B.A. in English

Courses

ENG 10 Introduction to Literature

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the ways in which writers employ and respond to the conventions of the major literary genres through the study of significant representative texts.  Throughout the semester, works of literature from a wide variety of genres will be read in order to provide a basic knowledge of literary language, techniques and forms.  Literary works will be evaluated through class discussion, oral presentations and written critical essays.  While providing a general critical framework for analyzing literature, this course will also furnish students with a vocabulary of critical terms and an overview of the different literary techniques and forms used in various genres.

Prerequisites of ENG 1 and ENG 2 are required. Credits: 3

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ENG 85 Disciplinary Literacy in English

The course shows students the special ways of looking at humanistic texts and gives them the skills to communicate to others fundamental concepts of reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the humanities. Students will learn such things as how to understand and interpret the presentation of abstract ideas, and to interpret and explain the nature of textual evidence. This course fulfills 3 credits of the Literacy requirement for students in the NY State approved program in English for Adolescence Education.

For Senior English majors including those in education programs.   Credits: 3

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ENG 11 British Literature: Survey Medieval, Renaissance, Neo-Classical

The course begins with such Old English works as Beowulf in translation. Middle English selections from Chaucer are taught in the language. Such other medieval woks as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Second Shepherds’ Play will be read in the original or in translation as appropriate to the students. Later authors may include Spenser, Sidney, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson, Herbert, the Cavalier Poets, Bunyan, Dryden, Milton, Pope, Swift, and Congreve. All readings will be considered in literary and historical contexts to help students understand the cultural and philosophical influences that shaped them.

Same as WLT 11.

Prerequisites: ENG 1 and 2 or the equivalent; ENG 10 for students majoring in English or English for Adolescence Education.     Credits: 3

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ENG 12 British Literature II: Survey Romantic, Victorian, Modern

This survey of British literature from the late eighteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. The course will look at the Romantic rebellion against Neo-Classical norms, then the Victorian recoil from Romantic excess, the Modernist rejection of Victorian strictures, and the way Modernism plants the seeds of the Post-Modern rejection of its self-satisfaction. Representative authors that might be read include Gray, Blake, Austen, the Wordsworths, Coleridge, the Shelleys, Byron, Keats, the Brontës, Carlyle, Dickens, Tennyson, the Brownings, Ruskin, the Rossettis, Wilde, Hardy, Yeats, Eliot, Joyce, Woolf, Auden, Beckett, and Pinter. While the focus of the course will be primarily on close reading of literary texts, the historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts will be discussed with attention to changing ideas about identity, gender, class, and culture during the period.

Prerequisites: ENG 1 and 2 or the equivalent; ENG 10 for students majoring in English or English for Adolescence Education.    Credits: 3

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ENG 100 Seminar in English

Small groups of students meet to discuss, analyze, do research on, and report orally and in papers read before the group on selected topics in literature. Topics chosen each term by the instructor. This course may be taken more than once if content is different.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors. 

Credits: 3

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ENG 389  HONORS THESIS

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ENG 390 HONORS THESIS

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ENG 20 Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) is usually considered the greatest English writer of his age, and his collection of short tales in verse, The Canterbury Tales, as one of the masterpieces of medieval literature. The Canterbury Tales tells the story of a group of travelers who journey from London to Canterbury in a diverse group, entertaining themselves along the way with a tale-telling competition. Because the members of the group are from different social and economic backgrounds, the kinds of stories they tell differ also. Like other medieval writers and readers, Chaucer knew the typical tale types of his time: the chivalric romance, the fabliau or erotic comic tale, the beast fable, the debate, the legend or saint's life. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he combined them in this single work. In the process of reading selected stories from Chaucer's great collection, students will acquire an understanding of the Middle Ages as it shaped one of its greatest literary innovators.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 21 Shakespeare: Comedies and Histories, Non-Dramatic Poetry

What made William Shakespeare the greatest writer in the English language? What are the special features that distinguish his work? Is there a unique "Shakespearean" perspective on display in his writing? This course attempts to answer these questions by focusing on the two kinds of drama - comedy and history - that he mastered early and continued to re-conceptualize throughout his career. It explores in detail six of Shakespeare's plays, such as Twelfth Night and Richard II, paying close attention to the unique qualities that have transformed his drama into the most respected and frequently produced works of world literature. Readings might also include selections from Shakespeare's narrative poems and sonnets. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 22 Shakespeare: Tragedies and Romances

