For Fall 2008 Course Details, please scroll further down.
Summer 2008 Course Details
The course descriptions here are written by the individuals who will teach each section offered. The purpose is to help students get a more complete understanding of course content and expectations than can be offered in a brief, one-size-fits-all catalog description.
1020—Core Composition I
Provides opportunities to write for different purposes and audiences with an emphasis on learning how to respond to various rhetorical situations; improving critical thinking, reading, and writing abilities; understanding various writing processes; and gaining a deeper knowledge of language conventions. Faculty
1601—Telling Tales
In this course we will examine some of the various ways stories are told and received. Studying short stories, novels, and graphic novels and their adaptations to film, we will explore the ways in which the manner of telling a story indicates and illuminates its meanings. We will learn to analyze and think critically about the forms and functions of stories by developing understandings of the strategies and devices authors and filmmakers use to present their narratives. Requirements include weekly readings and writings, in-class film screenings, and a final creative project. Michael McLane
2030—Core Composition II
Focuses on academic and other types of research-based writing and builds on the work completed in UCD English 1020. Focuses on critical thinking, reading and writing as well as working with primary and secondary source material to produce a variety of research-based essays. Emphasis on using both print-based and electronic-based information. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Faculty
2070-OL— Grammar, Rhetoric & Style
This course discusses the basics of English grammar, rhetoric and style. It helps students evaluate the grammatical/rhetorical/stylistic choices of established writers. It also helps students analyze their own writing and develop flexibility in the grammatical and rhetorical choices in their own writing. Further, it helps students develop a rhetorical and stylistic confidence in reading and writing. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Ian Ying
2154—Introduction to Creative Writing
Reading, discussing, writing short fiction and poetry in a workshop setting. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Faculty
2154-2—Introduction to Creative Writing
Rather than the standard model of group critique, this reading-heavy course is designed to allow students to develop a vocabulary to discuss and explore poetry and fiction, while generating their own writing through assignments and experimentation. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Noah Gordon
3001—Critical Writing
This brief but intensive survey of literary theory and criticism is a required course for literature majors. The readings for the class will introduce students to a variety of interpretative tools and guide them towards understanding and writing about the concepts most conducive to generating meaning in texts. From formalism, to philosophical and historical modes of interpreting cultural texts, we will move to structuralism and post-structuralism, ending the course with studies in feminism and ethnic criticism. In addition to reading and discussing well the course materials, students will write short assignments for retaining knowledge about the various criticisms--such as focused responses which address the efficacy of particular theories--and assignments which demonstrate practical understanding of the relationship of theory to literature. Prerequisite: UCD English 1400 and two literature courses. Cynthia Wong
3050-OL—Fiction Workshop
Practical workshop for developing narrative craft, focusing on writing process and specialized topics. Prerequisite: UCD English 2154 for English majors and minors only; all others must obtain permission of instructor. Christopher Merkner
3084-OL—Advanced Composition
Focuses on the rhetorical examination and production of visual and textual documents in such areas as politics, education, art, culture and advertising. Equal focus on developing individual student writing skills at advanced levels. Prerequisite: UCD English 2030. Nicole Piasecki
3154-OL—Technical Writing
This course presents an introduction to the writing of technical documents with emphasis on the way technical writers solve communication problems considering purpose, audience, and message. Students will learn to move accurately from data to assertion, to anticipate and control reader response, and to design documents using both verbal and visual rhetoric. The intention is to enable students to write clearly not only for readers who share their technical expertise but also for readers in other fields. Students taking this 3000-level course are expected to be proficient writers. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Maryann Hoffmann
3154—Technical Writing
This course provides practical experience in developing documents/presentations common to industry. The course emphasizes the processes, style, formats, and appropriate media (hard copy document, electronic, visual, or spoken) for presenting information in industry. Students taking this course are expected to be proficient writers of standard English. Assignments produced include Job Packets, Audience Profiles, Proposals, Design Analysis, User Testing, and Instruction Manuals. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Terry Zambon
