ENGL.1010 College Writing I (3cr)
A workshop course that thoroughly explores the writing process from pre-writing to revision, with an emphasis on critical thinking, sound essay structure, mechanics, and academic integrity. Students will read, conduct rhetorical analyses, and practice the skills required for participation in academic discourse. Students will write expository essays throughout the semester, producing a minimum of four formal essays.
ENGL.1020 College Writing II (3cr)
A workshop course that thoroughly explores the academic research writing process with an emphasis on entering into academic conversation. Building on the skills acquired in College Writing I, students will learn to write extensively with source material. Key skills addressed include finding,assessing, and integrating primary and secondary sources, and using proper documentation to ensure academic integrity. Students will produce analytical writing throughout the semester, including a minimum of four formal, researched essays.
ENGL.2070 Introduction to English Studies for Majors (3cr)
Students build on skills acquired in College Writing to gain English Studies discipline-speific mastery of the writing conventions, research, and citation practices used in departments of English. In addition, students practice the digital skills that will support them as they join the online learning community of the UML Department of English.
ENGL.2110 Poetry (3cr)
Studies selections from the Renaissance through contemporary periods.
Notes:
LT
Requirements:
ENGL.1010/1020 pre-req
ENGL.2120 The Short Story (3cr)
This course teaches students how to sharpen their critical reading skills by learning to think about the short story in terms of its evolution over the last 200 years and by studying its literary techniques and themes. Student practice close, active reading as they examine and express their reactions to authors' works Readings may include authors such as Alexie, Alvarez, Baldwin, Bambara, Bechdel, Chekhov, Diaz, Faulkner, Gilman, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Irving, LeGuin, Lispector, Marquez, O'Connor, Poe, and Tolstoy.
Notes:
AH
Requirements:
ENGL.1020 pre-req
ENGL.2160 Monsters, Apes & Nightmares (3cr)
This course examines literary responses to science in England and the United States from the early Nineteenth Century to the present. Readings include novels--Frankenstein, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jurassic Park--essays, and poems. Meets Core Curriculum Essential Learning Outcome for Social Responsibility & Ethics (SRE).
Notes:
AHE
Requirements:
ENGL.1010/1020 pre-req
ENGL.2180 Comedy (3cr)
Presents the theory and practice of comedy from the Greeks to the present.
Notes:
LT
ENGL.2240 Business Writing (3cr)
Studies the theory and practice of writing letters, memoranda and reports on specific business and technical problems. Registration preference for students enrolled in Business programs.
Notes:
Note: Students may not receive credit for both ENGL.2240 and ENGL.2260
ENGL.2360 Science Fiction and Fantasy (3cr)
Designed to introduce students to understand science fiction and fantasy within the broader context of literature and literary theory. It attempts to develop and hone student's skills of critical analysis as it supplies them with the tools to contextualize their reading experience - i.e., to understand the origins and politics of the books that they read.
Notes:
AH
ENGL.2400 Literature and Women (3cr)
A survey of literary attitudes toward women from the Judaic and Hellenic periods through the present.
ENGL.2490 Literature on Technology and Human Values (3cr)
A study of the relationship between works of fiction, cultural attitudes toward technology, and social values. Meets Core Curriculum Essential Learning Outcome for Social Responsibility & Ethics (SRE).
ENGL.2675 Vikings (3cr)
An introduction to Norse mythology, sagas, and culture. The class will read translations of medieval texts recalling traditions of the old Norse gods and their cults during the Viking Age (ca. 800-1050 AD), as these were preserved in 13th-century Icelandic texts, but also in Latin, Arabic, Old High German, Old Swedish and Old English manuscripts and runic inscriptions. Students will explore the worldview and value system of this unique culture, and examine relations, often violent but sometimes comic or friendly, between groups of highly intelligent, vulnerable beings, both living and dead, male and female, animal and human, god and giant - a crowded universe full of trolls, elves witches, dwarfs, valkyries, berserks, shapeshifters, and various social classes of human beings.
ENGL.2760 First-Generation Stories (3cr)
This course explores the stories of first-generation individuals, which includes both people who are first in their family to be born in a new country and individuals who are first in their family to go to college/university. Attending to the importance and the power of having a voice and using a voice, we will study the ways underrepresented authors of fiction and non-fiction are sharing their stories and carving out a place for first-generation voices not only to be heard, but to be recognized and appreciated for their richness and cultural contributions to American society.
ENGL.2810 British Literary Traditions (3cr)
A survey of British Literary history from the medieval through the modernist periods.
ENGL.2820 American Literary Traditions (3cr)
A survey of American Literary history from early contact between Native American populations and European colonists through contemporary American writing.
