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Introduction to Old English

TR 9:45-11:00 | Scott MacKenzie

An introduction to the language, literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon England (roughly 500-1100 CE). This course will give you a reading knowledge of Old English, the language spoken by the Germanic conquerors of Britain and the ancestor of the language we speak today. The language is different enough from modern English that it needs to be learned and studied, but similar enough that you can become reasonably proficient in one semester. In the first half of the class we will concentrate on the structure and vocabulary of Old English; after the midterm exam we will have more time to spend on outside reading and critical analysis, and more opportunities to discuss the history and culture of the Anglo-Saxons. Our texts will include works in prose and poetry.

Requirements

Quizzes, midterm and final exams, research project.

Race and Ethnicity in American Literature

TR 2:30-3:45 | Robert Spirko

Popular discourse imagines prophets speaking of the future, but understood historically and theologically, real prophets speak truth to their present moment. The prophetic mode often begins in condemnation and ends in hope: the movement from dystopia to eutopia, or from oppression to liberation. This course will focus on the power of prophetic rhetoric, primarily in Black, Latin@ and Indigenous writers and how it contrasts with and augments lyrical and narrative approaches. We’ll trace thru lines from Phillis Wheatley to Frances E.W. Harper to Audre Lorde; from Frederick Douglass to James Baldwin; from Zitkála-Šá to Joy Harjo and Gloria Anzaldúa. We’ll consider the uses of the prophetic mode to inspire, indict, and motivate in social and literary movements.

Requirements

Assignments will include short papers on textual and contextual analyses, weekly response paragraphs, a video presentation for class, and a final paper.

Women in American Literature

MWF 9:10-10:00 | Robin Nicks

This course traces the development of literature by American women from Anne Bradstreet through current authors like Louise Erdrich. Our focus will be on the ways that texts express developing views on gender roles, as well as the different approaches that each writer has in offering criticisms of her culture and engaging in political and social debates of her time. Authors may include Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, Margaret Fuller, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Shirley Jackson, Toni Morrison, Amy Tan, Louise Erdrich, and others.

Requirements

Reading responses, 3 short papers, and a final paper.

Men, Marriage, Motherhood, and Myths

TR 11:20-12:35 | La Vinia Jennings

English 332 will examine the novels of American women in the twentieth century that treat diverse geographical regions, ethnicities, social classes, and cultures. Discussions will emphasize various institutions—patriarchy, marriage, family, and motherhood—and their impacts on female selfhood and identity.

Requirements

Two research papers, frequent quizzes, limited absences, and consistent participation.

Black American Literature and Aesthetics

TR 11:20-12:35 | Mark Tabone

This course will examine the works of major Black American authors of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries with a focus on the interaction between aesthetics and politics. The course will begin with the generation-defining “protest” fiction of Richard Wright, traverse the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and ‘70s, and conclude by examining how contemporary artists are engaging with the political issues of today. Readings will explore the ways in which artists experiment with aesthetic form and content to address the politics of race as well as other social questions. Possible authors include Wright, Baldwin, Baraka, Reed, Morrison, Walker, Suzan-Lori Parks, Octavia Butler, and Claudia Rankine.

Requirements

Requirements include attendance, active participation, a presentation, informal writing assignments, three formal papers, and a final exam.

African Literature

TR 14:30-15:45 | Gichingiri Ndigirigi

Course surveys the major works and issues that characterize contemporary African literature through the prism of transplantation. We study the transplantation of Western genres and their conventions onto African spaces and the modifications that are made to them by African writers intent on representing an identifiably African experience. We also follow cultural transplants who move easily between “local” spaces denoted by the ubiquitous “village,” the colonial or mission school, the African city and, increasingly, the Western metropolis. While paying attention to the challenges confronting writers in their attempts to construct an adequately differentiated African “subject,” we also ask whether, the “African literature” label is capacious enough to accommodate an Obama who goes to Africa in search of his partial roots. Representative plays, novels, memoirs, plus select readings in postcolonial criticism/theory and cultural studies will form the core reading requirements. Major authors include: Achebe, Adichie, Dangarembga, Fugard, Fugard, Ngũgĩ, Obama, and Soyinka. 