3170-OL—Business Writing
This course helps students learn to write precisely and concisely for the professional arena. Assignments for this course have immediate and practical applications, and include resumes, application cover letters, business letters, press releases and proposals. Students also learn the importance of considerations such as purpose, audience and tone for professional communication. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Andrea Modica
3170-OL2 & 2—Business Writing
This course will help students develop skills that can be applied to a variety of business documents and situations, such as job application materials, response letters, proposals, and recommendation reports. This course teaches principles for organizing, designing, writing, and revising clear, readable documents for industry, business, and government. It also teaches students communication and listening skills in a collaborative environment. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Maryann Hoffmann
3300—Topics in Film: Queer Cinema
This course will focus on filmic representations of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered identity. In addition to looking at the history of gay representations in mainstream cinema, we will also consider independent films and gay/lesbian filmmakers. Much film criticism has been written about both negative and positive stereotypes in classical Hollywood cinema that tend to politicize identity based on sexual object-choice. In this class, we will attempt to create a space for the pluralized models of sexual identity and look toward a trend in the interaction between the spheres of debates over different identity politics; i.e., race, gender, and class. Films screened include Velvet Goldmine, Bound, Go Fish, Boys Don’t Cry, Gods and Monsters, All About My Mother, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Brokeback Mountain. Readings include film criticism by scholars such as Robin Wood, Alexander Doty, and bell hooks. Required work will include short papers, a midterm, and a final. Janet Robinson
3797—ST: International Literature
This course takes a global approach to short fiction written by writers from various countries. It introduces students to the diversity of literary subjects and expressions in the world. Literary analyses will contextualize narratives within their specific histories, cultures, civilizations and ethnicities. Critical readings and discussions will question how historical, cultural and ideological forces shape race, ethnicities, and nationalisms. Since no single critical methodology covers international or global perspectives, the course will employ multiple theoretical frameworks and methodologies to respond to the international dimensions of the readings. Critical thinking and analyses are crucially important and students are expected to develop a critical vocabulary to articulate diverse cultural issues. Students will gain a nuanced understanding of the complex, intertwined nature of the links between local and global, between individual, national, and international issues in a so-called “flat” world. Lecture and discussions. Papers and exams. Pompa Banerjee
4000/5000—Major Authors: Nobel Authors
Alfred Nobel wrote in his 1895 will that the prize in literature would be awarded annually to the author whose writing was deemed “the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.” Since 1901, the members of the Swedish Academy have grappled with the meaning and implication of what constitutes either an “ideal” literature and/or “ideal direction” when assessing the winners. What are the different stages or history of “ideal” literature as conceived by the academy? In addition to examining the literary and political values of the Nobel Prize in literature, we will focus on the aesthetics of individual authors awarded the honor, explore their appeal to readers, and discuss their contributions to a world literature. Students should be able to read, discuss, and interpret literature at advanced levels and express clearly their ideas in writing and in class discussions. Short writing assignments and a final exam. Cynthia Wong
4180-OL1—Argumentation & Logic
Explores the history of logic and its role in argumentation, studies various types of logical structures, and analyzes current uses of argumentation, with attention to writing arguments on current public issues. Prerequisites: UCD English 1020, 2030, and 2070. Miranda Egger
4190/5190-OL1—ST: Intercultural Communication
This course discusses the basics of English grammar, rhetoric and style. It helps students evaluate the grammatical/rhetorical/stylistic choices of established writers. It also helps students analyze their own writing and develop flexibility in the grammatical and rhetorical choices in their own writing. Further, it helps students develop a rhetorical and stylistic confidence in reading and writing. Ian Ying
4601/5601-OL1— Principles & Practices of Second Language Acquisition
Overview of basic principles and practices in the learning and teaching of English as a second language. Joanne Addison
