that focus on texts written by ethnic or racial minorities within the United States or Great Britain; World Anglophone courses focus on texts written in English outside the United States and England (e.g., Indian, African, or Caribbean literature). Other courses may also be suitable; students with questions should consult the director of creative writing or the UAH. (There can be no double counting. i.e. South African literature cannot fulfill both the world Anglophone and the post-1800 requirements). See the listing of courses below.
F. One course from either the Literary Theory Category or the Media/Film category. The media/film requirement and the theory requirement must be fulfilled in addition to the historical requirements: there can be no double counting. By definition, film courses cannot fulfill the literature distribution requirements. See the listing of courses below.
G. One elective, which may be any course offered or cross-listed in the department with the following exception: this requirement cannot be fulfilled by a creative writing workshop. Cross-listed courses (taught by non-department faculty) are considered to be outside the department and are subject to the restriction in special notes below.
H. An elective course in a studio or performing art.
I. At least two courses must be 100-level (courses ending in 9 are excluded); these may fall into any of the above categories. Normally 100-level courses will have prerequisites, such as ENG 1a plus one additional course in the department. We suggest 100-level courses be taken in the junior and senior years. (This suggestion does not apply to courses ending in 9.)
J. A minimum of four semester courses in directed writing (poetry, prose, or both) or three semester courses in directed writing and one semester course as an independent study (ENG 98a or b) in the student's senior year. See course category breakdown for list of directed writing courses. At least two of the required workshops must be taken with senior creative writing faculty; that is, two courses must come from the 109 and/or 119 categories. At least one course in directed writing must be completed before the end of the sophomore year. Such courses facilitate writing under direction in a creative and critical community and are offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis with the exception of THA 104a. See "B" in the creative writing major description.
For those students pursuing the poetry or fiction thesis option, these requirements are adjusted as follows: a minimum of three semester courses in directed writing (poetry, prose, or both). At least two of the required workshops must be taken with senior creative writing faculty; that is, two courses must come from the 109 and/or 119 categories. Also required is the satisfactory completion of two semesters of the Senior Creative Writing Thesis (ENG 96d) in which the student will produce, under the direction of his or her adviser, a body of writing (usually a book of poems, a collection of stories, or a novel) of appropriate scope. The poetry or fiction thesis option also requires an essay on a tutorial bibliography: a list of eight to twelve books, chosen by the candidate in collaboration with the thesis adviser and/or the director of creative writing in the candidate’s genre. The essay will be due at the end of the senior year. This option is by application only.
K. There is no double counting between course categories. (i.e., The Novel in India cannot count for both world literature and post-1800, etc.)Minor in English, American and Anglophone Literature
Five courses are required, including the following:
A. ENG 1a (Introduction to Literary Studies). This is the gateway course for all students contemplating a major or minor in English; it is a writing-intensive course. It is a first encounter with the theories, critical methods, and forms of close attention to texts that the English major has to offer. Authors generally include Shakespeare, Keats, and Rushdie.
If you are considering the minor in English, and successfully completed ENG 11a before the fall 2009, you may substitute it for the ENG 1a requirement; please speak with the Undergraduate Advising Head to file the correct paperwork.
B. Any four additional ENG courses, with the following exception: only one creative writing workshop may count toward the minor.
C. Students are encouraged to take courses on related topics; the undergraduate advising head can assist students in grouping courses appropriately. For instance, students may wish to take courses in one national literature: ENG 6a (American Literature in the Age of Lincoln), ENG 16a (Nineteenth-Century African-American Literature), ENG 7a (American Literature from 1900-2000), ENG 8a (Twenty-First-Century American Literature). Alternatively, students might elect to take a sequence of courses in a single genre: for example, ENG 63a (Renaissance Poetry), ENG 125a (Romanticism I), ENG 157a (Contemporary Poetry), and ENG 109a (Directed Writing: Poetry). Or, students might take courses clustered around a particular topic, such as gender: ENG 46a (Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers), ENG 107a (Caribbean Women Writers), ENG 114b (Gender and the Rise of the Novel in England and France), and ENG 131b (Feminist Theory). Students may also wish to select courses that concentrate on a particular historical period (such as the eighteenth century) or a methodological approach (such as postcolonial studies). These options are not exhaustive.
D. Transfer credits, Advance Placement credit, and cross-listed courses do not count toward the minor.
Minor in Creative Writing
Five semester courses are required, including the following:
A. Three semester courses in directed writing (poetry, prose, or both). See course category breakdown for list of directed writing courses. Such courses facilitate writing under direction in a creative and critical community and are offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis, with the exception of THA 104a.
B. Two ENG electives.
C. Transfer credits, Advance Placement credit, and cross-listed courses do not count toward the minor.
Creative Writing Major/English and American Literature Minor
Thirteen courses are required, including the following:
A. ENG 1a or ENG 11a, which should be taken as early as possible.
B. One course in foundational texts: ENG 10a, ENG 10b or HUM 10a.
C. One course in multicultural or world Anglophone literature. Multicultural literature courses are those that focus on texts written by ethnic or racial minorities within the United States or Great Britain; World Anglophone courses focus on texts written in English outside the United States and England (e.g., Indian, African, or Caribbean literature). Other courses may also be suitable; students with questions should consult the director of creative writing. See the listing of courses below.
D. An elective course in a studio or performing art.
E. A minimum of four semester courses in directed writing (poetry, prose, or both), or three semester courses in directed writing and one semester course as an independent study (ENG 98a or b) in the student's senior year. See course category breakdown for list of directed writing courses. At least two of the required workshops must be taken with senior creative writing faculty; that is, two courses must come from the 109 and/or 119 categories. At least one course in directed writing must be completed before the end of the sophomore year. A student may take as many workshops as she or he might like, but two must be concluded before the beginning of the senior year. No more than one course in directed writing can be taken in any semester in the same genre. Two such courses may be taken in different genres. Such courses facilitate writing under direction in a creative and critical community and are offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis, with the exception of THA 104a.
For those students pursuing the poetry or fiction thesis option, these requirements are adjusted as follows: a minimum of three semester courses directed writing (poetry, prose, or both). At least two of the required workshops must be taken with senior creative writing faculty; that is, two courses must come from the 109 and/or 119 categories. Also required is the satisfactory completion of two semesters of Senior Creative Writing Thesis (ENG 96d) in which the student will produce, under the direction of his or her adviser, a body of writing (usually a book of poems, a collection of stories, or a novel) of appropriate scope. The poetry or fiction thesis option also requires an essay on a tutorial bibliography: a list of eight to twelve books, chosen by the candidate in collaboration with the thesis adviser and/or the director of creative writing in the candidate’s genre. The essay will be due at the end of the senior year. This option is by application only.
F. Five elective semester courses. These may include any course offered or cross-listed in the department with the following exception: no more than one creative writing workshop may be counted as an elective. Cross-listed courses (taught by non-department faculty) are considered to be outside the department and are subject to the restriction in special notes below.
G. For the English and American literature minor, students are encouraged to take courses on related topics; the undergraduate advising head can assist students in grouping courses appropriately. For instance, students may wish to take courses in one national literature: ENG 6a (American Literature in the Age of Lincoln), ENG 16a (Nineteenth-Century African-American Literature), ENG 7a (American Literature from 1900-2000), ENG 8a (Twenty-first-Century American Literature). Alternatively, students might elect to take a sequence of courses in a single genre: for example, ENG 63a (Renaissance Poetry), ENG 125a (Romanticism I), ENG 157a (Contemporary Poetry), and ENG 109a (Directed Writing: Poetry). Or, students might take courses clustered around a particular topic, such as gender: ENG 46a (Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers), ENG 107a (Caribbean Women Writers), ENG 114b (Gender and the Rise of the Novel in England and France), and ENG 131b (Feminist Theory). Students may also wish to select courses that concentrate on a particular historical period (such as the eighteenth century) or a methodological approach (such as postcolonial studies). These options are not exhaustive.
English and American Literature Major/Creative Writing Minor
Thirteen semester courses are required, including the following:
A. ENG 1a. This is the gateway course for all students contemplating a major in English; it is also a writing-intensive course. It is a first encounter with the theories, critical methods, and forms of close attention to texts that the English major has to offer. Authors generally include Shakespeare, Keats, and Rushdie.
B. Two semester courses dealing primarily with literature in English written before 1800. For specific information about whether a particular course fulfills the pre-1800 requirement, please consult the instructor or the undergraduate advising head. See the listing of courses below.
C. Two semester courses dealing primarily with literature in English written after 1800. By definition, film courses cannot fulfill the literature distribution requirements. See course listing below.
D. One course each from at least two of the following three categories:
- Literary Theory
- Media/Film
- Multicultural Literature / World Anglophone:
Multicultural literature courses are those that focus on texts written by ethnic or racial minorities within the United States or Great Britain; World Anglophone courses focus on texts written in English outside the United States and England (e.g., Indian, African, or Caribbean literature). See course listing below.
The literary theory, media/film and multicultural literature / world Anglophone requirements must be fulfilled in addition to the historical requirements: there can be no double counting (i.e. South African literature cannot fulfill both the world Anglophone and the post-1800 requirements). By definition, film courses cannot fulfill the literature distribution requirements.
E. Three elective semester courses, which may include any course offered or cross-listed, in the department, with the following exceptions: no more than one creative writing workshop may be counted as an elective. Cross-listed courses are considered to be outside the department and are subject to the restriction in special notes below.
F. At least two courses must be 100-level (courses ending in 9 are excluded); these may fall into any of the above categories. Normally 100-level courses will have pre-requisites, such as ENG 1a plus one additional course in the department. We suggest 100-level courses be taken in the junior and senior years. (This suggestion does not apply to courses ending in 9.)
G. Three semester courses in directed writing (poetry, prose, or both). See course category breakdown for list of directed writing courses. Such courses facilitate writing under direction in a creative and critical community and are offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis, with the exception of THA 104a.
H. There is no double counting between course categories. (e.g., The Novel in India cannot count for both world literature and post-1800, etc.)
Courses numbered 89 and 92 do not count toward requirements for any major or minor offered by the department.
No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the major or minor requirements in English and American literature and creative writing.
Advanced Placement credit and courses taken on the pass/fail option do not count toward the English and American literature and creative writing majors and minors.
A maximum of three non ENG, cross-listed courses (taught by non-department faculty) may be counted toward the majors. This restriction includes courses taken while on study abroad and approved as transfer credit.
The following policy is for students who transfer to Brandeis after one year or more at another postsecondary institution. Transfer credit toward the major: application for the use of transfer credit (awarded by the Office of the University Registrar) toward the major requirements must be accompanied by a Requirement Substitution Form and an External Transfer Credit Form. The student may be asked to provide a syllabus, a transcript of grades, and in some cases examples of written work for which credit is being sought. The number of major requirements that can be satisfied with transfer credit is at the discretion of the undergraduate advising committee but generally will follow these guidelines for the following tracks only: literature major, literature/creative writing double major, and the literature major/creative writing minor.
A student who transfers to Brandeis with sophomore standing can transfer up to two courses toward one of the aforementioned tracks.
A student who transfers to Brandeis with junior standing can transfer up to four courses toward one of the aforementioned tracks.
This department participates in the European cultural studies major and, in general, its courses are open to ECS majors.
USEM, COMP, and UWS courses do not count toward the major or minor requirements in English and American Literature and Creative Writing.
