Spring 2022
Each semester the faculty for the Department of English provide course descriptions that build upon the University's catalog descriptions. These individually crafted descriptions provide information about variable topics, authors, novels, texts, writing assignments, and whether instructor consent is required to enroll. The details, along with reviewing the advising report, will help students select course options that best meet one's interests and academic requirements.
The following list includes Undergraduate courses that are sequenced after the First-Year Writing requirement and will change each semester.
1000-Level Courses
1616W: Major Works of English and American Literature
Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
1616W | MW 1:25-2:40 | Falco, Daniela
2000-Level Courses
2013W: Introduction to Writing Studies
Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
2013W | Th 11:00-1:30 | Carillo, Ellen
In this course we will consider the emergence of the field of Writing Studies and explore writing as a constantly evolving technology with significant social and ethical implications. We will explore a range of questions surrounding writing, such as: What is writing? How do writers write? How do people develop as writers and become better writers? What is the relationship between writing and thinking? What does writing accomplish? How has writing developed historically and expanded its functions over time? We will read scholarship that addresses these questions and learn about “threshold concepts” that underpin the field of Writing Studies. We will discuss relevant contemporary phenomena such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) as we consider the future of writing in the face of ChatGPT, for example. The semester will culminate with individual projects in which each student explores the uses of ChatGPT/generative AI within their major or field of interest.
2200: Literature and Culture of North America before 1800
Also offered as AMST 2200
Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
2200 | TuTh 2:00-3:15 | Sommers, Sam
2301: Anglophone Literatures
Prerequisites: ENGL 1007 or 1010 or 1011 or 2011.
2301 | MW 11:15-12:30 | Islam, Najnin
This class introduces students to literary works produced by authors from South Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Caribbean. We will study a variety of literary works in English by authors from formerly colonized geographies to engage with several key questions. For instance, we will have occasion to think about the ways in which this body of literature represents the historical milieu of colonial expansion, anticolonial resistance, and the growth of radical politics. We will explore themes of otherness and civilization, race, indigeneity, migration, and diaspora, among others. Finally, we will engage with the recent turn to the idea of the “global anglophone,” its possibilities and limitations. This class is interested in creating opportunities for students to read a broad range of contemporary literary works from different parts of the world. Students who enjoy reading fiction and want to think more about literature’s ability to teach us both about our history and our present may find this class of particular interest.