4730/5730—Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Acquaint yourself with England’s first great writer, his social criticism, his humor, and the tumultuous world in which he lived. Meet the Wife of Bath who is looking for her sixth husband, the nun who worries more about her dogs than starving children, and the pardoner who will sell you a piece of the true cross. The Canterbury Tales is an introduction to virtually every major genre of poetry of the Middle Ages, to characters from all walks of life, and to a world that is far more like our own than you may imagine. Colleen Donnelly
4770/5770—TPCS: Documentary
The first movie program ever projected on a screen to an audience in a theater, took place in Paris in the winter of 1895. It was an evening of 50-second “actualities,” made by the brothers Louis and Auguste Lumiere. But it turns out that the first movie shown that night, Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory, became only one of three versions of that film. There were two remakes, and in all three cases, the filmmakers told the workers when to exit the factory. So the first documentary was both “set up” and remade – hardly what we think documentary film is supposed to be. And so, the very idea of documentary filmmaking was compromised from the start. This course on documentary film will address continually the persistent question, “what is documentary film?” By way of doing that, students will watch a range of documentary films made from 1895 to the present, including films about murder cases, the “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s, war, psychiatry, insects, profoundly eccentric human beings, and rock ‘n’ roll. Expect short papers for each class, a long-ish paper and a test. Howie Movshovitz
5110— ST: Denver Writing Project
An intensive extended workshop in the development of one’s personal and professional writing and in the teaching of writing. Open to those who are members of the Denver Writing Project. Michelle Comstock
5120—ST: Denver Writing Project Advanced Institute
Advanced institutes provide intensive examination of an issue related to the teaching of writing. The specific issues are of two kinds—repeated ones such as "Alumni Institute" and "Writing Retreat" and variable, such as "Action Research" and "Writing Across the Curriculum." Michelle Comstock
Fall 2008 Course Details
The course descriptions here are written by the individuals who will teach each section offered. The purpose is to help students get a more complete understanding of course content and expectations than can be offered in a brief, one-size-fits-all catalog description.
1010—Writing Workshop
This course focuses on the skills needed to write effective college-level essays. As an English 1010 student, you will analyze and evaluate assigned readings, as well as your own, and your classmates’ writing. Using life experiences, feelings, and opinions, you will write four essays in a variety of genres. In addition, you will learn a specific writing process that will facilitate and improve your writing; the components of this process are planning, development, revision, and editing. You will also develop an organized and revised portfolio for your final project. Paul DeMarte
1020—Core Composition I
Provides opportunities to write for different purposes and audiences, with an emphasis on learning how to respond to various rhetorical situations; improving critical thinking, reading and writing abilities; understanding various writing processes; and gaining a deeper knowledge of language conventions. Faculty
1111—Freshman Seminar: Literature & The Construction of Identity
This course thrives on the interaction of students with each other and the instructor; therefore, your contributions to the class are vitally important. I have selected valuable, current and sometimes controversial materials for discussion, but I appreciate class suggestions about what to read, write and do in the college community. We’ll have weekly reading and writing experiences, all of which will be evaluated. Guest lectures and visits, in and out-of-class activities, and videos are also part of this course. Paul DeMarte
1400—Introduction to Literary Studies
Helps students to develop a sense of literary techniques and issues so they can bring an improved critical sensibility to their reading and writing. Note: Designed for students who plan to major in English or who are seriously interested in literature. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Bradford Mudge
1601-OL & 4—Telling Tales
In this course we will explore the role of storytelling and the various shapes stories take. Studying both literary and film texts, we will consider such questions as, How does a story’s medium serve its creator’s purposes? Are there universals, or are some stories culturally specific? What can a story teach us about a culture’s history, conflicts, beliefs and myths? Paying special attention to both form and theme, the course will introduce students to the critical vocabularies and generic conventions of various storytelling modes including drama, short story, novel, fiction film, and documentary. Texts/films may include Pale Fire (Nabokov), “The Babysitter” (Coover), Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Garcia Marquez), The Pillowman (McDonagh), Lawrence of Arabia (Lean), Daughters of the Dust (Dash), Adaptation (Jonze), Rashomon (Kurosawa), Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (Morris). Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Tiel Lundy