This course provides an introduction to Shakespeare's later career and focuses on the two major genres - tragedies and romances (or late comedies) - that he perfected during the second decade of his involvement with London's thriving commercial theater.  The sequence of readings(which consists of six plays, such as King Lear and The Winter's Tale) demonstrates the continuing evolution of his drama from the late Elizabethan to Jacobean periods.  Its aim is to provide students with a thorough understanding of Shakespeare's plays by closely examining the brilliant nuances of language, characterization, and plot that have secured Shakespeare's unrivaled reputation. Students will also be challenged to explore his richly ambivalent and subtle portrayal of characters confronting with the existential extremes of failure and fulfillment, death and restoration. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 25 Major Figure

This course is designed to provide an intense engagement with a major figure who has inaugurated a unique literary tradition or genre, reshaped an existing tradition in an innovative way, or made a significant contribution to an established genre or period. In addition to examining many of the major works of the author, this course will provide an assessment of the various critical traditions that have grown up around the author, the author's relationship to other figures in his or her tradition, and an overview of the

cultural/historical forces shaping the author's work. The course will focus on the author's philosophical preoccupations, thematic concerns, and ideological attitudes with the aim of providing a comprehensive understanding of his or her contribution to literature. May be taken more than once if the topic is different.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 7 World Literature I: From Antiquity to the Renaissance

This course provides an introduction to the foundations of Western culture reflected in a series of literary masterpieces that demonstrate evolutions of thought from Antiquity to the Renaissance. Some sections might also integrate non-Western texts into this survey to enlarge the scope of analysis. The course’s main objective is to encourage students to conceive of our literary heritage as an ongoing debate on the central issues of human experience. Its syllabus is composed of a selection of foundational texts that still shape our current perceptions of the world. The works that it includes, drawn from such major authors as Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare, are selected both for their stylistic innovations and their insights into basic social issues that still confront us today. Each section of this course may be taught with a thematic focus based on texts selected by the individual instructor. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisites of ENG 1 and ENG 2 are required. Not open to students who have taken ENG 303.     Credits: 3

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ENG 8 World Literature II: From the Enlightenment to the Present

This course provides an introduction to some of the world’s most brilliant literature from the late seventeenth century to the present. Its scope traditionally includes: the Enlightenment (1660-1770); the Romantic Movement (1770-1856); Nineteenth-Century Realism (1856-1900); Modernism (1900-1945); and the Contemporary Period (1945-Present). Its purpose is to examine literary masterpieces for their insights into human nature and society. Although texts are primarily drawn from the Western tradition, the course can also feature literary works from non-Western cultures as well, to focus on issues of cultural exchange. Texts will be examined in light of the intellectual, social, literary, and political contexts in which they developed. Each section of this course may be taught with a thematic focus based on texts selected by the individual instructor. This course fulfills the Perspectives On World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisites of ENG 1 and ENG 2 are required. Not open to students who have taken ENG 304. Credits: 3

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ENG 13 The Short Story

This course offers an introduction to the short story and its development since the nineteenth century. What are some of the characteristics and conventions of short fiction? How do we understand a short story differently in the context of a collection? What are some of the challenges of this format? These readings will enable us to examine various literary genres as well as several major artistic movements, including Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Postmodernism, Post-colonialism, and Minimalism. Some possible authors include Hawthorne, Poe, Twain, Flaubert, Chekov, James, Joyce, Lawrence, Mansfield, Faulkner, Kafka, Hemingway, O'Connor, Walker, Beattie, Carver, and Lahiri. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 16 The Modern Novel

First emerging in the unstable and traumatic historical period immediately preceding World War I and following it, the modern novel decidedly broke with the realist genre preceding it through challenging and often breathtaking experiments with narrative form. Frequently presenting the reader with bewildering shifts in time and narrative perspective and exhibiting a preference for the interior psychological landscapes of its characters, modern novels often possess an emotional intensity and haunting lyricism that testifies to the widespread fragmentation and alienation afflicting western consciousness in the twentieth century. With the use of pioneering literary techniques like stream of consciousness and fragmented narratives, modern novels defy the expectations generated by traditional narrative even as they give us some of the most memorable characters in literature. Possible authors covered in the class include: Conrad, Joyce, Woolf, Lawrence, Faulkner, Kafka, and Rhys. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum. 

