Fall 2017 Course Offerings
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ENGL 2305: Introduction to Poetry (Honors)
Dr. John Poch
TR 11:00-12:20 PM
CRN: 11467
This is a poetry reading course. We will read some of the greatest poems ever written in English, mostly by Americans, and we'll get our heads around Modern and contemporary poems. Two shorter papers and one longer paper due at the end of the semester constitute most of the work in this course (besides, of course, all the reading). No experience with poetry is required, but one must be a good reader of books to do well in this course.
ENGL 2305.D01: Introduction to Poetry: Form, Language, and Beauty (Distance)
Mark Keats
W 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 33006
The poet Marianne Moore famously wrote, "I, too, dislike it..." with "it" being poetry. And though "We dislike what we cannot understand" is a cliché, this seems to convey the sentiment of many students engaging with poetry for the first time. But what if poetry adhered to a set of rules and wasn't so hard to pin down? What if poetry was more "manageable"? Robert Frost likened free verse poetry to playing tennis without the net, suggesting that there is a certain challenge (and perhaps respect) in writing within a prescribed poetic form. And yet, what poetic form does a poem like E. E. Cummings "I(a" adhere to? What about Carolyn Forche's "The Colonial"? If a poem doesn't fit within a prescribed form, does it cease to be poetry? In this class we will begin to dislike poetry less and begin to not only understand poetry, poetic forms, and poetic language but also begin to appreciate poetry for its richness and range and beauty, encompassing everything from realizing "so much depends upon a red wheelbarro" to imagining the hands of Eric Gardner "put[ting] gently into the earth some plants..." This course will focus on contemporary poems with a sprinkling of western canonical writers but is designed with the intention of exposing students to a wide range of poets across many cultural perspectives, because, as Moore's poem continues, "Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers in it after all, a place for the genuine."
ENGL 2306.001 Introduction to Drama: "Call Me Bill: Shakespeare Adaptation and Appropriation in Film and Media"
Joya Mannan
MWF 12:00-12:50 PM
CRN: 38500
This course explores film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays. We will examine
early and recent adaptations, ones that preserve the original early modern English
language, others that challenge genre conventions, and films from other countries
and cultures, too. In addition to film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, we will
be reading Shakespeare's plays as well since it is important to understand the original
source material in order to adequately analyze and interpret an adaptation.
Throughout the semester, we will investigate whether film adaptations of plays should
be judged as plays or as films. We will learn about staging, stylistic choices, and
how to analyze films. Finally, we will explore the effect of the transposition of
Shakespeare's works in different forms (printed, stage performance, film adaptation,
audio, digital), and we will determine the effect modern interpretations of Shakespeare's
works have on society and culture today.
ENGL 2307.010 Introduction to Fiction
Dr. John Samson
MWF 12:00-12:50PM
CRN: 11671
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the literary interpretation and analysis of fiction: to determine what details in a text are significant, to find and develop topics from the text, and to write analytical essays. We will read and discuss three books of short stories and two novels, all of which will focus on the diversity of American cultures, including issues relating to gender roles and relations, ethnicities, and social classes. The texts will be: Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies; Sandra Cisneros, Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories; Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Heart of Happy Hollow; Sherman Alexie, Reservation Blues; and W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge.
ENGL 2307.D01: Introduction to Fiction: The Strange and Magical Worlds of Haruki Murakami (Distance)
Mark Keats
M 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 11592
Though Japanese, Haruki Murakami has become a household name for readers of fiction around the world. His works has often been described as magical, strange, and surreal and seeming blends Japanese and western culture through music, food, geography, etc. This course will offer to the students a large (thought not exhaustive) sampling of stories, essays, interviews, and novels that reveals Murakami's growth as a writer, novelist, and critical literary figure in world literature as well as investigating the elements of fiction and modes of narration (realism versus magical realism). Since we will read all of Murakami's work in translation and by three different translators, each known for his own way and philosophy of translating Murakami, another component of this course is focused on translation studies and considering larger questions such as what is lost and/or gained during translation?
ENGL 2307.H02: Introduction to Fiction: Hard-Boiled Fiction (Honors)
Dr. Mike Borshuk
TR 11:00-12:20PM
CRN: 28863
This section of 2307 will introduce students to fiction's generic conventions, and to strategies for critical interpretation, by exploring one of the most distinctly American literary genres: hard-boiled crime fiction. Beginning with the foundational Black Mask school of crime writers, we will cover a wide historical range of hard-boiled writers, with attention to their influences, their artistic innovations, and their stylistic departures from the mystery and crime writers who preceded them. As we move forward chronologically, we will also pay attention to significant revisions to hard-boiled crime's signature characteristics by more contemporary American practitioners of the form. Students will leave the course with an understanding of fiction's key characteristics (including for instance, plot, narrative voice, setting, and dialogue) and will develop this understanding through extensive critical writing, including three formal papers.
Tentative reading list:
- Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (1930)
- James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
- Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely (1940)
- Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train (1950)
- Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me (1952)
- Dorothy Hughes, The Expendable Man (1963)
- James Ellroy, The Black Dahlia (1987)
- Walter Mosley, Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)
- Christa Faust, Money Shot (2008)
ENGL 2308.005: Introduction to Non-Fiction: Food Writing
Mike Lemon
TR 11:00-12:20 PM
CRN: 11982
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an introduction to the literary interpretations and analysis of non-fiction: to determine what details in a text are significant, to find and develop topics from the text, and to write analytical essays.
For this section of Introduction to Non-Fiction, students will investigate food writing in its various modes. Food holds strong symbolic, cultural, and personal connections to people that move the act of eating beyond its physiological import. Through our readings, students and I will explore food's importance through different non-fiction genres. In the end, we will investigate food's place in multiple sub/cultures.
ENGL 2308.006: Introduction to Non-Fiction: "Good Trouble": Voices of Color in American Nonfiction
Kenna Neitch
TR 12:30-1:50 PM
CRN: 11986
What and who have the authority to constitute “the truth” are contentious topics of debate in contemporary political, social, and literary domains. This course is intended to engage and expand on your encounters with the genre of nonfiction, focusing on American creative nonfiction with an emphasis on gender, intersectionality, and political resistance.
We will take on questions of perspective and expectations of truth in nonfiction that cross boundaries of time – across 20th century and into our current historical moment – and medium, from the page to the stage to the screen. Our work with this genre will be informed especially by the creative nonfiction of women of color whose voices have historically been at the periphery of literary and political conversations.
The course will involve weekly onsite and online discussion, one personal response essay, one longer critical paper, and a presentation.
Texts for the course may include:
- Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Gloria Anzaldúa
- Sister Outsider, Audre Lorde
- This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa
- We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
ENGL 2311: Introduction to Technical Writing
Multiple Sections with various instructors
Prerequisite: ENGL 1301 and 1302. Introduction to patterns of writing used in reports
and letters for business, industry, and technology.
ENGL 2351.014: Introduction to Creative Writing
Dr. Curtis Bauer
T 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 34449
Although the main objective of this course is to introduce you to two genres of creative writing, the writing and reading attentions of this class will focus on the larger theme of architecture. It is likely that many of you are not architects (yet), even that many of you may have never thought about the constructions you encounter and inhabit, let alone how they are designed and built. A knowledge of building and design are not compulsory for success in this class; however, movement—imaginative, logical and physical—through and around dwellings and constructions, as well as curiosity about how construction functions are required; an earnest and soundly demonstrated effort and great attention to how you write and read is also necessary.
In this class, you will write both poetry and essays (creative non-fiction). Your final goal for the class is a portfolio of work consisting of at least six poems and one essay, revised and “finished” to the best of your ability. In order to achieve this goal, we will take a three-step approach. We will read and discuss works of published poetry and non-fiction, often in the shape of texts on or about architecture (for example, Peter Zumthor's Architectural Environments, Surrounding Objects), while analyzing various techniques discussed in Janet Burroway's text, Imaginative Writing. You will also write short exercises aimed at developing the techniques of literary non-fiction and poetry, which we will discuss in class. In early October, you will turn in the first draft of your essay, and in early November, you will hand in the first drafts of your six poems. Your peers will critique your work in a workshop setting and you will be given a written assessment of the portfolio, and meet with your professor individually to talk about the portfolio and your writing.
ENGL 2371.001: Language in a Multicultural America
Dr. Aaron Braver
TR 11:00-12:20 PM
CRN: 13140
How does our culture influence our language? How does our language influence our culture? In this course, we will examine the role of language in the melting pot of America. We'll look at language as influenced by race, gender, sexual and gender identity, and power structures in order to see how social dynamics affect the way people speak—and the way people interpret what they hear. We'll learn about the methods involved in gathering sociolinguistic data, and even engage in some hands-on research ourselves. More information: available at http://bit.ly/engl2371
ENGL 2371.002: Language in a Multicultural America
Dr. Aaron Braver
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 13140
How does our culture influence our language? How does our language influence our culture? In this course, we will examine the role of language in the melting pot of America. We'll look at language as influenced by race, gender, sexual and gender identity, and power structures in order to see how social dynamics affect the way people speak—and the way people interpret what they hear. We'll learn about the methods involved in gathering sociolinguistic data, and even engage in some hands-on research ourselves. More information: available at http://bit.ly/engl2371
ENGL 2388.001: Introduction to Film Studies
Dr. Ben Rogerson
MWF 9:00-9:50 PM
CRN: 13206
CRN: 13220
This course is intended to introduce students to the techniques, the vocabulary, and ultimately the "rhetoric" of cinema. Although the course is designed to carefully explore the formal components of filmmaking, most of which students intuitively understand, the ultimate purpose of the class is to inquire into the effects that these formal components produce. Why would a given director use a wide-angle lens in a particular scene, and what does such a lens, or a long-take, or an abrupt cut accomplish? These and other similar questions determine the first half of the course, whereas the second half of the class will move into considerations of the significance and specificity of different modes of cinema-narrative, documentary, and avant-garde. What distinguishes the cinema, apart from all other arts, and what makes this "Seventh Art" at once so conceptually rich and so potentially deceptive?