1601-2 & 3—Telling Tales
In this course we will examine some of the various ways stories are told and received. Studying short stories, novels, and graphic novels, as well as their adaptations to film, we will explore the ways in which the manner of telling a story indicates and illuminates its meanings. We will learn to analyze and think critically about the forms and functions of stories by developing understandings of the strategies and devices authors and filmmakers use to present their narratives. Requirements include weekly readings and writings, in-class film screenings, and a final creative project. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Michael McLane
2030—Core Composition II
Focuses on academic and other types of research-based writing and builds on the work completed in UCD English 1020. Focuses on critical thinking, reading and writing as well as working with primary and secondary source material to produce a variety of research-based essays. Emphasis on using both print-based and electronic-based information. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Faculty
2070-1—Grammar, Rhetoric & Style
Teaches the basics of English grammar in order to develop a rhetorical and stylistic confidence in reading and writing, using an approach that is more descriptive than prescriptive. Teaches students how to evaluate the grammatical choices of established writers and how to develop flexibility in the grammatical choices of established writers and how to develop flexibility in the grammatical choices they make in their own writing. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020 or equivalent. Justin Bain
2070-2—Grammar, Rhetoric & Style
This course discusses the basics of English grammar, rhetoric and style. It helps students evaluate the grammatical/rhetorical/stylistic choices of established writers. It also helps students analyze their own writing and develop flexibility in the grammatical and rhetorical choices in their own writing. Further, it helps students develop a rhetorical and stylistic confidence in reading and writing. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Maryann Hoffmann
2154-OL1 & 2 & 3 & 4—Introduction to Creative Writing
An introduction to the basic building blocks of poetry and fiction. Students will not only discuss how to write, but will also compose, present, and then critique their own work as well as that of their peers. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Christopher Merkner
2154-5 & 7 & 9—Introduction to Creative Writing
Rather than the standard model of group critique, this reading-heavy course is designed to allow students to develop a vocabulary to discuss and explore poetry and fiction, while generating their own writing through assignments and experimentation. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Noah Gordon
2154-6—Introduction to Creative Writing
This course will introduce students to the basics of poetry and fiction. We will explore these genres by focusing on various technical aspects of all creative writing, such as imagery, narrative voice, setting, form, etc. By the end of the semester, students will have written and revised numerous poems and short prose pieces. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Jennifer Davis
2154-8—Introduction to Creative Writing
An introduction to the basic building blocks of poetry and fiction. Students will not only discuss how to write, but will also compose, present, and then critique their own work as well as that of their peers. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Teague Bohlen
2250—Introduction to Film
This course is designed to give you the skills needed to analyze films. You will come away familiar with the component features of the medium (mise en scéne, cinematography, sound, editing), and an understanding of how these features contribute to the style and meaning of an individual film. The course also provides an introduction to the basic film types, including narrative film, documentary, independent film, and popular genres. Screenings include The Graduate, The Bicycle Thief, Requiem for a Dream, The Departed and No Country For Old Men. Required work includes quizzes, final essay, midterm and final exam. Janet Robinson
2600-1 & 3—Great Works in British & American Literature
In this course we will read, write about, and discuss texts that comprise a selection of the great works of British and American literature. Our discussions will help us devise methods by which to evaluate and analyze literary texts. Through our analysis, we will seek to develop an appreciation for and understanding of the contexts, both literary and cultural, from which these works proceed and to which they contribute. Ultimately, we will examine what these texts contribute to who we are, both culturally and individually, and why we should continue to study them. Requirements: weekly writing, critical papers, and a final exam. Michael McLane
2600-2—Great Works in British & American Literature
In this course we will examine a range of wonderful British and American novels, plays, and short stories. We will proceed chronologically in an effort to investigate how the traditions of British and American literature have evolved and how much they have affected one another. Gillian Silverman