Requirements

Class participation, four short papers, a mid-term and a final exam.

Science Fiction and Fantasy

TR 2:30-3:45 | Amy Elias

How do science fiction and fantasy help us to re-examine the energy we use and the worlds we create? Following Dominic Boyer’s notion of “energopower,” this class will bring together two meanings of “power”: as political/social system and as energy systems that fuel modern societies. SF and fantasy literature have been exploring this intersection of meanings for more than a century, and today speculative narratives construct “energy futures” and new ways of thinking about energy consumption in relation to politics, human freedom, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Class materials may include examples of older visions of our present and future as well as contemporary novels and films. Readings may include examples of steampunk, solarpunk, Teslapunk, Afrofuturism; speculative fantasy by George Schuyler, Naomi Alderman, N.K. Jemison, or Paolo Bacigalupi; films such as Thor or The Matrix but also Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind or April and the Extraordinary World.

Requirements

Two short papers, reading quizzes, course project, final exam.

The Short Story

MWF 10:20-11:10 | Mary Papke

The course will provide an overview of the American gothic short story from its earliest appearance through the age of romanticism and realism and modernism up to the postmodern fiction of today. Selections will include such writers as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Edith Wharton, Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, among others.

Requirements

Attendance, examinations, critical analysis papers.

MWF 10:20-11:10; MWF 12:40-1:20 | Robin Nicks

This course serves as an introduction to the rhetoric and writing concentration of the undergraduate major in English and covers both theory and practice, focusing on multiple modes and genres of writing. Students will learn rhetorical theory, discourse analysis, and social movement theory, among other theories and genres. The course requires extensive reading and writing, with review and revision at all stages of the writing process.

Requirements

Three projects, presentation, journals.

Rhetoric and Writing

TR 9:45-11:00 | Anne Snellen

This section of 355 is an introduction to rhetoric as a brain-changing engine, including specific conversations regarding metaphor and figurative language, discourse analysis, audience and narrative, deliberation, and satire. The focus is on the language we hear every day, with special attention on media and how Big Data engines collate large corpuses of language. Some projects will be academic in style, though most will have a practical emphasis looking beyond the university.

Requirements

Large qualitative research project, data coding/analysis projects, and several smaller genre/text analyses.

Online Asynchronous | Sally Harris

In this fully online, asynchronous class, students develop rhetorical strategies for clear communications and for working in teams. They also hone critical thinking skills by analyzing the content, channels, genres, and audiences of their communications. Students complete seven projects, including genres such as process descriptions, application materials, proposals, and major reports. Additionally, they work in teams strengthening their online collaboration and document creation skills.

Requirements

Quizzes; discussion posts; peer reviews; six or seven technical writing documents such as process descriptions, instructions, reports, and proposals.

Technical and Professional Writing

TR 11:20-12:35 | Anne Snellen

Several hacks have occurred throughout the 12 Colonies. Though there is no proof, the Colonial Fleet worry these hacks may precipitate a larger event and ask, “have we adequately prepared for a full-scale Cylon attack?” To prepare, we must create appropriate technical documentation to guide the crew through the crisis. These documents might consist of memos, PSAs, instructions, manuals, proposals, descriptions, definitions, illustrations, and videos to disseminate information to the community. To aid in our research, we will study Battlestar Galactica as well as primary sources from Hersey’s Hiroshima, Terkel’s The Good War, and the Atomic Archive.

Requirements

Large manual, formal report, flowcharts, process descriptions, memos, and graphic designs.