Selected films for outside viewing may include the following (many of which are available for free online):
- A Trip to the Moon (Méliès, 1902)
- Entr'acte (Clair, 1294)
- The General (Keaton, 1926)
- Un Chien Andalou (Buñel and Dali, 1929)
- Stella Dallas (Vidor, 1934)
- Meshes of the Afternoon (Deren and Hammid, 1943)
- Singin' in the Rain (Kelly and Donen, 1952)
- Night and Fog (Resnais, 1956)
- Cléo from 5 to 7 (Varda, 1962)
- (nostalgia) (Frampton, 1971)
- Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989)
- Jerry Maguire (Crowe, 1996)
- Stories We Tell (Polley, 2012)
- Whiplash (Chazelle, 2014)
ENGL 2388.002: Introduction to Film Studies
Dr. Ben Rogerson
MWF 10:00-10:50 PM
CRN: 13206
This course is intended to introduce students to the techniques, the vocabulary, and ultimately the "rhetoric" of cinema. Although the course is designed to carefully explore the formal components of filmmaking, most of which students intuitively understand, the ultimate purpose of the class is to inquire into the effects that these formal components produce. Why would a given director use a wide-angle lens in a particular scene, and what does such a lens, or a long-take, or an abrupt cut accomplish? These and other similar questions determine the first half of the course, whereas the second half of the class will move into considerations of the significance and specificity of different modes of cinema-narrative, documentary, and avant-garde. What distinguishes the cinema, apart from all other arts, and what makes this "Seventh Art" at once so conceptually rich and so potentially deceptive?
Selected films for outside viewing may include the following (many of which are available for free online):
- A Trip to the Moon (Méliès, 1902)
- Entr'acte (Clair, 1294)
- The General (Keaton, 1926)
- Un Chien Andalou (Buñel and Dali, 1929)
- Stella Dallas (Vidor, 1934)
- Meshes of the Afternoon (Deren and Hammid, 1943)
- Singin' in the Rain (Kelly and Donen, 1952)
- Night and Fog (Resnais, 1956)
- Cléo from 5 to 7 (Varda, 1962)
- (nostalgia) (Frampton, 1971)
- Do the Right Thing (Lee, 1989)
- Jerry Maguire (Crowe, 1996)
- Stories We Tell (Polley, 2012)
- Whiplash (Chazelle, 2014)
ENGL 2388.003: Introduction to Film Studies
Dr. Wyatt Phillips
MWF 12:00-12:50 PM
CRN: 13224
This course offers an introduction to the terms and methods of film analysis and moving image comprehension. The course emphasizes critical viewing and writing, with special attention paid to the aesthetic form of films, cinema's approach to storytelling, and its relationship with broader cultural contexts.
ENGL 2388.006: Introduction to Film Studies
Dr. Scott Baugh
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 37913
This course introduces students to the history, aesthetics, and criticism of film. More specifically, the course will survey landmark moments in the evolution in cinema and will cover foundational film concepts and reading strategies in avant-garde, documentary, and fictive-narrative.
Texts: Gerald Mast & Bruce Kawin. A Short History of the Movies.
ENGL 2391.003: Introduction to Literary Studies: Loveable Villains
Dr. Matthew Hunter
MWF 11:00-11:50 AM
CRN: 36583
From Lucifer to Heathcliff, from Richard III to Tony Soprano, our culture is filled with characters whom we know to be bad but cannot resist. What does it mean when the villain, who should repel us, instead becomes an object of our fascination? What does it mean when that fascination is so powerful that it provokes our identification with characters whom morality cautions us against? What is it that distinguishes a villain from other literary characters—and what is it that makes a villain loveable in the first place? This course will provide students with an introduction to literary analysis by attempting to answer these questions. Poems, plays, novels, films, and even television shows will provide the material through which we think critically both about literature—how it is made and how it makes meaning—and about the nature of villainy in all of its ethical, artistic, and social dimensions.
Assignments will include three papers of 4-45 pages, presentations, a mid-term, and a final exam. Possible readings will include the following texts:
- William Shakespeare, Macbeth
- John Milton, Paradise Lost
- Emily Bronte, Wurthering Heights
- Muriel Spark, The Prime of Ms. Jean Brodie
- Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley
- The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th Edition, ed. Margaret Ferguson, May Jo Salter, et al.
- Sharon Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms, Norton 2007
- Viewing Goodfellas
- The Sopranos
ENGL 2391.005: Introduction to Literary Studies
Dr. Ben Rogerson
MWF 2:00-2:50 PM
CRN: 13311
This class will serve to introduce students to the practice of literary study. We will develop the skills for close reading and interpretation, for sustained academic arguments about literature, and for obtaining a familiarity with different literary approaches and critical vocabularies. To develop such skills, we will consider a variety of texts in different genres-prose, poetry, and drama-and spend considerable time discussing and, furthermore, writing about texts.
In order to focus our investigations into literary studies, this course will concentrate on the idea of maturation and adulthood. In turn, our assigned texts will depict the historical development and mutability of ideas about adulthood in the United States as the nation undergoes political, cultural, social, and technological upheavals.
Selected texts may include the following:
- Harriet Jacobs, selections from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861)
- Henry James, The Turn of the Screw (1898)
- William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929)
- Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (1953)
- James Baldwin, "Sonny's Blues" (1957)
- John Berryman, selections from 77 Dream Songs (1964)
- Sylvia Plath, selections from Ariel (1965)
- August Wilson, Fences (1983)
- Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (1984)
- Jhumpa Lahiri, selections from Interpreter of Maladies (1999)
- Jennifer Egan, selections from A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010)
ENGL 2391.007: Introduction to Literary Studies
Dr. Daniel Hutchins
TR 12:30-1:50 PM
CRN: 35479
ENGL 2391.008: Introduction to Literary Studies
Dr. Daniel Hutchins
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 38200
ENGL 2391.H01: Introduction to Literary Studies: Honors First Year Experience (Honors)
Dr. Kurt Caswell
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 24990
ENGL 3302.001: Old and Middle English Literature: Monsters, Vikings, and Monks: Anglo-Saxon Literature
Dr. Brian McFadden
TR 9:30-10:50 AM
This course will emphasize Old English and Anglo-Latin literature (c. 730-1066) in the context of the major events of the period, the Viking invasions and the Benedictine Reform, which began to establish the idea of England as a nation and to define it as a “self” against foreign “others.” Genres will be Anglo-Saxon history (Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle); saints' lives (Ælfric's Lives of Saints, the Life of St. Margaret); homilies and sermons (Ælfric, Wulfstan); allegory (Panther, Phoenix, Whale); riddles; heroic poetry (Beowulf, Judith, The Battle of Maldon, Dream of the Rood); elegies (The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Husband's Message, The Wife's Lament, Wulf and Eadwacer); and monster texts (The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle; Wonders of the East; Liber Monstrorum). We will also examine several Anglo-Norman and Middle English texts (Hali Meiðhad, Equitan, Lanval, the Bayeux Tapestry, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) to examine how the genres changed in England after the Norman Conquest. Course requirements: frequent participation, occasional quizzes, two short essays, annotated bibliography, midterm exam, and final exam.
ENGL 3302.001: Old and Middle English Literature: Monsters, Vikings, and Monks: Anglo-Saxon Literature
Dr. Brian McFadden
TR 11:00-12:20 PM
This course will emphasize Old English and Anglo-Latin literature (c. 730-1066) in the context of the major events of the period, the Viking invasions and the Benedictine Reform, which began to establish the idea of England as a nation and to define it as a “self” against foreign “others.” Genres will be Anglo-Saxon history (Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle); saints' lives (Ælfric's Lives of Saints, the Life of St. Margaret); homilies and sermons (Ælfric, Wulfstan); allegory (Panther, Phoenix, Whale); riddles; heroic poetry (Beowulf, Judith, The Battle of Maldon, Dream of the Rood); elegies (The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Husband's Message, The Wife's Lament, Wulf and Eadwacer); and monster texts (The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle; Wonders of the East; Liber Monstrorum). We will also examine several Anglo-Norman and Middle English texts (Hali Meiðhad, Equitan, Lanval, the Bayeux Tapestry, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) to examine how the genres changed in England after the Norman Conquest. Course requirements: frequent participation, occasional quizzes, two short essays, annotated bibliography, midterm exam, and final exam.
