English 102 Topics — Spring 2023

TR | 8:10-9:25, 9:45-11:00, & 2:30-3:45

This course will allow you to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills through one of the most multifaceted modes of learning and entertainment that we have: video games. Specifically, we will be examining the evolution of the gaming industry starting in the 1970s and moving forward from the arcade to personal computers and consoles. As we look at the evolution of the platforms and the games, we will also examine the social aspects of the gaming community and the increasing popularity of gaming over the last twenty years. You will have the opportunity to research the historical evolution of some of your favorite games or game series, examine the gaming culture as it stands today, discuss the representation of games and gamers in the media, and explore how gaming has influenced your own field of study. Like all 102 sections, we will engage in archival, qualitative, and secondary source research to investigate the course topic.

TR | 4:05-5:20

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.

TR | 12:55-2:10

This section of English 102 will explore how popular culture—with particular interest in the evolution of America’s Superheroes—provides us with scripts of power and morality, and how these practices are infused with our perception of gender, race and our society at large. We will question the influence of popular culture—in the form of comics, graphic novels, and television—on our identities, social roles, values, and perceptions. We will investigate questions such as: Do popular culture industries reinforce racial and sexual tropes/power relations? Are peoples’ ideologies mirrored or shaped by popular culture—or both?  Course readings will be balanced between primary sources (comic archives, the graphic novel Watchmen, and its contemporary HBO adaptation), scholarly work, and Rhetoric of Inquiry.

TR | 8:10-9:25, 9:45-11:00, 12:55-2:10, & 2:30-3:45

This section of English 102 will explore the South as a region and as a construct. The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from several academic perspectives that interest you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional, discipline-appropriate papers.

TR | 8:10-9:25 & 11:20-12:35

This section of English 102 will explore research skills through the topic of True Crime. The point of this course is to:

• Develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills.
• Learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing.
• Investigate the topic from any academic perspective in ways that feel relevant to you and will hopefully connect to your own interests/academic pursuits.
• Learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research
• Present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 9:10-10:00 & 11:30-12:20

This section of English 102 will explore heroism. There are many kinds of heroes. Some, like firefighters and veterans, are common in everyday life. Some are embedded in stories like comic books and legends. Others, like political leaders and cultural figures, are memorialized in history. In Inquiry into Heroism, we will develop research and writing skills by investigating the qualities of heroes and our cultural perceptions of heroism. In the archival research project, you will select a hero and examine either the historical circumstances that made them heroes or the trajectory of how their heroic behavior is depicted through time. In the secondary source project, you will and investigate the cultural value of a hero or type of hero. Finally, in the qualitative study, you will gauge individuals’ perceptions of heroes or heroism by conducting interviews, surveys, or focus groups.

MWF | 9:10-10:00, 10:20-11:10, 12:40-1:30, & 3:00-3:50

This section of English 102 will explore lore. This subject spans across many interests, from mythology to conspiracy theory to oral traditions. Throughout this course we will use lore to develop research and writing skills through three kinds of research: secondary source, qualitative, and archival.

TR | 12:55-2:10

This section of English 102 will explore the South as a region and as a construct.The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from several academic perspectives that interest you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional, discipline-appropriate papers.

MWF | 11:30-12:20

Building on what you learned in English 101, English 102 provides students with intensive writing instruction focused on inquiry and research. In other words, English 102 teaches you how to think and write like a researcher. We’ll cover strategies for creating and investigating good research questions, locating and evaluating information, using varied sources and research methods, and developing thoughtful positions on complicated academic topics. The focus of this English 102 class will be on the environment, and students will have the opportunity to match this broad, interdisciplinary course topic with their own interests, academic goals, and future careers.

MWF | 9:10-10:00, 10:20-11:10, & 1:50-2:40

These sections of ENGL 102 explore the idea of myths. We all come to college with myths. Perhaps you have heard phrases like, “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” “Boys will be boys,” “Good girls don’t …“Do what you love.” But what happens we run into difficulty? Can we acknowledge the way myths obscure fundamental inequalities at work in American life? Can we build new myths?

In this course, we will engage with challenging texts that question individual opportunity, equality, and progress. We will investigate why these ideas hold such power and think about how we might amend those beliefs. In this course, you will not only investigate the origins of a myth and gain practice locating and evaluating sources for academic research; you will also research why such beliefs have such staying power and propose ways we might re-think our relationship to these ideas.

MWF | 8:00-8:50

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. .

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 8:00-8:50, 9:10-10:00, & 12:40-1:30

Inquiry into Disability and Design will allow students to question what “disability” really is, how history, scholars, and contemporaries view and have viewed it and what our assumptions are about both disabled and abled people. You will learn and inquire about accessible designs: how they affect both abled and disabled people and how they shapes our everyday lives. You’ll research these effects in a hands-on project that looks at physical and learning design throughout this University and how it could be improved.

