English 102 Topics— Fall 2025
English 102 Topics | Fall 2025
Jump to list of English 102 Topics
Each instructor’s section of English 102 is organized around a distinctive topic; please choose one that appeals to you and your interests. Topics for sections that currently do not have an instructor listed in Banner will be updated closer to the beginning of the semester, or as sections are assigned. All English 102 sections teach archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and writing.
All English 102 sections require 2 textbooks, Rhetoric of Inquiry, 5th edition, and The Writer’s Harbrace Handbook, 6th edition. Each section may have additional required texts; please check with the Bookstore to see whether additional texts are required for your section.
English 102 Inquiry Topics
Heather Akers | Inquiry into Food
TR | 9:45-11:00 & 11:20-12:35
Our specific course theme is Inquiry into Food. This semester we will examine the issue of food and our relationship to it. Food is a subject that necessarily concerns every human on earth. It is key to our survival, but also to our sense of pleasure in life. It can bring delight and joy, and it can also bring challenges and problems. Food is one of the key aspects that give identity, structure, and sustenance to a particular culture. It is big business. It concerns the global economy. It can also be a deeply personal matter of health, ethics, and belief systems. This semester, we will use the topic of food to develop our research and writing skills. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. The secondary source project will examine a current debate surrounding agriculture, nutrition, or a related issue. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of a particular recipe or dish over the past century. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by interviewing, surveying, and/or observing participants in order to investigate their experiences, opinions, behaviors, and/or beliefs about food.
Jeff Amos | Inquiry into Place
TR | 4:05-5:20
What do we mean when we say something happened in a “place?” Are we referring simply to geography, a position on a map? Or do we have in mind something more difficult to explain? How do memories, history, imagined futures, or ecosystems combine in various ways to make something a “place?” In this section of English 102, we will write about significant places in our own lives as the starting point for intersecting research projects examining what gives place its shape and meaning. Our interrogations might force us to ask questions about cultural history, human geography, or changes in the land through manmade and natural forces. In the end, our goal is to understand not just what makes those places so meaningful to us but what makes them unique in their own right. How have they evolved, naturally and culturally, and where might they be going?
Brad Bannon | Inquiry into American Horror
MWF | 12:40-1:30
Why is Edgar Allan Poe’s face among the most recognizable in American Literature? Why are television shows, documentaries, films, and film franchises like American Horror Story, Stranger Things, Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, Insidious, Get Out, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween so popular? What is the appeal of the American horror genre, and why is it so ubiquitous? In this section of 102, students will develop their research and writing skills while seeking to understand the socio-historical and cultural contexts of American horror as a distinct genre, as well as what continues to draw audiences to it as a form of expression in literature, film, and popular media. We will discuss classic and influential examples of the form and consider some more recent historical accounts as we trace the origins of American horror. These discussions will complement our investigation into the phenomenon of the genre as students learn how to conduct qualitative, archival, and secondary research.
Andrew Butler | Inquiry into Music
MWF | 120:20-11:10 & 11:30-12:20
Music, perhaps more than any other aspect of popular culture, forms an important part of our identity. We bond with friends over shared musical tastes, judge each other over their choices with the aux cord, feel closer to previous generations when we hear their favorite songs. The music we listen to feels like it forms an important part of our identity.
Underneath music’s role in day-to-day life, however, rest some interesting questions. To what extent is the music we choose to listen to the result of historical and social trends? Why do we tend to associate certain kinds of music with certain attitudes and styles of dress? How have musical genres developed over time and why do they sound like they do today? Why does music take such an interest in relative terms such as “pop,” “indie,” and “alt”? Students will develop their own research questions and formulate original arguments using three different modes of research: secondary, archival, and qualitative. Through research, students will gain an insight into the role of music both historically and in the present
Mary Christensen | Inquiry into the Monstrous
TR | 8:10-9:25 & 12:55-2:10
This section of English 102 focuses on the topic of monstrosity. Through reading and analyzing both scholarly and creative genres, conducting our own research, and through navigating archival spaces, we will come to view monstrosity as social commentary. Perhaps, more importantly, we will learn to ask ourselves: Who are the monsters, really?
Elizabeth Cooley | Inquiry into Disability
TR | 11:20-12:35, 2:30-3:45, & 4:05-5:20
In this section, we’ll question what “disability” really is, how history, scholars, and our contemporaries view and have viewed it, and what our assumptions are about both disabled and abled people are. We’ll also observe accessible designs and how they shapes our everyday lives. In group projects, we will research and propose solutions to problems with disability and accessibility at UTK.
Taylor DeMichael | Inquiry into Social Media
Online Asynchronous
Many of us have probably heard the term “chronically online” tossed around the internet. Our course, “Inquiry into Social Media,” seeks to dive deeper into what it means to be “chronically online,” focusing on our engagement with the digital world in our day-to-day lives as well as how social media and new technologies are rapidly changing and influencing the world around us. The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills through various modes of research, including secondary source, primary source, and qualitative research. You’ll be able to investigate topics from a multitude of academic perspectives and, hopefully, relate your research to your major or personal interests.