ENGL 3307.001: Restoration & 18th Century Literature
Dr. Marta Kvande
TR 9:30-10:50 AM
CRN: 13449
The eighteenth century may seem a long way in the past, but many see it as the beginning point for many ideas we now think of as modern. This course will approach Restoration and eighteenth-century literature by exploring these new ideas and their expression in literature. We'll read a wide range of literary texts from the period that illustrate new ideas about what literature ought to be, new ideas about how printing should relate to literature, new ideas about who could write literature, new ideas about humans' place in the universe, and new ideas about how people ought to feel and act (just to name a few). As we study these texts, issues, and ideas, you will develop an understanding of major British literary works of the long eighteenth century and the historical and cultural contexts and influences that informed them; the ability to write with clarity, precision, and accuracy and to analyze and interpret literature; and the ability to conduct research carefully and systematically and to incorporate that research into your own interpretations of literature. Assignments will include exams, a short paper, and a longer researched paper. Absences will accrue from the first day of classes regardless of registration status
ENGL 3308:D01: 19th Century British Literature: Victorian Literature and Society (Distance)
Dr. Alison Rukavina
R 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 35481
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” While Charles Dickens wrote the opening lines of his novel Tale of Two Cities about the French Revolution, these lines also described the Victorian era (1830-1901) with its profound social, political, and cultural upheaval that transformed British society. The Industrial Revolution led to rapid economic and social changes, including demands for labor reform, Darwin's theory of evolution challenged religious faith, and developments in medicine and psychology introduced new ways of understanding mental illness. Developments in social and political thought led to debates about a woman's place in society, and the rapid growth of the British Empire spread Victorian values globally and introduced foreign cultures and concepts at home. Students in this distance course will read Victorian literary works, including novels, short stories, and poetry, by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Charlotte Brontë, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad and others that engaged with these transformations.
Assignments will include two essays, presentation, and other work.
Texts:
- Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret
- Charlotte Bronte's Jane Erye
- Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
- Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde
- Elzabeth Barrett Browning's "Cry of the Children," Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Lady of Shallot" as well as other poems and readings
Assignments: weekly participation and discussion; 3 short reading responses; research essay (including proposal & draft); presentation
ENGL 3309.001: Modern and Contemporary British Literature
Dr. Jen Shelton
TR 12:30-1:50 PM
CRN: 33008
ENGL 3324.001: Nineteenth-Century American Literature
Dr. John Samson
MWF 10:00-10:50 AM
CRN: 13533
This course will focus on the variety of prose writings during the American Renaissance (1830-1860). We will read and discuss autobiographies, short stories, and novels that reflect the aesthetic achievements and cultural diversity of six major authors of this great period in American Literature. Texts: short stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville; the autobiographical writings Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave by Frederick Douglass and Walden by Henry David Thoreau; and the novels The Blythedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ruth Hall by Fanny Fern. These works engage themes such as the American past, the gothic, slavery, transcendentalism, romanticism v. realism, and women's roles and rights.
ENGL 3325.003: Modern and Contemporary American Literature
Dr. Michael Borshuk
TR 3:00-4:50 PM
CRN: 13566
This course will introduce students to a range of poetry, fiction, and drama by American writers between 1900 and 1945, to chart the early onset and development of American literary modernism. Among the topics to which we will be attentive are frustration over traditional modes of representation and radical experimentation in literary style; assertive reconceptualizations of racial, gender, and sexual identity during the period; the influence of technology, urban space, and mass culture on artistic expression; and an ongoing aggressive attempt at American cultural self-definition in relation to the world at large.
Texts:
- Paul Lauter, ed., The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume D: 1910-1945
- Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttons (1914)
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
- Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (1930)
- Robert Scully, A Scarlet Pansy (1932)
ENGL 3325.D01: Modern and Contemporary American Literature (Distance)
Dr. Mary Jane Hurst
M 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 35482
This offering of English 3325 will focus on how American identities have been constructed through language and literature. That means we'll take up questions such as these: How have American writers presented or created fictional American characters through their language? What American sensibilities emerge through linguistic choices in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry? How does language shape the twentieth century American experience in literature and in life? What makes twentieth century American literature distinctive? What does it mean to be an American?
Over the semester we'll read, think, discuss, listen, and write our way through these and other key questions about twentieth century literature. Although students will select some texts for their independent work, we are likely to read together classics by writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, or William Faulkner as well as more recent work by writers such as Chang-Rae Lee, Alice Walker, Rudolfo Anaya, or Louise Erdrich.
Interested students from all programs within the English Department – and interested students from all other departments – are welcome in this course. Students in English 3325 will be expected to:
- complete listening, reading, and writing assignments each week (NOTE: this is an official Writing Intensive class and counts as such for graduation requirements);
- apply course concepts in longer papers as well as in weekly writing assignments;
- access materials online through the library and through Blackboard; and
- participate in interactive discussions and presentations.
Because this is an online class, students will need reliable Internet access, and students' computers must be configured to use the university's official online learning platform, Blackboard. (Guides can be found at www.Blackboard.ttu.edu, and individualized, personal assistance is also available through IT Help Central.)
Questions about the course should be directed to the professor, Dr. Mary Jane Hurst, who can be reached by e-mail at maryjane.hurst@ttu.edu.
ENGL 3338.001: Global South Literatures: Can We Live Together in Harmony? The Possibility of a Cosmopolitan Culture
Dr. Roger McNamara
TR 11:00-12:20 PM
CRN: 35483
The 21st century is an exciting period. Never before in our history have people from different countries, regions, and continents been interacting with each other with such frequency. This advanced stage of globalization is largely because of the internet's reach across the globe, cheaper and quicker ways to travel, and less restrictions on trade and commerce. However, even while globalization has created more opportunities and introduced new ideas, it has come with a price tag: as people from different cultures co-mingle with each other, they struggle to reconcile their competing worldviews. They have different ideas about religion, the rights of individuals versus those of communities, the roles of men and women, just to name a few. Thus, is it possible for people to reconcile or at least tolerate each other or is conflict inevitable? In grappling with this problem, some intellectuals have turned to “cosmopolitanism” —an idea originating with the ancient Greeks—where individuals believed that they were citizens, not of the individual city-states but of the world. Contemporary critics have further developed this idea by asserting the need to embrace differences, as long there is a consensus on certain basic rights.
This course explores whether cosmopolitanism is possible to achieve or whether we will be unable to reconcile our differences. We will examine the work of cosmopolitanism's advocates in conjunction with literary texts that explore diversity. These texts will be from across the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and India, etc., and wil be written in different genres—realism, magic realism, and science fiction/fantasy.
ENGL 3338.D01: Global South Literatures: Can We Live Together in Harmony? The Possibility of a Cosmopolitan Culture
Dr. Roger McNamara
TR 11:00-12:20 PM
CRN: 35483
The 21st century is an exciting period. Never before in our history have people from different countries, regions, and continents been interacting with each other with such frequency. This advanced stage of globalization is largely because of the internet's reach across the globe, cheaper and quicker ways to travel, and less restrictions on trade and commerce. However, even while globalization has created more opportunities and introduced new ideas, it has come with a price tag: as people from different cultures co-mingle with each other, they struggle to reconcile their competing worldviews. They have different ideas about religion, the rights of individuals versus those of communities, the roles of men and women, just to name a few. Thus, is it possible for people to reconcile or at least tolerate each other or is conflict inevitable? In grappling with this problem, some intellectuals have turned to “cosmopolitanism” —an idea originating with the ancient Greeks—where individuals believed that they were citizens, not of the individual city-states but of the world. Contemporary critics have further developed this idea by asserting the need to embrace differences, as long there is a consensus on certain basic rights.
This course explores whether cosmopolitanism is possible to achieve or whether we will be unable to reconcile our differences. We will examine the work of cosmopolitanism's advocates in conjunction with literary texts that explore diversity. These texts will be from across the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and India, etc., and wil be written in different genres—realism, magic realism, and science fiction/fantasy.
ENGL 3351.002: Creative Writing: Non-Fiction
Instructor TBD
MWF 10:00-10:50 AM
CRN: 13616
Titled Cut to the Quick, this course will focus on the sub genre of the flash essay. Situated somewhere between prose poem and micro-narrative, flash essays provide us the path to lyrically explore a topic whil taking both narration and syntactical leaps. Or, as Bernard Cooper says, the flash essay teaches us "an alertness to detail, a quickening of the senses, and a focusing of the literary lens until one has magnified some small aspect of what it means to be human." During the course of the semester, we will approach our classworm like a writing lab, conducting in-class writing experiments and workshops of each other's works. We will write five flash essays - 750 words or less - to be revised in a final portfolio.
- Bluets by Maggie Nelson
- Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction edited by Judith Kitchen and Dinah Lenney
- PDFs as assigned
ENGL 3351.006: Creative Writing: Fiction
Dr. Katie Cortese
TR 11:00-12:20 PM
CRN: 13642
Reading and writing literature is one of the best ways to learn about and develop empathy for cultures and peoples outside of an individual's direct experience, and thus become more sensitive to and aware of diversity within the human condition. In this course, students will write and critique short stories, as well as analyze canonical and contemporary examples of the form. Students will write several short exercises and a longer story to be critiqued in a large-group format. Class discussions will focus on the craft of writing stories as seen in published examples and highlighted in assigned craft essays. Elements discussed will include but not be limited to aspects of character, plot, dialogue, style, time, setting, inventory, epiphanies, and other topics as they arise. As students learn to read, write, and critique short stories, they will also broaden their experience of what it means to be human.
Assignments will include writing, critiquing, and revising up to five short exercises and one short story, as well as reviewing a work of flash fiction, and giving a presentation on a story or article. Students will also attend and respond to one live reading and assemble a final creative portfolio.