MWF | 3:00-3:50

Inquiry into Pop Culture examines the issues of adaptations and re-tellings of stories and media, which has received increasing attention because of the increased frequency of adapted and remade stories in the age of digital media. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. The course will explore questions such as: how stories change based on when they are told, the ways that different media change how stories are experienced, and how meaning is made and changed through adaptation and re-tellings. 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.

MWF | 4:10-5:00

From classic novels such as Dracula and Frankenstein to blockbuster films such as Jordan Peele’s Get Out or Alfred Hitchcok’s Psycho to popular video game franchises such as Outlast and Resident Evil, people have always been fascinated by the things that go bump in the night and make their skin crawl. And while we are quick to acknowledge the entertainment value that horror holds, we often do not stop to think about the deeper implications of the genre. In this English 102 course, we’ll be examining the horror genre. Specifically, we will be focusing on the relationship between horror and representation (representation of race, class, gender, sexuality, culture, mental illness, etc.) How do these different forms of horror media depict marginalized groups? How do they contribute to our ideas of identity? Does the genre reinforce certain stereotypes or can it be used to subvert existing social hierarchies? What does horror tell us about how certain individuals or groups are seen or treated by society? In this course, you will have the opportunity to examine literature, films, podcasts, television shows, video games, graphic novels, etc. while thinking about how these different works deal with the representation of different communities and the issues they face. Using horror as an investigative lens, you will formulate your own research questions about an aspect of horror and representation, which you’ll then investigate through secondary source, qualitative, and archival research.

TR | 12:55-2:10

ENGL 102/132 is a cross-cultural composition course, which purposefully integrates both native and L2 English speakers so that all students can learn cross-cultural communication skills and gain linguistic and cultural awareness. ENGL 102/132: Inquiry into Cross-Cultural Identities examines how identity, place, and writing are connected, particularly in an increasingly multicultural world. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. Writing and researching are both important tools for successful cross-cultural interaction. In order to develop these skills, we will conduct three kinds of academic research writing: secondary, archival, and qualitative. Building on English 101/131, we will maintain a focus on analyzing and using rhetorical concepts and strategies to understand, conduct, and share research with diverse audiences. Going beyond English 101/131, we will explore some of the ways people from different disciplines conduct research, including posing valid research questions, the processes of library and field research, data analysis, and presenting research.

MWF | 10:20-11:10

MWF | 8:00-8:50

Inquiry into Myths and Monsters examines the issues surrounding monstrous women in media, an inquiry which has received increasing attention and become a catalyst for discussion due to the depiction of these figures in our current political and social climate. The course will explore the ways these monstrous women continue to re-emerge and influence our contemporary society from Medusa to Maleficent. Specifically, students will consider questions about what it means to be a monstrous woman as well as exploring issues of gender identity, power, and the social construct of both monstrosity and femininity. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. 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.

MWF | 8:00-8:50, 9:10-10:00, 10:20-11:10, & 12:40-1:30

Inquiry into Myths and Monsters examines the issues of myths and monsters in relation to cultural, social, and historical concepts. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct secondary source, qualitative, and archival research. We will start with secondary source research by examining and engaging with current academic scholarship about myths, monsters, and cultural significance. The qualitative research will require interviewing participants. The purpose of this assignment is to explore the experiences, feelings, and/or beliefs about myths and monsters. Then, we conclude with archival research, where we will explore historical representations of myths and monsters and what those representations mean for historical and cultural contexts.

MWF | 8:00-8:50

TR | 8:10-9:25

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.

MWF | 1:50-2:40 & 3:00-3:50

Food is intricately linked to culture, identity, and personal experience. Uniquely situated as both a necessity of life and a symbol of caring, food is often a person’s first exposure to new cultures. So, what can it mean to discuss food and the ways it shapes our experience, identity, and relationships? Throughout this semester we will have the opportunity to explore food as it relates to many different subjects, experiences, and forms of research. Because 102 focusses on Research types and methods, we will take time to explore three different recurring forms of research as they relate to our relationships with, experiences of, and history built on food. We will begin with an Archival project, which will allow us to explore food as it relates to our pasts and the storied history of food production and consumption. We will then transition into secondary source research, which will allow students to connect with modern discussions about food and will prepare us for the final qualitative unit, exploring current food practices and modern perceptions of food.

TR | 11:20-12:35

This section of English 102 will explore myths and monsters. Through various modes of research students will discover the ways in which myths and monsters are created and perpetuated. We will examine myths and monsters through social, cultural, cinematic, and literary lenses. The purpose of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. You will learn about myths and monsters through one another’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you. You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned in three distinct papers.