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 21 Shakespeare: Comedies and Histories, Non-Dramatic Poetry

What made William Shakespeare the greatest writer in the English language? What are the special features that distinguish his work? Is there a unique "Shakespearean" perspective on display in his writing? This course attempts to answer these questions by focusing on the two kinds of drama - comedy and history - that he mastered early and continued to re-conceptualize throughout his career. It explores in detail six of Shakespeare's plays, such as Twelfth Night and Richard II, paying close attention to the unique qualities that have transformed his drama into the most respected and frequently produced works of world literature. Readings might also include selections from Shakespeare's narrative poems and sonnets. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 22 Shakespeare: Tragedies and Romances

This course provides an introduction to Shakespeare's later career and focuses on the two major genres - tragedies and romances (or late comedies) - that he perfected during the second decade of his involvement with London's thriving commercial theater.  The sequence of readings(which consists of six plays, such as King Lear and The Winter's Tale) demonstrates the continuing evolution of his drama from the late Elizabethan to Jacobean periods.  Its aim is to provide students with a thorough understanding of Shakespeare's plays by closely examining the brilliant nuances of language, characterization, and plot that have secured Shakespeare's unrivaled reputation. Students will also be challenged to explore his richly ambivalent and subtle portrayal of characters confronting with the existential extremes of failure and fulfillment, death and restoration. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 58 The Victorian Period

Moved by the social and aesthetic concerns of their time, authors of the Victorian period worked to represent in their writing the minutia of what it meant to be alive in 19th-century Britain. Literature moved from the concerns of the Romantics with sublimity and the apocalypse to a realism interested in such matters as class, money, morals, and manners.  In this course the works of the major novelists and poets of the time will be read closely, but they will also be explored in light of the vast and exuberant changes that were influencing these authors' lives and those of everyone around them.  This course will revolve around such topics as the modern city and industrialization, gender and sexuality, and religion and science.  Authors read will include Tennyson, Browning, Arnold, Hopkins, the Rossettis, George Eliot, Dickens, the Brontës, Conrad, and Wilde. Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 68 Mythology

This course will acquaint students with various approaches to myth (including the popular, literary, psychological, folkloric, and anthropological) and the theoretical conflicts and overlaps that exist among disciplines.  Students will examine past and current trends in the study of mythology and consider the relevance of myth for ancient as well as contemporary peoples. Selected myths, legends, and folktales from within and outside of the Indo-European group will be considered.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 102 Literatures of Africa

The decolonization of Africa was accompanied by the development of a diverse body of national literatures focused upon the struggle for liberation from European control as well as the problems engendered by political independence. These national literatures frequently address the destructive legacy of colonialism even as they present tangible alternatives for a renewal of African culture and society. Through a close reading of several novels representative of distinct African cultures in confrontation with English, French, and Belgian imperialism, we will explore the struggle of former colonies to rediscover their cultural roots and assess the far-reaching impact of colonial domination on African lives. Issues addressed in the class will include: the impact of colonization on the psyche of Africans, the interrelationship between racist, sexist, and economic forms of oppression, the issue of cultural authenticity as it relates to language and emergent post-colonial identities, the role of political resistance in constructing new cultural forms and communities in the wake of colonialism, and the persistence of various forms of neo-colonialism in African societies. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 109 American Slave Narratives

An examination of narratives concerning African-American slaves - some autobiographical, some fictional.  How, we will ask, did various representations of slaves not only serve abolitionist goals but also address changing attitudes toward race, gender, law, property, and national identity?The course also considers the literary-rhetorical aspects of the writings and analyzes the blending of literary and historical discourse, leading to questions about what role the "construction" of the African-American past plays in acts of collective memory. Readings may include the following: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Melville's Benito Cereno, Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Chesnutt's Conjure Woman tales, and Morrison's Beloved. Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 141 The Literature of the Working Class

Since the invention of capitalism three centuries ago, workers have been writing and telling stories about their experiences. The industrial proletariat, slaves, unskilled workers, and unpaid domestic laborers have generated a rich literature addressing their struggle to live, express themselves and find happiness in economic and social environments that often present challenges to their physical survival and undermine their psychological well-being. Through the examination of a wide range of genres that include fiction, drama, poetry, music, folk tales, memoirs and manifestos, this course will explore the experience of workers in the industrial world across a wide variety of cultures. The treatment of workers’ struggles will cut across race, gender, continents and cultures in an effort to identify commonalities of experience shaping the perspectives of manual laborers.This course fulfills the Power, Institutions, and Structures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 168 The Jazz Age: 1920’s American Literature and Culture

