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, Poe, Hawthorne, Whitman, Dickinson, Crane, Faulkner, E.M. Forster, O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Doris Lessing, Holleran, 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 that I like and that I 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 so as 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. Not open to students who have passed ENGL 3621 when taught as "The Graphic Novel."

2411W | MWF 1:25 - 2:15 | Horn, Jacob

We will explore four different popular genres, Romance, Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction over the course of the semester, framing each conversation with a discussion of academic perspectives regarding the genres and the concept of "the popular". There will be four novels and many smaller readings, with regular short writing to practice inquiry-based composition and two longer papers in which writers will get the chance to test out their understanding of our concepts in more depth. Regular in-class and digital participation is required, and the semester will finish with a multimodal project.

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.

4203W| M 11:15-12:30 | Distance Learning | Campbell, Scott

In ENGL 4203W: Blutopias and Freedom Dreams, we will explore utopian visions of Black American writers and musicians in and around the Black Power / Black Arts movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. These are artists who sought ways to express, test, and rethink freedom, actors who sought to challenge and perhaps topple the systemic racism of post-WWII America. The creativity, energy, and urgency of these artists still resonates today, and we will consider their legacy and the demands their work places on us as participants in the future they tried to imagine. In the course, we’ll examine controversies around “out” or “free” music and look into relationships between writing, sound, and community. What would a Black utopia look like, feel like, sound like? The course is organized around various sites of real and imagined Black experience, including Harlem/NYC, Chicago, Nation Time, Outer Space, and Memphis. This isn’t a typical literature course because we will not privilege literature— we will address a wide range of multimodal texts, including literature but also sound recordings, art, and videos. And the writing/composing you do in this course will include writing with and about sounds and images. Throughout, we will keep close attention on the deep entwinement of cultural experience and the social, political, and economic forces that impinge on and form identity.

ENGL 4203W satisfies the Information Literacy Competency and Writing in the Major requirements in the English plans of study. What this means is that the course is a rigorous “capstone” course and that it in important ways emulates the approach and goals of a graduate seminar. Blutopias and Freedom Dreams is presented as a series of related investigations, not a set of lessons. Our work here is driven by close study of both primary and secondary sources. We will explore some scholarship related to our texts and inquiries, and your independent work will allow you to add to and diverge from established lines of thought.

This course is a remote course offered through the Hartford campus and requires department consent to enroll: email inda.watrous@uconn.edu for a permission number 

The seminar will be offered in the Distance Learning modality and 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.