Tentative Course Descriptions (subject to additions, deletions and revisions at a later date)
* Check Registrar’s listing for course times
For courses listed as “300/400,” undergraduates should list only the “300” number on their registration forms; graduate students should list only the “400” number.
The Writing Program offers a variety of communication-intensive courses, including Academic Inquiry Seminars for first-year students (see: https://case.edu/artsci/writing/academics/general-education-writing/academic-inquiry-seminars). The Writing & Communication Resource Center also provides individual consultations to CWRU students at any stage of their writing processes, and for every writing occasion (from personal statements to science fiction; from research papers to podcasts). For more information, please visit: https://case.edu/artsci/writing/.
A Note on Capstones
Students may wish to complete the University’s Capstone requirement in English in one of two ways. 1) Certain 300-level courses have an attached section devoted to the Capstone option; these are indicated with a “C” after the number in SIS. Such courses typically expect a significant project in lieu/in addition to work expected of the base 300-level offering. 2) The Department also offers the option for an Independent Capstone. This option is available to students who have proposed a project that a qualified faculty member has agreed to supervise. Students should contact appropriate faculty in the semester prior to the term in which they wish to complete the capstone to assess possibilities. Should a faculty member accept an Independent Capstone and agree to supervise it, a section of English 390C will be opened under the faculty member’s name. (Remember, too, that the Capstone in English is required for Departmental Honors.) Please direct questions about appropriate faculty to Professor Koenigsberger.
ENGL 146
Tools, Not Rules
English Grammar for Writers
MW 3:20 to 4:35 Demeter
This course provides an introduction to English grammar for academic writers. It focuses on the study of language in use, including parts of speech, sentence grammar, paragraph structure, and text cohesion. Students will learn to see grammar as a tool that can be used to produce a wide range of rhetorical effects in their own and others’ writing. In addition, students will learn how to search a corpus (a large collection of authentic language) to increase their skills in observing the grammar of English in context. This course is specifically designed for multilingual students, but native speakers of English may take the course with approval from the instructor.
ENGL 147
Writing Across Disciplines
MW 12:45 to 2:00 Demeter
In this course, students will develop their genre knowledge and metacognitive skills to prepare for the advanced writing, reading, and research tasks required in upper-level writing and disciplinary courses across the university. Through individual and group inquiry, students will analyze and discuss the conventions of academic genres to understand the textual and linguistic features and disciplinary expectations of each form of writing. Then, students will apply these generic conventions through the production and revision of writing within each genre. Throughout the semester, students will engage in workshops and discussions that foster skills in the areas of seminar participation, collaboration, rhetorical awareness, and critical thinking. This course is specifically designed for non-native speakers of English, but native speakers may take the course with the approval of the instructor. This course counts toward the Communication-Intensive (CI) Seminar portion of the Written, Oral, and Multimodal Communication GER.
ENGL 180
Writing Tutorial
TBA Schaffer
English 180 is a one-credit writing tutorial class designed to develop students’ expository writing skills through weekly scheduled conferences with a Writing Resource Center Instructor. Goals are to produce clear, well-organized, and mechanically acceptable prose, and to demonstrate learned writing skills throughout the term. Course content is highly individualized based on both the instructor’s initial assessment of the student’s writing and the student’s particular concerns. All students must produce a minimum of 12 pages of finished writing for each credit for which they are enrolled, and complete other assignments as designed by the instructor to assist in meeting course goals.
ENGL 200
Literature in English
MWF 3:20 to 4:10 Nuttall
This course introduces students to the reading of literature in the English language. Through close attention to the practice of reading, students are invited to consider some of the characteristic forms and functions imaginative literature has taken, together with some of the changes that have taken place in what and how readers read. Recommended preparation: Academic Inquiry Seminar or SAGES First Seminar. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.
ENGL 203–100
Introduction to Creative Writing
TTh 11:30 to 12:45 Staff
A course exploring basic issues and techniques of writing narrative prose and verse through exercises, analysis, and experiment. For students who wish to try their abilities across a spectrum of genres.
ENGL 203–101
Introduction to Creative Writing
TTh 10:00 to 11:15 Staff
A course exploring basic issues and techniques of writing narrative prose and verse through exercises, analysis, and experiment. For students who wish to try their abilities across a spectrum of genres
ENGL 204
Introduction to Journalism
TTh 6:00 to 7:15 Polverine
Students will learn the basics of reporting and writing news stories, but also the traditions behind the craft and the evolving role of journalism in society. Instruction will include interviewing skills, fact-checking, word choice and story structure–all framed by guidance on making ethically sound decisions. Assignments could include stories from a variety of beats (business, entertainment, government, science), along with deadline stories and breaking news Web updates, profiles and obituaries.