TR | 8:10-9:25, 11:20-12:35, 12:55-2:10, & 4:05-5:20

This section of English 102 will develop your research, writing, and communication skills through the topic of True Crime. Taking the cultural fascination with serial killers as a starting point, we will learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research. In this course we will ask and attempt to answer such questions as why are we drawn to these real- life monsters? Where does truth bleed into myth? What is the role of television and movies in mythologizing these figures?

TR | 8:10-9:25 & 2:30-3:45

ENGL 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.

The theme of this course, “Inquiry into Pop Culture,” will investigate conceptions of popular culture and the role it inhabits, both historically and contemporarily in society. The course will draw from a variety of written texts as well as through visual, musical, technological, and other various forms. By filtering academic research questions through familiar modes, students will come to a greater understanding of the significance of academic study in the day-today and will thus begin to view other aspects of their lives through an academic lens.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. Students will be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests them, and will learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research.

TR | 12:55-2:10

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. 

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This section of English 102 will explore issues related to food, a topic which is as relevant today as it has been for centuries, for reasons such as global hunger, environmental impact, food culture, and food technology. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. In the secondary source project, we will conduct academic research to examine current debates about food. For instance, we can explore the environmental impact of various agricultural practices and assess potential food-related climate solutions. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of food, focusing on specific topics like the rise and decline of American fad diets. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by interviewing specific populations in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about a particular food-related topic. A possible example would be to interview several business owners in Knoxville about how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the way they serve food and operate their restaurants. After the data are collected, we will work on finding underlying patterns among the responses to see what the respondents do or do not have in common. The aim of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). Throughout the semester, you will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 8:00-8:50 & 10:20-11:10

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.

TR | 11:20-12:35

Inquiry into Myths and Monsters examines the issues of [fairytale and horror], which has received increasing attention because of the revival of pulp, camp, and the advent of prestige horror like that of Ari Aster and Jordan Peele, as well as literary horror like Carmen Maria Machado. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. This course will feature three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. The secondary source project will examine a debate about cultural values understood through fairytale and horror. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of either inherited/family mythos over time, oral histories, the evolution of certain fairy tales or the tropes of horror and their reinventions in the last century. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by [interviewing or observing] participants in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about storytelling as deep knowledge and a way of making sense of the world, particularly in grief and disaster.

TR | 9:45-11:00

In this section of 102, we will consider the genre of memoir, critically reading and thinking about how personal stories can inform our engagement with research. The course will begin by analyzing various memoirs as they are written across different contexts and experiences, and we will then transition into conducting archival, secondary, and qualitative research. The purpose of this course is to demonstrate how personal experiences can inform our research and interests, and by cultivating a rich appreciation for our own histories, identities, and interaction with places, this course is designed to usher students into a space of critical thinking and passionate curiosity. By reading other personal narratives, students are encouraged to articulate and refine how their identity informs their engagement with the world around them. Through critical thinking, reading, and writing, Inquiry into the Memoir prompts students to interrogate their own stories and consider how these stories might enlighten and shape their research and writing.

TR | 9:45-11:00

This section of English 102 will explore the South as a region and as a construct. The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from several academic perspectives that interest you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional, discipline-appropriate papers.

TR | 9:45-11 & 12:55-2:10

In 102: Inquiry into Memoir, we will explore the genre of memoir and write short memoir pieces looking at memories of our history and identity in the process. We’ll write weekly in addition to the three major writing assignments of the term.

MWF | 12:40-1:30, 3:30-3:50, & 4:10-5:00

In this class, students will develop skills in research and writing while studying a particular subgenre of the British and American horror story: the Weird Tale. In contrast to the crumbling castles and clanking chains of the Gothic, or the supernatural werewolves and vampires of more ‘classic’ ghost stories, the Weird takes as its foundation that what scares us is grounded in something scientific, material, and utterly non-magical. That some things defy all reason, and yet they still occur. We will encounter aliens beyond comprehension, mad scientists whose research defies reality, beings that exist beyond the boundaries of time and space and, of course, some ghosts.

MWF | 8:00-8:50, 9:10-10:00, 12:40-1:30, & 1:50-2:40

Inquiry into Food examines the issues of cultural food perspectives, which have received increasing attention due to the mingling of cultures and cuisines. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. The course will explore questions such as the history of foods, self and cultural identity in relation to foods, individual and cultural food habits, and the notion of cultural food appropriation. 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.