More detailed descriptions of the courses offered each semester will be available on the English and American literature department website.
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Terminal Degree)
To earn the terminal Master of Arts in English (as distinct from the master's in passing), students must complete the following requirements.
Course Requirement
Seven courses in the Department of English and American Literature; at least three courses must be 200-level seminars--one course must be the ENG 300a (Master's Thesis). ENG 200a (Methods of Literary Study) is optional but recommended.
Residence Requirement
Students may enroll on a full or part-time basis. Students must complete the MA program within four years; the department strongly encourages MA students to complete the program within two years.
Language Requirement
A reading knowledge of a major foreign language (normally modern European, classical Greek, or Latin) must be demonstrated by passing a written translation examination. The completion of the language requirement at another university does not exempt the student from the Brandeis requirement.
Symposium Requirement
MA students will present a paper at the First-Year Symposium in the spring term.
Thesis Requirement
This project must be twenty-five to thirty-five pages long, and must be deposited electronically to the Robert D. Farber University Archives. Papers written for course work, papers presented at conferences, and papers written specifically for the MA degree are all acceptable. Each paper will be evaluated by a reader for whom the paper was not originally written. The paper must satisfy the reader's standard for excellence in MA degree-level work.
Course Requirement
Six courses, three of which must be 200-level seminars. ENG 200a (Methods of Literary Study) is optional but recommended.
Residence Requirement
The minimum residence requirement is one year, though students with inadequate preparation may require more.
Language Requirement
A reading knowledge of a major foreign language (normally modern European, classical Greek, or Latin) must be demonstrated by passing a written translation examination. The completion of the language requirement at another university does not exempt the student from the Brandeis requirement.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in English and American Literature & Women's and Gender Studies
A. WMGS 205a, the foundational course in women's and gender studies. Under certain circumstances, an alternative course may be substituted for WMGS 205a. See adviser and women's and gender studies program administrator for approval.
B. One course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 198a or the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies).
C. Five additional courses in the English and American literature department selected from 100-level courses and graduate seminars (200-level courses). At least three of these courses must be at the 200 level. One of these five courses must be listed as an elective with the women's and gender studies program. ENG 200a (Methods of Literary Study) is optional but recommended.
D. One women's and gender studies course in a department other than the English and American literature department.
E. Participation in a fall semester noncredit women's and gender studies graduate proseminar.
F. Language requirement: A reading knowledge of a major foreign language (normally modern European or classical Greek or Latin) must be demonstrated by passing a written translation examination. The completion of the language requirement at another university does not exempt the student from the Brandeis requirement.
G. First-year students must present a paper at the first-year symposium in the spring term.
H. Joint MA paper requirement: Completion of a master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, at least one of whom is a member of the English and American literature department, and at least one of whom is a member of the women's and gender studies core or affiliate faculty.
Program of Study: First-Year Students
First-year students normally take six courses in the English department. Each student (including those who entered with a master's degree) will take ENG 200a (Methods of Literary Study) in the fall semester; this seminar includes attention to methods of analysis and research. In addition to satisfying these core requirements, each student will design a program of study in light of the strengths and weaknesses of his or her previous preparation and in accord with his or her own interests. First-year students are encouraged to meet with their faculty advisers to discuss curricular offerings, departmental expectations, and the nature of the academic career.
First-year students select other courses from departmental offerings at the 100 and 200 level, although at least two of these electives must be 200-level seminars. Any course taught at the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies at Radcliffe College by a faculty member in the department, and approved by the department, shall be deemed the equivalent of a 200-level course within the English department for the purposes of meeting degree requirements. First-year students may apply to the director of graduate studies for permission to take courses offered in other departments at Brandeis and by the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies at Radcliffe College, but not taught by department faculty members, and through consortium arrangements with Boston College, Boston University, and Tufts University.
First-year students attend departmental events, such as guest lectures, and participate in monthly workshops on teaching and research methods and other career skills. At the annual First-Year Symposium, held in the spring, the first-year students present a paper to an audience of graduate students and faculty. First-year students should demonstrate reading knowledge of a major foreign language by passing a written translation examination. (See "Language Requirements.") The department meets at the end of every academic year to discuss the progress of its graduate students, particularly first- and second-year students. (See "Readmissions Criteria and Probation.")
Program of Study: Beyond the First Year
Students who come to Brandeis with a BA degree normally take two courses during each term of their second year and complete their course work during their third year. Students who come with a MA degree complete their course work during their second year. All second-year students take ENG 299b (Classroom Pedagogy and the Teaching of Writing) in the spring semester. Students are encouraged to take or audit additional courses during their third year. Students have an obligation to review their preparation in the field with their advisers and to ensure that they are acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of the various historical periods and genres of English and American literature and a deeper knowledge of the particular period or field they propose to offer as a specialty. In addition to choosing courses within the department, students may take courses offered in other departments at Brandeis, through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies at Radcliffe College, and through consortium arrangements with Boston College, Boston University, and Tufts University.
In their third year, students must generally pass a second foreign language examination if they have not done so earlier (see "Language Requirement" below). No later than the end of the third year, students should have prepared a reading list for the field examination and submitted it to a committee of three faculty members for approval. The examination must be taken no later than the first of November during the fourth year. The department encourages students to complete all requirements for the PhD, except the prospectus review and dissertation by the end of the third year.
Second- and third-year students continue to participate in monthly workshops on teaching and research methods and other career skills. Other workshops, targeted to third- and fourth-year students, focus on such topics as publication, the field exam, and the dissertation prospectus. The job placement officer offers annual workshops for doctoral candidates and recent graduates on the job search and serves as a mentor for job seekers. Advanced graduate students have opportunities to present their work to other scholars in their field by participating in various national and international conferences, for which some travel funds are available. Each year graduate students organize colloquia, at which they present their work, and invite faculty members to speak on their current research. In 2006, graduate students organized "Traffic," the third Brandeis University Graduate Student Conference in English and American Literature, sponsored by the department and GSAS.
Teaching Requirements and Preparation
Teaching is a core requirement of the PhD program in English and American literature and is integral to the professional development of all graduate students. Training in teaching is provided through assistantships in department courses and participation in the Brandeis University Writing Program, which conducts instruction in the Brandeis Writing Center, and in a key first-year course, the University Writing Seminar (UWS). Together these programs train students in writing and rhetoric. UWS courses are topics courses in which instructors create their own syllabi.
During their years at Brandeis, doctoral candidates will participate in a broad range of instructional activities, all of which are preceded by extensive training. Many first- and second-year graduate students will start their professional instructional development when they receive training to serve as tutors in the Writing Center or in Brandeis's large ESL program. All second-year graduate students take ENG 299b, a course in composition pedagogy offered by the director of university writing in the spring.
First-year graduate students have no teaching responsibilities; instead they devote themselves to course work. Teaching assignments after the first year vary according to the pedagogical needs of the individual student, the curricular needs of the department, and enrollments. In recent years, typical assignments have been as follows. Second-year students have had two teaching assignments, typically serving as a teaching fellow in two department courses, one each semester. Third- and fourth-year students have had two teaching assignments; typically, two sections of first-year writing, one each semester. Fifth-year students have had two teaching assignments, typically serving as an advanced fellow in a department course and teaching one section of writing. The university reserves the right to change these assignments as necessary.
Residence Requirement
The minimum residence requirement is two years beyond the master's degree or three years beyond the bachelor's degree.
Language Requirement
In addition to the first language requirement, the student must (1) demonstrate a reading knowledge of a second major foreign language; or (2) demonstrate an advanced competence in the first foreign language by taking a graduate-level literature course in a foreign language (not in translation) and writing the seminar paper using foreign language texts; or (3) take a graduate course, ordinarily a seminar, in a field closely related to research on the dissertation. Approval of the graduate committee must be sought before such a course is taken; the student must demonstrate the relevance of the proposed course to the dissertation. Students must have completed all language requirements in order to hold the dissertation prospectus conference and defense (see below) and establish candidacy.
Field Examination
All candidates for the PhD are required to pass an oral examination in the historical period in which the candidate expects to write a dissertation. This examination is taken no later than the first of November during the fourth year and must be passed by the unanimous vote of the committee members. Expectations for the field exam are published annually in the department brochure. At the discretion of the examiners, students taking the field exam may be asked to retake one portion of their exam. If a student is asked to retake a portion of the exam, the time frame for the second examination will be set by the examiners in consultation with the student.
Fourth-year students should allow sufficient time beyond the field exam to prepare a dissertation prospectus and hold the dissertation prospectus conference and defense (see below), which are necessary to establish eligibility for fifth-year funding. The department encourages students to complete all requirements for the PhD, except the prospectus review and dissertation, by the end of the third year.
Dissertation Prospectus Conference and Defense
No later than six months after passing the field exam, and in time to establish eligibility for fifth-year funding students must hold a prospectus conference and defense, which both first and second readers will attend. The prospectus must be signed by both readers in order to be approved by the department. The specific length and design of the prospectus will be agreed upon by the doctoral candidate and her/his first and second readers. A prospectus typically describes the topic, the questions to be explored, the method of research, and reasons for believing the dissertation will be an original contribution to knowledge. The student's director and/or second reader may also require a chapter outline and/or bibliography.
Students must have completed all language requirements in order to hold the dissertation prospectus conference and defense (see below) and establish candidacy.
Students who do not establish candidacy by completing course work and language requirements and by passing the field exam and dissertation prospectus conference and defense according to these deadlines will be placed on probation and will be ineligible for fifth-year funding. Students who do not demonstrate satisfactory progress during the probationary year will be withdrawn from the program.
Each student will submit a dissertation in a form approved by his/her dissertation director and by a committee appointed by the director of graduate studies. One member of this committee must be from a graduate department at Brandeis outside the Department of English and American Literature or from another university. The student will defend the dissertation at a final oral examination.
Readmission Criteria and Probation
Continuation in and the annual readmission to the doctoral program in English and American Literature depends upon showing suitable academic progress. Suitable academic progress is defined as follows. Students are expected to maintain an A- average. Students may take no more than two incompletes in any semester. All fall incompletes must be made up by the end of the following spring semester, and all spring incompletes must be made up by the end of the following fall semester. Students who require incompletes must apply for them from the relevant instructor in advance. Incompletes will not be automatically granted.
Full-time doctoral students are expected to complete course requirements and pass all language exams no later than the end of the third year, pass the field exam no later than November 1 during the fourth year, and present the dissertation proposal for review and approval by the first and second readers within six months of the field exam and in time to establish eligibility for fifth-year funding.
To qualify for ABD status, all doctoral students must satisfy the department's requirements for training in teaching. Accordingly, all doctoral students will be given a variety of teaching assignments and will be expected to attend the pedagogical workshops offered by the director of writing and the director of graduate studies.
The department reviews each student's progress toward the degree annually, at the end of the spring semester. Following this meeting, the director of graduate studies will notify any student not meeting departmental expectations that s/he must demonstrate satisfactory progress toward the degree by the end of the subsequent year. The student must meet with the director of graduate studies to review her/his standing in the program at the end of the fall semester during this probationary year. If the student fails to meet departmental expectations for progress toward the degree by the end of the probationary year, s/he will be withdrawn from the program.