3001—Critical Writing
Introduces literary theory which provides extensive practice in writing about literature. Note: Required for literature majors and should be taken in the sophomore or junior year. Prerequisite: UCD English 1400 and two literature courses. Colleen Donnelly
3020—Poetry Workshop
This writing workshop maintains two foci: one on the creative process and one on poetic craft or technique. Students in this workshop should develop some mastery over their process, from the first idea to the final draft, while trying new and challenging approaches. This is a discussion-centered workshop that uses student work as the occasion for further exploration of poetic craft, but all participants will be asked to read widely outside of class. Prerequisite: UCD English 2154 for English majors and minors only; all others must obtain permission of instructor. Jake Adam York
3020—Poetry Workshop
Practical workshop for developing poetic craft, focusing on writing process and specialized topics. Prerequisite: UCD English 2154 for English majors and minors only; all others must obtain permission of instructor. Noah Gordon
3050—Fiction Workshop
This course will serve as an intense introduction to the process of writing compelling fiction and discussing that fiction in a workshop setting. Although we will workshop as a class one story produced by each student, we will also engage numerous short stories and essays on craft. Prerequisite: UCD English 2154 for English majors and minors only; all others must obtain permission from instructor. Jennifer Davis
3070—History of Silent Film
Examines the history of cinema from its 19th-century origins until the introduction of sound. Studies important trends in the silent era, including the beginnings of film comedy, early documentary, the origins of Hollywood narrative, avant-garde cinema, German Expressionism and Soviet Cinema. Janet Robinson
3075—Film Genres: American Film Comedy
This course explores the wonderfully varied world of American film comedy. We begin with the great silent classics of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd, and continue with the lively dialogue-based comedies of the 1930s and 40s, including Mae West and Marx Brothers films. We conclude with a cult Coen Brothers noir comedy, The Big Lebowski (1998), and with Judd Apatow’s contemporary comedy of arrested development, Knocked Up (2007). In the process, the course will consider an array of comic subgenres, such as slapstick, romantic, screwball, parody, ethnic, team and comedian-based, along with theories appropriate to them. Last but not least, we will reflect on the relationship between film comedy and American identity. Susan Linville
3084—Advanced Composition
The course will help students write effectively in multimedia contexts. No computer expertise is necessary beyond basic word processing and Internet browsing skills. Prerequisite: UCD English 2030. Michelle Comstock
3154-OL—Technical Writing
Introduces the study and writing of technical documents. Emphasizes the processes, style, structure, and forms of technical writing. Attention is paid to audience analysis, organization, clarity, and precision. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. John Craig
3154-2—Technical Writing
This course provides practical experience in developing documents/presentations common to the workplace. The course emphasizes the processes, style, formats, and appropriate media (hard copy document, electronic, visual, or spoken) for presenting information in industry. Students taking this course are expected to be proficient writers of standard English. Assignments produced include Letter of Application/Resume, Audience Profiles, Proposals, Design Analysis, User Testing, and Formal Instruction Manuals. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Terry Zambon
3160-OL—Language Theory
This online course provides an introduction to linguistic theory for upper division undergraduates. It covers theories on language acquisition and language understanding, showing how understanding of language can improve our own writing and how linguistics can help critique literary texts. It discusses topics such as phonology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, animal and human language, and language, society and culture. The course requirements include active participation in online class discussions, quizzes, synthesis papers, and a term paper. Ian Ying
3170-OL1 & OL2 & OL3—Business Writing
This coursehelps students learn towrite precisely and concisely for the professional arena.Assignments for this course have immediate and practical applications, and include resumes, application cover letters, business letters, press releases and proposals. Students also learn the importance of considerations such as purpose, audience and tone for professional communication. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. UCD English 2030 highly recommended. Andrea Modica
3170-OL5—Business Writing