TR | 9:45-11:00

Inquiry into Pop Culture 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 rhetoric functions in contemporary society through familiar modes like social media, movies, blogs, and more. By filtering academic research questions through these familiar modes, 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.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 8:00-8:50

This section of English 102 will explore the topic of monsters and urban myths/legends. In a culture obsessed with vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures, we are often asked what it means to be a monster. But in order to answer this, we must also ask, what does it mean to be human? Monsters are creatures that blur lines between fact and fiction, normal and abnormal, human and other. In “Inquiry into Myths and Monsters,” we will investigate the ways monsters can provide insight into the social metaphors and cultural anxieties of a given time period. In our class readings, discussions, and individual research projects, we will ask such central questions as how do we define “monster” in our everyday lives? What does our own monstration of certain groups or individuals say about current cultural anxieties or biases? What is the relationship between on-screen monsters, cultural anxieties, and individual fears? And, where do we draw the line between “normal” and monstrous? Over the course of the semester we will be using qualitative, archival, and secondary-source forms of research in order to answer these questions and many more.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

TR | 8:10-9:25

To inquire is to ask questions, to request information, to investigate, to research. In this English 102 course, you’ll be developing reading, research, and writing methods to ask questions about race and racism.

The George Floyd Uprisings of 2020 made people all across the globe acutely aware of the widespread effects of racism on our lives and communities. Of course, race and racism have been shaping all of us and our histories for centuries; in the U.S. context, we might think about the first enslaved Africans brought to North American soil in 1619, the Indigenous peoples whose lands were colonized by White settlers over many centuries, the Jim Crow laws and policies that White Tennesseans used to kept their fellow Black citizens from attending UT until 1961, and the 19th- and 20th-century economic policies, immigration laws, and wars that brought people from many different racial groups to the U.S. Our present is also deeply affected by how we think about race and racism. What aspects of human life are affected by race and racism in ways you don’t know or understand? What questions about race or racism do you want to ask—and answer?

In this course, you’ll develop research and writing skills by investigating race and racism, past and present. You’ll formulate your own research questions about the collective and individual effects of race and racism, which you’ll then investigate through secondary source, archival, and qualitative research.

In the secondary source project, you’ll locate and analyze scholarly sources to explore a race- or racism-related line of inquiry. You’ll continue that line of inquiry with your archival project by creating a digital museum exhibit that highlights and examines one aspect of racism’s effects upon a particular community.For the qualitative project, you’ll gather your own data through interviews, surveys, or focus groups to examine how race or racism has impacted a specific group of people or aspect of society.

MWF | 8:00-8:50 & 10:20-11:10

Inquiry into Pop Culture examines the issues related to Fan Culture and Fandom, which has received increasing attention with its proliferation on the Internet through fanfiction, the expansion and acceptance of fan conventions, and media that revolves around the power of fans (such as Ms. Marvel). We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. The course will explore questions pertaining to the power of the Internet and heritage, community building skills in fan spaces, culture vs. subculture vs. counterculture, and much more. 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.

TR | 11:20-12:35, 12:55-2:10, & 4:05-5:20

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 focus upon the epic hero in traditional literature as well as modern characterizations in popular culture. Through the study of epics such as the Iliad, modern fantasy literature (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone or The Hobbit), and film (Troy), we shall consider how images of the hero 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 and villains) through various essay assignments.

MWF | 12:40-1:30

This section of English 102 will explore issues related to food, a topic which has always received attention due to reasons such as obesity, global hunger, food culture, and genetically-modified foods. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. In the secondary source project, we will conduct academic research to examine current debates about food. For instance, we can explore genetically modified foods along with assessing their global importance and status. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of food, focusing on specific topics like the emergence of fast food chain restaurants in the US. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by interviewing specific populations in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about a particular food-related topic. A possible example would be to interview several McDonald’s employees about their experiences serving and preparing fast food. After the data are collected, we will work on finding underlying patterns among the responses to see what the respondents (do not) have in common.

TR | 2:30-3:45

How many times have you seen food or heard about food today? Perhaps, Spotify put on an ad for a meal delivery service, or you flipped past the Food Network. Maybe a friend gave you a restaurant suggestion right before this class started, or maybe in driving to campus you spot a billboard advertising the next exit with a Cracker Barrel. Even when we are not eating, we are constantly surrounded by images and language that are engaging with food. In this class we hope to take a broad look at what food does, how it’s rendered, how it makes us feel and why all of that is important. Moreover we will engage with questions about what it means to be authentic and what kind of work that authenticity does for us. We will talk about how food and food sharing builds communities. And we will think about the metaphorical life of food, how the act of sharing is a granting of access into our own interior lives. This course will focus on the development of students’ research and inquiry skills through a variety of projects with food serving as the unifying topic. Students can expect to read and watch a variety of different materials dealing with food on a variety of cultural and scholarly level.