Funding Opportunities for Advanced Graduate Students
Fifth-year graduate students who are ABD (all but dissertation) continue to receive fellowships and tuition scholarships. Doctoral candidates who have passed the field exam may apply for University Prize Instructorships; these competitive awards allow recipients to design and teach their own courses. Fifth and sixth-year students expecting to complete their dissertations in the next academic year may enter the university-wide competition for the Mellon Dissertation Year Fellowships while seventh and eighth-year students expecting to complete their dissertations in the next academic year may apply for the Redstone Dissertation Year Fellowships. Both groups may also enter the departmental competition for the Milton Hindus Memorial Endowed Dissertation Fellowship. Additional opportunities are available in the University Writing Center and in the program for teaching English as a second language.
Completion of Degree
Students entering the PhD program with a BA must earn the degree within eight years. Students entering the PhD program with an MA must earn the degree within seven years. A student requesting an extension must demonstrate significant progress toward completing the dissertation by submitting a prospectus (or equivalent, including a chapter outline) and at least one chapter to the student's adviser. If the student's adviser agrees to support the requested extension, the adviser will refer the case to the graduate committee for approval.
Courses of Instruction
Core Course for the English Major and Minor
ENG
1a
Introduction to Literary Studies
[
hum
wi
]
This course is designed to introduce students to basic skills and concepts needed for the study of Anglophone literature and culture. These include skills in close reading; identification and differentiation of major literary styles and periods; knowledge of basic critical terms; definition of genres. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
Core Courses for the Creative Writing Major
ENG
1a
Introduction to Literary Studies
[
hum
wi
]
This course is designed to introduce students to basic skills and concepts needed for the study of Anglophone literature and culture. These include skills in close reading; identification and differentiation of major literary styles and periods; knowledge of basic critical terms; definition of genres. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
ENG
11a
Introduction to Literary Method
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hum
]
The course's purpose is to train students in the critical reading of literary texts. There will be frequent assignments of writing that involve literary analysis. Multiple sections. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
English: Literary Theory / Criticism Courses
ENG
101a
Studies in Popular Culture
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hum
]
A critical analysis of contemporary culture, including television, film, video, advertising, and popular literature. Combines applied criticism and theoretical readings.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
101b
Media Theory
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hum
]
How has the Internet changed the practice of writing? How can writing map cyberspace? What happens to the personnel of writing (author, reader, publisher) in context of cybernetics? Immerses students in critical and utopian theories of cyber textuality. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
111b
Postcolonial Theory
[
hum
]
Seminar in postcolonial theory with relevant background texts, with an emphasis on the specificity of its theoretical claims. Readings from Spivak, Said, Bhabha, Appiah, Mudimbe, Marx, Lenin, Freud, Derrida, Césaire, and Fanon, among others. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
ENG
121a
Sex and Culture
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hum
]
An exploration of the virtually unlimited explanatory power attributed to sexuality in the modern world. "Texts" include examples from literature, film, television, pornography, sexology, and theory. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
131b
Feminist Theory
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hum
]
Introduces students to critical feminist thought by focusing closely each year on a different specific "problem," for example: nineteenth- and twentieth-century modernity as manifested in the development of globalizing capitalism, the racialized democratic citizen and wage work; our understanding of cultural production; debates about the nature, applications, and constitution of feminist theory. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
ENG
141a
Literature and Geography
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hum
oc
]
What does where mean? This course studies the arguments of geographers, philosophers, and literary theorists who test spatial categories such as the city, the nation, and the globe. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
151a
Queer Studies
[
hum
]
Prerequisite: An introductory course in gender/sexuality and/or a course in critical theory.
Historical, literary, and theoretical perspectives on the construction and performance of queer subjectivities. How do queer bodies and queer representations challenge heteronormativity? How might we imagine public spaces and queer citizenship? Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
151b
Theater/Theory: Investigating Performance
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hum
]
Prerequisite: A course in dramatic literature and familiarity with theatrical production.
The theater, etymologically, is a place for viewing. Theory, etymologically, begins with a spectator and a viewing. Reading theories of theater and performance against paradigmatic dramatic texts and documents of social performance, speculation, and spectatorship are reviewed. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
171a
History of Literary Criticism
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hum
]
Explores major documents in the history of criticism from Plato to the present. Texts will be read as representative moments in the history of criticism and as documents of self-sufficient literary and intellectual interest. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Morrison or Ms. Quinney
ENG
181a
Making Sex, Performing Gender
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hum
wi
]
Prerequisite: An introductory course in gender/sexuality and/or a course in critical theory.
Gender and sexuality studied as sets of performed traits and cues for interactions among social actors. Readings explore the possibility that differently organized gender and sexual practices are possible for men and women. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
English: Media and Film Courses
ENG
20a
Bollywood: Popular Film, Genre, and Society
[
hum
nw
]
An introduction to popular Hindi cinema through a survey of the most important Bollywood films from the 1950s until today. Topics include melodrama, song and dance, love and sex, stardom, nationalism, religion, diasporic migration, and globalization. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Anjaria
ENG
27a
Page, Stage, and Screen
[
hum
]
Addresses the relation of form to content, or medium to message, within and among three different genres: novel, drama, and film. Investigates: What modes of human subjectivity and sensory perception does each genre presuppose and promote? Why? What values can and cannot be expressed in any given genre? Why do certain genres achieve cultural dominance while others become residual? Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
27b
Classic Hollywood Cinema
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hum
]
A critical examination of the history of mainstream U.S. cinema from the 1930s to the present. Focuses on major developments in film content and form, the rise and fall of the studio and star system, the changing nature of spectatorship, and the social context of film production and reception. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
30b
New American Cinema of the 1960s and 70s
[
hum
]
Survey of the "new Hollywood" of the late 1960s and early 1970s (e.g., Nicholas, Hopper, Scorcese, Polanski, Altman). Explores underground and international influences on this group;s aesthetic. Investigates filmic responses to the dying studio system and the ideals of the counterculture. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
48a
Introducing New Media
[
hum
]
Considers important theoretical frameworks for understanding the manner in which digital technology relates to cultural production, aesthetic expression, and prior media forms. Readings by N. Katherine Hayles, Lev Manovich, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, and Talan Memmott, among others. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Swanstrom
ENG
50b
American Independent Film
[
hum
]
Explores non-studio filmmaking in the United States. Defines an indie aesthetic and alternative methods of financing, producing, and distributing films. Special attention given to adaptations of major film genres, such as noir thrillers, domestic comedy, and horror. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
60a
Documentary Prose and Film
[
hum
]
An introduction to documentary, covering major works of nonfiction prose and film. Focuses on the variety of documentary techniques in both media and controversies surrounding efforts to represent the real. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
67a
Art of the Screenplay
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hum
]
Examines the screenplay as a unique literary genre and illustrates how it has evolved, from early silents to the contemporary feature. Delves into the mythology of plot and character, breaks down the structure of scripts, and explores how novels are adapted to the screen. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Weinberg
ENG
70a
Magic Lanterns to Movies: The Origins of Narrative Film
[
hum
]
Explores the birth of moving pictures, from Edison and Lumiere's experiments to "Birth of a Nation" and "The Jazz Singer". Traces film's roots in the photographic experiments, visual spectacles and magical lanterns of late nineteenth-century France, England, and America, and its relationship to the era's literary experiments. Filmmakers include: Georges Melies, Abel Ganz, Sergei Eisentein, D W Griffiths, Charlie Chaplin. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
77a
Screening the Tropics
[
hum
]
How territories and modes of life are designated as "tropical," and how this is celebrated or "screened out" in film, photography, national policy, travelogues, and fiction. Films by Cozier, Cuaron, Duigan, Denis, Fung, Henzell, Ousmane, and Sissako. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Smith
ENG
147a
Film Noir
[
hum
]
A study of classics of the genre (The Killers, The Maltese Falcon, Touch of Evil) as well as more recent variations (Chinatown, Bladerunner). Readings include source fiction (Hemingway, Hammett) and essays in criticism and theory. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Flesch or Ms. Quinney
ENG
177a
Hitchcock's Movies
[
hum
]
A study of thirteen films covering the whole trajectory of Hitchcock's career, as well as interviews and critical responses. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Flesch
English: Multicultural Literature/World Anglophone Courses
ENG
16a
Slavery and Self-Making in African American Literature
[
hum
]
Critical investigation of African American writing as it engages slavery, freedom, and literary self-fashioning. We will read autobiographies, uplift novels, protest fiction and neo-slave narratives. Particular attention will be paid to issues of identity, sexuality, and social status; textual modes of representation and liberatory politics; the literary culture of sentiment; and African American constructions and contestations of race, gender, nation, and expressive culture since the antebellum period. Authors may include Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Gayl Jones, Harriet Wilson, William Wells Brown, Frances E. W. Harper, Pauline Hopkins, and Toni Morrison. Contemporary films may include Sankofa, Amistad, and Daughters of the Dust. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman or Ms. Smith
ENG
22a
Filmi Fictions: From Page to Screen in India
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hum
nw
]
An introduction to filmic adaptations of Indian novels from Bollywood, Indian art cinema, and Hollywood. Readings include novels as well as theoretical approaches to adaptation. Films include Slumdog Millionaire, Pather Panchali, Devdas, Guide, Umrao Jaan, and others. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Anjaria
ENG
47a
Asian-American Literature
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hum
]
Examines literature in English by North American writers of Asian descent from the nineteenth century to the present. Focuses on issues of literary collectivity based on national origin and race, and how gender, sexuality, and class have affected critical approaches to this literature. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
ENG
57b
Writing the Nation: James Baldwin, Philip Roth, Toni Morrison
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hum
]
An in-depth study of three major American authors of the twentieth century. Highlights the contributions of each author to the American literary canon and to its diversity. Explores how these novelists narrate cross-racial, cross-gendered, cross-regional, and cross-cultural contact and conflict in the United States. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
ENG
70b
The Global Humor Novel
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hum
]
Examines the distinct styles and functions of humor in novels from around the globe, with a primary emphasis on novels written after 1990. Focuses on novels that explore the comic transgression of cultural and national boundaries. Special one-time offering, spring 2010.