ENGL 213-100
Introduction to Fiction
M 3:20 to 5:50 Umrigar
You will be introduced to the elements of craft that go into writing a successful short story–character development, plot development, establishing a sense of place, dialogue writing etc. You will be assigned weekly readings that will help you develop a critical vocabulary to frame our discussions. The writing workshop format requires you to read and critique stories submitted by your classmates each week. Apart from writing two, full-length short stories, you will write shorter pieces each week and post these to Canvas. All your work will then be submitted as a final portfolio at the end of the semester.
NOTE: Regular attendance and the ability to meet deadlines is mandatory, given that this is a writing workshop.
ENGL 214-100
Introduction to Poetry
MW 3:20 to 4:35 Schaer
This introductory course features close readings of contemporary poetry and discussions of writing from a writer’s perspective, focusing on elements of craft including imagery, voice, music, story, and form. In weekly writing exercises, students will have the opportunity to apply techniques learned from assigned readings. Later in the term there will be workshops of student work.
ENGL 214-101
Introduction to Poetry
MW 4:50 to 6:05 Schaer
This introductory course features close readings of contemporary poetry and discussions of writing from a writer’s perspective, focusing on elements of craft including imagery, voice, music, story, and form. In weekly writing exercises, students will have the opportunity to apply techniques learned from assigned readings. Later in the term there will be workshops of student work.
ENGL 217A-100
Business and Professional Writing
TTh 1:00 to 2:15 Staff
The ability to communicate effectively is a powerful skill, one with real and significant consequences. This is particularly true in the 21st-century workplace, where we use words and images to address needs, solve problems, persuade audiences, and even arrange the details of our professional and personal lives. Communication requirements and expectations are constantly changing, whether we work in small business, large companies, non-profit organizations, research labs, or hospitals. As such, we need to be adaptable writers and readers of all kinds of documents — from print to digital. This course offers students an introduction to professional communication in theory and practice. We will pay special attention to audience analysis, persuasive techniques in written and oral communication, document design strategies, and ethical communication practices. Recommended preparation: Passing grade in an Academic Inquiry Seminar or SAGES First Seminar. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.
ENGL 217A-101
Business and Professional Writing
MW 8:00 to 9:15 Staff
The ability to communicate effectively is a powerful skill, one with real and significant consequences. This is particularly true in the 21st-century workplace, where we use words and images to address needs, solve problems, persuade audiences, and even arrange the details of our professional and personal lives. Communication requirements and expectations are constantly changing, whether we work in small business, large companies, non-profit organizations, research labs, or hospitals. As such, we need to be adaptable writers and readers of all kinds of documents — from print to digital. This course offers students an introduction to professional communication in theory and practice. We will pay special attention to audience analysis, persuasive techniques in written and oral communication, document design strategies, and ethical communication practices. Recommended preparation: Passing grade in an Academic Inquiry Seminar or SAGES First Seminar. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.
ENGL 217B-100
Writing for the Health Professions
MW 12:45 to 2:00 Kidd
This course offers practice and training in the professional and technical writing skills common to health professions (e.g., medicine, nursing, dentistry). Attention will be paid to the writing processes of drafting, revising, and editing. Typical assignments include: letters, resumes, personal essays, professional communication genres (e.g., email, reports, patient charts, and histories), and scholarly genres (e.g., abstracts, articles, and reviews). Counts as a Communication Intensive course.
ENGL 217B-101
Writing for the Health Professions
TTh 8:30 to 9:45 Staff
This course offers practice and training in the professional and technical writing skills common to health professions (e.g., medicine, nursing, dentistry). Attention will be paid to the writing processes of drafting, revising, and editing. Typical assignments include: letters, resumes, personal essays, professional communication genres (e.g., email, reports, patient charts, and histories), and scholarly genres (e.g., abstracts, articles, and reviews). Counts as a Communication Intensive course.
ENGL 255
Rhetoric & Public Speaking
TTh 10:00 to 11:15 Schaffer
The health of a democratic society depends on an informed electorate. And yet the attack ads, unverified accusations, sound-bites, and carefully scripted and staged media events that fill television and the Internet tend to misinform, confuse, and disengage voters. How might we reverse this trend? How can we meaningfully enter into political conversations? How can we listen to others, form our own beliefs, and then communicate them respectfully and with purpose?