MWF | 11:30-12:20 & 12:40-1:30

TR | 12:55-2:10

This section of English 102 will explore and be an Inquiry into American Mysteries.  Students will have the opportunity to explore many types of American mysteries, covering a wide range of potential subject areas, including but not limited to: athletics/sports, archaeology, anthropology, business, communication, current events, economics, entertainment, ethnicity, feminism, geography, government, history, law, literature, medicine, (the) military, natural science (astronomy, biology, botany, geology), philosophy, politics, psychology, race relations, religion, social media, sociology, technology, urban studies. 

TR | 2:30-3:45

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. Students will explore a food tradition in their family or hometown community and consider what that tradition says about the values that are passed along with it. Then we will choose a time period and investigate how a generation’s food choices and patterns reflect the values, stereotypes, and assumptions of their time. Finally, students will examine how food and consumption relates to their specific fields of study. This course is a tasty way to learn the research skills necessary for a successful academic career! Like all sections of English 102, we will conduct historical, qualitative, and secondary source research to investigate the course topic.

MWF | 9:10-10:00 (Venture), 12:40-1:30 (Venture), & 1:50-2:40

Business ethics for the Venture LLC; Popular Culture for the general audience.

MWF | 8:00-8:50

Inquiry into Myths and Monsters examines the issues of gender and power dynamics in mythology, folklore, and even contemporary sci-fi and fantasy media which has received increasing attention because of issues in our own sociopolitical climate today. Sometimes it is easier to identify and analyze real world issues in worlds far removed from our own. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. The course will explore questions such as to whom power is granted, what do they do with it, and what are the consequences. 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.

TR | 8:10-9:25, 9:45-11:00, 11:20-12:30, & 2:30-3:45

This section of English 102 will explore the intersection between history and culture in respect to professions and careers. The point of the course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. You will be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you, and you will learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research to craft compelling arguments for academic audiences.

TR | 11:20-12:35

In this English 102 course we will practice different research and writing techniques in our examination of how the horror genre can reveal to us our own hidden histories of our culture’s deepest anxieties, fears, and repressions. After our introductory unit, where we will focus on archival research as a means of articulating and exploring the anxieties governing decades of horror cinema’s past, we will spend most of the course turning our gaze on ourselves and contemporary horror cinema—paying particular attention to three recent blockbuster successes: Annihilation (Garland, 2018), Get Out (Peele, 2017), and Parasite (Joon Ho, 2019). Course readings will be balanced between textbook assignments, film screenings, and scholarly work in: Pop Culture Studies, Gender/Race Studies, Cultural Studies, and film scholarship.

Advancing concepts introduced in ENGL 101. Intensive writing instruction focused on inquiry and research. 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. Satisfies Volunteer Core Requirement: (WC) Satisfies General Education Requirement through the 2021-2022 academic catalog: (WC) Grading Restriction: ABC/N grading only. Credit Restriction: Students with credit for ENGL 132, ENGL 298, or ENGL 290 may not receive credit for ENGL 102. (RE) Prerequisite(s): ENGL 101. Comment(s): Students wishing additional help with writing should also register for ENGL 104.

TR | 8:10-9:25 & 9:45-11:00

Inquiry into Super Heroes examines the ideology behind and cultural attitudes toward Super-Heroes which have been a staple of Pop Culture for almost 100 years in America and seemingly only getting started. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. This course will feature three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. The secondary source project will examine a debate about Super-Heroes. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of Super-Heroes and Super-Hero fiction throughout the 20th and 21th centuries of America. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research involving participants in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about Super-Hero fiction. This course will hone your writing and research skills through drafting, peer review, and revision.

TR | 9:45-11:00 & 11:20-12:35

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. This class will specifically use media adaptations to learn how to utilize these strategies.

MWF | 10:20-11:10, 11:30-12:20-12:40-1:30

Inquiry into Food examines 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.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully, but not necessarily, your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 9:10-10:00, 10:20-11:10, & 1:50-2:40

In this English 102 course, we’ll be examining environmentalism, namely the socio-political discussion of environmental concerns. The importance and primacy of this topic within our cultural discourse does not need to be explained. Still, we will read articles from Canvas to generate class discussion and to achieve a more rounded understanding of the topic and how people are discussing it in specific ways. This unit will require you to take part in that conversation. In this course, you’ll develop research and writing skills by investigating environmental issues, past and present. You’ll formulate your own research questions about specific aspects of this broad theme—questions that you’ll then investigate through secondary source, archival, and qualitative research. In the secondary source project, you’ll locate and analyze scholarly sources to explore an environmental-related line of inquiry. You’ll continue that line of inquiry with your archival project by creating a digital museum exhibit that highlights and examines the effects of a past environmental catastrophe upon a particular community. For the qualitative project, you’ll gather your own data through interviews, surveys, or focus groups to examine environmental attitudes or experiences within a specific group of people or aspect of society.