MWF 8:00-8:50 | Jamal-Jared Alexander

Students are introduced to professional workplace writing, transitioning from writing for academic audiences to writing workplace documents. Throughout ENGL 360, students will design and write professional documents, synthesize and evaluate arguments on technology and society, and collaborate in teams to present technical information. ENGL 360 introduces students to some of the basic issues, elements, and genres of technical writing:

• Writing for various audiences and purposes
• Addressing social issues related to writing
• Conducting research to complete writing tasks
• Writing collaboratively within work teams
• Developing an effective professional tone and style
• Incorporating effective visual elements

Requirements

Attendance, class citizenship, and major assignments.

Writing Poetry

TR 9:45-11:00 | Destiny Birdsong

This course is designed to engage students in the art of writing and revising poetry as well as discussing poets and poetic forms. Over the course of the semester, students will also co-lead class discussions and provide extensive feedback on their peers’ work.

Requirements

Graded requirements will include attendance, participation, written and revised poems, a final portfolio, and written critiques of each other’s work.

MWF 1:50-02:40 | Marcel Brouwers

In this course we will read and write poetry of various genres and types. We will read complete single-author collections, anthologized work, and essays related to the craft of poetry. A portfolio of polished poetry will conclude the course.

Requirements

Attendance, regular poetry writing, active discussion, & final portfolio.

TR 2:30–3:45 | Michael Knight

This class is designed to provide an introduction to the craft of writing literary fiction with a focus on the short story. Students should leave this class with a basic understanding of core elements of the short story form (character, plot, structure, point of view, setting, language, imagery and so on), the ability to recognize how those elements function in published fiction and the ability to put those core elements into practice in fiction of their own.

Requirements

Attendance, writing exercises, reading responses, workshop.

TR 11:20–12:35 | Christopher Hebert

This class is for students interested in taking creative writing seriously, even if they have little or no experience. We will study the craft of writing through the discussion of daily readings (mostly short stories from contemporary authors), through a variety of writing exercises, and through the composition of a full-length short story. These full-length stories will be shared with the class, discussed, and revised. The peer workshopping of student work allows for the introduction and sharpening of critical skills vital to the development of astute readers and writers.

Requirements

Attendance, complete story, revision, exercises, responses, peer reviews.

TR 11:20-12:35 | Jeffrey Amos

In this class, students will study the art and craft of writing for the screen. We will develop a practice for reading screenplays for story structure, character development, visual storytelling, and other aspects of craft. In the process, students will create their own stories, writing and developing film treatments and scripts, and begin work on a feature length script.

Requirements

Attendance, weekly reading responses, regular writing exercises and assignments, a midterm and final portfolio including a film treatment and scripted material.

MWF 12:40-1:30 | Margaret Dean

Before they are edited, performed, or photographed, films are written. Screenplays create the earliest versions of the characters, stories, and themes that will become iconic—the first step of a collaborative art form. In order to gain an understanding of screenplay structure and form, we will read screenplays by Bong Joon-ho, the Coen brothers, Pete Docter, Greta Gerwig, Spike Jonze, Jordan Peele, Taika Waititi, Billy Wilder, Chloe Zhao, and many others. Previous coursework in creative writing and/or film is encouraged but not required.

Requirements

Students will complete a variety of exercises, take part in workshops of peers’ writing, and produce by the end of the semester a treatment for a feature film with sample scenes.

MWF 1:50-2:40 | Margaret Dean

The term “creative nonfiction” refers to essays that are grounded in fact but use tactics of creative writing to achieve their purposes. These creative tactics can include description, scenes, dialogue, and most importantly, a strong sense of voice. Units will include the history of creative nonfiction as a genre and the ethics of truth and lies in creative nonfiction. Texts will be available online and may include essays by Eula Biss, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Joan Didion, Leslie Jamison, Naomi Shihab Nye, Hunter S. Thompson, Jesmyn Ward, and emerging writers published during the course of the semester.

Requirements

Students will write one full-length essay, multiple short assignments, and many responses to peer essays and published work.