This course in an accelerated version of the standard Business Writing course where students develop skills that can be applied to a variety of business documents and situations, such as job application materials, response letters, proposals, and recommendation reports. This course teaches principles for organizing, designing, writing, and revising clear, readable documents for industry, business, and government. It also teaches students communication and listening skills in a collaborative environment. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. UCD English 2030 highly recommended. Maryann Hoffmann
3170-006—Business Writing
This course will help students develop skills that can be applied to a variety of business documents and situations, such as job application materials, response letters, proposals, and recommendation reports. This course teaches principles for organizing, designing, writing, and revising clear, readable documents for industry, business, and government. It also teaches students communication and listening skills in a collaborative environment. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. UCD English 2030 highly recommended. Maryann Hoffmann
3300-WK—Topics in Film: War & Cinema
The intent of this class is to look at war films--including but not limited to the combat film--as a reflection of the culture that produces them. Our primary focus is the interrelationships among politics, nationalism, history, gender, race, and film. We will also explore the idea that this popular film genre forms a metaphor for the human condition: the constant struggle between good and evil, life and death, and hope and despair. We will cover films that depict WWI, WWII, the Vietnam War, and Desert Storm. The course will also look at 9/11 as a watershed moment in which the projection of America's consciousness on film changed: It prompted Americans to question not only U.S. foreign policy, but also what it meant to be an American. Screenings will include combat films such as All Quiet on the Western Front, The Thin Red Line, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Courage Under Fire, and Saving Private Ryan, in addition to non-combat films such as Gods and Monsters, Coming Home, Three Kings, and Atonement. Although the class will mainly focus on American filmmaking, we will also take a look at several foreign films including Hiroshima Mon Amour and Europa, Europa. Required work includes papers, midterm, and final exam. Janet Robinson
3300—TPCS: Literature of the City
Cities defy literary depiction. As built environments and social landscapes, they change constantly in ways that are both thrilling and potentially threatening to observers. A modern city is a home to immigrants and a site for global trade, a place where the psychic life of inhabitants spills over the spatial limits suggested by a map. In this course, we examine the vexed attempt by American writers to represent that expansive, mysterious, violent, democratic, and repressive entity known to us as a city. Readings will include works by Poe, Melville, Whitman, Crane, Jacob Riis, Wharton, Drieser, Jane Addams, Fitzgerald, Larsen, Wright, Bharati Mukherjee, Walter Mosley, and others. Philip Joseph
3416—Magazine Writing
An intensive, practical course focused on the skills, language, and environment of freelance writing. Students will gain experience with several different types of articles, and discuss how successful writers navigate the waters of the publishing world. This course also partners with the campus newspaper to potentially publish some of the students’ work from the semester. Prerequisite: UCD English 1020. Teague Bohlen
3795—Race & Ethnicity in American Literature
This course, designed for both majors and non-majors, introduces students to the tradition of African American literature. Tracing the literature from its beginnings in the eighteenth century to the contemporary moment, our readings will cover a variety of genres including the slave narrative, poetry, short fiction, and the novel. We will situate each work within its aesthetic, historical and ideological context. Furthermore, we will discover the ways in which these texts “speak” to one another, their authors echoing, revising, even rejecting the themes and formal strategies of earlier writers. While our primary focus is on the literature, we will also look at the contributions of African American filmmakers like Oscar Micheaux and, more recently, Spike Lee. Tiel Lundy
4000/5000—Major Authors: Renaissance English Dramatists
This course centers on the rich drama produced by Renaissance English dramatists. Since this remarkable moment in English culture is largely dominated by Shakespeare, the work of many of his popular contemporaries receives less critical attention. By reading Shakespeare as one among many extraordinary dramatists writing for the English stage, this course draws attention to the way English playwrights dramatized the concerns of their time. The texts we study—the works of Marlowe, Jonson, Middleton, Dekker, Webster, Ford (and yes Shakespeare among others)—will encourage students to engage with the heady cultural energy of the English Renaissance. How did this increasingly secular and self-referential theater examine a range of issues? Consider, among others, the questions of monarchy, colonial ventures, the new influx of money from overseas trade, class, encounters with strangers in racially and culturally alien spaces, the sense of an English Protestant “national” identity, gender and sexual identities, witchcraft, violence, the body, madness, love, betrayal, murder, and revenge. Undergraduate juniors, seniors, graduate students. Experience of college level writing necessary. Lecture and discussions; papers, oral reports, exams. Separate requirements for graduate students. Pompa Banerjee