MWF | 10:20-11:10, 11:30-12:20, 3:00-3:50, & 4:10-5:20

This section of 102 will explore research skills through the topic of our relationship to the unknown, the supernatural and cryptid, and the way this relationship has manifested in folklore, literature, and pop culture over the years. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. This course will feature three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. We will explore a variety of works ranging from podcasts and folktales to documentaries and classic literature in order to facilitate these research and writing skills.

TR | 8:10-9:25, 9:45-11:00, & 11:20-12:35

This section of English 102 will explore issues related to food, a topic which has always received attention due to reasons such as obesity, global hunger, food culture, and genetically-modified foods. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. In the secondary source project, we will conduct academic research to examine current debates about food. For instance, we can explore genetically modified foods along with assessing their global importance and status. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of food, focusing on specific topics like the emergence of fast food chain restaurants in the US. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by interviewing specific populations in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about a particular food-related topic. A possible example would be to interview several McDonald’s employees about their experiences serving and preparing fast food. After the data are collected, we will work on finding underlying patterns among the responses to see what the respondents (do not) have in common.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

TR | 4:05-5:20

This section of English 102, Inquiry into the Environment, examines the relationship between humans and our natural environment, which has received increasing attention because of concerns over global warming, pollution, and overpopulation. We will use this topic to develop 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 use academic research to examine a debate about a present day environmental concern. In the archival project, students will analyze primary sources such as photographs, maps, letters, or newspaper articles to investigate how humans and the environment interacted in historical moments like the Trail of Tears, the Chernobyl explosion, or the Dust Bowl. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by surveying local participants in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about the future risks associated with environmental changes and concerns of the present.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 9:10-10:00 & 1:50-2:40

This section of English 102, Inquiry into Food and Foodways, will explore why we eat the foods we do and what this reveals about the cultural, social, economic, and historical character of our region(s). This area of inquiry has received increased attention thanks to developments such as the emerging “foodie” and local food movements and the rising popularity of food centric media within the past decade. We will use this topic to develop 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 debate concerning the intersection of food, culture and ethics (e.g. dietary behavior and socio-economic status, food justice in community-driven food practices, agricultural practices). In the archival project we will select a region and historical moment to examine the cultural significance of foods in context. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by interviewing participants in order to investigate their experiences with and beliefs about the cultural values embedded in the foodways of our families and/or communities.

MWF | 11:30-12:20 & 3:00-3:50

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.

American Mythology and Folklore as it reveals the building-blocks of American society and culture. Because of the increasing nationalism throughout American society, it is important to understand the myths, folktales, cryptids, and other components of the myths and monsters “theme” that have contributed to or created American Society as we know it. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. The course will explore questions such as culture-building, gender, pop-culture, nation-building or nation/myths, religion, and other key components of American Mythology and Folklore. 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.

TR | 4:05-5:20

This section will explore the role of myth in Western culture, in particular how the transmission of knowledge and values from one generation to the next largely occurs within written communication. This communication unites people across time and culture, and often features repeating types of figures whose actions and character constitute myth, a vehicle by which truth is told through fiction. In this course, students will learn to write and research through the examination of traditional and popular forms of myth such as the fairy tale, folk legend, and its modern counterpart, the superhero tale.

TR | 12:55-2:10 & 4:05-5:20

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.

TR | 9:45-11:00, 2:30-3:45, & 4:05-5:20

In this course, we will examine issues related to food, a topic that has always received attention due to reasons such as obesity, global hunger, food culture, and GMOs. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. In the secondary source project, we will conduct academic research to examine current debates about food. For instance, we can explore genetically modified foods along with assessing their global importance and status. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of food, focusing on specific topics like the emergence of fast-food chain restaurants in the US. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by interviewing specific populations in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about a particular food-related topic. A possible example would be to interview several McDonald’s employees about their perspectives on serving and preparing fast food. After the data are collected, we will work on finding underlying patterns among the responses to see what the respondents (do not) have in common.

MWF | 9:10-10:00 & 11:30-12:20

This section of ENGL 102 explores academic writing and research through the topic of gaming and video games. Throughout the semester, students will investigate how video games function in contemporary culture, and how they reflect and/or subvert larger social discourses. Games studies, an emerging academic discipline, informs this course and provides us with refreshing, new topics to write about as we conduct qualitative, secondary source, and archival research.