To help answer these questions, we will return to modern democracy’s ancient roots, using the lens of classical rhetoric to explore contemporary political debate. While the word “rhetoric” is often used today to deride precisely what’s wrong with political discourse, as when a policy proposal is dismissed as mere “campaign rhetoric,” it more properly denotes the techniques of effective persuasion. By learning how rhetorical devices are used, we can empower ourselves to analyze policy debates and to make our own contributions.
As part of this investigation, we will research issues, debate and develop positions, read and evaluate speeches, write and speak about our own positions, participate in public debates by writing letters to representatives and opinion pieces for newspapers. We will also experiment with various presentation styles and occasions to build our persuasive speaking skills. In our final project, we will research, analyze, and share our perspectives on an issue of interest, and reflect on our internal processes as we take on a belief and act on it. This course counts toward the Communication-Intensive (CI) Seminar portion of the Written, Oral, and Multimodal Communication GER.
Recommended preparation: Passing grade in an Academic Inquiry Seminar or SAGES First Seminar.
ENGL 257A
Reading Fiction
MW 12:45 to 2:00 Pfeiffer
This course introduces students to prose narrative forms in English by exploring their intersecting histories and their contemporary developments. As we read these texts in their historical and social contexts, we will pay particular attention to the ways in which prose fiction represents gender, class, sexuality, ability, nationality, race, and indigeneity. Our work will require careful reading, critical thinking, and scholarly, argument-based writing (including revision), as we appreciate the diversity of fiction’s forms and features. We will introduce and develop the key terms, concepts and practice of literary studies. The specific focus of the course may vary. Recommended preparation: Academic Inquiry Seminar or SAGES First Seminar. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.
ENGL 257B
Reading Poetry
TTH 11:30 to 12:45 Ring
This course will help you to read and enjoy poetry by introducing you to the history of poetic forms in English. We’ll pay close attention to the enchanting details of poetic expression, as well as to the cultivation of individual styles and to the place of poetry in a world defined by global movements of many kinds. Our work will require careful reading, critical thinking, and scholarly, argument-based writing (including revision), as we appreciate the diversity of forms and features of poetry in English. We will introduce and develop the key terms, concepts and practice of literary studies by turning to poems for our test-cases; examples may include the sestina, sonnet and villanelle, ghazal, pantoum, haiku, and open forms. The specific focus of the course may vary. Recommended preparation: Academic Inquiry Seminar or SAGES First Seminar. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.
ENGL 258
Science Fiction and Fantasy
TTh 11:30 to 12:45 Clune
Science fiction is an art form dedicated to creating imaginary worlds, and to exploring the possibilities of human transformation and deformation. Critical questions will include the ethics of new technology, the relation between real and imagined worlds, the transformations of faith and belief, the ethics of otherness, and the status of science fiction as the contemporary literature of prophecy. Authors include H.G. Wells, H.P Lovecraft, Mervyn Peake, Phillip K. Dick, Octavia Butler, and Cixin Liu. Written work will consist of one short (5 page) paper, four short (one page) response papers, one revision, and one longer (10 page) paper. This course counts toward the Communication-Intensive (CI) Seminar portion of the Written, Oral, and Multimodal Communication GER. This course counts toward the Moral and Ethical Reasoning requirement of the GER.
ENGL 260
The Detective Novel
TTh 4:00 to 5:15 Marling
Who dunnit? Why do we keep asking this question? You dunnit. Readers have an investment in finding answers to puzzles and to threatening narrative situations. In this course on one of the world’s most popular literary genres, you will not only learn of its origins, but about theories of why you keep reading these stories. The texts begin with the Memoirs of Eugene-Francois Vidocq and stories of Edgar Allan Poe, and run though contemporary novelists such as Sara Paretsky and Natsuo Kirino. Why is this genre appeal so popular in so many cultures? There will be a strong comparativist slant to the course; students will be encouraged to
explore the cultural context of Natsuo Kirino’s and Stieg Larsson’s novels which, like many of the classics, provide fertile ground for comparison to film adaptations.
Note: This course surveys the rich tradition of detective fiction, as well as some films adapted from classics. Please note: this course uses real books. You must buy them and bring them to class on appropriate days. You will be responsible for viewing some films outside of class.