4166/5166—History of American Poetry
An intensive survey of American Poetry from the Puritan Era to yesterday — from Anne Bradstreet to Billy Collins. Special attention to the poetic technologies that define each era in American Poetry as well as to the trends of concern that unify the American tradition. Students may expect focused discussion on 2-3 exemplary poems per class meeting, to be augmented by wider reading in the course anthologies. Evaluations will include brief essay examinations and a term paper. Jake Adam York
4180—Argumentation & Logic
Explores the history of logic and its role in argumentation, studies various types of logical structures, and analyzes current uses of argumentation, with attention to writing arguments on current public issues. Prerequisites: UCD English 1020, 2030, and 2070. Andrea Modica
4200/5200—History of the English Novel I
How did the novel come to be the literary form we think of it as today? We speak of “the novel” as if it were one kind of thing when in fact there are many sub-genres of the novel, such as the epistolary, the picaresque, the Gothic, and the historical. When Aphra Behn wrote Oroonoko (1688) or Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe (1719), there was no novel in English as we know it. This course starts with such early novels and works forward to the first part of the 19th century, when through writers such as Walter Scott and Jane Austen the novel took its modern form. Requirements: very close reading, a series of one-page mini-essays, reading quizzes, a major research essay or a final exam, active participation, and regular attendance. J. Jeffrey Franklin
43505350—Histoy of American Drama
We will focus on twentieth century plays, reading canonical authors such as Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry, Arthur Miller, and Eugene O’Neill, as well as less conventional writers Maria Irene Fornes, Cherríe Moraga, John Patrick Shanley, and Naomi Wallace. During the last part of the semester, we will read plays chosen by students. Although we will not concentrate on production, the performance text as well as the written text is always under consideration. Short papers and a choice of creative or critical final project. Catherine Wiley
4500/5500—Medieval Literature
This course surveys medieval literature with a focus on fourteenth-century England and the medieval social imaginary. The genres we will cover include lyric and narrative poetry and insular and courtly romances. The course aims to familiarize you with cultural history, with dialects and pronunciation, with Ricardian stylistics, and with current trends in criticism and scholarship. Requirements will include a midterm and final essay. Nancy Ciccone
4520/5520—English Renaissance
The restless creativity of the English Renaissance centers on the idea of a “rebirth,” both of classical learning and a new intellectual curiosity fostered by the sweeping energy of humanism which considered man as the measure of all things. The individual emerges at the center of this new thinking, and the individual’s intellectual energy was directed both inward, for example to the human body or the development of the English language, and outward to exploring distant shores or beyond to the starry cosmos. Literature of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century also came of age in the turmoil of the religious Reformation and England’s break with the Catholic Church. We will pay attention to the questions of genre, style, language and literary conventions. Texts will include poetry, drama, prose, pamphlets, essays, and travelogues. We will critically examine several key literary, historical, and social texts and contexts of early modern England, such as the idea of the individual, monarchy and female rule, constructions of “Englishness” or “blackness” or the “nation,” gender, travel and colonization. The idea is to critically assess texts and filter these ideas through the lens of contemporary theoretical frameworks. Lecture/Discussion. Undergraduate juniors, seniors, graduate students. Experience of college level writing necessary. Lecture and discussions; papers, oral reports, exams. Separate requirements for graduate students. Pompa Banerjee
4540/5540—Restoration & 18th Century
Introduces some of the important writers of the “Age of Reason.” Emphasis on such figures as Bunyan, Burke, Dryden, Johnson, Pope and Swift. Bradford Mudge
4580/5580—The Victorian Age
This is an introductory but still high-level survey of literature written during the reign of Queen Victoria, 1837-1901. The literature is various and fabulous, including such authors as the Brontës, Dickens, Tennyson, the Brownings, Eliot, Trollope, the Rossettis, Wilde, Hopkins, Doyle, Wells, and Hardy. The period itself is especially relevant to us, since it witnessed the origin of the industrial state, the Darwinian debates, the creation of the modern corporation, the modern "crisis of faith," the woman's movement, and the sway of a global superpower. Requirements: very close reading, a series of one-page mini-essays, reading quizzes, a major research essay or a final exam, active participation, and regular attendance. J. Jeffrey Franklin