Mr. Wepler
ENG
77b
Literatures of Global English
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hum
nw
]
Survey of world Anglophone literatures, in translation, with attention to writers' literary responses to aspects of English as a global language with a colonial history. Focus on Indian subcontinent, Africa, the Caribbean, North America. Writers may include Rushdie, Devi, Coetzee, Kincaid, Atwood, Anzaldua. Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENG
87a
Sex and Race in the American Novel
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hum
]
Depictions of racial and sexual others abound in American literature of the twentieth century. Reading texts across racial, geographical, and temporal divides, this course investigates the representation of non-normative sexualities as signaled, haunted, or repaired by an appeal to race. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
ENG
107a
Caribbean Women Writers
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hum
]
About eight novels of the last two decades (by Cliff, Cruz, Danticat, Garcia, Kempadoo, Kincaid, Mittoo, Nunez, Pineau, Powell, or Rosario), drawn from across the region, and read in dialogue with popular culture, theory, and earlier generations of male and female writers of the region. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith
ENG
127a
The Novel in India
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hum
nw
wi
]
Survey of the novel and short story of the Indian subcontinent, their formal experiments in context of nationalism and postcolonial history. Authors may include Tagore, Anand, Manto, Desani, Narayan, Desai, Devi, Rushdie, Roy, Mistry, and Chaudhuri. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
ENG
127b
Migrating Bodies, Migrating Texts
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hum
]
Beginning with the region's representation as a tabula rasa, examines the textual and visual constructions of the Caribbean as colony, homeland, backyard, paradise, and Babylon, and how the region's migrations have prompted ideas about evolution, hedonism, imperialism, nationalism, and diaspora. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith
ENG
138a
Making Modern Subjects: Caribbean/Latin America/U.S.A. 1850-1950
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hum
]
Considers inflections of "the modern" across the Americas, allowing us to compare models and strategies at a historical moment when shifts from slavery to "freedom" and from Europe to the U.S.A., frame anxieties about empire, citizenship, technology, vernaculars, and aesthetics. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith
ENG
147b
South African Literature and Apartheid
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hum
]
Survey of South African literature, its engagement with apartheid and its aftermath: fiction, drama, poetry. Authors may include Paton, Millin, Louw, Gordimer, Fugard, Head, Serote, Sepamla, Matshoba, Coetzee, and Wilcomb. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
ENG
162a
Totalitarian Fictions
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hum
]
Investigates global dictator novels, with attention to formal issues surrounding the novel's ability to represent illiberal arrangements of power. Authors include Garcia Marquez, Achebe, and Junot Diaz. Films include "The Last King of Scotland" and Oliver Stone's "W". Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Anjaria
ENG
167a
Decolonizing Fictions
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hum
nw
]
An introduction to basic concepts in postcolonial studies using selected literary works from South Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Specific themes covered include the colonial encounter; colonial education and the use of English; nationalism; gender, violence, and the body; and postcolonial diasporas. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Anjaria
ENG
167b
The Postmodern African-American Novel
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hum
]
A study of experimental fiction of prominent twentieth-century African-American authors. Investigates features of the postmodern novel including disruptive chronologies, the representation of fragmented identities, intertextual play and parody, and the critique of Western modernity as long-standing practices in black writing. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
ENG
197b
Within the Veil: African-American and Muslim Women's Writing
[
hum
]
In twentieth-century United States culture, the veil has become a powerful metaphor, signifying initially the interior of African-American community and the lives of Muslims globally. This course investigates issues of identity, imperialism, cultural loyalty, and spirituality by looking at and linking contemporary writing by African-American and Muslim women. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
English: Pre-1800 Courses
ENG
4a
The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century
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hum
]
1660-1800: The age of reason and contradiction, enlightenment, and xenophobia. Surveys literary, critical, philosophical, political, and life writing, investigating the emergence of a literary public sphere, a national canon, and the first professional women writers. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
23a
Remembering and Dismembering: Staging the Body in Early Modern England
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hum
]
Seventeenth-century London performance investigated through the domains of its production--the court, the city, and the emerging "town," center of a new leisure class. Drama, masques, and music drama studied as modes of representation negotiating class mobility, changing concepts of state authority and personal identity, and shifts in gender and sexual relations.
Mr. King
ENG
33a
Shakespeare
[
hum
]
A survey of Shakespeare as a dramatist. From nine to twelve plays will be read, representing all periods of Shakespeare's dramatic career. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Flesch or Ms. Targoff
ENG
43a
Major English Authors, Chaucer to Milton
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hum
]
A survey of major English authors from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance, including Chaucer, Wyatt, Spencer, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Sidney, Donne, Herbert, Marvell, Milton. No prior experience in medieval or Renaissance literature is required. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Targoff
ENG
50a
Love Poetry from Sappho to Neruda
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hum
]
This course explores the relationship between love and poetry. Starts with the ancient Greek poet Sappho and proceeds through the centuries, reading lyrics by Catullus, Ovid, Propertius, Petrarch, Dante, Shakespeare, Donne, Rossetti, and others. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Targoff
ENG
63a
Renaissance Poetry
[
hum
]
Examines lyric and narrative poetry by Wyatt, Surrey, Marlowe, Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, Donne, and Herbert. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Flesch or Ms. Targoff
ENG
64b
From Libertinism to Sensibility: Pleasure and the Theater, 1660-1800
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hum
wi
]
Investigates the exchange between performance texts and contemporaneous discussions of class, nationality, and political party. Emphasizes the emergence of modern gender and sexual roles and the impact of the first professional women actors. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
73a
Witchcraft and Magic in the Renaissance
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hum
]
Focuses on the representation of witches, wizards, devils, and magicians in texts by Shakespeare, Marlow, and others. Historical accounts of witchcraft trials in England and Scotland are read and several films dramatizing these trials are viewed. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Targoff
ENG
103a
Exploring the Self in Seventeenth-Century Poetry
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hum
]
Examines the poetry of Donne and his contemporaries, including George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, and Andrew Marvell. These "metaphysical poets" will be read alongside critical accounts by Samuel Johnson, T. S. Eliot, and others. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Targoff
ENG
114b
Gender and the Rise of the Novel in England and France
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hum
]
Explores the emergence of the novel as a modern genre in the eighteenth century, asking why the novel arises first in England and France, and what the new genre's preoccupations with women and gender can teach us about European society, culture, and literature. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Lanser
ENG
123a
Dream Visions: Genre, History, and the Mysterious
[
hum
]
A study of the mysterious function of imaginary dreams in medieval and Renaissance writing, along with actual dream dictionaries and dream transcriptions of the period. Visions of Hell, prophetic dreams, apocalypse, Chaucer, Dante, Shakespeare, Nashe, and others. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
123b
English Literature in the Age of Shakespeare
[
hum
]
An exploration of the literary world in which Shakespeare lived and wrote. Readings include poems by Spenser, Sidney, and Donne; plays by Marlowe and Jonson; essays by Montaigne and Bacon, as well as a few works by Shakespeare. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Targoff
ENG
128a
Alternative Worlds: Modern Utopian Texts
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hum
]
Prerequisite: ENG 11a.
British, European, and American works depicting alternate, often "better" worlds, including More's Utopia, Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World, Voltaire's Candide, Casanova's Icosameron, selections from Charles Fourier, Alexander Bogdanov's Red Star, Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis: Dawn, Wolfgang Becker's Goodbye Lenin! Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
132b
Chaucer I
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hum
]
Prerequisite: ENG 10a or ENG 11a.
In addition to reading Chaucer's major work The Canterbury Tales in Middle English, pays special attention to situating the Tales in relation to linguistic, literary, and social developments of the later Middle Ages. No previous knowledge of Middle English required. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
133a
Advanced Shakespeare
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hum
]
Prerequisite: ENG 33a or equivalent.
An intensive analysis of a single play or a small number of Shakespeare's plays. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Flesch
ENG
134a
The Woman of Letters, 1600-1800
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hum
]
Women writers from Behn to Austen; novels, plays, pamphlets, diaries, and letters. The culture's attitudes toward women writers; women's attitudes toward literary achievement and fame, women's resistance to stereotypes, and women's complicity in the promulgation of images of the "good woman." Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
ENG
143a
Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama
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hum
]
A study of the revenge tradition in the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The problem of blood revenge will be looked at as a historical phenomenon in Renaissance society and as a social threat transformed into art in such dramatists as Shakespeare, Marlowe, Kyd, Marston, Tourneur, Chapman, and Webster. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
ENG
144b
The Body as Text
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hum
wi
]
How are our bodies the material for our presentations of self and our interactions with others? Examines contemporary theories and histories of the body against literary, philosophical, political, and performance texts of the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
ENG
148b
Me, Myself, and I: The Theme of Self-Conflict
[
hum
]
Study of the images of inner division in literary and philosophical texts, from ancient to modern. Readings include: Plato, Gnostics, Augustine, Rousseau, Wordsworth, Shelley, Yeats, Freud, and Lacan. Special one-time offering, spring 2009.
Ms. Quinney
ENG
152b
Arthurian Literature
[
hum
]
Prerequisite: ENG 10a or HUM 10a or ENG 11a.
A survey of (mostly) medieval treatments of the legendary material associated with King Arthur and his court, in several genres: bardic poetry, history, romance, prose narrative. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
173a
Spenser and Milton
[
hum
]
A course on poetic authority: the poetry of authority and the authority of poetry. Spenser and Milton will be treated individually, but the era they bound will be examined in terms of the tensions within and between their works. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Flesch
English: Post-1800 Courses
ENG
5a
British Literature in the Age of Darwin and Dickens
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hum
]
Offers general coverage of the major literary genres in the nineteenth century. The course studies the cultural context forged by the interaction of fiction, prose, and poetry. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
6a
American Literature in the Age of Lincoln
[
hum
]
The transformation of our literary culture: the literary marketplace, domestic fiction, transcendentalism, slavery and the problem of race. Authors will include Emerson, Fuller, Poe, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Stowe, Whitman, and Melville. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Burt or Mr. Gilmore
ENG
7a
American Literature from 1900 to 2000
[
hum
wi
]
Focuses on literature and cultural and historical politics of major authors. Prose and poetry. May include Eliot, Frost, Williams, Moore, Himes, Cather, and Faulkner as well as contemporary authors. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Burt or Ms. Irr
ENG
8a
Twenty-First-Century American Literature
[
hum
]
An introductory survey of trends in recent American literature with a focus on prose. Readings vary yearly but always include winners of major literary prizes such as the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, PEN/Faulkner Award, Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Award, or the Nobel Prize. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
17a
The Alternative Press in the United States: 1910-2000
[
hum
]
A critical history of twentieth-century American journalism. Topics include the nature of journalistic objectivity, the style of underground and alternative periodicals, and the impact of new technologies on independent media. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
17b
Twentieth-Century British Poetry
[
hum
]
A survey of major British poets of the last century with a focus on modernism and its many legacies. Attention to the formation of avant-garde movements and other poetic engagements with social experience. Includes Hardy, Yeats, Owen, Loy, Eliot, H. D., Larkin, Gunn, Hill, Walcott, Heaney, and others. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sherman
ENG
18b
Writing the Holocaust
[
hum
wi
]
Examines fiction, poetry, memoir, diaries, letters, testimonials, interviews, and historical records; explores written representations of the Holocaust. Considers the role second, third, and fourth generation responses to the Holocaust, including the responses of students, who will write their own post-Holocaust narratives. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Skorczewski
ENG
21a
Adolescent Literature from Grimm to Voldemort
[
hum
]
Literature for adolescents can't afford any self-indulgences: its audience is too impatient. So it's a great place to see what's essential to storytelling. Authors include Shelley, Twain, Salinger, Pullman, and Rowling, whom we'll use to test basic narrative theory. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Flesch
ENG
26a
Detection and Analysis: Deciphering Theories of Madness
[
hum
wi
]
Prerequisite: Any USEM.