Primary Reading Selections:
- Francois Vidocq, Memoires – pdf on Canvas
- Edgar Allan Poe, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “ The Mystery of Marie Roget,”
“The Purloined Letter,” (all on-line, address below and on Canvas).
- Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four*
- Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon*
- Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express* also film
- Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely *
- Sue Grafton, A is for Alibi*
- Sjöwall and Wahlöö ,The Laughing Policeman*
- 9. Walter Mosely, Devil in a Blue Dress*
* These books must be purchased in paper. You are required to bring them to class.
ENGL 261
Travel and Literature
“To See the Sun the Other Way Around”
TTh 4:00 to 5:15 Turner
This course explores the world via literature that explores the world. What does it mean to travel, historically and today? Why are we determined, in the words of poet Elizabeth Bishop, “to see the sun the other way around”? Through close and critical analysis of a variety of fiction, poems, and non-fiction essays—written by a diverse array of travelers—we’ll think about the way literature describes the experience of travel, complicates our existing notions of travel, encounter, and discovery, and takes us on fantastic journeys of its own. No previous experience with literature or travel is necessary; requirements will include short written responses throughout the semester, lively discussion participation, a presentation, and a final written assignment. This course counts toward the Communication-Intensive (CI) Seminar portion of the Written, Oral, and Multimodal Communication GER. Recommended preparation: Academic Inquiry Seminar or SAGES First Seminar.
ENGL 286
Literature, Gender, and Sexuality
MW 12:45 to 2:00 Jewell
This course focuses on how writers engage with the complex subjects of gender and sexuality in their works. We will read works by novelists, short story writers, playwrights, and poets, focusing on gender’s multiple intersections with sexual identity, race, social class, and abilities. Throughout the course, we will keep in mind the following questions: What techniques do writers use to engage with the issues of gender identity and sexuality in their works? How do writers protest against — or participate in — the reproduction of gender ideologies? How might literary works provide unique spaces of resistance for reimagining gender roles and identities? How is literary authorship itself gendered and how might authors employ innovative strategies to write beyond binary roles? Students will complete five critical responses, write a midterm essay, and complete multimedia final projects accompanied by a critical essay, and a final short reflection paper to be included in the Experience Portfolio. Recommended preparation: Passing grade in an Academic Inquiry Seminar or a SAGES First Seminar. Offered as ENGL 286 and WGST 286.
ENGL 300
English Literature to 1800
MWF 10:35 to 11:25 Olbricht
This course introduces students to a broad spectrum of British literature from the Middle Ages into the eighteenth century. We will read selections from canonical writers such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton, as well as non-canonical writers such as Margaret Cavendish, Aphra Behn, and Olaudah Equiano. We’ll consider the texts we read for their positions on race and ethnicity, gender, and class. We’ll discover how nature, religion, and magic were represented in earlier cultures. We will assess historical difference in terms of literacy, authorship, and print culture while we take into account our own contemporary position as readers of this literature. The writing assignments for the course are meant as opportunities for students to pursue lines of inquiry that interest them (short papers, multiple reflection opportunities).
ENGL 304/304C
Intermediate Poetry Workshop
TTh 2:30 to 3:45 Turner
This poetry workshop invites students to continue their existing poetic practice in a supportive environment. We’ll discuss student poems, make time for generative writing, and work through several collections of contemporary poetry from a diverse range of authors. Requirements include active workshop participation and community-mindedness, engaged reading, a final portfolio, and a sense of openness and sensitivity to the world at hand. Completion of a previous 200-level multi-genre or poetry creative writing workshop is a prerequisite.
ENGL 308
American Literature
MW 12:45 to 2:00 Hunter
This course offers a view of the extraordinary vitality of American literature. We’ll proceed chronologically through major literary figures, movements, genres, regions, and preoccupations, from Anne Bradstreet’s house on fire to Taylor Swift’s last American dynasty. Unruly formations of a national literature will emerge in poems (Taylor, Wheatley, Whittier) and develop along with the short story (Poe, Hawthorne, Chesnutt). We’ll engage with abolitionist (Douglass) and transcendentalist (Emerson) thought, with novels of the northern city (James) and the rural west (Cather). We’ll conclude with beautiful works by late-twentieth- and twenty-first-century American writers who raise enduring questions about solitary minds and communal entities, private truths and public action, the redress of past injustice and the conservation of style and value. Writing assignments will include regular short essays and a final paper.