Tentative Reading List:
- Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott
- Flash Fiction Forward, James Thomas & Robert Shapard
- PDFs as assigned
ENGL 3351.007: Creative Writing: Fiction
Dr. Kolosov
TR 12:30-1:50 PM
CRN: 33009
In this reading and writing intensive workshop, we will read and write a range of fiction, from very brief flash fiction pieces of 250 to 500 words to longer, traditional length stories of 3500-7000 words. In addition, we will experiment with fiction that steals from and/or integrates techniques from other genres. Examples include use of graphics and the stage directions and other cues associated with drama and film. Writers will hone fundamentals of craft, in particular plot, character development including dialogue and gesture, and world building. Readings will be eclectic and diverse, from mystery and ghost stories to domestic realism and more fabulist writings. Some of the writers we'll read are Alix Ohlin, Peter Orner, Sara Majka, Ahdaf Soueif (Egypt), Etgar Keret (Israel), Sherman Alexie, Andre Dubus III, Percival Everett, Paul Yoon, Gish Jen & Jamaica Kincaid. Participants should come prepared to read, write, revise, and actively comment and engage in the growth of their own writing and that of their peers.
ENGL 3351.012: Creative Writing: Poetry
Dr. John Poch
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 13647
This course is a poetry writing course for those who want to write publishable poems. We will read and write intensely and hopefully, beautifully. We will work hard and we will engage with our language, developing together and individually to write the poems only each person can achieve with her/his unique voice.
ENGL 3351.013: Creative Writing: Poetry
Dr. John Poch
TR 3:00-4:50 PM
CRN: 38656
This course is a poetry writing course for those who want to write publishable poems. We will read and write intensely and hopefully, beautifully. We will work hard and we will engage with our language, developing together and individually to write the poems only each person can achieve with her/his unique voice.
ENGL 3360.002: Issues in Composition: Writing Fellows Practicum
Dr. Ken Baake
T 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 31638
This Fall 2017 class is designed to help students in various disciplines improve their writing and ability to teach writing. We will focus on principles of expository and expressive writing with some attention to grammar and style. The class will include the following elements:
- Class lectures, discussions and activities. Student led classes on the textbook chapters.
- Written postings to Blackboard.
- A short research paper.
- A final exam.
The class will have a theme that underlies many of our readings and the research project. As most of you are at key moments of transition in your lives, we may explore what it means to move from one phase of life to another through readings on identity and rites of passage. We may also look at a few arguments that examine topics like climate change, which will have a profound effect on the world you are entering into.
Through the research project, you will have the opportunity to research and write a persuasive report or essay in which you present a plan for your future direction. I approach the course through the principles of grammar, expository and expressive writing, and rhetorical theory.
Possible texts:
- Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings (Concise 7th Edition). Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Boston: Pearson, 2012. ISBN: 13: 978-0-321-96428-1
- The Structure of English: A Handbook of English Grammar. Newby, Michael. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 1987. ISBN: 0521349966
- Concisce Dictionary of English Etymology (Wordsworth Reference) (Wordsworth Collection) New Edition by Walter W. Skeat. ISBN-13: 978-1853263118
- Readings and lecture notes from Dr. Baake posted to Blackboard.
ENGL 3360.D02: Issues in Composition: Writing Fellows Practicum
Dr. Ken Baake
T 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 38773
This Fall 2017 class is designed to help students in various disciplines improve their writing and ability to teach writing. We will focus on principles of expository and expressive writing with some attention to grammar and style. The class will include the following elements:
- Class lectures, discussions and activities. Student led classes on the textbook chapters.
- Written postings to Blackboard.
- A short research paper.
- A final exam.
The class will have a theme that underlies many of our readings and the research project. As most of you are at key moments of transition in your lives, we may explore what it means to move from one phase of life to another through readings on identity and rites of passage. We may also look at a few arguments that examine topics like climate change, which will have a profound effect on the world you are entering into.
Through the research project, you will have the opportunity to research and write a persuasive report or essay in which you present a plan for your future direction. I approach the course through the principles of grammar, expository and expressive writing, and rhetorical theory.
Possible texts:
- Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings (Concise 7th Edition). Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Boston: Pearson, 2012. ISBN: 13: 978-0-321-96428-1
- The Structure of English: A Handbook of English Grammar. Newby, Michael. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 1987. ISBN: 0521349966
- Concisce Dictionary of English Etymology (Wordsworth Reference) (Wordsworth Collection) New Edition by Walter W. Skeat. ISBN-13: 978-1853263118
- Readings and lecture notes from Dr. Baake posted to Blackboard.
ENGL 3365.001: Professional Report Writing
Kylie Jacobsen
MW 12:00-1:20 PM
CRN: 13674
English 3365 is designed to prepare you for the types of writing you will encounter in the workplace. Its name “Professional Report Writing” is a bit misleading because, although this class will focus on some common report genres, including proposals, analytical reports, recommendation reports, and memos, your fundamental task is to learn to anticipate and respond to diverse audiences and communication contexts. In order to learn these rhetorical skills, you will plan, research, design and compose a variety of documents. In other words, the goals of this course are two-fold: 1) to introduce you to both theories and practical skills for workplace communication and 2) to allow you to practice these through the composition of documents and reports that are common in the workplace. Additionally, you will be prepared for 21st century workplace writing, which often includes the design of documents and the integration of technology into our writing production.
ENGL 3365.D01: Professional Report Writing
Dr. Erin Pumroy
T 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 36383
English 3365 is designed to prepare you for the types of writing you will encounter in the workplace. Its name “Professional Report Writing” is a bit misleading because, although this class will focus on some common report genres, including proposals, analytical reports, recommendation reports, and memos, your fundamental task is to learn to anticipate and respond to diverse audiences and communication contexts. In order to learn these rhetorical skills, you will plan, research, design and compose a variety of documents. In other words, the goals of this course are two-fold: 1) to introduce you to both theories and practical skills for workplace communication and 2) to allow you to practice these through the composition of documents and reports that are common in the workplace. Additionally, you will be prepared for 21st century workplace writing, which often includes the design of documents and the integration of technology into our writing production.
ENGL 3365.D02: Professional Report Writing
Dr. Emil Towner
W 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 38039
English 3365 is designed to prepare you for the types of writing you will encounter in the workplace. Its name “Professional Report Writing” is a bit misleading because, although this class will focus on some common report genres, including proposals, analytical reports, recommendation reports, and memos, your fundamental task is to learn to anticipate and respond to diverse audiences and communication contexts. In order to learn these rhetorical skills, you will plan, research, design and compose a variety of documents. In other words, the goals of this course are two-fold: 1) to introduce you to both theories and practical skills for workplace communication and 2) to allow you to practice these through the composition of documents and reports that are common in the workplace. Additionally, you will be prepared for 21st century workplace writing, which often includes the design of documents and the integration of technology into our writing production.
ENGL 3365.D03: Professional Report Writing
Dr. Erin Pumroy
R 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 38772
English 3365 is designed to prepare you for the types of writing you will encounter in the workplace. Its name “Professional Report Writing” is a bit misleading because, although this class will focus on some common report genres, including proposals, analytical reports, recommendation reports, and memos, your fundamental task is to learn to anticipate and respond to diverse audiences and communication contexts. In order to learn these rhetorical skills, you will plan, research, design and compose a variety of documents. In other words, the goals of this course are two-fold: 1) to introduce you to both theories and practical skills for workplace communication and 2) to allow you to practice these through the composition of documents and reports that are common in the workplace. Additionally, you will be prepared for 21st century workplace writing, which often includes the design of documents and the integration of technology into our writing production
ENGL 3367.001: Usability Testing
Dr. Abigail Selzer King
TBA
CRN: 13775
This is an applied research class where you will learn the key concepts and methods of usability testing. Throughout the semester, you will complete assignments to experiment with usability evaluation by working on real projects underway in Texas Tech's Usability Research Laboratory. Students who complete this class gain valuable skills in usability research, user experience, and user-centered design that are highly sought by employers. For more information, click here.
ENGL 3368.D01: World Wide Web Publishing of Technical Communication
Dr. Craig Baehr
T 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 35496
This undergraduate-level course provides an overview of the practical and theoretical aspects of designing effective Web sites and online content. Specifically, our work will focus on process planning, content development, site structure, navigation, visual design, interface design, usability, and accessibility. The course will cover practical skills with various software tools and scripting languages, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The course address contemporary approaches and theories related to digital literacy, user experience, and technology to broaden our study of Web development as a technical communication specialization.
ENGL 3371.002: Linguistic Science
Dr. Aaron Braver
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 33014
Language touches every aspect of our lives. From reading the morning paper to decrypting secret codes, the subconscious knowledge of language is uniquely human. In this course we'll ask what it means to have a command of language—do animals have it? Infants? By examining the structures of the world's languages, we will discover why linguists believe in a “universal grammar” in spite of the world's rich linguistic diversity. We'll also learn how to make the sounds of the world's languages—from French nasal vowels to the clicks of Africa's Bantu languages. This course is suited to anyone interested in language, how the mind works, or the characteristics that make us uniquely human.