The expert reader is a detective, a gatherer of clues and intimations. The field of detection will range from poems to short stories, from novels to drama and span five centuries. First-person narrators, poetic speakers, and soliloquizers characterized as marginal, "Other," distressed, disturbed, meandering, and even "mad" will unite our reading and critical thinking. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Whelan
ENG
28a
Nature Writing
[
hum
]
Explores literary responses to the natural environment from Thoreau to the present. Several genres of creative nonfiction will be discussed, such as memoir, manifesto, science writing, natural history, exploration narratives, and disaster stories. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
28b
Queer Readings: Before Stonewall
[
hum
]
Students read texts as artifacts of social beliefs, desires, and anxieties about sexed bodies and their pleasures. Readings may include Plato, Virgil, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Phillips, Behn, Gray, Tennyson, Lister, Whitman, Dickinson, Wilde, Freud, Woolf, Barnes, Stein, Larsen, Genet, and Baldwin. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
30a
Twentieth-Century American Comic Novel
[
hum
]
A study of twentieth-century American novels in which comedy is used to grapple with serious literary and social issues. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. McCauley
ENG
36a
America's First Bestsellers
[
hum
]
The first century of American bestsellers, what made these books so attractive to readers at the time? Explores themes of social mobility, racial and gender conflict, romance and seduction, and warfare. Authors include Cooper, Stowe, Alcott, and Crane. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Gilmore
ENG
37a
Postimperial Fictions
[
hum
]
In what ways, and for what purposes, has postcolonial Britain sought imaginatively to recreate its imperial past? Discusses recent literary and cinematic representations of empire, in which critique, fascination, and nostalgia are, often problematically, blended. Authors include Paul Scott, Rushdie, Ishiguro, and Zadie Smith. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
ENG
37b
Modern Drama
[
hum
]
An intensive study of British, U.S., and European drama of the last hundred years. Topics include new definitions of tragedy, changing sex/gender roles and the stage, the well-made play, the "angry" play, theater of the absurd. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
38b
Race, Region, and Religion in the Twentieth-Century South
[
hum
]
Twentieth century fiction of the American South. Racial conflict, regional identity, religion, and modernization in fiction from both sides of the racial divide and from both sides of the gender line. Texts by Chestnutt, Faulkner, Warren, O'Connor, Gaines, McCarthy, and Ellison. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
40b
The Birth of the Short Story: Gods, Ghosts, Lunatics
[
hum
wi
]
How old is the short story? It may go back to the Stone Age, Aesop's fables, or medieval saints' lives, but some credit Edgar Allan Poe and the Scottish shepherd James Hogg. This class takes an in-depth look at three key centers of the genre: Edinburgh, New York, and Moscow. Authors include Melville, Hawthorne, Dickens, Gogol, and Chekov. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
46a
Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers
[
hum
]
How did American women writers engage with the social, political, and economic changes of the nineteenth century? Focuses on gendered rhetorics of industrialization, imperialism, immigration, and abolition, as well as concepts of national identity. Examines how these writers related themselves to literary movements of the period. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
ENG
46b
American Gothic Romantic Fiction
[
hum
wi
]
American Gothic and romantic fiction from Charles Brockden Brown to Cormac McCarthy. Texts by Brown, Cooper, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Faulkner, O'Connor, Warren, and McCarthy. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
47b
Modern English Fiction
[
hum
]
A survey of English fiction written during the first half of the twentieth century, including works by Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, Katherine Mansfield, and Virginia Woolf. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
ENG
57a
Modern British and Irish Fiction
[
hum
]
Twentieth-century British and Irish fiction in its worldwide context. Begins with the modernism of Woolf, Beckett, and O'Brien; usually includes Iris Murdoch, Caryl Phillips, Commonwealth writers Salman Rushdie, George Lamming, Peter Carey, and Kazuo Ishiguro. Includes comparisons with contemporary British films such as Trainspotting and My Beautiful Laundrette. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
58a
Literature and Medicine
[
hum
]
How has literature grappled with illness, healing, and the patient-doctor encounter? How can poetry and storytelling communicate with experience of bodily pain--and how does the body seek to communicate its suffering without language? We examine literary responses to the body's biological vulnerabilities, and seek to contextualize the vulnerable body within the cultural and political fields that shape medical knowledge and practice. Readings in fiction, poetry, essay, and drama will suggest the art, or craftsmanship, involved in the healing sciences, as well as the diagnostic nature of literary criticism. Reading for new approaches, generated by the literary imagination, to controversial issues in medical ethics. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sherman
ENG
58b
AIDS, Activism, and Representation
[
hum
]
Selected topics in the cultural construction and representation of AIDS. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
66a
Women and Political Power in Nineteenth Century American Fiction
[
hum
]
Investigates a range of novels that demonstrate how fiction participated in cultural debates about women and political power in the nineteenth century. Focuses on women in reform movements and fiction as political. Authors include Stowe, Hawthorne, Alcott, and Gilman. Special one-time offering, fall 2009.
Ms. Easton
ENG
67b
Modern Poetry
[
hum
]
A course on the major poets of the twentieth century. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
68a
The Political Novel
[
hum
wi
]
How do novels change and how are they changed by politics? From the satires of Eastern Europe (Kafka and Milan Kundera, Koestler's Darkness at Noon) to fiery American calls to action on racial issues (Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man); from utopia to postcolonial disaster (Things Fall Apart). Film screenings included. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
75b
The Victorian Novel
[
hum
]
The rhetorical strategies, themes, and objectives of Victorian realism. Texts may include Eliot's Middlemarch, Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Brontë's Villette, Gaskell's Mary Barton, Dickens' Bleak House, and Trollope's The Prime Minister. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
ENG
78b
Modernism, Atheism, God
[
hum
]
Explores European and American literature after Nietzche's proclamation, at the end of the 19th century, that God is dead. How does this writing imagine human life and the role of literature in God's absence? How does it imagine afterlives of God, and permutations of the sacred, in a post-religious world? How, or why, to have faith in the possibility of faith in a secular age? What does "the secular" actually mean, and how does it persuade itself that it's different than "the religious". Approaches international modernism as a political and theological debate about materialism and spirituality, finitude and transcendence, reason and salvation. Readings by Kafka, Joyce, Rilke, Faulkner, Eliot, Beckett, Pynchon, and others. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sherman
ENG
87b
Queer Readings: Beyond Stonewall
[
hum
]
Prerequisite: ENG 28b is recommended.
How have LGBTQ writers explored the consolidation, diaspora, and contestation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer personhoods since the 1960s? Texts include fiction, poetry, drama, memoirs, and film. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. King
ENG
88b
Contemporary British Literature
[
hum
]
British fiction, poetry, drama, and film since WWII that tackles the changing politics of empire, sexuality, and social class, especially. A close look at the weird pleasure of British humor, includes Jean Rhys, Philip Larkin, Martin Amis, Angela Carter, Harold Pinter, and Monty Python's Flying Circus. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Sherman
ENG
105b
The English Novel, Jane Austen to Thomas Hardy
[
hum
wi
]
Focuses on Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and Joseph Conrad. Explores the relationship between the novel, the era's most popular culture, and our own popular culture. It examines desire, concealment, sex, and romance, as well as the role that literature plays in creating and upsetting communities, defining racial and ethnic categories. Film screenings. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
106b
American Utopias
[
hum
]
Introduction to utopian fiction of nineteenth-century America. Readings include classic sources and utopian novels by major authors (Melville, Hawthorne, Twain). Some consideration will also be given to actually existing successful utopian communities. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
107b
Literary Witnessing and the Poetics of Memory
[
hum
]
Investigation of the memorial function of modern literature as a response to historical trauma. How is the present haunted by the past; how is literature haunted by the dead? Historical contexts are primarily slavery in the Americas and European genocides. Readings will include theoretical and philosophical considerations of the role of the witness, collective memory, and historical evidence. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sherman
ENG
117b
Novels of William Faulkner
[
hum
wi
]
A study of the major novels and stories of William Faulkner, the most influential American novelist of the twentieth century. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
118a
Stevens and Merrill
[
hum
]
Intensive study of two major American poets of the twentieth century. Readings include Stevens' Collected Poems and Merrill's Collected Poems as well as his epic The Changing Light at Sandover. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Quinney
ENG
125a
Romanticism I: Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge
[
hum
]
Examines the major poetry and some prose by the first generation of English Romantic poets who may be said to have defined Romanticism and set the tone for the last two centuries of English literature. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Burt or Ms. Quinney
ENG
125b
Romanticism II: Byron, Shelley, and Keats
[
hum
]
The "younger generation" of Romantic poets. Byron, Shelley, and Keats continue and react against poetic, political, and philosophical preoccupations and positions of their immediate elders. Examines their major works, as well as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Burt, Mr. Flesch, or Ms. Quinney
ENG
126a
American Realism and Naturalism, 1865-1900
[
hum
]
Focuses on how some of the central American Realists and Naturalists set about representing and analyzing American social and political life. Topics include the changing status of individuals, classes, and genders, among others. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
135a
Major British Novelists: Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot
[
hum
]
Examines classic works from the nineteenth century, when the novel was at once popular entertainment and moral/spiritual guide. How do they reach us today? The heart of the course is intense, close, reading, coupled with comparisons to visual art and other literature of the period, including short works by Dostoevsky and Melville. Film screenings help trace how these texts resonate with contemporary aesthetic forms. Novels: Wuthering Heights, Bleak House, and Middlemarch. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
136a
Race and Realism
[
hum
]
Explores American realism's complex relationship to the issues of race in the period after the Civil War. Topics include interracial violence, passing, white supremacy, sexuality, and censorship. Authors are James, Twain, Crane, Chestnut, Howells, others. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Gilmore
ENG
137b
Studies in Modernism
[
hum
]
An attempt to explore the concept of "modernism" through an intensive reading of seminal poems, novels, and plays. Focuses on the formal innovations of modernism and their relation to various ideological and political issues. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
140a
Satire and Its Uses
[
hum
]
Examines the forms and methods of satirical fiction and poetry, with emphasis on writers from classical Greece and Rome, Britain, and the United States.
Staff
ENG
145b
Jane Austen: Gender, Art, and History
[
hum
wi
]
Explores Austen's writings from multiple perspectives, with particular attention to the historical and aesthetic dimensions of her work. Considers divergent interpretations of her novels and the impact of gender, not only on her novels but on their reception. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Lanser
ENG
155a
Literature and Empire
[
hum
]
Explores ideas about the local, regional, national, international, and cosmopolitan in Empire-era "Greater Britain." What role does literature play in the global movement of British and "colonized" culture? Includes Emily Eden, R. D. Blackmore, Hardy, Flora Steel, Conrad, Woolf, Waugh, and E. M. Forster. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
157a
Contemporary Poetry
[
hum
]
An introduction to recent poetry in English, dealing with a wide range of poets, as well as striking and significant departures from the poetry of the past. Looks, where possible, at individual volumes by representative authors. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Quinney
ENG
157b
American Women Poets
[
hum
]
Prerequisite: ENG 10a or HUM 10a or ENG 11a.
Students imagine meanings for terms like "American" and "women" in relation to poetry. After introductory study of Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, and Emily Dickinson, readings of (and about) women whose work was circulated widely, especially among other women poets, will be selected from mainly twentieth-century writers. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
165b
Victorian Poetry and Its Readers
[
hum
]
Studies how poetry was written and read during the last time poetry held a prominent role in England's public life. The course centers on Tennyson's career as poet laureate, but also gives full attention to Robert Browning's work. The course also surveys the work of E. B. Browning, the Pre-Raphaelites, and others, and concludes with the poetry of Hardy and of the early Yeats. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
ENG
166b
Whitman, Dickinson, and Melville
[
hum
]
Poetry of Whitman, Dickinson, Emerson, and Melville, with representative poems of Whittier, Bryant, Longfellow, Poe, Sigourney, and Tuckerman. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
176a
American Gothic and American Romance
[
hum
]
Examines Gothic fiction as a method of exploring the capacities of the imagination, disclosing its power, and meeting its threat. Beginning with the nineteenth-century founders of the genre in America, the second half of the course deals with some twentieth-century masters. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
177b
American Popular Music and Contemporary Fiction
[
hum
]
Explores writing by novelists, journalists, and historians who react to the global spread of American popular music (mainly "rock"). Themes include race relations, technology, sound effects, the mystique of the star, and the globalization of the music industry. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
180a
The Modern American Short Story
[
hum
]
Close study of American short-fiction masterworks. Students read as writers write, discussing solutions to narrative obstacles, examining the consequences of alternate points of view. Studies words and syntax to understand and articulate how technical decisions have moral and emotional weight. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
ENG
187a
American Fiction since 1945
[
hum
]
Readings of contemporary postrealist and postmodernist fiction. Authors and themes vary but always include major figures such as Nabokov, Pynchon, DeLillo. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
187b
American Writers and World Affairs
[
hum
wi
]
An exploration of early twentieth century American prose (mainly novels). Examines bold innovations in literary form made by authors such as Hemingway, Faulkner, and James. Considers how American works responded to and participated in world affairs. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Irr
FYS
13a
Coming of Age in Literature
[
hum
]
What manes growing up such a compelling theme, even for adult readers? This seminar introduces students to several novels which feature characters who come of age. Authors include, Dickens, Salinger, Dangarembga, Diaz, and others.