TR 12:55-2:10 | Scott MacKenzie

The goal of the course is to trace the evolution of English through its 1500-year span utilizing literary and cultural documents. We will isolate its position in the Indo-European language family and examine Old English’s development as Germanic dialect. Next we will witness its proliferation by writers such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Spenser and Milton. Lastly we will study contemporary British and American speech and writing through authors such as Jefferson, Dickens, Twain, Faulkner and Welty. Additionally, we will focus on social concerns about language use, variety, and change. These include the relationship between spelling and pronunciation; the role of the dictionary in describing and prescribing

Requirements

Quizzes, midterm and final exams, research project.

TR 11:20-12:35 | Hooman Saeli

This course explores the complexities of contemporary English from a linguistic perspective. We will study how English works linguistically—from its phonology (system of sounds), the makeup of its words (morphology), to its syntax (grammatical structure), and how we use it in ongoing talk (discourse and pragmatics). We will cover how English varies, how it has changed, and how a linguistic understanding of English language makes us better consumers of the information in the world around us.

Requirements

10 homeworks, 3 writing projects, 3 group presentations, and 2 exams.

Late Shakespeare

MWF 12:40-1:30 | Robert Stillman

Late Shakespeare is a study of the problem comedies, tragedies, and tragicomedies that mark Shakespeare’s changing understandings about how best to represent experience, and an inquiry into how best to experience those plays. We will read Much Ado about Nothing, Measure for Measure, Othello, Lear, Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest.

Requirements

Attendance, two papers, discussion, and a final exam.

Shakespeare’s Contemporaries I: Renaissance Drama

TR 11:20-12:35 | Heather Hirschfeld

This class picks up where Shakespeare classes leave off: with the provocative, rich, sometimes decadent plays written by the professional dramatists (Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Webster, Francis Beaumont, and John Fletcher) whose work was featured at the famed Globe Theatre. We will study the rich variety of playwrights and plays of the early modern period and their world and ours. As we do so, we will explore the development of a theatrical community in early modern London, charting the rise of certain acting companies and their “star” actors, considering popular and elite responses to playing, and evaluating the theater’s place in the city and nation’s economic and political life. The final goal is to understand the early modern theater as a total enterprise–as an entertainment industry and culture that involved more than just words on the page.

Requirements

Attendance, participation, two essays, two reflection papers.

Donne, Milton, and Their Contemporaries

TR 12:55-2:10 | Anthony Welch

Aristocrats kissing trees; lovers dissected on autopsy tables; petticoat fetishes; angels firing heavy artillery. This course explores the poetry of seventeenth-century Britain, from John Donne’s racy love poems to John Milton’s astonishing religious epic, Paradise Lost. We will study a wide range of poets, including Herbert, Jonson, Lanyer, Herrick, and Marvell, and the critical debates that have sprung up around them. For all its beauty and polish, their poetry took shape in an age of violent social upheaval. We will read their writings against the backdrop of the scientific revolution, religious conflict, gender debate, and a bloody civil war. A central theme will be the tangled relationship between flesh and spirit, between the worldly and the divine, that endlessly perplexed the early modern imagination.

Requirements

Active participation, weekly discussion board posts, two essays, and one exam.

Restoration and Early Eighteenth-Century Literature

TR 11:20 | Misty Anderson

We share seismic cultural shifts in common with Britons who lived from 1660-1740. They saw the number of their print sources explode; new, edgy forms of entertainment; new financial markets; changing ideas about sex and gender; as well as scientific discoveries, conspiracy theories, and new technologies. We start in the playhouse with works by Behn (the first professional woman writer), Rochester, Hobbes, Wycherley, and Centlivre, then move to the coffeehouse, or the “penny university,” with Defoe, Swift, and Pope, among others. We will learn how to set type, spend time with rare books, and look at objects from the period in McClung Museum.

Requirements

Assignments include two short papers, weekly discussion board posts, occasional quizzes, a final project, and regular, engaged class participation. Graduate students will be able to develop a more specific project that meets their academic objectives.