ENGL 3372.001: History of the English Language
Dr. Brian McFadden
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 13870
This course will examine the development of the English language from its origins in Anglo-Saxon England through changes in the later medieval and Early Modern periods to the attempts to codify the language in the eighteenth century and the development of modern language study in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will examine both the internal history (the linguistic changes that occur within the language over time) and the external history (the effects of social and political events on the language) of English in order to answer such questions as: Why do English words often resemble words from other languages? Why are there so many “irregular” verbs in English? Why don't we spell words as they sound? Why don't we split infinitives or put a preposition at the end of a sentence when other Germanic languages do? We will also examine contemporary issues in English to see how the language has implications for our political and social lives. We will also learn to use online tools such as the Oxford English Dictionary and the Dictionary of Old English Corpus to assist in linguistic and literary research. Texts will include Gramley, The History of English: An Introduction; Gilliver, Marshall, and Weiner, Tolkien and the Ring of Words; McCrum, Globish; Wilton, Word Myths; and various PDF documents to be delivered online.
ENGL 3373.001: Modern English Syntax
Dr. Min-Joo Kim
TR 9:30-10:50 AM
CRN: 33095
This course offers an overview of the grammar of present-day English but it doesn't
just teach you about which grammatical rules to follow; rather, it teaches you why English grammar works the way it does. Furthermore, in this course, students will
uncover how Syntax works together with Morphology and Semantics in generating well-formed
sentences, and how languages change over time, and what that tells about the underlying
principles of human language in general. This course also gives an introduction to
dialectal variation within English, how English differs from other languages, and
what kinds of grammatical errors non-native speakers tend to make and why.
Therefore, it will be suitable for anyone planning to become an English/ESL teacher
and/or interested in linguistics/language studies in general. Finally, taking this
course will help enhance one's critical thinking, logical reasoning, and data-driven
analytical skills as well.
ENGL 3385.001: Selected Plays of Shakespeare: What's Wrong With Revenge?
Dr. Matthew Hunter
MWF 9:00-9:50 AM
CRN: 13925
This course will introduce students to Shakespeare's plays, his dramatic art, and his vibrant historical moment. From his tragedies and comedies, to his innovative depictions of English history, to his forays into tragicomedy, this course will chart Shakespeare's remarkable development as a dramatist. Over the course of our readings and in-class discussions, we will investigate a range of themes that are central both to Shakespeare's plays and to the culture for which he wrote: the construction of the individual, the folly of love, the sovereignty of the crown, the value of history, and the power of performance to encroach upon all aspects of our lives. As we cover these themes, we will also find ourselves returning to a subject that troubles Shakespeare's writing from his earliest plays to his last ones: the nature of revenge. In an ethical society, can revenge be justified—or is it always doomed to corrupt the avenger? Is revenge the fault of the individual or of the state? And when should revenge give way to its opposite—to mercy?
Assignments will include two papers of 6 pages, presentations, and a final exam. Readings will be from The Norton Shakespeare (3rdEdition) and will include the following plays:
- Titus Andronicus
- The Taming of the Shrew
- Richard II
- 1 Henry IV
- The Merchant of Venice
- Hamlet
- Othello
- The Tempest
ENGL 3388.001: Film Genres
Dr. Wyatt Phillips
MWF 11:00-11:50 AM
CRN: 14001
This course will study the horror film, the musical, and the western in order to better understand how film genres form, mature, transform, and travel.
ENGL 3388.002: Film Genres: Horror and the Fantastic
Dr. Allison Whitney
TR 12:30-1:50 PM
CRN: 13998
This course will approach cinemas of horror and the fantastic from multiple perspectives, including audience studies, feminist criticism, psychoanalytic theory, cognitive psychology, studies of film sound, the history of censorship, and the relationship between genre development and both social and technological change. Students will develop skills of formal analysis specific to film studies, explore a variety of theoretical approaches to cinema, and become familiar with multiple modes of filmmaking, including fiction, nonfiction, and experimental film.
ENGL 3390.D01: Literatures of the Southwest (Distance)
Dr. Cordelia Barrera
T 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 38641
The Southwest is a border territory where cultures meet and mix. The region brings to mind cowboy virtues, vast open spaces, and American exceptionalism. SW texts make varying claims about the region as real, unreal, surreal, and magically real, and its desert mirages and indigenous cultures evoke exotic, nightmarish landscapes and visions. We will explore these literary portrayals of the Southwest by focusing on desert spaces as we consider the Anglo, Chicano, and American Indian cultures of the region. In our efforts to capture the essence of landscape, region, and place we'll discuss novels, essays and short stories by Ray Bradbury, Larry McMurtry, Luis Alberto Urrea, Cormac McCarthy, Leslie Marmon Silko, Dorothy Scarborough and Mary Austin.
ENGL 3392.001: African American Literature
Dr. Michael Borshuk
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 35486
This course will examine the development of African American literature from the slave narratives of the nineteenth century to postmodern fiction at the turn of the twenty-first. We will begin with a discussion of critical approaches to African American literature, and then proceed chronologically through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Among our topics for interrogation and discussion will be: the influence of oral and musical traditions on the development of African American writing; the intervention(s) into traditional constructions of the American canon that black literature inaugurates; the ways that African American writers redress stereotypes and problematic representations of black Americans; and the “alternative” histories that African American literature proposes alongside America's dominant historical records.
Tentative Reading List:
- Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Valerie A. Smith, eds., The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, 3rd Edition
- Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass [complete text is in Norton]
- Harriet E. Wilson, Out Nig: or, Sketch from the Life of a Free Black
- Nella Larsen, Passing [complete text is is Norton]
- Paul Beatty, The Sellout
- Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
ENGL 4301.001: Studies in Selected Authors: The Literature of War: Milton, Hobbes, and English Political Writing
Dr. Ryan Hackenbracht
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 14706
This course is a historical inquiry into the political literature of the English Revolution and Restoration (c. 1630-1670), and it examines two of the greatest minds of seventeenth-century Europe, the poet John Milton and the political scientist Thomas Hobbes. Both men were infamous political rebels and religious free-thinkers who transformed their world. Hobbes's Leviathan (1651) and Milton's Paradise Lost (1667), in particular, left a lasting mark on English thought and culture, and this course will discuss their innovations in everything from Orwellian government, to proto-feministic views of women and gender, to materialism and the denial of a spiritual world.
Class discussions will alternate between three focal areas: 1) questions of aesthetics, literary genres and form, with special focus on epic, lyric, diary, and political treatise; 2) consideration of cultural contexts, especially gender and women's roles, science, Christianity, and monarchy vs. democracy; and 3) current scholarly conversations on Milton, Hobbes, and other authors of the Revolution and Restoration. Assignments include a 10-source annotated bibliography and a 12-page final research paper.
ENGL 4311.001: Studies in Poetry: Modern British Poetry
Dr. William Wenthe
MWF 2:00-2:50 PM
CRN: 14724
This course will explore the major movements and figures in British Poetry for much of the twentieth century. The majority of our readings will cover the rapid changes in English poetry from about 1910 to World War II, when poets were working to revise the English poetic tradition into deliberately "modern" forms. Among the poems we read are some of the most engaging and important poems in the language. This course is geared for those pursuing an English Major or Minor; however, I do not intend to discourage any other interested undergraduate from exploring some of the richest, most exciting, and controversial writings in our language. I do require that all students be committed to the readings in this course. The readings are by no means great in quantity, but they will demand to be read differently than one would read prose. Thus we will be examining poems not only for what they say, but for what they do—that is, what effects, what possible meanings, are created by the formal qualities of the poem.
ENGL 4313.001: Studies in Fiction: West of Everyting
Dr. Sara Spurgeon
MWF 11:00-11:50 AM
CRN: 33097
We will examine works of fiction, poetry, and film by Native American, Chicano, Anglo American, Asian American, and African American writers and directors. Some will be classics (both literary and filmic) of the genre known as the Western, and some will undermine, subvert, or expand it. We will explore these texts from a number of different angles: What did the myth of the frontier look like in the past and what shape is it assuming in literature and film today? How has it been used to justify or deconstruct American ideas about conquest, colonization, and empire? How might it work to define our modern ideas about gender, race, class, sexuality, national identity, borders, etc.? How has it formed the genre we know today as the “Western”? How does the film and fiction of non-Anglo Westerners writing from "the other side" of the frontier reinterpret that myth? We will be doing close readings of novels, poems, short fiction, films, and theory.
ENGL 4321.001: Studies in Literary Topics: Monsters, Robots, and Flying Machines (Late 19th Century Science Fiction
Dr. Alison Rukavina
TR 12:30-1:50 PM
CRN: 14762
"Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth." –Jules Verne, A Journey to the Center of the Earth
The late nineteenth century was a time of rapid social change, and science fiction—defined as a genre that focuses on the influence of science, both real and imagined, on humanity—was a popular venue for authors to explore the impact of these transformations on society. Authors in books like Jekyll and Hyde and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea wrote about how science and technology were both potentially marvelous and dangerous. Authors like Robert Louis Stevenson and Jules Verne touched on the reason why so many individuals in the nineteenth century were anxious about, if not completely frightened by, the fast-paced changes brought about by inventions like the combustion engine and the development of modern scientific study—the unknown consequences of marvels like steam-powered robots and medicines that promised to cure disease. In the course, students will read late-nineteenth-century science fiction and discuss how works like The Island of Dr. Moreau engaged with the fear of progress without limits and Darwin's theory of evolution. Students will also consider how the fear of “other” manifests in works like The War of the Worlds and Dracula, as well as how Stoker's novel engages with Victorian developments surrounding gender and sexuality. Science fiction was a site of inquiry as authors questioned what was the truth regarding whether scientific and technical progress was a boon or a bane for society at the end of the nineteenth century.