Notes:
LT
Requirements:
ENGL.1020, or English Majors
ENGL.2980 Children's Literature (3cr)
A survey course covering traditional and contemporary children's literature. Texts are selected to represent different historical periods and a diversity of authorial perspectives. Attention is given to changing views of children and childhood as reflected in selected texts.
ENGL.3020 Creative Writing: Fiction (3cr)
Studies the theory and practice of fiction. Conducted as a workshop with close analysis of student work.
ENGL.3070 History of the English Language (3cr)
Explores the origins and structure of the English language, tracing the ways that English has evolved from Old English through Middle English to the varieties of Modern English in England and its former colonies, including the United States. We will also examine the literary, social, and political implications of these developments, for instance the evolution of Standard English or the use of dialects. The course does not assume any knowledge of Old or Middle English.
ENGL.3150 Old English Language and Literature (3cr)
Students will acquire reading knowledge of the Old English Language, spending half the semester mastering grammar and vocabulary, and the second half translating texts such as The Wanderer, Dream of the Rood, and Beowulf. Attention will also be given to early medieval cultures in England.
Requirements:
ENGL.1010/1020 pre-req
ENGL.3220 Creative Writing: Creative Non-fiction I (3cr)
An intermediate level creative writing workshop in nonfiction (personal essay, memoir, literary journalism, etc.).
Requirements:
ENGL 1010,1020 & 2380 Pre-req
ENGL.3240 Writing About Place (3cr)
Writers throughout time have been thoroughly grounded in place. Students in this course will read and write on a variety of topics: travel, cities, suburbs, dwelling places, nature, environmental issues, etc., in a variety of genres: creative non-fiction, essays, journalism, short stories, poetry, journals. This course will be held in a workshop format with strong emphasis on revision.
Requirements:
ENGL 2270or 229or 238or 239 Pr
ENGL.3245 Writing about the Environment (3cr)
From John Muir to Rachel Carson to Bill McKibben, environmentalists have traditionally relied upon the power of their prose to transform the thoughts and behavior of their contemporaries. Stemming form the premise that writing is a form of environmental action, this course introduces students to a range of modes of writing in environmental studies. In the process of reading, discussing and practicing different kinds of environmental writing, students will develop a variety of writing skill in addition to an appreciation for writing as an important form of environmental action.
ENGL.3330 American Autobiography (3cr)
A Study of autobiographical writing from Colonial America to the present. Works from the 17th to the 21st century will allow students to explore the genre of autobiography and related sub-genres, including the captivity narrative, the slave narrative, and the immigration narrative. Readings will also explore literary and political autobiographies. Meets Core Curriculum Essential Learning Outcome for Diversity and Cultural Awareness (DCA) and Social Responsibility & Ethics (SRE).
Requirements:
ENGL.1010/1020 pre-req
ENGL.3330 American Autobiography (3cr)
A Study of autobiographical writing from Colonial America to the present. Works from the 17th to the 21st century will allow students to explore the genre of autobiography and related sub-genres, including the captivity narrative, the slave narrative, and the immigration narrative. Readings will also explore literary and political autobiographies. Meets Core Curriculum Essential Learning Outcome for Diversity and Cultural Awareness (DCA) and Social Responsibility & Ethics (SRE).
Requirements:
ENGL.1010/1020 pre-req
ENGL.3350 American Women Novelists (3cr)
A study of selected novels by American women. Focus on the female voice within the American tradition. Treatment of such issues as domesticity, education, and authorship. Meets Core Curriculum Essential Learning Outcome for Diversity and Cultural Awareness (DCA) and Social Responsibility & Ethics (SRE).
Requirements:
ENGL.1020 pre-req
ENGL.3360 Beowulf and Heroic Literature (3cr)
We will read Beowulf in translation, and discuss contemporary approaches to the poem. We will also study other Old English works such as Judith, as well as Frankish and Old Norse-Icelandic literature in translation to gain a cultural context for Beowulf. May include discussion of how later works, such as those of J.R.R. Tolkien or modern fantasy writers have been influenced by these medieval epics.
ENGL.3410 Studies in Film (3cr)
A rigorous examination of a topic of current interests in film studies organized by particular themes, genres or filmmakers.
Notes:
AH
Requirements:
ENGL.1020
ENGL.3411 International Cinema Studies: French New Wave (3cr)
This course will introduce students to the aesthetic and theoretical qualities that define the New Wave movement in French cinema, focusing on major directors, performers, and composers associated with the New Wave. Through the close intertextual comparison of a range of films contextualized through the historical lens of 1960s Paris, students will develop sophisticated analyses that combine elements of film theory and cultural studies. This semester, we will read contemporary criticism, manifestos, mid-century French philosophy, and secondary scholarly studies to ground our discussions and writing in appropriate historical and theoretical context.