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This section of English 102 will explore issues related to food, a topic which has always received attention due to reasons such as obesity, global hunger, food culture, and genetically-modified foods. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. In the secondary source project, we will conduct academic research to examine current debates about food. For instance, we can explore genetically modified foods along with assessing their global importance and status. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of food, focusing on specific topics like the emergence of fast food chain restaurants in the US. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by interviewing specific populations in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about a particular food-related topic. A possible example would be to interview several McDonald’s employees about their experiences serving and preparing fast food. After the data are collected, we will work on finding underlying patterns among the responses to see what the respondents (do not) have in common.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 12:40-1:30

This section of English 102 will explore the South as a region and as a construct. The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from several academic perspectives that interest you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional, discipline-appropriate projects.

MWF | 8:00-8:50

This section of English 102 will explore the topic of monsters and urban myths/legends. In a culture obsessed with vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures, we are often asked what it means to be a monster. But in order to answer this, we must also ask, what does it mean to be human? Monsters are creatures that blur lines between fact and fiction, normal and abnormal, human and other. In this section of 102, “Inquiry into Myths and Monsters,” we will investigate the ways monsters can provide insight into the social metaphors and cultural anxieties of a given time period. In our class readings, discussions, and individual research projects, we will ask such central questions as how do we define “monster” in our everyday lives? What does our own monstration of certain groups or individuals say about current cultural anxieties or biases? What is the relationship between on-screen monsters, cultural anxieties, and individual fears? And, where do we draw the line between “normal” and monstrous? Over the course of the semester we will be using qualitative, archival, and secondary-source forms of research in order to answer these questions and many more.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 11:30-12:20 & 4:10-5:00

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.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 11:30-12:20

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.

TR | 8:10-9:25 , 9:45-11:00, 12:55-2:10, & 4:05-5:20

This section of 102 will explore the topic of creative writing, focusing primarily on short fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. My hope is that students, already exposed to the analytical nature of writing in 101, will now experience another of writing’s important facets—creativity. 

This course will place great importance on developing student’s traditional academic writing skills, in the hopes of equipping them to handle the various other forms of writing they’ll encounter in their various majors. Students will learn to discuss and interpret texts, conduct various types of research, and write in a variety of academic and creative formats. The purpose of this is to ensure that students also develop the more personal, artistic, and introspective aspects of their writing, promoting their growth not only as scholars but as fully-fledged human beings.

TR | 8:10-9:25 & 11:20-12:35

This section of English 102 will explore the South as a region and as a construct. The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from several academic perspectives that interest you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional, discipline-appropriate papers.

MWF | 8:00-8:50, 10:20-11:10, 11:30-12:20, & 4:10-5:00

This section of English 102 will explore the monstrous ways ideology is wielded by charismatic leaders–and how our cultural understanding of “cults” is in some ways inaccurate. By delving into the histories of well known cults, we aim to understand how we ourselves are susceptible to the seductions of ideology. We will investigate recruiting tactics, the historical/societal/cultural parameters that provided a framework for the success of each group, and public response to each group’s conclusion. We will look at historical artifacts, documentaries, theorists, and films to deepen our understanding of the allure of ideology. Questions we will seek to answer are as such:

Does performance in ritual enact belief? Is belief in ideology authentic or learned? How might we identify cultic ideology in our own lives? Are these ideologies born out of response to popular culture–or do they do the opposite? Or both?

Course readings will be balanced between primary sources (newspaper articles, documentary films, theatrical films, interviews, archival documents, etc.) and scholarly work in: Pop Culture Studies, Performance Studies, Cultural Studies, and film scholarship.

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. Although our in-class examples will be focusing primarily on a few examples of widely known cults in America as a means of understanding the allure and dangers of ideologies across generations, students who are interested in investigating other examples of ideological influence in culture should feel supported and encouraged to do so.

MWF | 12:40-1:30

We may “like” any number of cultural productions and celebrities in our lives, but we tend to be more reserved about the content of which we identify as “fans.” It can be hard to determine where precisely the line between “like” and “fan” is, but once we make that determination, fandoms often become deeply ingrained parts of our identity. The bases of fandoms today are numerous, from books, movies, and shows, to video and tabletop games, to musical artists, to sports teams, and to a celebrity culture built around internet influencers, traditional media celebrities, and even political figures. We are often proud of and fiercely loyal to our fandoms. We form friendships through them, sometimes lifelong connections. We defend our fandoms from others. And as positive as they can be, they can just as easily teeter past the threshold into “problematic” territory, becoming sources of toxicity, tribalism, even violence.

This English 102 course takes today’s fan culture as its point of inspiration. Our three projects will use their varying methodologies to look at fandoms from different angles. The secondary source essay will consider impact, looking into the societal, cultural, and psychological effects of fandoms and fan behavior. The historical research paper will look at individual fandoms for the ways they grow, change, and the relationship between the fan community and that fandom’s source material. The qualitative project will study the interrelationship between people’s backgrounds, personalities, experiences, and their self-identification as “fans.” You will also compose a multimedia production relevant to a fandom, such as a video essay, video commentary, or podcast. This theme is chosen especially as a way for you to bring your personal interests and use them as the inspiration or basis for research projects. While not all topics will work for all essays, you can absolutely incorporate your interests or hobbies into the semester’s research.