Ms. Anjaria (English and American Literature)
English: Directed Writing Courses
ENG
19a
Introduction to Creative Writing
[
hum
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Samples should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting.
A workshop for beginning writers. Practice and discussion of short literary and oral forms: lyric, poetry, the short story, tales, curses, spells. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Broumas or Ms. Campbell
ENG
19b
The Autobiographical Imagination
[
hum
wi
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Samples should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting.
Combines the study of contemporary autobiographical prose and poetry with intense writing practice arising from these texts. Examines--as writers--what it means to construct the story of one's life, and ways in which lies, metaphor, and imagination transform memory to reveal and conceal the self. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Broumas
ENG
39a
Poetry: Beginner's Ear
[
hum
wi
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Samples should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting.
For students considering poetry as beginners or those wishing to begin again. Reading and writing in many contemporary idioms, looking for the tone, voice, style, and posture that most closely resembles each of our individual gifts. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Broumas
ENG
49a
Scriptwriting for the Short Film
[
hum
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Samples should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting.
Addressed many facets of writing screenplays for short films (under eight pages). Students develop two to three scripts through creative exercises, rewriting, and critiques. Supplementary screenings and reading focuses on the particulars of short fiction and cinematic writing. Special one-time offering, fall 2008.
Ms. Salzer
ENG
79a
Directed Writing: Beginning Screenplay
[
hum
wi
]
This course may not be repeated by students who have taken ENG 129b in previous years. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing of no more than five pages. Samples should be e-mailed to the instructor no later than two weeks before the first class meeting.
Fundamentals of screenwriting: structure, plot, conflict, character, and dialogue. Students read screenwriting theory, scripts, analyze files, and produce an outline and the first act of an original screenplay. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Weinberg
ENG
79b
Writing Workshop: From Memory to Craft
[
hum
wi
]
Prerequisite: ENG 19b is recommended. This course may not be repeated by students who have taken ENG 129a in previous years. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing of no more than five pages. Samples should be e-mailed to the instructor no later than one week before the first class meeting.
This combination workshop and contemporary literature course explores the process by which written work moves from simple accounting into art. Texts include poetry and prose by writers such as Grace Paley, Jamaica Kincaid, Donald Hall, and Annie Dillard. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Braverman
ENG
109a
Directed Writing: Poetry
[
hum
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Samples should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting. May be repeated for credit.
A workshop for poets willing to explore and develop their craft through intense reading in current poetry, stylistic explorations of content, and imaginative stretching of forms. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Broumas or Visiting Poet
ENG
109b
Directed Writing: Short Fiction
[
hum
wi
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Samples should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting. May be repeated for credit.
A workshop for motivated students with a serious interest in pursuing writing. Student stories will be copied and distributed before each class meeting. Students' stories, as well as exemplary published short stories, will provide the occasion for textual criticism in class. Usually offered every year.
Visiting Writer
ENG
119a
Directed Writing: Fiction
[
hum
wi
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Sample should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting. May be repeated for credit.
An advanced fiction workshop for students primarily interested in the short story. Students are expected to compose and revise three stories, complete typed critiques of each other's work weekly, and discuss readings based on examples of various techniques. Usually offered every year.
Visiting Writer
ENG
119b
Directed Writing: Poetry
[
hum
wi
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Sample should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting. May be repeated for credit.
For those who wish to improve as poets while broadening their knowledge of poetry, through a wide spectrum of readings. Students' poems will be discussed in a "workshop" format with emphasis on revision. Remaining time will cover assigned readings and issues of craft. Usually offered every year.
Visiting Poet
ENG
129a
Writing Workshop
[
hum
wi
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Samples should be submitted to the department office (Rabb 144) no later than two days before the first class meeting.
A workshop for writers. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Braverman or Mr. Coroniti
ENG
129b
Understanding the Screenplay: A Workshop
[
hum
wi
]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing of no more than five pages. Samples should be e-mailed to the instructor no later than one week before the first class meeting.
Covers the fundamentals of screenwriting: structure, plot, conflict, character, and dialogue. Students are required to read scripts and a book on screenwriting, analyze films, and produce an outline and the first act of an original screenplay. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. Coroniti or Mr. Weinberg
ENG
139b
Intermediate Screenwriting
[
hum
wi
]
Prerequisites: ENG 129b or ENG 79a. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing of no more than five pages. Samples should be emailed to the instructor no later than one week before the first class meeting.
In this writing-intensive course, students build on screenwriting basics and delve more deeply into the creative process. Participants read and critique each other's work, study screenplays and view films, and submit original written material on a biweekly basis. At the conclusion of the course each student will have completed the first draft of a screenplay (100-120 pages). Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Weinberg
Foundational Courses for the Creative Writing Major
ENG
10a
Canonical Precursors: Genesis, Homer, Sappho, Ovid, Virgil
[
hum
]
This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken HUM 10a in previous years.
Helps prepare majors for study of most premodern and even modern literature in English through readings of major texts central to a literary education for writers in English from the Middle Ages through modernism. Genesis, Iliad, Odyssey, Sappho's lyrics, Aeneid, Metamorphoses. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Campbell or Mr. Flesch
ENG
10b
Poetry: A Basic Course
[
hum
wi
]
Designed as a first course for all persons interested in the subject. It is intended to be basic without being elementary. The subject matter will consist of poems of short and middle length in English from the earliest period to the present. Usually offered every fourth year.
Staff
HUM
10a
The Western Canon
[
hum
]
Foundational texts of the Western canon: the Bible, Homer, Vergil, and Dante. Thematic emphases and supplementary texts vary from year to year. Not offered 2008-2009.
Staff
English: Independent Instructional Courses
ENG
89a
Peer Tutoring Internship Seminar
Prepares students to act as writing assistants in a writing-intensive course. Students in this seminar examine readings in rhetoric composition and pedagogy as well as their own writing to foster a critical consciousness. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
ENG
96d
Senior Creative Writing Thesis
Required for creative writing majors fulfilling the thesis option. Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENG
97a
Senior Essay
For seniors interested in writing an essay outside of the honors track. Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENG
97d
Senior Thesis
For seniors interested in writing a thesis outside of the honors track. Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENG
98a
Independent Study
Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENG
98b
Independent Study
Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENG
99a
The Senior Honors Essay
For seniors interested in qualifying for departmental honors when combined with a tenth course for the major. Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENG
99b
The Senior Honors Essay
For seniors interested in qualifying for departmental honors when combined with a tenth course for the major. Usually offered every year.
Staff
ENG
99d
The Senior Honors Thesis
For seniors interested in qualifying for departmental honors with a thesis. Usually offered every year.
Staff
(200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students
ENG
200a
Methods of Literary Study
Required of all first-year graduate students.
Usually offered every year.
Ms. Irr or Mr. Morrison
ENG
201a
Gender Studies
Investigates sex assignment, genders, and sexualities as categories of social knowledge and modes of social production. Reading recent critical discussions and crossing disciplinary boundaries, analyzes how gender is performed in domains of cultural production including, but not limited to, the "textual." Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. King
ENG
203a
Religion and Literature in Renaissance England
Explores the relationship between religion and literature from the English Reformation through the Civil War. Readings include poetry by Wyatt, Donne, Herbert, Milton, and Marvell; plays by Marlowe and Shakespeare; and religious tracts by St. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Hooker. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Targoff
ENG
204a
American Romanticism in Poetry and Fiction
Romanticism as a philosophical movement, a poetic movement, and a fictional style. Essays and poetry of Emerson and Thoreau's Walden. Major poetry of Whitman and Dickinson (and some Melville). The Scarlet Letter, selected stories of Poe, Moby Dick. Fuller's Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Alcott's Transcendental Wild Oats. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
205b
Social Theory and Aesthetic Practice: Victorian Literature and the Emergence of the Social Sciences
Looks at Victorian poetry (including Dickinson, Tennyson, Browning, Barrett Browning, Whitman, Meredith) and fiction (including Hawthorne, Dickens, Melville, Eliot, Hardy, James, and Conrad) shaped by the day's social theories (including early ethnography and sociology, Darwin, and such political theorists as Marx and Mill). Explores the influence exerted on social science by literary works that represented alternative social arrangements or even offered themselves as alternative to the social realm altogether. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
206a
Language and Power in the American Renaissance
Focuses on the clash between verbal agency and state power in antebellum America. Explores the themes of race and slavery, the rise of capitalist enterprise, imperialist expansion, and the growing demand for women's rights. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Gilmore
ENG
207a
Race, Desire, and the Literary Imagination
An examination of the interlocking constructions of race, sexuality, and gender in United States culture. Probes the relation among embodiment, racial and sexual ideologies, the formation of identity, and U.S. literary production. Readings include critical works of African American studies, performance studies, queer theory and gender studies alongside key texts of twentieth-century U.S. literature. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
ENG
207b
Fiction of the American South
Examines fiction of the era of modernization and desegregation. Readings include novels by Robert Penn Warren, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Ernest Gaines, Margaret Walker, Caroline Gordon, Ellen Glasgow, and William Faulkner. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
208a
American Fins de Siecles
Centuries' ends have always been periods of intense cultural ferment, with great expectations often vying with apprehension and despair. Considers works produced in the United States in the 1790s, 1890s, and 1990s. Authors include Franklin, Crane, Jewett, Morrison, and Updike. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Gilmore
ENG
208b
Dreaming and Meaning, 1200-1750
A study of the dream, in its transcription, collection and circulation, as signifying object. Discusses the full gamut of public and private dreams and dream-visions--actual, legendary, and literary--recorded and theorized from 1200-1750 in Western Europe, with emphasis on early modern England. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
210b
The Bildungsroman
An investigation of the literary, historical, political, and philosophical implications of the Bildungsroman in its classic form and in it feminist, modernist, and postcolonial incarnations. Possible authors include Goethe, Eliot, Conrad, Rushdie, Bakhtin, Moretti, and others. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Anjaria
ENG
211a
Psychoanalytic Theory
A basic grounding in psychoanalytic theory, and its influences on critical theory. Texts by Freud, Lacan, Klein, Derrida, Fanon, and others. Topics include mourning, trauma, and the ethics and politics of the globalization of psychoanalysis. Usually offered every third year.
Staff
ENG
213a
Milton
Milton's poetry and selected prose, with particular attention to Paradise Lost and its intellectual, historical, and literary contexts. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Flesch
ENG
213b
Alternative Worlds: Utopia, Science, and Gender
This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken it as part of the Radcliffe Women's Consortium.