Romantic Poetry/Prose I

TR 11:10-12:25 | Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud

“The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.” This proverb by the Romantic poet William Blake speaks to the revolutionary fire of a period that saw modern freedoms and radical change emerge, in terms of democracy and political activism, mass media, feminism, individualism, alienation, sexual nonconformity, industrialization, technological advances, and class conflict, to name a few. In this class we’ll examine how the Romantics felt about these changes, mostly through the poetry for which they remain famous. We’ll read verse by Blake, Byron, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Wordsworth, among others, as well as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Requirements

Two papers, a letterpress poster, weekly discussion posts, and quizzes.

Women Writers in Britain

MWF 12:40-1:30 | Urmila Seshagiri

“What a lark! What a plunge!” thinks Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway on a June morning in London. This course takes students on a lark and a plunge through the extraordinary accomplishments of Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), author, publisher, critic, and center of modernist culture. We will study Woolf’s reinventions of the English novel in Jacob’s Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, The Waves, Flush, and Between the Acts. We will read her influential feminist manifesto A Room of One’s Own, as well as selected short stories, critical essays, and her memoir, “Sketch of the Past.” Along the way, we’ll meet members of the Bloomsbury Group, consider the impact of World War I on the arts, and trace developments in global modernism. The course includes literature by Woolf’s contemporaries T.S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, and E. M. Forster, as well as recent interpretations of Woolf’s work in film, dance, and photography.

Requirements

Attendance, reading journals, two papers, group presentation, final project.

MWF 12:40-1:30 | Mary Papke

We’ll examine the development and varieties of regionalist and local color, realist, and naturalist fiction in American literature. Authors studied may include Twain, Jewett, Freeman, Chopin, Bierce, James, Crane, Norris, and Dreiser, among others.

Requirements

Attendance, examinations, an analytical paper.

Modern American Literature

TR 9:45-11:00 | Bill Hardwig

In this class, we will explore the uneasy relationship between US racial dynamics and the promise of the nation. Through the reading of literature, we will trace important cultural moments, aesthetic movements, and racial history of the twentieth century. Beginning with the Harlem Renaissance and Modernism, we will move through several decades by examining literature in the context of W.E.B. DuBois’s 1903 declaration: “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.”

Requirements

Attendance, 2 Papers, 3 exams, quizzes and micro-essays.

TR 2:30-3:45 | La Vinia Jennings

Reading List: The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald), The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway), Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston), The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck); Native Son (Richard Wright); and Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison).

Requirements

Two research papers, frequent quizzes, limited absences, and consistent participation.

Southern Literature

MWF 9:10-10:00 | Tom Haddox

This course will be a broad survey of the literature of the U.S. South from the late eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. It will be focused around the themes of “race, place (geography), and grace (religious belief)”—three forces that have shaped the cultural identity of the South in ways both good and bad. We’ll read four excellent novels (Charles W. Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition, William Faulkner’s, Absalom, Absalom!, Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood, and Lee Smith’s Oral History), as well as selected poems, drama, and nonfiction. We’ll ask questions such as these: What has it meant, for people of all races, places, and religious persuasions to be “southern”? How have southern identity and culture changed over time?

Requirements

Attendance, active class participation, two papers, quizzes, midterm and final exam.

Topics in Black Literature

MWF 10:20-11:10 | Katy Chiles

Why does the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century African slave trade continue to impact contemporary American literature and culture? How did early African-Americans describe the slave trade and life in the Americas? This course will begin to answer these questions and more. We will consider how texts written by black authors are part of what we call the “Black Atlantic”: a transnational cultural space produced by travel across the Atlantic Ocean—to and from Africa, the Caribbean, the United States, and Great Britain. We will examine how these writings explore the “impossible” place of many of these writers who, although living in a certain country, were not considered “citizens” before the law. From the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, texts might include first-person narratives by Olaudah Equiano, Mary Prince, and Frederick Douglass; Phillis Wheatley’s poetry; and Martin Delany’s Blake.

Requirements

Active participation, a presentation, informal writing assignments, a close reading paper, an annotated bibliography and abstract, and a final paper.