MWF | 12:40-1:30 & 3:00-3:50

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.

MWF | 3:00-3:50 & 4:10-5:00

This section of English 102 will explore the Titanic and its cultural legacy. 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 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.

MWF | 11:30-12:20 & 1:50-2:40

The South is by no means a simple region of the United States, and the Southerner, by extension, often finds his or herself with an unclear sense of self. In this class, you will explore a culture that seems to be constantly either lamenting what had once been lost, or losing what had never really come to be. Through your interactions with various historical perspectives of the South, you will likely become familiar with a key question: Could the South be nothing more than the land of fringes? As you become skilled in the ability of being conversant—rather than merely observant—with the works of others through various kinds of research projects, collaborative activities, and reflective exercises in writing, this place we call “The South” will hopefully unravel some of its strange complexities.

TR | 12:55-2:10

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.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a poster presentation.

MWF | 8:00-8:50, 10:20-11:10, 12:40-1:30, & 1:50-2:40

This section of English 102 will consider the American South by accessing complicated histories, diverse identities, artistic production, and cultural construction.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from several academic perspectives that interest you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional, discipline-appropriate papers.

TR | 8:10-9:25

Inquiry into Myths and Monsters examines fairy tales, folklore, and legends as a beginning point to discuss and write on the social impacts of these stories. Specifically, the course will focus on myths and fairytales that are created by and within the stories that we read and watch from history to the present day. From Perrault to Disney, these stories have shaped the modern world. Students have a chance to examine mythical stories of their choice in film, literature, television, podcasts, or other mediums over the course of the semester. The course features Students who will work to improve their writing through drafting, peer review, and revision on the secondary, archival, and qualitative research projects.

TR | 9:45-11:00 & 12:55-2:10

This section of English 102 will explore memoir, and the ways in which our personal histories inform the people we become. The class is particularly interested in the role of memory and place in the formation of identity. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills, building on the tools learned in 101 to conduct three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. Assignments for this class include traditional discipline-appropriate papers and a final poster presentation at the end of the semester.

The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills in a creative way. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing, along with supplementary texts. You’ll be able to investigate the art of memoir from any academic perspective you desire, whether that has to do with your major or a personal interest.

MWF | 9:10-10:00, 11:30-12:20, 3:00-3:50, & 4:10-5:00

Inquiry into Myths and Monsters examines the issues of European Mythology, Legend, and Folklore, which has received increasing attention because of the pervasiveness of early mythology and legends today. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. The course will explore questions such as women in mythology, influences on pop culture, themes and morality tales in mythology, storytelling, mythology and early culture, and influence on modern culture. 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.

MWF | 9:10-10:00

Is Taylor Swift your idol and you think you could dedicate an entire podcast to analyzing her various albums? Do you spend hours upon hours perfecting your fantasy football team? Did you binge all of Game of Thrones in one week and lose hours to Twitter threads debating season eight? If any of this interests you, or you want to spend a semester writing critically about what you’re a fan of, Inquiry into Fan Culture is for you. We’ll do a project surveying others in or outside of specific fandoms about their interests, write an essay on observations about our fan cultures, and put together a Hall of Fame collection for these fandoms.”

TR | 11:20-12:35

This section of English 102 will explore issues related to food, a topic which has always received
attention due to reasons such as obesity, global hunger, food culture, and genetically-modified foods. We will use this topic to develop research and writing skills. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct three kinds of research: secondary source, archival, and qualitative. In the secondary source project, we will conduct academic research to examine current debates about food. For instance, we can explore genetically modified foods along with assessing their global importance and status. In the archival project, we will explore the historical significance of food, focusing on specific topics like the emergence of fast food chain restaurants in the US. Finally, we will conduct qualitative research by interviewing specific populations in order to investigate their experiences with and/or beliefs about a particular food-related topic. A possible example would be to interview several McDonald’s employees about their experiences serving and preparing fast food. After the data are collected, we will work on finding underlying patterns among the responses to see what the respondents (do not) have in common.

MWF | 10:20-11:10 & 1:50-2:40

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.

MWF | 9:10-10:00

TR | 12:55-2:10

This section of English 102 will explore nature writing. The point of this course is to develop your academic research, writing, and communication skills. We’ll learn about our course topic through each other’s research and writing. You’ll be able to investigate the topic from any academic perspective that interests you (hopefully your major). You’ll learn how to conduct archival, qualitative, and secondary source research and will present what you’ve learned to academic audiences in traditional discipline-appropriate papers.