4600/5600—Modernism
A study of the Modernist movement in Europe and American in the early twentieth century, a time when writers challenged the notion of authority with various kinds of unreliable and multiple narrators, invented new forms such as stream-of-conscious and fractured narratives, and often embodied the angst of an age fearful of the chaos and degeneration of society as they saw it. We will read Joyce, Faulkner, Woolf, Forster, Ford, Beckett, Nabovok, Yeats, Eliot, and others. Requirements: 1-2 page response papers, plus one longer paper, and final. Colleen Donnelly
4770/5770—Topiucs in English, Film & Literature: Courtroom Dramas
2007 marked the 100th anniversary of the first American courtroom drama on film, the Biograph short film Falsely Accused! This course examines the development of the trial film genre since 1907, giving special attention to such great courtroom classics as Adam’s Rib (1949), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Philadelphia (1993). The course examines trial films in their historical context, as it explores the links between cinematic technique and legal questions. Last but not least, the course tests the truth of Alexis de Tocqueville’s assertion that "scarcely any political question arises in the United States that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question." Susan Linville
4991-OL1— Senior Seminar in Writing
Allows students to pursue, learn, and apply advanced methodologies such as bibliographical, archival/historical, or cultural and ideological, and apply them to a single author, genre, or period of text. Students engage in research under the tutelage of their instructor. Joanne Addison
4999—Literary Studies Senior Seminar: Modern European Drama
This course covers important playwrights from the 19th century such as Ibsen, Wilde, and Chekhov and the early 20th century such as Pirandello and Shaw. We will also read more contemporary writers such as Brecht, Beckett, Weiss, and Churchill and move into more experimental and political theater of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. No acting experience necessary, but plenty of reading aloud. Catherine Wiley
5093—Rhetoric & The Teaching of Writing
Deals with the analysis of rhetorical theory with an emphasis on practical applications in the classroom, with attention to alternative pedagogies in teaching. Richard Argys
5100—Literary Research & Writing
Designed to prepare students for graduate scholarship and writing in literature; should be taken soon after entering the program. Introduction to the methodologies of literary scholarship as well as the practical strategies and the formal and stylistic standards for writing graduate-level analytical-interpretive essays. Prerequisite: Must be enrolled or accepted into the MA in Literature program. Bradford Mudge
5150—Critical Inquiry & Classroom Research
Studies the intellectual disposition and the reading, writing, and thinking characteristic of “critical inquiry” and its relationship to classroom research. Emphasizes understanding critical inquiry and literacy through reading and writing, and through conducting classroom inquiry projects that illuminate the nature and place of critical inquiry in the classroom. Joanne Addison
5171-OL1—Language Theory
The course objectives are (1) to gain familiarity with theories of language acquisition and language understanding, (2) to learn how language works, how children learn language, how language changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved, (3) to learn how language contributes to our understanding of the world, and how our beliefs about the world inform our understanding of language, and (4) to investigate issues pertinent to course material and to your area of interest (e.g., how understanding of language can improve our own writing and teaching of writing, and how linguistics can help critique literary texts). The course requirements include active participation in online class discussions, quizzes, synthesis papers, and a term paper. Ian Ying
5913-800—Practicum in Language and Rhetoric
This course is a theoretical, historical, and practical introduction to rhetoric and composition for new TAs in the Composition Program. Students will learn to make theory-practice connections, to appreciate that teaching writing involves risk that must be thoughtfully negotiated, and to use the rich resources of rhetoric and composition in their teaching. Significant reading and writing required. Amy Vidali
6001—Critical Theory in Literature & Film
This course is designed to enrich students’ understanding of a variety of modes of theoretical discourse that have influenced modern critical practice in literary and film studies. The course will provide a history of criticism but will give priority to recent developments. Specifically, we will read primary sources from an assortment of critical paradigms — Formalism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Feminism, Queer Theory, Psychoanalysis, Marxism, etc. — and investigate how these schools of theory have impacted scholarship on literature, film, and the culture at large. Gillian Silverman