ENGL 310
History of the English Language
TTh 8:30 to 9:45 Parkin
An introductory course covering the major periods of English language development: Old, Middle, and Modern. Students will examine both the linguistic forms and the cultures in which the forms were used. Offered as ENGL 310 and ENGL 410. Prereq: ENGL 150 or passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in FSCC, FSNA, FSSO, FSSY, FSTS, or FSCS.
ENGL 323/423
Milton
TTh 1:00 to 2:15 Vinter
John Milton (1608-1674) is one of the most fascinating and influential writers from the seventeenth century. Although today he is a mainstay of the traditional literary canon, in his time he was seen as a rebel and an iconoclast. He rejected established institutions like monarchy and held distinctively unorthodox opinions about marriage, politics and religion. And to communicate his ideas, he pushed literary language in new unexpected directions that continue to inspire readers and writers today. This course will survey his writings and also consider his literary afterlife. We’ll read a cross-section of his poetry (including all of his epic Paradise Lost) and a selection of his prose. Additionally, we’ll explore the impact he had on later poets and science fiction writers from Phillis Wheatley and Mary Shelley to Tony Kushner and Philip Pullman.
Requirements for 323 include active participation, two 1500-2000 word papers and a 2500-3500 word final projects. This class fulfills the pre-1800 distribution requirement for the English major.
Requirements for 423 include active participation, leading one class section. short writing assignments, and a 20-25 page research paper.
ENGL 360
Studies in American Literature
Literary Responses to 9/11
MW 12:45 to 2:00 Umrigar
This multi-genre course will examine how different mediums depict the terrorist attacks on 9/11. We will study how contemporary artists used film, novels, graphic novels, journalism and poetry to grapple with this tragedy, and how each medium contributed to the national conversation. Our discussions will center on the political event itself as well as the aesthetic response to it. Requirements include class participation, regular postings of responses on Canvas, a short paper, and a longer final research paper. Some of the texts to be considered include Don Delillo’s Falling Man, Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Art Spiegelman’s In the Shadow of No Towers.
ENGL 361/461
Irish Literature
MW 3:20 to 4:35 Jewell
This course will introduce students to major periods of Irish Literature with a strong focus on concepts of artistic identity and the experiences of writers producing work outside of official culture. We will begin with an examination of Stone Age archaeology and pre-Christian poets and apply this deep historical context to our examination of the writing being produced around the time of the conversion to Christianity and colonization in the 16th Century. We will focus on Anglo-Irish writers such as Yeats, Joyce, Synge, and the lesser-known Maria Edgeworth, and then examine contemporary responses to Irish identities and literary cultures by reading the works of more recent poets and playwrights such as Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Brian Friel, Paula Meehan, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, and Mary Dorsey. Course outcomes include learning about major Irish literary traditions, the connection of communal identities to literature, colonial Irish contexts, and the construction of literary tradition within postcolonial contexts. Offered as ENGL 361 and ENGL 461.
ENGL 365F/AFST 365F/ETHS 365F/RLGN 365F/WLIT 365F/WGST 365F
Afrofuturism and the Black Imaginary: Legacies and Futures
TTh 11:30am-12:45pm Berger
This course explores the theoretical, literary and cultural expressions of Afrofuturism. The term Afrofuturism was developed in 1993 by scholar Mark Dery and is an all-encompassing term used to describe creative work (e.g. literature (especially science fiction), music, art, etc.) that focuses on Afro-diasporic ways of being and knowing. We will explore the multiple meanings and expressions of Afrofuturism and how it expands various literary traditions. Traditional speculative fiction canons have often distorted and/or erased the existence of people of color in the future. The authors we will read delve into the legacies of slavery, colonialism, entrenched inequalities to understand their impact on real and imagined technological futures. We will spend time exploring how Afrofuturist writers and cultural workers imagine new possibilities that expand our sense of liberation and justice.
ENGL 368/WLIT 368
Topics in Film
Classic American Fiction on Film
TTh 2:30 to 3:45 Marling
Does a classic novel always make a great film? Maybe not. Hollywood has tried to bring classic American novels to the big screen, with mixed success, ever since the advent of sound film. We will read the following fiction, watch the films adapted from it, and reach our own opinions.
- Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
- Edgar Allan Poe, “The Black Cat.”