Greg Gillespie | Inquiry into the Humanities and Digital Culture
TR | 8:10-9:25 & 2:30-3:45
In this course, students will learn to think like a researcher while exploring how the humanities enhance our understanding of identity, society, and culture. We will analyze literature, art, history, and philosophy from diverse cultural perspectives, examining their representation across digital media—including social media, digital storytelling, and virtual communities. Emphasis will be placed on cross-cultural communication and collaboration, encouraging students to share and reflect upon their unique experiences. Students will develop writing and critical thinking skills through secondary source analysis, archival research, and qualitative methods, and participate in reflective, community, and peer workshop activities. By selecting topics that resonate with their cultural backgrounds and interests, students will have the opportunity to connect their writing to their majors and daily lives, while preparing to confidently engage with academic and professional genres.
Molly Granatino | Inquiry into Banned Books
TR | 8:10-9:25 & 9:45-11:00
This 102 course will look at all facets of the conversation surrounding banned books, from freedom of speech to parental rights. We will examine what subjects tend to be challenged, from historical to current cases. We will also read statements from banned book authors in tandem with statements from students impacted by the bans. For the secondary source essay, students will delve into the intricacies of this debate, identifying stakeholders and examining rhetorical strategies. For the historical website project, students will have the option to either trace the banned book trajectory of one piece of literature over the years or chart the progression of a specific challenged literary theme through the years. For the qualitative interview project, students will devise interview questions based on an area of interest within the larger debate.
Emily Harrison | Inquiry into Food
MWF | 12:40-1:30 & 1:50-2:40
Our ENGL 102 course this semester will be focused around the theme, Inquiry into Food. We have all heard the phrase, “you are what you eat,” but do we realize what this phrase suggests about our health, our identities, and our culture? In this writing and research-intensive course, we will investigate the various and complex relationships that we have with that most essential but often unexamined part of our lives: food. In addition to our personal relationships with food, we will also explore the ways our food choices have larger social, political, and environmental significance. In this course, students will develop skills in academic research, writing, and communication through the versatile topic of food. Students will be encouraged to pursue research projects that foster their individual interests while also allowing for useful and engaging peer and instructor collaboration within this general course theme.
Jamie Kramer | Inquiry into True Crime
MWF | 8:00-8:50
Kristen LeFevers | Inquiry into Social Class
Online Asynchronous
In this section of English 102, students will examine readings, film and video clips, and other digital media related to social class, a topic that yields itself to rich discussions on historical and current social issues. We will use this theme to develop research, writing, and critical thinking skills. This course will feature three kinds of research: secondary source, qualitative, and archival. Issues and concepts we will explore this semester include upward mobility, working-class narratives, poverty, wealth inequality, food and housing insecurity, first-generation student narratives, “bootstraps” rhetoric, intersections of social class and language, and intersections of social class and marginalized identities. Because our theme is broad, students are encouraged to think outside the box and consider how this course theme will connect uniquely and effectively with their own majors, interests, and/or lived experience
Kelvin Massey | Inquiry into the Heroic
Online Asynchronous
In this section of 102, our readings, writing assignments, and research will be related to the concept of the hero and how it has changed through time. We shall examine the origin of the concept of the hero and also consider how heroic ideals show continuity as well as transformation through different time periods, cultures, and media. We shall use qualitative, archival, and secondary source research to explore our topic (which may also include role models, leaders, and villains) through formal essays, in addition to other types of written assignments and exercises.
Julia P. McLeod | Inquiry into Food and Culture
TR | 9:45-11:00, 11:20-12:35, & 4:05-5:20
If we are what we eat, then what do the choices we make on a daily basis say about us? This writing and research course is an investigation of the complex relationship that humans have with food. We’ll look at what, when, with whom, and how we eat and what these choices reveal about ourselves and our culture.
You’ll formulate your own research questions about the collective and individual effects of food on culture, which you’ll then investigate through qualitative, archival, and secondary source research. For the qualitative project, you’ll gather your own data through interviews to examine how a food or food practice has impacted a specific group of people or aspect of society. You’ll continue that line of inquiry with your archival project by creating a digital museum exhibit that highlights and examines a food or food practice’s effects upon a particular community. In the secondary source project, you’ll locate and analyze scholarly sources to explore a food-related line of inquiry relevant to today’s culture.
English 102 advances the concepts introduced in English 101 and provides students with intensive writing instruction focused on inquiry and research. Throughout the semester, we’ll focus on strategies for formulating and investigating questions, locating and evaluating information, using varied sources and research methods, developing positions on intercultural and interdisciplinary issues from diverse texts (print, digital, and multimedia), and presenting research using appropriate rhetorical conventions.