Appalachian Literature and Culture

12:55-2:10 TR | Bill Hardwig

In this class, we will investigate the complex history of the Appalachian region through the lens of ecocriticism and environmental concerns, especially the devastation caused in the region by extractive industries. This class is interdisciplinary in design, and we will approach our topics by looking at literature, history, photography, music, and popular culture. Along the way, we will unearth the heterogeneity (of people, ethnicities, environments, and communities) in the region commonly known as Appalachia.

Requirements

Attendance, 2 papers, 3 exams, micro-essays, quizzes.

TR 8:10-9:25 | Sean Morey

The focus of English 460 is writing and editing for the world of work: government, industry, science, technology, and business. It offers theory, practice, and evaluation of editing skills, as well as orientation to careers and concerns in technical/professional communication. Though it focuses on the skills necessary to intelligently edit the text of documents, this course embraces a larger range of editing considerations, such as organization, layout, and visuals.

Requirements

Quizzes, Responses/reflections on readings, Mid-term exam, Final exam, Mini Article, Final Editing Project

MWF 9:10–10:00 | Jamal-Jared Alexander

Writing consistently ranks as one of the top skills desired by employers, especially in science, medical, and technology fields. Whether or not you plan to go into a field that is traditionally associated with writing, the chances are that writing will be a major part of your job and will be critical to your success. ENGL 461 will examine theories and ideologies that undergird professional, medical, and scientific writing with an eye towards both critique and imitation of technical writing styles. This course is designed to focus on medical rhetoric and science writing. Writing is one of the primary ways you communicate about yourself—e.g., your expertise, your investment, your value—to those in a professional setting and worldwide. Further, other major skills that employers rank highly are teamwork, problem-solving, communication, and analytical ability—all rhetorical skills that can be developed through practicing writing.

Requirements

Attendance | Major Assignments

Advanced Poetry Writing

TR 12:55-2:10 | Destiny Birdsong

Poetic forms require intention and precision, and sometimes (unfortunately), content can take a backseat to getting them “right.” In this class, we will explore what is possible when we require forms to work for us instead, using them to push the boundaries of our work, to explore nuances in language, or to deepen our engagement with a particular subject. We will also examine what is possible when we bend or break the rules, or when we invent/remix forms of our own.

Requirements

Graded requirements will include attendance, participation, several written and revised poems, student-led discussions and presentations, written critiques of each other’s work, and a final project.

TR 2:30–3:45 | Chris Hebert

This class is for students with experience in fiction writing who are looking to deepen and sharpen their critical abilities and writing skills. Throughout the semester—through a combination of readings, workshops, and writing exercises—we will be revisiting and reinforcing the core elements of fiction, such as concrete detail, character, conflict, plot, and scene. But we will move beyond them as well, exploring new techniques and new complexities, seeking to broaden our understanding of how fiction works and what it can do. Students should expect to put significant time and effort into their own and their classmates’ work.

Requirements

Attendance, complete short story, revision, exercises, responses, peer reviews.

MWF 11:30–12:20 | Tanita Saenkhum

This course, which is reading and discussion based, provides an introduction to some of the major basic theories, trends, and issues surrounding teaching English as a second/foreign language. We will consider various topics related to English language teaching, including first language acquisition, second language learning, learner variables in language learning, and traditional and innovative approaches to language teaching. By the end of the semester, students should be able to:

• Explain various approaches to English language teaching;
• Consider various topics related to English language teaching;
• Design or modify a language course in ways that are appropriate for the institutional context, student population, and learning goals and objectives; and
• Share your ideas, teaching materials, and research effectively through oral presentations and written documents.

Requirements

Attendance & participation, discussion questions, teaching observation or English language teaching book review, teaching demonstration, and final research project.

TR 11:20-12:35 | Thorsten Huth

This class explores basic models of what human language is and how it works; compares and contrasts the potential similarities and differences of first and second language learning both in the real world and in instructed learning contexts, and outlines the scope of second language acquisition research across disciplines and time.

Requirements

Response papers, in-class presentation, final research paper.