- Herman Melville, “Billy Budd,” and Beau Travail, Claire Denis
- Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, 1920 Smith DVD 3763 Scorsese, 1993
- Henry James, Daisy Miller. Archive.org
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, 1925 Smith DVD 4199, 1974 and 2013
- James M. Cain, Double Indemnity, 1943 Smith DVD 5468 Wilder, 1943
- Toni Morrison, Beloved, 1987 Kanopy
- Marilyn Robinson, Housekeeping
- Don DeLillo, White Noise
Paper books. Two short papers and one longer one, faithful attendance, and a vibrant
presence in our Canvas discussions desired.
ENGL 368/WLIT 368
Topics in Film
Shakespeare and Film
TTh 10:00 to 11:15 Vinter
This course explores the impact of William Shakespeare’s drama on film. We’ll analyze five of Shakespeare’s plays alongside faithful and unfaithful film adaptations from directors including Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles, Kenneth Branagh and Akira Kurosawa. We’ll think about the similarities and differences between theater and film as media and how practitioners move between them. We’ll consider different traditions of faithful and unfaithful adaptation. And we’ll reflect on the evolving place of Shakespeare within an increasingly global culture industry.
Requirements for ENGL 368 include active participation, two 5-7 page papers and a final project.
Students registering for ENGL 368C—the Capstone version of this class—will be required to develop and complete a Capstone research project in the wider field of study covered by the course. This Capstone project will have an approximate length of 25pp. and will also include a public presentation of the project. This Capstone research project will fulfill the formal writing requirements for ENGL368. All other reading and class participation requirements will be identical for 368 and 368C.
ENGL 380
Department Seminar
Writing Black Britain
MWF 9:30 to 10:20 Koenigsberger
This Departmental Seminar explores writing by and about “Black Britain,” a contested phrase that defines British subjects of African, Caribbean and – in its broadest compass – South Asian descent. In the post-War period, the diverse cultures of Black Britain have redefined what it means to be British, and what can be understood to characterize British literature. Over the course of the semester, we will read a series of narratives by writers such as David Dabydeen, Sam Selvon, Jackie Kay, Monica Ali, Meera Syal, Andrea Levy, and Caryl Phillips, along with selections of recent poetry, nonfiction, and linguistic performance from other key writers and lyricists (Warsan Shire, Santan Dave, Stormzy, e.g.).
Students can expect to work on a number of research and writing requirements, including the development of a substantial research paper.
ENGL 387/487
Literary and Critical Theory
MWF 11:40 to 12:30 Koenigsberger
What makes literature “literary”? Just what do literary critics and theorists do, and why? Certainly critics are concerned with what texts mean, but from where does that meaning emerge—from the author’s intentions, the linguistic design of the work itself, the social dynamics in the historical period in which the text was produced, or the text’s readers and critics? This course will explore such questions and introduce various forms of literary and critical theory from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries, enabling students to situate the critical texts they read and write. Regular exchange in the seminar and via Canvas will be essential to the semester’s work. Students enrolling in 487 should expect additional readings, meetings, and presentations.
ENGL 517
American Literature
The City in Postwar American Writing
T 4:00 to 6:30 Clune
In this seminar we will explore the image of the city in postwar American writing. We begin with a brief survey of the pre-war vision of the city as a wasteland that must be reshaped as a planned, simplified, rationalized urban space. After 1945, an image of the city as a self-organizing system where apparent disorder is the sign of an underlying, spontaneously arising order begins to challenge the modernist vision. This new image of the city reveals new forms of freedom, and new forms of slavery. We’ll look at works that explore the dynamics of this shift in a variety of interrelated areas: free and black markets; drugs and addiction; technology; conspicuous consumption and invisibility; sex and money; race and the ‘urban crisis’; government as conspiracy. We will approach these questions through encounters with both theoretical writing about the city, and the new literary forms identified with the city (urban fiction, rap, the New York School of poetry).
One short paper (4-5 pages); one final paper (20-25 pages); participation in class discussion.
ENGL 524
Four Poets: Stevens, Lowell, Brooks, and Glück
W 3:20 to 5:50 Hunter
What is a poetic style? How does a style develop over time? We will read deeply in the work of four poets: Wallace Stevens, Robert Lowell, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Louise Glück. The seminar’s discussions will culminate in a research paper, along with abstract, bibliography, and short review essay or conference paper.
WRIT 345/445
Grant Writing
M 4:50 to 6:05 Staff
This course will focus on understanding and composing the elements of a funding proposal. Different types of grants will be considered: non-profit organizations, governmental, STEM, Arts, and Humanities. Focus may shift depending on the interests and experience of enrolled students. Students will prepare a polished, submittable funding application to an organization of their choice. 1 credit.