Prerequisites:  ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

1616W | MW 4:40-5:55 | Duni, Michael

During this semester we shall concern ourselves with selected works by both English and American writers. Authors have attempted to share their perceptions of the world and how it works. Consequently, the representations of man and his world according to various writers prove as varied as does each one of our descriptive explanations of our world. We shall examine major authors including Chaucer, Donne, Wordsworth, Emily Bronte, Gaskell, E.M. Forster, Hawthorne, Crane, Tennessee Williams, Michael Chabon, and Justin Torres to encounter each writer’s configuration of the world and what he or she has to say about it. In this way, our understanding of how the world might work and how man may fit into this world will become enhanced, if not further complicated! Beware: You are expected to read voraciously.

I have chosen works I like and believe prove provocative. Provocative in that they offer suggestions about themes in life as well as insights about the characters and the authors of these characters. I feel that these works will say something about each one of us as well. Yes. We read about others to discover truths about ourselves. What might each work say about you?!

Along with our perusals and close examinations of these works, our composition tasks will become effective exercises for the expression of this enhancement or confusion. As authors offer their arguments, you will share your reactions, impressions, and further contributions regarding these literary works and their messages in written responses and academic essays. Writing is a required and crucial component of this course. We shall gather on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:40 p.m. until 5:55 p.m.

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

2640 | MWF 10:10-11:00 | Campbell, Scott

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.

3503W | TuTh 3:30-4:45 | Kneidel, Gregory

Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011; at least 12 credits of 2000-level or above English courses or consent of instructor; open to juniors or higher.

4965W | M 11:15-12:30 | Distance Learning | Sarkar, Debapriya

This course is a remote course offered through the Avery Point campus.

The Early Modern Environmental Imagination

This capstone seminar examines how sixteenth and seventeenth century literature both reflects and shapes ideas about the environment. By reading texts from a variety of genres, including drama, poetry, prose fiction, and non-fiction, we will inquire: how do writers envision the relation of humans to their nonhuman environments (land, plants, animals, etc.)? How does evolving knowledge about the natural world intersect with ethical, social, and political issues? What responsibility does “literature" have to the “environment”? And how might imaginative writing bring into conversation discourses of environmental, racial, and social justice? We will draw on recent scholarship in the environmental humanities and over the course of the semester, work towards developing a definition of early modern environmental literature.

We will study different scales of ecologies—from the cosmic to the national to the domestic—in order to highlight how various actors (philosophers, poets, dramatists, artisans, etc.) were engaged in “environmental thinking.” Our primary readings will be drawn from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from Shakespearean drama to Miltonic epic, from lyric poetry to utopian fiction. However we will approach the historically and culturally specific concerns raised by these works through the lens of key theoretical concepts (such as the “anthropocene”) and different strands of eco-criticism (such as ecofeminism and the blue humanities). By juxtaposing Renaissance writing with modern scholarship, the course invites research not only into the pre-modern imagination, but also into the relation of the present to the past we struggle to apprehend.

The seminar will be offered in the Distance Learning modality. We will meet synchronously every Monday, and the rest of the sessions will be held asynchronously. Department consent is required to enroll in this course, please email inda.watrous@uconn.edu for a permission number. Please include your student admin id# and home campus.