Explores the intersections between two early modern developments: the new genre of utopia and the new ideas about the goals and methods of natural inquiry identified with the "Scientific Revolution." Authors include Christine de Pizan, Raleigh, Bacon, Campanella, Catalina de Erauso, Cyrano de Bergerac, Margaret Cavendish, Octavia Butler, Thomas More, Francis Godwin. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
215a
Representation, Embodiment, and Portability in Victorian Literature
What is the relationship between aesthetics and cultural authority? Places major nineteenth-century writers in the context of the rise of realism, capitalism, empire, and emerging democratic debates about representation. Will include Scott, Carlyle, Dickens, Marx, Bronte, Mill, Eliot, and Conrad; theoretical texts include Habermas, Foucault, Kittler, and Arendt. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
215b
Blake and Shelley
Study of the major works of Blake and Shelley, with attention to the critical history. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Quinney
ENG
216b
The James Siblings
Focuses on the powerful and competing ideas of human nature and social interaction that Henry, William and Alice James articulated and embodied, in their writing considered on its own and in the intense familial interaction that so affected their thinking. Works may include Ivy Tower and Sacred Font. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Flesch
ENG
218a
Unfinished Conversations in Literature and Philosophy
A seminar on the conversation between literature and philosophy about the nature of ethical responsibility as it engages questions of morality, aesthetic value, and time. A more general consideration of the way narrative and poetic techniques create philosophical problems, and how philosophical writing depends upon aesthetic tensions and resolutions. Readings include Plato, Kafka, Kant, Beckett, Kierkegaard, Morrison, Nietzsche, McCarthy, Levinas, Sebald, and others. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sherman
ENG
218b
The Modern Novel: Public, Private, and Social
Traces the shifting relationship between ideas of intimacy, sociability, solidarity, and publicity in the Anglo-American novel, 1850-1950. Explores how the novel reacts to crises in the relationship between the individual an such larger groupings as society, nation, gender, race, or species. Marxist, psychoanalytic, Frankfort School, deconstructive, and New Historicist theory are examined. Authors include Melville, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, Conrad, James, Stein, Cather, and Beckett. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. Plotz
ENG
220b
A Novel Nation: The Making of English Fiction
Explores the forms and functions of the novel as it emerges in tandem with both European modernity and British national identity, paying particular attention to the aesthetic, intellectual, social, cultural, and political implications of changing fictional practices. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Lanser
ENG
221b
Narrative Theory
Considers verbal narrative from multiple theoretical and methodological perspectives, exploring a range of oral and written forms and their components in order to understand narrative practices and interrogate narrative theories across genres, modes, and discourse fields. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Lanser
ENG
223a
Eros and Desire in the English Renaissance
An exploration of the representation of erotic live in the English Renaissance. Readings include poetic and dramatic works by Shakespeare, Marlow, Donne, Sidney, and Wyatt; treatises on love-sickness and melancholy; and foundational texts by Ovid, Plato, Dante, and Petrarch. Special one-time offering, spring 2009.
Ms. Targoff
ENG
225a
Romantic Poetry
A study of the canon of romantic poetry, with attention to the critical heritage. Topics include: the French Revolution and Napoleon; the lyric, epic, and drama; the philosophy of subjectivity. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Quinney
ENG
226a
Race and Reconstruction in American Literature
Examines the struggles over race and sectional reconciliations that convulsed American culture in the long era of Reconstruction (1865-1905). Works by white and black authors, including Tourgee, Twain, Cable, Jewett, Douglass, Hopkins, and Chesnut. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Gilmore
ENG
227a
Studies in Modernism
An exploration of the concept of the modern through an intensive reading of The Waste Land, Ulysses, Between the Acts, and Endgame. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
227b
American Encounters: Faulkner, Baldwin, Roth, Morrison
Crossing race, region, and religion, this course studies four of the most formidable, prolific, acclaimed American authors of the twentieth century. Probing interlocking constructions of narrative and nation, texts are analyzed in light of shifting paradigms in American thought, politics, and expressive culture. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
ENG
228b
Literature and Hersey
A study of the presence of Gnostic and other heresies in English literature, especially the work of Milton and Blake. Special one-time offering; was offered spring 2008.
Ms. Quinney
ENG
230b
Feminist Theory
This course, primarily devoted to literary theory, will also pay some attention to feminist scholarship in related disciplines, including history, anthropology, and legal studies. Usually offered every second year.
Staff
ENG
231a
Performing the Early Modern Self
Examines contemporary performance theory against everyday and formal performances of the Restoration and eighteenth-century England. Investigates agents' negotiations of social and personal space in plays, diaries, novels, and treatises. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. King
ENG
232b
Chaucer
A survey of the historically pivotal literary career of Chaucer, with emphasis on The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer's works as social analysis and critique, from the point of view of a bourgeois outsider in an aristocratic milieu; Chaucer's medieval genres and their transformation into vehicles of early modern sensibility; medieval relations of secular literature to its audience(s); orality, literacy, and the book. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Campbell
ENG
233a
Shakespeare Seminar
An intensive reading of Shakespeare's work from a theoretical and historical viewpoint. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Flesch
ENG
234a
Writing British Women, 1660-1800: Critical Inquiries
Through an engagement with women's writing, with social configurations of gender, and with twenty-first-century practices, explores new issues in eighteenth-century literary and cultural studies and grapples with thorny problems in feminist theory and scholarship. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Lanser
ENG
236a
American Poetry of the Nineteenth Century
A graduate seminar on American poetry of the nineteenth century, including Dickinson, Whitman, Emerson, Melville, Tuckerman, the "Fireside poets" (Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, Bryant), the "Nightingales" (Sigourney and Oakes-Smith), religious and patriotic lyrics, and much more. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Burt
ENG
237a
Reading the Black Transnation
Fiction, theory, film of what is variously termed the African Diaspora or the Black Atlantic. Acquaints students with major and lesser-known figures, concepts, and strategies. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith
ENG
237b
The Worlds of Twentieth-Century American Fiction
An exploration of the world views of major twentieth-century American novelists. Charts the geopolitical and ecological underpinnings of their foremost writings and how contemporary global or transnational concerns emerged in American letters. Special one-time offering, fall 2008.
Ms. Irr
ENG
240b
The Ethics of Representation in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Fiction
Examining exemplary works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century fiction, the class studies the ways in which narrative construction (plotting, rhetoric, narrative voice, ideological motivation) represent personal and social reality. Raises questions about the relationship between the real and the ethical, between what is and what ought to be, and how our own ethical concerns complicate our understanding of the novels we read. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Morrison
ENG
243b
Renaissance Tragedy
This course examines the genre of tragedy in the English Renaissance. Readings include plays by Marlowe, Kyd, Shakespeare, Tourneur, Jonson, Middleton, Webster, philosophical texts by Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Benjamin, among others. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Targoff
ENG
247b
Contemporary Poetry
A study of major recent poetry in English. Authors include Merrill, Ashbery, Heaney, Ammons, and Glück. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Quinney
ENG
257a
The Superpower Novel: Twentieth-Century American Fiction and Geopolitics
How does American fiction reflect, criticize, or contribute to the United States' position as a superpower? Reading major American writers (Dos Passos, Mailer, Silko, DeLillo, and others), together with critical and theoretical essays, the class investigates Americanization and questions of cultural imperialism. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Irr
ENG
280a
Making It Real: Tactics of Discourse
An investigation of the discursive realization of bodies and agents. Queries representational practices as modes of agency, problematizing identity and differences, and negotiating hegemony. Our lenses: performance and cultural studies, visual studies, literature and theory, and historiography. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. King
ENG
299b
Classroom Pedagogy and the Teaching of Writing
An introduction to the theory and practice of teaching college-level writing courses. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Skorczewski
ENG
300a
Master's Thesis
This course entails revising a seminar paper or other writing under the direction of a faculty member. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
ENG
352a
Directed Research
Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested. Permission of the director of graduate studies required.
Staff
ENG
352b
Directed Research
Staff
ENG
402d
Dissertation Research
Specific sections for individual faculty members as requested.
Staff
Cross-Listed in English: Media/Film
AMST
144b
Signs of Imagination: Gender and Race in Mass Media
[
ss
]
Examines how men and women are represented and represent themselves in American popular culture. Discusses the cultural contexts of the terms "femininity" and "masculinity" and various examples of the visibility and marketability of these terms today. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Davé
COML
163a
Mediums and Messages
[
hum
]
How do human beings and human bodies participate in expressive communication technology, digital or otherwise? This course looks at examples of technological mediation in history, literature, art, science, and pseudo-science. Readings include works by Pynchon, Plato, Poe, Butler, Borges, Tiptree, Bioy-Casares, Kafka, and Villiers de L'Isle-Adam. Special one-time offering, fall 2009.
Ms. Swanstrom
JAPN
125b
Putting Away Childish Things: Coming of Age in Modern Japanese Literature and Film
[
hum
nw
]
Explores the ways in which modern Japanese writers and filmmakers have represented childhood, youth, and coming of age. A variety of short stories, novels, and memoirs from the 1890s to the present day are read, and several recent films are also screened. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Fraleigh
Cross-Listed in English: Multicult/World Anglo. Lit
AAAS
79b
Afro-American Literature of the Twentieth Century
[
hum
ss
wi
]
An introduction to the essential themes, aesthetic concerns, and textual strategies that characterize Afro-American writing of this century. Examines those influences that have shaped the poetry, fiction, and prose nonfiction of representative writers. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith
AAAS
132b
Introduction to African Literature
[
hum
nw
ss
wi
]
Examines the cultural production of African writers and filmmakers and their critiques of the postcolonial state. Topics include their exploration of gender, sexuality, language choice, the pressures placed on "authentic" identities by diasporic communities, and the conflicting claims of tradition and modernity. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith
AAAS
133b
The Literature of the Caribbean
[
hum
nw
ss
wi
]
An exploration of the narrative strategies and themes of writers of the region who grapple with issues of colonialism, class, race, ethnicity, and gender in a context of often-conflicting allegiances to North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Smith
AAAS
134b
Novel and Film of the African Diaspora
[
hum
nw
]
Writers and filmmakers, who are usually examined separately under national or regional canonical categories such as "(North) American," "Latin American," "African," "British," or "Caribbean," are brought together here to examine transnational identities and investments in "authentic," "African," or "black" identities. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Smith
COML
108a
Creating New Histories and Identities beyond the Nation: Transnational Female Voices in the U.S.
[
hum
]
Readings are in English.
An examination of literature (prose, poetry, memoirs) written by first- and second-generation immigrant women exploring the ways in which the experience of immigration shaped a new identity that simultaneously time incorporates and rejects national boundaries. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Reyes de Deu
COML
117a
Magical Realism and Modern Myth
[
hum
]
An exploration of magical realism, as well as the enduring importance of myth, in twentieth and twenty-first century fiction and film from the United States, Latin American, and beyond. authors include Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Salman Rushdie; films include Wings of Desire and Hero. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Sherman
COML
122b
Writing Home and Abroad: Literature by Women of Color
[
hum
nw
]
Examines literature (prose, poetry, and memoirs) written by women of color across a wide spectrum of geographical and cultural sites. Literature written within the confines of the "home country" in the vernacular, as well as in English in immigrant locales, is read. The intersections of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and class as contained by the larger institutions of government, religion, nationalism, and sectarian politics are examined. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Singh
HISP
195a
Latinos in the United States: Perspectives from Literature, Film, and Performance
[
hum
]
Open to all students; conducted in English.