The course examines the “Jazz Age,” a term coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald to designate the 1920s as a rowdy decade of parties, social rebellion, sexual freedom, and creative energy. Gender roles and sexuality became more fluid. African-American culture achieved greater prominence as a result of the Harlem Renaissance. And technology—from mass produced automobiles to kitchen appliances—radically transformed daily life in the United States. Literature participated in and responded to these changes as well, providing rich insight into a decade marked by the achievement of women’s suffrage, National Prohibition, and a burst of prosperity that, despite its cultural prominence, did not reach all American citizens and could not compensate for post-World War I trauma. Fictional readings will be supplemented by historical material such as advertisements, jazz lyrics, and films as well as contemporary arguments on bobbed hair, consumerism, and birth control. This course fulfills the Self, Society and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Credits: 3

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ENG 251 American Writers Since the Civil War

After the Civil War, realist depictions of upper- and middle-class life in American literature soon gave way to a darker, more fragmented vision of the world. How did American writing move from the fiction of William Dean Howells, who was celebrated as the greatest living writer at his seventy-fifth birthday party in 1912, to T.S. Eliot's nightmarish portrait of modern life in The Waste Land ten years later? What were some of the social, cultural, and political forces that shaped such a change? How were American writers influencing and/or responding to other artistic media such as painting, photography, film, and music? This course examines these types of questions as we survey four literary movements since 1865: Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. We will not only make connections across the boundaries of social class, gender, race, and culture, but we will also interrogate the notion of

"American" literature itself.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 13 The Short Story

This course offers an introduction to the short story and its development since the nineteenth century. What are some of the characteristics and conventions of short fiction? How do we understand a short story differently in the context of a collection? What are some of the challenges of this format? These readings will enable us to examine various literary genres as well as several major artistic movements, including Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Postmodernism, Post-colonialism, and Minimalism. Some possible authors include Hawthorne, Poe, Twain, Flaubert, Chekov, James, Joyce, Lawrence, Mansfield, Faulkner, Kafka, Hemingway, O'Connor, Walker, Beattie, Carver, and Lahiri. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 16 The Modern Novel

First emerging in the unstable and traumatic historical period immediately preceding World War I and following it, the modern novel decidedly broke with the realist genre preceding it through challenging and often breathtaking experiments with narrative form. Frequently presenting the reader with bewildering shifts in time and narrative perspective and exhibiting a preference for the interior psychological landscapes of its characters, modern novels often possess an emotional intensity and haunting lyricism that testifies to the widespread fragmentation and alienation afflicting western consciousness in the twentieth century. With the use of pioneering literary techniques like stream of consciousness and fragmented narratives, modern novels defy the expectations generated by traditional narrative even as they give us some of the most memorable characters in literature. Possible authors covered in the class include: Conrad, Joyce, Woolf, Lawrence, Faulkner, Kafka, and Rhys. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 21 Shakespeare: Comedies and Histories, Non-Dramatic Poetry

What made William Shakespeare the greatest writer in the English language? What are the special features that distinguish his work? Is there a unique "Shakespearean" perspective on display in his writing? This course attempts to answer these questions by focusing on the two kinds of drama - comedy and history - that he mastered early and continued to re-conceptualize throughout his career. It explores in detail six of Shakespeare's plays, such as Twelfth Night and Richard II, paying close attention to the unique qualities that have transformed his drama into the most respected and frequently produced works of world literature. Readings might also include selections from Shakespeare's narrative poems and sonnets. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 35 Childhood and Literature

The class will read and discuss works of recognized literary quality which trace the development of a child or adolescent. Some of these works were originally written for children, some were once considered suitable for children but no longer are, and some are written for the adult reader but from the viewpoint of a child narrator. In some cases the course will revisit works ordinarily read by pre-college students, and perhaps by the class members, to test the concept of altered reactions to and understanding of a work of literature over time. A typical series of readings for this course might include versions of fairy tales like "Cinderella" and "Beauty and the Beast"; classics of children's literature like J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland; and contemporary works from the viewpoint of the child or adolescent narrator. This course fulfills the Self, Society, and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 36 Adolescent Literature

This course provides an overview of literature written for and about culturally diverse adolescents (young adults) and emphasizes literary, socio-cultural, and psychological approaches to texts, focusing particularly on adolescent identity development.   Students will read and analyze adolescent literature in a variety of genres. Class sessions will include lecture, book discussions, and student engagement. This course fulfills the Self, Society, and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 63 The Literature of Memory