Literary Criticism

TR 12:55-2:10 | Martin Griffin

To be creative is to be critical, and criticism can also be creative. We the readers engage with the author across the pages of the text, and often across time as well. The writer puts together a play or a story and has the vision of a certain kind of future reader; the reader, for his or her part, has a shadowy sense of the author as they encounter the poem or the novel in the moment. In this class, we will look at essays in criticism and theory from classical Greece to the modern era, and try to put this intellectual history into conversation with significant works of drama, fiction, and poetry. Among other themes, we will explore how plays might play with our emotions, what makes poems poetic, and why these days ‘narrative’ has become such a popular word.

Requirements

Attendance, two papers, in-class mid-term, final paper and/or exam.

Major Authors

TR 12:55-2:10 | Stephen Blackwell

Nabokov is famous for writing some of the most beautiful prose of the 20th century, as well as some of its most beguiling novels. In this course, we will examine how Nabokov’s literary art confronts the ethical implications of existence and, especially, of the use of language. What responsibilities does one take on when one decides to engage with others, or to address or describe them with language? How does the desire to create beauty or art relate to other facets of human desire—for power, love, control, physical gratification, wealth, fame? How does the creation of art bring into focus some of the major ethical concerns of life? In this course we will explore these and other questions posed by Nabokov’s rich and diverse literary output.

Requirements

Three 1,000-word essays, one 2,500-word essays, attendance, quizzes, an annotated bibliography of around 10 scholarly articles or chapters.

Major Authors

MWF 10:20-11:10 | Dawn Coleman

Herman Melville is a literary titan whose work rewards reading and rereading. In beautiful, Romantic-era prose that swerves between epic grandeur and self-deprecating humor, he tells enduring stories of earnest men faced with unsettling ambiguities. We begin with Typee, a novel based on his experience of being marooned with an indigenous tribe in the South Seas. We then spend five weeks close-reading his magnum opus, Moby-Dick. After that, we turn to Melville’s shorter masterpieces, including “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” “Benito Cereno,” select Civil War poems, and Billy Budd. We read Melville’s writing alongside excerpts from writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Frederick Douglass, select critical and biographical essays, and Melville-inspired twentieth and twenty-first century art. Even if you don’t learn to love Melville (and most students do), you will understand him thoroughly.

Requirements

Course requirements: a 4-page essay on Typee, a Moby-Dick take-home exam, a paired or group presentation, a take-home final, and a 9-page final research paper, along with several assignments leading up to it.

Special Topics in Film Studies

MW 1:50-2:40, F 1:50-03:50 | Eleni Palis

Throughout film history, continual exchanges between film and other forms, especially literature, theater, and more recently, graphic novels and video games, have shaped film history; it is almost impossible to study film without an eye to adaptation. This course begins with well-worn questions about “textual fidelity” across literary-film adaptation and then expands to debates about remix practices, digital mixes, and mash-ups, the ethics of appropriation, videographic criticism, and adapting “archives.” For these archival questions, we will visit the Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound (TAMIS) and consider access to and appropriation of small-gauge formats with 16mm film and projection.

Requirements

Course grades are determined by regular attendance, weekly discussion posts, and a video essay leading up to a final research project.

Drama in New York

Regular individual meetings with the Professor | Robert Stillman

English 492 has an off-campus component from Jan 2nd-10th. The course requires attendance at all the plays and class meetings while in New York, a play-going journal, and a (10 page) research paper due in mid-April. Students will have free time to explore New York during the holidays. What makes this year special first is the great line-up of plays, that includes: Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman with an all-black cast; Samuel L. Jackson in August Wilson’s Piano Lesson; and a revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize drama, Top Dog/Underdog. Also, for twelve qualifying students there will be NO COURSE FEE. Competitive grants will cover all theater tickets and housing. Tuition fees, airfare, and meals are not covered. For information about the class and about the grant application, contact Prof. Robert Stillman, rstillma@utk.edu.

Requirements

Attendance, a play-going journal and a research paper (10-12 pages).