Clayton Powers | Inquiry into Myths and Popular Culture
Online Asynchronous
This section of English 102 will explore the role of myth in culture, particularly how the transmission of knowledge and values across generations often occurs through storytelling. Our collective histories as nations, as people groups, and as individuals are made up of frameworks which help us to make sense of spiritual and natural realities. Certain repeating themes—such as the “Hero’s Journey” or “Monomyth” commonly seen in Hollywood blockbusters and popular book series—unite times and places by speaking in universal terms to what it means to be human. These stories and themes constitute myth, a vehicle by which truth is told through fiction. In this course, students will learn to write and research through an examination of traditional and popular myths such as the fairy story, the folk legend, and its modern counterpart, the superhero tale.
Gabriel Reed | Inquiry into Memoir
MWF | 11:30-12:20, 3:00-3:50, & 4:10-5:00
Advancing concepts introduced in English 101, English 102 provides students with intensive writing instruction focused on inquiry and research. It does so by emphasizing strategies for formulating and investigating questions, locating and evaluating information, using varied sources and research methods, developing positions on intercultural and interdisciplinary issues from diverse texts (print, digital, and multimedia), and presenting research using appropriate rhetorical conventions.
Our course theme is “Inquiry into Memoir.” Our theme will serve as a springboard to guide discussion, research, and process throughout the semester.
James Shepard | Inquiry into Social Media
MWF | 10:20-11:10, 11:30-12:20, 1:50-2:40 & 3:00-3:50
Inquiry into Social Media will provide students with an opportunity to reflect on how digital discourses that they use almost every day fill diverse discursive roles. Through various modes of research, including secondary source, primary source, and qualitative, students will discover the ways in which social media functions in contemporary society. By filtering academic research questions through familiar mode, students will come to a greater understanding of the significance of academic study in the day-to-day, and will thus begin to view other aspects of their lives through an academic lens.
Tyler Smith | Inquiry into War, Conflict, and the Power of Story
TR | 2:30-3:45 & 4:05-5:20
In War, Conflict, and the Power of Story, we will explore the themes of honor, duty, and the civilian perspective in war narratives, examining how these stories shape our understanding of morality, heroism, and the burdens of service. Through literature, film, and other media, we will analyze how different cultures depict war and its consequences, as well as how these narratives influence societal values and construct systems of meaning. The course will also consider the role of “othering” in war stories, exploring the marginalization of certain groups and the impact of these portrayals on cultural memory. Throughout the semester, we will use these topics to develop key research methodologies in writing and analysis. Students will have the opportunity to explore primary and secondary sources, conduct interviews with veterans and community members, and engage with archival materials. The aim of the course is not only to critically engage with war narratives but also to refine research skills and practice effective communication of complex ideas.
Sam Turner | Inquiry into the Titanic and Its Legacy
TR | 11:20-12:35, 2:30-3:45, & 4:05-5:20
The Titanic began as an engineering puzzle, became a historical trauma, and by the end of its century had become both an archeological challenge and a case study in the modern Hollywood blockbuster. This course will allow students examine both the ship and its legacy in all of these contexts. First students will study primary sources in the form of survivor accounts and press coverage of the disaster. They will then research recent scholarship in a discipline of their choice that will provide a methodological context for discussing some aspect of the ship or its enduring cultural resonance. Finally, students will conduct a qualitative research project in order to better understand the enduring fascination, in the twenty-first century, of spectacular historical tragedies.
Valerie Voight | Inquiry into Pop Culture
MWF | 12:40-1:30 & 1:50-2:40
Inquiry into Pop Culture examines the intersection of pop culture and the idea of the Renaissance, from the musical & Juliet to Chappell Roan’s Joan-of-Arc-inspired VMA performance and the cover art of Beyoncé’s Renaissance album. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. The course will explore questions such as what it means to initiate a cultural renaissance, how reinventions and reinterpretations contribute to our understanding of history, and the concept of compositional and artistic remix. The course features secondary, archival, and qualitative research projects. You will use skills such as drafting, peer review, and revision to improve your work over the course of the semester.
Sarah Yancey | Inquiry into the Good Death
TR | 12:55-2:10 & 2:30-3:45
Inquiry into the Good Death investigates cultural, historical, and literary representations of death and how they have changed throughout the years. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills in various genres by examining several associated materials in qualitative, archival, and secondary source research. The qualitative research project will entail interviewing participants to explore their experiences, feelings, or beliefs about topics related to the general concept of death. In archival research, we will explore historical artifacts associated with the death industry, such as gravestones, obituaries, legal documents, and representations in pop culture. Finally, in the secondary source project we will research and present an argument about the end of something, from a specific process in an industry to a shift in attitudes toward a particular issue. This course will not require students to reflect on, discuss, or write about their own encounters with death—we will keep our focus on the broad history and implications of the idea rather than individual experience.