Texts:
- Edward Ellis' The Steam Man of the Prairies
- Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde
- Bram Stoker's Dracula
- H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and The Island of Dr. Moreau
- Jules Vernes' Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
- Kim Newman's Anno Dracula
- and other texts...
Assignments: research paper; reader response short essay; discussion; presentation
ENGL 4351.003: Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction
Dr. Katie Cortese
TR 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 14785
This course aims to deepen the knowledge and ability of students who aspire to professional proficiency in fiction writing, and potentially to pursue the subject in graduate school. This course has a dual focus of reading published stories (many of which will break convention), and writing polished, potentially-publishable short stories. Discussions will complicate and deepen students' knowledge of storytelling elements, including aspects of character, plot, structure, dialogue, style, time, setting, beginnings/middles/endings, epiphanies, and more. In addition to honing students' literary analysis skills, this course has the objectives of preparing students to (1) identify and contextualize variations on conventional storytelling techniques in published works, (2) develop editing/critiquing skills for in-progress drafts, and (3) create original fiction.
Assignments will include writing, critiquing, and revising two short stories and 3-5 short exercises, delivering a presentation on a short story, analyzing and reviewing a recent issue of a literary magazine, responding to a live reading, and assembling a final creative portfolio.
Tentative Reading List:
- Steering the Craft: A 21st-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story, Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Best American Short Stories 2016, Junot Diaz, editor; Heidi Pitlor, Series Editor
- PDFs as assigned
*Please email instructor for permission to enroll in this course. Attach one story or several short-short stories not to exceed a total of 12 double-spaced pages in a readable format.
ENGL 4360.001: World Wide Web Publishing of Technical Communication
Dr. Kendall Gerdes
R 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 14790
Want to play videogames in class? This is the class for you. Some people think videogames are an art form—a medium akin to literary fiction that enables players (like readers) to take on other people's lives and perspectives. Others view videogames as technical challenges to be mastered, quickly and thoroughly (if you're any good). This class will explore a variety of weird videogames, games that pose problems for both these points of view. Students will play videogames together and for homework. Assignments will include an on-going gameplay journal, short rhetorical analysis papers focused on the arguments that games make, and a position statement on rhetoric and identification. Finally, you'll learn to make your own videogame (no prior experience required).
ENGL 4360.D01: World Wide Web Publishing of Technical Communication
Dr. Kendall Gerdes
R 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 37084
Want to play videogames in class? This is the class for you. Some people think videogames are an art form—a medium akin to literary fiction that enables players (like readers) to take on other people's lives and perspectives. Others view videogames as technical challenges to be mastered, quickly and thoroughly (if you're any good). This class will explore a variety of weird videogames, games that pose problems for both these points of view. Students will play videogames together and for homework. Assignments will include an on-going gameplay journal, short rhetorical analysis papers focused on the arguments that games make, and a position statement on rhetoric and identification. Finally, you'll learn to make your own videogame (no prior experience required).
ENGL 4366.001: Technical and Professional Editing
Dr. Angela Eaton
W 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 21740
In this class, you will learn how to edit technical documents, from proofreading for errors at the surface to ensuring that the document contains appropriate content, organization, and visuals for its audiences. Students will also learn how to use traditional editing marks, editing functions within word processors, and principles of layout and design.
Texts: (This can be a list in a sentence or a more formal bibliographic style list. You may be specific or general, but students like to know if they've already read some of the material that will be covered.):
- Rude, Carolyn R. (2002). Technical Editing (5th edtion). Allyn & Bacon: New York.
- Research articles and excerpts from layout and design texts will also be read.
ENGL 4366.D01: Technical and Professional Editing
Dr. Angela Eaton
W 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 35497
In this class, you will learn how to edit technical documents, from proofreading for errors at the surface to ensuring that the document contains appropriate content, organization, and visuals for its audiences. Students will also learn how to use traditional editing marks, editing functions within word processors, and principles of layout and design.
Texts: (This can be a list in a sentence or a more formal bibliographic style list. You may be specific or general, but students like to know if they've already read some of the material that will be covered.):
- Rude, Carolyn R. (2002). Technical Editing (5th edtion). Allyn & Bacon: New York.
- Research articles and excerpts from layout and design texts will also be read.
ENGL 4369.001: Interaction Design
Jack Labriola
TR 11:00-12:20 PM
CRN: 35498
This course, Interaction Design, invites students to explore the way design and prototyping shift in dynamic situations. Students will build user-centered principles to develop design strategies and final projects that accommodate a technology to users and their situations for use. Projects in this class will include user experience reports, design prototyping and application or website development.
ENGL 4378.053: Internship in Technical Communication
Instructor: Varies
TBA
CRN: 14853
Contact the TCR advisor (english.advisor@ttu.edu) for more information.
ENGL 4380.001: Professional Issues in Technical Communication
Dr. Rachel Wolford
M 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 37086
Must have TCR advisor permission
This capstone course focuses on developing your identity as a professional writer
in the workplace. Since you have almost completed your coursework before taking English
4380, this course is designed to prepare you to enter the workplace. We will discuss
the job search process, and you will create cover letters, résumés, and a portfolio.
We will also conduct mock interviews as you prepare for the professional job market.
You will also be responsible for three group projects for real-world clients. My goal
for you in this course is to help you prepare to go into the world and do good with
your degree—to consider the ways your education provides potential for you to change
the world for the better. The two elements—where you want to go and doing good—are
not, and do not have to be, separate endeavors. We will consider the ways you can
develop a more ethical and socially aware approach to the work you will do as a technical
communicator.
ENGL 4380.D01: Professional Issues in Technical Communication
Dr. Rachel Wolford
M 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 35499
Must have TCR advisor permission
This capstone course focuses on developing your identity as a professional writer
in the workplace. Since you have almost completed your coursework before taking English
4380, this course is designed to prepare you to enter the workplace. We will discuss
the job search process, and you will create cover letters, résumés, and a portfolio.
We will also conduct mock interviews as you prepare for the professional job market.
You will also be responsible for three group projects for real-world clients. My goal
for you in this course is to help you prepare to go into the world and do good with
your degree—to consider the ways your education provides potential for you to change
the world for the better. The two elements—where you want to go and doing good—are
not, and do not have to be, separate endeavors. We will consider the ways you can
develop a more ethical and socially aware approach to the work you will do as a technical
communicator.
ENGL 5060: History and Theory of Composition (theory)
Dr. Michael Faris
MW 12:00-1:20 PM
CRN: 15494
ENGL 5060.001: History and Theory of Composition (theory)
Dr. Michael Faris
MW 2:00-3:20 PM
CRN: 34680
ENGL 5302: Middle English Language: Translating Middle English Literature
Dr. Julie Couch
T 2:00-4:50PM
CRN: 38597
This course introduces students to the grammar, syntax, vocabulary, phonology, and prosody of Middle English. This course also introduces students to Middle English manuscript studies. The term Middle English encompasses an array of regional dialects that coexisted in England roughly between the Norman Conquest in 1066 and the standardization of English in 1430. Class time will be spent translating and pronouncing Middle English, transcribing from manuscript facsimiles, and discussing related issues in translation, manuscript context, and literary interpretation. By the end of the course, students will be able to comprehend and read aloud Middle English poetry that ranges widely in dialect, form, and genre. This course will be of interest to literature students as well as to linguistics and creative writing students interested in form, prosody, book history, and the theory and praxis of translation.
Requirements fulfilled:
British Literature, Poetry genre, high proficiency language requirement, Medieval
& Renaissance Studies (MSRC) graduate certificate
ENGL 5306: Milton: Live Free or Die: Milton, Hobbes, and the Foundations of Modern Liberty
Dr. Ryan Hackenbracht
R 9:30AM-12:20PM
CRN: 35489
From President Trump's Muslim ban to censorship of the press, controversies over American civil liberties fill our daily headlines. Recent though they may seem, these are in fact old issues, and the language and logic we use today to analyze liberty have their origins in seventeenth-century England. During the English Revolution, the overthrow of government and the execution of the king (unprecedented events that shocked Europe) sparked new ways of imagining citizens' rights, the authority of the state, and the obligations of sovereigns to their subjects. The conflict between Thomas Hobbes and John Milton, in particular, generated important inquiries into the nature of liberty, including, what is the basis for liberty, and can it be stripped away from a person? how much freedom is too much? are citizens justified in opposing an unjust state? The Hobbes-Milton debate had a long afterlife, and the last third of this course charts its influence on the American Founding Fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin.
In the age of Milton and Hobbes, theorizing about liberty was not just a political affair—it was also a literary one. To connect with their reading public, who were steeped in knowledge of the Bible and the classics, Hobbes and Milton recycled and reinvented narratives from the Old and New Testaments, ancient Greek poetry, and Roman orations. This course, then, explores the literariness of liberty—that is, how Milton and Hobbes used narrative, genre, form, and mode to convey their thoughts on the freedom of the individual. Assignments will include an annotated bibliography, a presentation to the seminar, and a research paper of 20 pages.