Requirements:
Pre-Req: ENGL 1020 College Writing II, or permission of instructor.
ENGL.3440 Women in Theatre (3cr)
A study of the significant contributions of women to the literature and art of the theatre in various periods and cultures. Topics may include: plays written by women, the progress of women in theater, the evolution of female roles, and the portrayal of feminism on the stage.
ENGL.3490 Arthurian Literature (3cr)
Will examine works in modern English translation from a variety of genres (romance, history, tragedy, epic) that tell stories of the mythical King Arthur and the knights and ladies of his courtly world. The course will focus primarily on texts of the medieval and renaissance periods, but will include attention to nineteenth- and twentieth-century versions in poetry, prose, art, music and film.
ENGL.3710 The Literature of the Beat Movement (3cr)
Explores both the writings and the personal lives of a loose confederation of poets, novelists, and essayist who emerged onto the American literary and cultural scene following World War II and who came to be known as the -Beat Generation.+ The primary focus will be on the life and writings of Lowell native Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) with others of the -beat circle+ included as well, i.e., Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Diana DiPrima, etc.
ENGL.3770 Theories of Rhetoric and Composition (3cr)
This course will examine the history and theories of composition and rhetoric, studying the field from its inception to more recent developments and challenges. We will also explore our own writing processes and literary practices. The course is furthermore grounded on the idea that literary practices are shaped by our culture. The course introduces practical approaches to as well as theoretical frameworks beneficial for those interested in composition studies. Meets Core Curriculum Essential Learning Outcome for Applied & Integrative Learning (AIL).
ENGL.3880 Teaching Writing (3cr)
Training in writing theory for direct application in peer tutoring. Discussion supplemented by experimental exercises, class presentations, reading, and writing. Meets two hours each week. Students tutor four hours each week.
Requirements:
ENGL 2000,or 227,or 238,or 239
ENGL.3920 Visual Rhetoric (3cr)
This course introduces students to the theory and practice of visual communication. Students will explore what scholars mean by terms such as visual rhetoric and visual literacy in order to think concretely about how these concepts apply to the communication practices they will engage in their academic, professional, and everyday life. Special attention will be paid to the ways in which visual representations communicate culturally-specific meanings about race, gender, class, sexuality, age, nationality, and difference. Assignments include contributions to a course blog, rhetorical analyses of visual texts, design modules, and a multimodal project.
ENGL.3950 Special Topics in English (3cr)
This course focuses on the exploration of thematic or issue-oriented or timely topics of interest. The precise topics and methods of each section will vary. Barring duplication of topic, the course may be repeated for credit.
ENGL.4010 Selected Authors (3cr)
A study of selected works. Authors to be announced each semester.
Requirements:
ENGL.1020
ENGL.4150 Young Adult Literature-Critical Methods (3cr)
Using young adult literature as a vehicle, this course considers traditional methods of interpretation and evaluation. Particular attention is given to the analytical, psychological and sociological approaches.
ENGL.4230 Shakespeare I (3cr)
A study of selected histories, comedies, and tragedies. Meets Core Curriculum Essential Learning Outcome for Information Literacy (IL) and Written & Oral Communication (WOC).
Requirements:
ENGL.1010/1020 pre-req
ENGL.4240 Shakespeare II (3cr)
A study of selected histories, comedies, and tragedies not covered in 42.243. Shakespeare I is not a prerequisite.
Requirements:
ENGL.1010/1020 pre-req
ENGL.4270 Virginia Woolf (3cr)
The purpose of this course is to explore a range of works by Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), on of British modernism's most innovative writers of fiction and criticism, who also significantly shaped the contours of twentieth- and twenty-first-century English feminism. We will read selections from Woolf's writings in several genres, as well as one important recent example of Wool-centric biofiction.
ENGL.4290 Introduction to Literary Theory (3cr)
A solid introduction to major trends in contemporary critical theory. Emphasis on producing a sample critical paper treating one or more current critical approaches to reading a literary text.
Requirements:
ENGL.1010/1020 pre-req
ENGL.4375 Writing a Book (3cr)
In this course, students will learn about the methods of writing and publishing a book and put those lessons to work in writing their own work in a genre of their choice.
ENGL.4790 Literature Seminar (3cr)
An advanced course that explores a variety of issues and topics in literature, literary history, and related fields. The topic or issue for a specific seminar will be announced in advanced.
ENGL.4960 Internship I (3cr)
Gain professional experience, develop essential skills, grow your network, and investigate career paths through service-learning or other types of internships taken for academic credit that counts towards your degree. Pre-arranged internships are available, or students can find their own positions with instructor assistance/approval. Classroom time supports professionalization and career development through hands-on activities.