Comparative overview of Latino literature and film in the United States. Particular attention paid to how race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and concepts of "nation" become intertwined within texts. Topics include: explorations of language, autobiography and memory, and intertexuality. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Reyes
SAS
101a
South Asian Women Writers
[
hum
nw
]
Includes literature by South Asian women writers from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Some of the works were originally written in English, while others have been translated from the vernacular. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Singh
SAS
110b
South Asian Postcolonial Writers
[
hum
nw
]
Looks at the shared history of colonialism, specifically British imperialism, for many countries and examines the postcolonial novel written in English. Works read include those from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Singh
SAS
140a
We Who Are at Home Everywhere: Narratives from the South Asian Diaspora
[
hum
]
Looks at narratives from various locations of the South Asian Diaspora, while paying close attention to the emergence of an immigrant South Asian public culture. Examines novels, poetry, short stories, film, and music in order to further an understanding of South Asian immigrant culture. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Singh
SAS
170b
South Asia in the Colonial Archive
[
hum
]
Looks at colonial constructions of gender and race through a historical and literary investigation of British colonialism in South Asia. Examines intersections and constructions of gender, race, class, and sexuality within the parameters of British colonialism. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Singh
Cross-Listed in English: Pre-1800
COML
102a
Love in the Middle Ages
[
hum
]
A study of the conventions of courtly love and other forms of love, sacred and erotic, in medieval literature. Readings include Dante's Vita Nuova, Boccaccio's Decameron, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Lansing
COML
115b
Fictions of Liberty: Europe in a Revolutionary Age
[
hum
]
The "Age of Enlightenment" fostered new notions of human rights that found their tumultuous proving ground in the French Revolution. Through writings from several genres and nations, this course explores some of the political, economic, religious, racial, and sexual "fictions of liberty" that have shaped our own time. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Lanser
Cross-Listed in English: Post-1800
COML
185a
Dickens and Dostoevsky
[
hum
]
Considers such issues as narrative, literary realism, and the manipulation of the grotesque and the sublime in representative works of Dickens and Dostoevsky. Because Dostoevsky was an avid reader of Dickens, class addresses questions of influence, particularly with regard to their shared thematic interests. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Miller
FYS
34a
A Haunted America: American Dreamers as Wanderers, Visionaries, Isolates
[
hum
oc
wi
]
In Langston Hughes' poem "Dream Deferred," the question is posed, "What happens to a dream deferred?" Examines what happens to the twentieth-century dreamer lured, often obsessed, and frequently tormented by the promise of the mythic American dream. The class will map an America haunted by various definitions of the dream, its displacement, its erosions, and its reinventions.
Ms. Whelan (English and American Literature)
FYS
51a
Trauma and Memory in the Literary Imagination
[
hum
wi
]
Examines the work of writers who have borne witness to traumatic events from war and genocide to family violence and interracial conflict. In addition to first-person accounts that narrate extreme experience, readings include critical studies in the meaning of trauma and its representations. Studies the ways trauma is figured in Holocaust literature, memoirs about the family, a novel about the legacy of slavery, and in individually chosen texts. The study ends with a unit on witnessing today's traumas, from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, and the role of visual documents in the process of bearing witness to extreme experiences.
Ms. Skorczewski (English and American Literature)
NEJS
172a
Women in American Jewish Literature
[
hum
]
Examines portrayals of women in American Jewish literature from a hybrid viewpoint. Using close textual analysis, explores changing American Jewish mores and values and the changing role of women as revealed by portrayals of women in American Jewish fiction. The development of critical reading skills enhances our understanding of the author's intent. The fiction and memoirs read are approached both as literature and as a form of social history. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Fishman
RECS
154a
The Art of Vladimir Nabokov
[
hum
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English. Students may choose to read the Russian novels either in English translation or in Russian.
A concentrated study of Vladimir Nabokov, the most noted Russian author living in emigration and one of the most influential novelists of the twentieth century. Focuses on the major Russian- and English-language novels. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Powelstock
THA
106a
British, Irish, and Postcolonial Theater
[
ca
]
An exploration of the playwrights, political struggles, and aesthetic movements that shaped the evolution of British, Irish, and post-colonial drama in the twentieth century. Attention paid to race, class, gender, sexuality, and theater in performance. Playwrights include: Shaw, Yeats, Synge, O'Casey, Orton, and Churchill. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Holmberg
THA
150a
The American Drama since 1945
[
ca
wi
]
Examines the major plays and playwrights representing styles from social realism to avant-garde performance groups and the theater of images. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Holmberg
Cross-Listed in English: Theory
COML
100a
Comparing Literatures: Theory and Practice
[
hum
wi
]
What is common and what is different in literatures of different cultures and times? How do literary ideas move from one culture to another? In this course students read theoretical texts, as well as literary works from around the world. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Powelstock
LING
8b
Structure of the English Language
[
hum
ss
]
Open to first-year students.
A nontechnical introduction to the structure of English words and sentences. Classical roots of English vocabulary: word analysis, base forms, and rules of allomorphy. Basic concepts of grammar: categories (noun, adjective, adverb, etc.), functions (subject, object, modifier, etc.), phrases and clauses of various types. Consists of three class hours and one one-hour recitation per week. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Goldberg
PHIL
182a
Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations
[
hum
]
An intensive study of Ludwig Wittgenstein's seminal work, Philosophical Investigations. This course should be of interest to philosophy and literature students who want to learn about this great philosopher's influential views on the nature of language and interpretation. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Flesch and Mr. Hirsch
Cross-Listed in English: Other Elective Courses
CLAS
165a
Roman Decadence: Latin Literature in Translation
[
hum
]
Famous Roman texts (200 BCE-200 CE) are read from social, historical, psychological, literary, and religious viewpoints. The concept of "Roman decadence" is challenged both by the Roman literary accomplishment itself and by its import on subsequent periods. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. Koloski-Ostrow
CLAS
166a
Medieval Literature: A Millennium of God, Sex, and Death
[
hum
wi
]
A survey of medieval Latin literature in translation, beginning with the fourth-century church fathers and ending with the early Renaissance. Includes Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Egeria, Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Isidore of Seville, Bede, Alcuin, Einhard, Hroswitha, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Hildegard, Anselm, and others. Usually offered every fourth year.
Ms. Walker
CLAS
171a
Greek Epic and Athenian Drama
[
hum
]
Surveys Greek epic poetry and the tragic and comic drama produced in the city-state of Athens (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes). The intention is to convey the place of these works in the social, political, religious, and intellectual life of ancient Greece as well as their enduring universality. Usually offered every fourth year.
Mr. Muellner
COML
103b
Madness and Folly in Renaissance Literature
[
hum
wi
]
A study of the theme of madness and folly as exemplified by the major writers of the Renaissance, including Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne, Boccaccio, Ariosto, Shakespeare, Petrarch, and Cervantes. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Lansing
COML
120b
Dangerous Writers and Writers in Danger
[
hum
]
Examines the works of modern, twentieth-century writers from different areas of the world who have suffered exile, imprisonment, or death for their free thinking. Writers include: Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, Wole Soyinka, Gao Xinjan, Breyten Breytenbach, Reynoldo Arenas, and Salman Rushdie. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Ratner
COML
123a
Perfect Love?
[
hum
]
Analyzes how the desire to achieve a "perfect form of love," defined as one that denies the body in favor of a more spiritual attachment, can lead to illness and highly unhealthy behavior in literary texts and modern film. Filmmakers and authors studied include Wang-Kar Wai, Marguerite de Navarre, Boccaccio, Chrétien de Troyes, and Hawthorne. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Randall
COML
130a
Poetic Voices of Protest
[
hum
]
Poets are citizens, lovers, artists. Discusses major poems and prose by Whitman, Baudelaire, Rilke, T. S. Eliot, Anna Akhmatova, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and others celebrating American nationhood, and protesting world war, moral chaos, or Soviet dictatorship. Topics include myth, self-assertion, love and intimacy, decadence, ethics, despair and faith, a mother's voice. Students present a poetry slam. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Kaplan
COML
144b
The Outsider as Artist and Lover
[
hum
]
Baudelaire, Kierkegaard, Kafka, and Simone Weil exemplify the struggle to achieve meaning through literature, but they believed that art or God required them to renounce love and marriage. Buber's analysis of "dialogue" will clarify the interrelation of creativity, faith, and human intimacy in their short stories, prose poems, essays, and philosophical and autobiographical writings. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Kaplan
COML
146b
Classical East Asian Poetics
[
hum
nw
]
An introduction to the classical poetic forms of China, Japan, and Korea. Special consideration is paid to issues of canonization, classical theories of literature, and the development of multilingual literary traditions. All readings are in English. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Fraleigh
COML
160a
Contemporary East European Literature
[
hum
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English.
Examines works of major East European (Polish, Czech, Russian, and other) authors in the historical context of late Communist and post-Communist experience. Special attention to reading for artistic qualities and engagement of historical and political problems. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Powelstock
COML
165a
Reading, Writing, and Teaching across Cultures
[
hum
wi
]
Contemporary literary representations of literacy, schooling, and language from a cross-cultural perspective. Students also analyze their own educational trajectories and experiences with writing and reading. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Hale
COML
179a
Life Stories, Spiritual and Profane
[
hum
]
Examines modern life stories (such as biographies, autobiographies, journals, fiction) concerning personal identity in relation to the search for God, mysticism and anguish, conversion, moral action, and intimate love. Augustine's Confessions and Teresa of Avila's Life provide models for contemprary writers such as Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Kaplan
COML
190b
Fictional Thinking
[
hum
]
"We can only think, in language, because language is and yet is not our voice," writes Slavoj Zizek. Studies how fictional characters in James, Proust, Woolf and others think before is and for us -- and each other. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Flesch
ECS
100a
European Cultural Studies Proseminar: Modernism
[
hum
wi
]
Explores the interrelationship of literature, music, painting, philosophy, and other arts in the era of high modernism. Works by Artaud, Baudelaire, Benjamin, Mann, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Kandinsky, Schiele, Beckett, Brecht, Adorno, Sartre, Heidegger, and others. Usually offered every fall semester.
Mr. Dowden
HUM
125a
Topics in the Humanities
[
hum
]
An interdisciplinary seminar on a topic of major significance in the humanities; the course content and instructor vary from year to year; may be repeated for credit, with instructor's permission. Usually offered every third year.
Staff
JAPN
140a
The World of Early Modern Japanese Literature
[
hum
nw
]
A survey of the most celebrated works of literature from Japan's early modern period (1600-1868). Explores a wide range of genres, including fiction, travelogues, memoirs, dramatic forms such as the puppet theater and kabuki, as well as poetry in Japanese and Chinese. All readings are available in English translation; Japanese knowledge is not required. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Fraleigh
RECS
130a
The Russian Novel
[
hum
wi
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English. Students may choose to do readings either in English translation or in Russian.
A comprehensive survey of the major writers and themes of the nineteenth century including Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and others. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Miller
RECS
147b
Tolstoy: Freedom, Chance, and Necessity
[
hum
]
Open to all students. Conducted in English. Students may choose to do readings either in English translation or in Russian.
Studies the major short stories and novels of Leo Tolstoy against the backdrop of nineteenth-century history and with reference to twentieth-century critical theory. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Miller