Requirements fulfilled:
British Literature, Poetry genre, Medieval & Renaissance Studies (MSRC) graduate
certificate
Texts:
- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. by Edwin Curley (Hackett, 1994)
- John Milton, Complete Poems and Major Prose, ed. by Merritt Hughes (Hackett, 2003)
- John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, et al., Something that Will Surprise the World: The Essential Writings of the Founding Fathers, ed. by Susan Dunn (Basic, 2006)
ENGL 5309: Studies in Nineteenth Century British Literature: Victorian Science Fiction & Fantasy: Steampunk Past and Present
Dr. Alison Rukavina
M 2:00-4:50PM
CRN: 38597
The course examines Victorian science fiction and fantasy in relation to the contemporary steampunk genre, which combines Victoriana, science fiction & fantasy, and technology, as well as a punk aesthetic. Steampunk is not an entirely “new” genre in that it was inspired by the works of Mary Shelley, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells. Students in the course will consider whether nineteenth-century works like Frankenstein, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Time Machine are steampunk and what defines the genre, as well as what historical and contemporary issues are at the heart of novels by William Gibson, Neil Gaiman, and K.W. Jeter. While technology—whether steam, nuclear, or other—and the host of issues it engenders is often at the heart of steampunk, books within the genre also wrestle with a diverse list of issues including those pertaining to gender and race. Students in the class will read historical and contemporary steampunk, considering how the authors engage with their audience and culture. As part of the class, students will also look at steampunk in other genres including nineteenth-century dime novels and twentieth-century graphic novels.
Readings will include Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde, Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula, H.G. Wells's Time Machine, K. W. Jeter's Infernal Devices, Kim Newman's Anno Dracula, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and William Gibson's The Difference Engine, as well as various secondary readings.
Requirements fulfilled:
British Literature, Fiction genre
ENGL 5317: Postcolonial Literature: Postcolonial, Decolonial, Digital: One Billion and More Rising
Dr. Kanika Batra
R 6:00-8:50PM
CRN: 37200/37203
The multiple forms of activism we are witnessing in the twenty-first century rely on digital platforms for their success. To consider one example, the One Billion Rising movement deploys texts, technologies, and virtual-physical forms of assembly to bring sexualized violence against women into the public limelight. This course interrogates the foundations and future of such movements by placing them within theorizations of the postcolonial and the decolonial. We will begin our feminist enquiry by examining canonical works by Frantz Fanon, Aime Cesaire, Anibal Quijano, Walter Mignolo, and others. The course then moves into a discussion of nation, narration, and nativism by looking at women's life writings in the Caribbean and Latin America read with and against feminist thought by Sylvia Wynter, Maria Lugones, M. Jacqui Alexander, Emma Perez, and Linda Alcoff. In the final section of the course we examine some digital forums that document the lives of women in the global South by creating archives of activism, including but not limited to the Caribbean and Latin American International Resource Network.
Requirements fulfilled:
CLGT, Methods, Women's Studies Certificate
ENGL 5320: Studies in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century American Literature: Dissenting Imaginaries: History and Literature of the Early Atlantic World
Dr. Dan Hutchins
W 6:00-8:50PM
CRN: 38595/38596
In this course, we will go a little way towards charting, together, an alternative history for the early Atlantic World (roughly 1500-1800) that highlights intersecting themes such as indigeneity, cultural contact, mestizaje, migration, displacement, autonomy, sovereignty, socialism / collectivism, borders, spirituality, and healing. In doing so, we will seek a hemispheric understanding of the relationships between indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, Europeans, Europe and the Americas is emphasized. In addition, through works of critical theory and history we will also explore 1) the idea of 'coloniality' as the shadow double of modernity and 2) the alternative epistemologies and histories that have been left out of the official Western knowledge project. I may also end the course with one or two texts of contemporary speculative fiction.
Possible authors may include: Michel de Montaigne, Jean de Léry, Cabeza de Vaca, Lewis & Clark, Guaman Poma de Ayala, William Apess, Françoise de Graffigny, Walter Mignolo, Aníbal Quijano, Hayden White, Gloria Anzaldúa, Immanuel Wallerstein, Ian Baucom, Susan Buck-Morss, Mary Crow Dog, Karl Marx, and Chief Joseph.
Requirements fulfilled:
American Literature, Non-Fiction genre
ENGL 5325: Studies in American Fiction: Nabokov's American Novels
Dr. John Samson
M 2:00-4:50PM
CRN: 35491
The focus of the course will be on Vladimir Nabokov's novels written after he emigrated to America and became an American citizen in the 1940s. Our approach to the novels will be primarily aesthetic, following Nabokov's conception that “For me a work of fiction exists only insofar as it affords me what I shall bluntly call aesthetic bliss, that is a sense of being somehow, somewhere, connected with other states of being where art (curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy) is the norm.” The texts will be: The Annotated Lolita; Pnin; Pale Fire; Ada, or Ardor; Transparent Things; and Look at the Harlequins! Students will write and present three shorter (5pp.) essays as a stimulus to discussion and write a longer (15- 20pp.) essay incorporating primary, secondary, and/or creative research.
Requirements fulfilled:
American Literature, Fiction genre
ENGL 5338: Lingustic Syntax
Dr. Min-Joo Kim
R 11:00AM-12:20PM
CRN: 18687
Syntax is a sub-discipline of linguistics that deals with sentence structure—that is, how grammatical sentences are formed and structured. This course aims to introduce fundamental principles of theoretical syntax and prepare students to take more advanced courses in theoretical syntax and/or to apply the acquired knowledge to conduct research in other related sub-field of linguistics or disciplines such as semantics, language acquisition, natural language processing, language disorders, mass communication, machine translation, and artificial intelligence, to name just a few. Students will learn analytical methods used in syntactic research, in particular how to analyze morpho-syntactic data drawn from various languages, how to formulate plausible hypotheses based on linguistic data, and how to compare and evaluate different theories and/or hypotheses. Topics will include but will not be limited to syntactic categories, phrase structure rules, X-bar syntax, and constraints on movement. The course will be organized around lectures on select topics and discussions on them. The largest portion of the grade will be given to weekly homework assignments and they will make the learning process more gradual and formative than otherwise.
Requirements fulfilled:
Linguistics, Methods, Linguistics Certificate
ENGL 5339: Phonology
Dr. Aaron Braver
TR 3:30-4:50PM
CRN: 38953
Why is "blick" a possible word of English, but not "bnick?" Why do foreign accents persist even after years of language training?
Speech sounds are perhaps the most basic building blocks of spoken language, but how do they work? This course provides an overview of the field of phonology—how languages organize, represent, and manipulate their sounds.
We will begin by discussing the sounds of the world's languages and their articulatory, acoustic, and distributional properties. We will examine why some sounds are allowed in certain parts of a word but not others, how sounds change based on their surroundings, and why foreign accents persist even after years of study.
Both linguists and non-linguists are encouraged to join this course. Knowledge of sound patterns has important applications across disciplines, including second language acquisition, foreign language teaching, literature, and poetry. If you have ever wondered how the sounds of language work—or how to manipulate them for various effects—this course will be of interest to you.
ENGL 5340: Research Methods
Dr. Julie Couch
W 9:00-11:50 AM
CRN: 14987
This course is an introduction to the methods, processes, and procedures for graduate-level (MA and PhD) research in English and is for students pursuing MA and PhD degrees in English with concentrations primarily in Literature, Linguistics, and Creative Writing. Students will investigate the uses of archival, bibliographic, and web-based sources in graduate-level scholarship.
Literary criticism and textual scholarship are two routes professional readers take in presenting, interpreting, and teaching works of literature. In this course, we will posit textual scholarship—a discipline that encompasses bibliography, editing, and reception—as foundational to literary research. We will briefly explore its theories and practices, combining theoretical discussion of textual matters such as the nature of texts, authorship, readership, and translation, with practical skills in research and bibliography. In addition to completing a few research exercises, each student will develop a research project that relates to his or her own particular area of interest.
Requirements fulfilled:
Foundation course
ENGL 5342: Critical Methods: Cultural Studies, Literary Theories, Readings
Dr. Scott Baugh
T 6:00-8:50PM
CRN: 33345
“Critical Methods” is a graduate seminar designed to survey a range of approaches to reading texts critically. Bring in theory, some naively assume, and you lose the magic of reading; however, it is always already there, and we may gain from being fully aware of our own discursive approaches to reading texts, our critical methods, and articulating them as such, methodologies. We will explore recognized ‘schools' of criticism predominant over the last four decades or so, but we will place emphasis on significant patterns within and among these schools. As a result, we will be able to return to our scholarship in a more serious, more conscious, and more professional way. We will begin, as did Terry Eagleton, with the question, what is literature? We will move, as did Roland Barthes, from work to text. Like Judith Butler, we will inscribe bodies that matter.
Mirroring Slavoj Zizek, we may look awry and, following Bakhtin, avoid utter inadequacies. Rather than bound ourselves into a single anthology, an online reserve of readings will include some tried pieces for a course such as this—by Paul de Man, Stanley Fish, Julia Kristeva, Walter Benjamin, Jonathan Culler, Michel Foucault, Laura Mulvey, Manthia Diawara, among others—as well some less-tested ones like Joanna Russ' How to Suppress Women's Writing, Jesús Salvador Treviño's “Thirty Years of Struggle,” video-articles from Wired magazine, and others as they fit.
As a group, we will cross the range of critical methods, but individually participants will be encouraged to devise particularly relevant projects that facilitate larger research agendas and professional interests. Moreover, as you discover ‘schools' most useful to your own research, then you will have the opportunity to read backward and through earlier influences on that school, potentially exploring pools of information across a number of disciplines including philosophy, history and historiography, sociology, psychology, physics, among others.
Formal requirements: assigned readings & several in-class ‘teaching demo' presentations; one short (5-7 pp.) research essay; one class research presentation; and one article-length (15+ pp.) essay. A course-long ‘journal' will be due as a final exam; it's also likely we will take advantage of some online discussions in Blackboard.
Requirements fulfilled:
Foundation course
ENGL 5342: Critical Methods
Dr. Yuan Shu
T 6:00-8:50PM
CRN: 18812
This course investigates critical theories that have informed and reshaped English studies in the past few decades. We begin by raising a rhetorical question, “Who killed Shakespeare?” and examining the status quo of English studies in the context of the declining humanities and the changing environment for higher education in the twenty-first century. We then explore diachronically formalism, structuralism, deconstruction, post-structuralism, post- colonial and critical race theories, Marxism, and feminism. The focus of our course will be on globalization and transnational studies, ecocriticism and environmental studies, and new media theories, paying special attention to what critics call “the transnational turn” and “the eco-critical turn” in current English and literary studies. We conclude by reflecting upon another rhetorical question, “What happens after post-history and post-theory?”
Requirements fulfilled:
Foundation course
ENGL 5351: Teaching Film and Media Studies
Dr. Allison Whitney
M 6:00-8:50PM
CRN: 15008
In this course, students will learn practical strategies for teaching film and other audio/visual media, while also becoming versed in the history of film instruction, and in the array of ethical, legal, and technical concerns facing educators in this field. While the course will be appropriate for students whose primary focus is film studies, it will also provide valuable expertise to students in other fields who wish to integrate the study of media texts and/or the use of media-based assignments into their curricula. Throughout the semester, students will design syllabi, lesson plans, assignments, and assessment strategies that are germane to their interests, and will also have the opportunity to visit classrooms. Topics will include teaching critical viewing and listening skills, assignment design, accessibility for students with disabilities, the ethics of representation in the classroom (including violence and obscenity), multicultural course design, service learning and community engagement, undergraduate research, copyright law, and online teaching.
Requirements fulfilled:
Film and Media Studies, Pedagogy, Methods
ENGL 5363: Research Methods in TCR (research methods)
Dr. Rebecca Rickly
T 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 15059
ENGL 5363: Research Methods in TCR (research methods)
Dr. Rebecca Rickly
M (TBA)
CRN: --
ENGL 5369: Discourse and Technology (theory & applied theory)
Dr. Craig Baehr
R (TBA)
CRN: --
ENGL 5370: Poetry Workshop
Dr. Curtis Bauer
W 6:00-8:50PM
CRN: 33026
This workshop will examine issues of craft and vision through the practice of poetry. We will consider technical and historical aspects of poetry writing, as well as discuss and formulate our own “poetics.” The group will work to form a responsive, critical audience for one another's work. Though our primary text will be student writing, we will also practice close readings of individual poems by contemporary poets, as well as contemporary essays on craft, theory, legacy, and the creative process. From this we will consider the fine points of writing poetry (e.g., line break, meter, scansion, stanzaic form, image, tension, and metaphor), and the larger issues of writing as it relates to politics, publishing, influence, voice, personal and social responsibility, and ethics. Students will write a new poem each week, and at semester's end turn in a final portfolio of poems with a formal introduction that outlines their poetics.
Requirements fulfilled:
Creative Writing concentration course.
ENGL 5370: Fiction Workshop
Dr. Jill Patterson
M 6:00-8:50PM
CRN: 15196
In this workshop, we'll study books by small presses (with the exception of one text) that offer excellent entrance opportunities for writers in the early stages of their careers. We'll consider all forms of fiction: concept novels, lyric novels, chapbooks, full collections, singles, flash, even 100-word stories. The class will be largely generative, with prompts given in class each week. The semester-long goal: each student will write and workshop the equivalent of 50-65 manuscript pages—whether producing a chapbook, or three singles, or two singles and several flash (whatever combination) to submit throughout and by the end of the semester.
Novels:
Kelcey Ervick Parker's Liliane's Balcony (Rose Metal Press)
Jenny Offill's Department of Speculation (Vintage)
Collections:
Randa Jarrar's Him Me Muhammad Ali (Sarabande)
Jen George's The Babysitter at Rest (Dorothy Project)
Chapbooks:
Daniel Riddle Rodriquez's Low Village (Cutbank)
Joe Wilkins's Far Enough (Black Lawrence Press)
Tyler Gillepsie's Dirty Socks and Pine Needles (Sibling Rivalry Press)
Kate Bernheimer's Floater (Bull City Press)
Singles:
Andria Nacina Cole's “Men Be Better Or, but Never Enough (Ploughshares)
Min Jee Lee's “The Quality of Your Life” (One Story) Celia Laskey's “Come as a Guest”
(Amazon Single)
Brandon Davis Jennings “Battle Rattle” (Amazon Single) Melanie Rae Thon's Seventh
Man (Diagram/New Michigan Press)
ENGL 5374: Technical Editing (applied theory)
Dr. Kelli Cargile-Cook
W 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 38777
ENGL 5385: Ethics (theory)
Dr. Kristen Moore
M 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 38770
How ought we to make decisions as rhetoricians, technical communicators, educators, and citizens in the world? Traditionally, technical communicators call on ethical frameworks to ensure that they've engaged responsibly with their daily work and projects. But ethical frameworks do not necessarily compel actors to question the justice of their actions. This course explores the ways decisions in environmental, medical, institutional, and political contexts might be both ethical and socially just. We'll explore the relationship between ethics and justice through cases, legal and government reports, and theoretical treatise. We will read from a range of texts, but expect to order some (if not all) of these books:
- Ahmed, S. (2012). On Being Included: Racism & Diversity in Institutional Live. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
- Davis, A., Barat, F., & West, C. (2016). Freedom is a constant struggle : Ferguson, Palestine, and the foundations of a movement. Haymarket Books.
- Foucault, M., & Rabinow, P. (1984). The Foucault reader. Pantheon Books.
- Scott, J. (2003). Risky rhetoric : AIDS and the cultural practices of HIV testing. Southern Illinois University Press.
- Skorupski, J. (2010). The Routledge companion to ethics (Routledge philosophy companions). Routledge.
- Stein, R. (2004). New perspectives on environmental justice : Gender, sexuality, and activism. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
- Weheliye, A. G. (2014) Habeus Viscus: Racializing Assemblages, Biopolitics, and Black Feminist Theories of the Human.
ENGL 5390: Writing for Publication: Creative Writing Emphasis
Dr. Katie Cortese
W 9:00-11:50AM
CRN: 15391
This course is aimed at creative writing master's and doctoral students working in the genres of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and/or translation, and will facilitate the revision, polishing, and submission of previously drafted creative works to journals, presses, and contests for potential publication. Students are expected to bring a body of work into the class to hone and submit, and while the number of individual items will vary by student and genre, the material should comprise anywhere from a minimum of fifteen pages (i.e., a chapbook of poetry or flash) to a maximum of seventy-five pages (novella, chapbook of essays or stories, or several works of translation). Students will engage in partner and small- group critique, and research appropriate venues for their work.
In addition to preparing creative work for publication, students will engage in a range of other writing projects intended to support their professional development as working writers, completing: a) an interview with the writer of their choice, b) a book review of a work published in the last year, and c) a residency, conference, grant, or fellowship application accompanied by a presentation on their target opportunity. Several times throughout the semester, Skype interviews will be held with agents, editors, publishers, and other such literary professionals. Select texts from works such as The New Writer's Handbook and magazines like Poets & Writers and Writer's Chronicle will inform discussions on querying agents, writing synopses, submitting to contests, working with editors, targeting publishers, creating an author website, maintaining a social media presence, writing craft articles, grant writing, and other aspects of building a writing career.
Requirements fulfilled:
Professional Development
ENGL 5390: Writing for Publication: Literature Emphasis
Dr. Jen Shelton
M 6:00-8:50PM
CRN: 35504
This course gives students practice in constructing documents for professional venues, including conferences and academic journals. Students will learn to draft proposals, annotated bibliographies, book reviews, conference papers and presentations, and essays for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Students whose professional goals are directed toward teaching situations will learn how to adapt these academic practices for their situations. Students should expect substantial writing and independent research as well as participation in peer-writing groups. The course meets online. Students will need a computer with stable internet access, a headset with microphone, and a Skype account to access course meetings.
Requirements fulfilled:
Professional Development
ENGL 5390: Writing for Publication
Dr. Marta Kvande
T 2:00-4:50PM
CRN: 15389
This is a pragmatic course focusing on the process of preparing an essay for submission to a peer-reviewed journal and on professional activity more broadly. Students must begin the course with a previously-prepared article-length critical paper (5,000 to 7,000 words), usually one from a previous graduate course. Revising this essay for publication (including peer workshops and other revision practices) will be one of the major projects of the course. In addition, students will also learn and practice other aspects of the scholarly process, such as preparing and presenting conference-length papers, determining appropriate venues for their work (both conferences and journals), composing cover letters, applying for grants, writing book proposals, and writing book reviews, among other scholarly genres and conventions. This course satisfies the requirement in Professional Development.
Requirements fulfilled:
Professional Development
ENGL 5391: Grants & Proposals for Nonprofits (applied theory)
Dr. Angela Eaton
T 6:00-8:50 PM
CRN: 36382
Department of English
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Address
P.O. Box 43091 Lubbock, TX 79409-3091 -
Phone
806.742.2501 -
Email
english@ttu.edu