An interdisciplinary study of selected major literary texts that exemplify an array of memory events, both voluntary and involuntary. Readings include Rousseau’s The Confessions, Proust’s Combray, Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Nin’s Seduction of the Minotaur, Nabokov’s Speak, Memory as well as selections from the poetry of Constantine Cavafy, André Breton, Octavio Paz and Jorge Borges in English translation. Efforts will be made to classify the kinds of recollection such writers demonstrate according to categories established by psychologists and neuroscientists. Background material of Freud, Bergson and William James will be presented along with a consideration of current neuroscientific theories from the works of Antonio Damasio, Joseph LeDoux, Daniel Schacter, Robert Stickgold and others. This course fulfills the Self, Society and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Credits: 3

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ENG 64 Crime, Guilt, and Atonement

Students in this course will explore the themes of crime, guilt and atonement in various texts ranging from classical Greek tragedies to the early 21st century novel. We will examine the power structures and underlying ideologies that produce various forms of crime and abuse of power and the impact on individual lives of these society-sanctioned ideas and practices. We will explore how imperialism, racism, totalitarianism, classism

and/or sexism permeate and warp the hearts of otherwise decent human beings until they themselves commit acts of oppression—acts which cry out for atonement. This course fulfills the Self, Society and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Credits: 3

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ENG 68 Mythology

This course will acquaint students with various approaches to myth (including the popular, literary, psychological, folkloric, and anthropological) and the theoretical conflicts and overlaps that exist among disciplines.  Students will examine past and current trends in the study of mythology and consider the relevance of myth for ancient as well as contemporary peoples. Selected myths, legends, and folktales from within and outside of the Indo-European group will be considered.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 69 Fiction into Film

Students in this course will explore the transformation of various literary works—most of them stories or novellas—into film. We will analyze these works to examine their most important elements, their point of view, and crucial scenes that must be transferred directly to the film if the director is to fully capture the meaning, the tone, and ambiance of the fiction. Then we will watch the films and analyze the creative changes, omissions, and additions the director and cinematographer have made. Sometimes the changes are brilliantly creative and do not mar our memory of the original work at all. Indeed, they may improve it. Sometimes the changes disappoint. Students will develop their critical faculties when reading the fiction and watching the films. We will pay attention to the soundtrack, the music, as well: an added element fiction does not possess. We will analyze why the director, the screenwriter, and the cinematographer have made the changes they have. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Credits: 3

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ENG 102 Literatures of Africa

The decolonization of Africa was accompanied by the development of a diverse body of national literatures focused upon the struggle for liberation from European control as well as the problems engendered by political independence. These national literatures frequently address the destructive legacy of colonialism even as they present tangible alternatives for a renewal of African culture and society. Through a close reading of several novels representative of distinct African cultures in confrontation with English, French, and Belgian imperialism, we will explore the struggle of former colonies to rediscover their cultural roots and assess the far-reaching impact of colonial domination on African lives. Issues addressed in the class will include: the impact of colonization on the psyche of Africans, the interrelationship between racist, sexist, and economic forms of oppression, the issue of cultural authenticity as it relates to language and emergent post-colonial identities, the role of political resistance in constructing new cultural forms and communities in the wake of colonialism, and the persistence of various forms of neo-colonialism in African societies. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 108 African-American Literature of the Twentieth Century

For African Americans, the twentieth century began with an exodus from the South in the hopes of finding greater opportunity and freedom. Yet this journey was shaped by an ongoing struggle against racism, violence, and socio-economic disenfranchisement. In part, this course examines the artistic response to the social conditions facing African Americans in the twentieth century. With a specific emphasis on the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and Black Feminism, this class investigates the impact of African-American literature on American culture more broadly. How do these movements relate to and differ from other artistic and cultural trends at the time? How do African-American writers interrogate notions of race and ethnicity? Through texts, visual arts, and music, these works challenge us to evaluate the role that racism continues to play in contemporary American culture. This course fulfills the Power, Institutions, and Structures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 109 American Slave Narratives

An examination of narratives concerning African-American slaves - some autobiographical, some fictional.  How, we will ask, did various representations of slaves not only serve abolitionist goals but also address changing attitudes toward race, gender, law, property, and national identity?The course also considers the literary-rhetorical aspects of the writings and analyzes the blending of literary and historical discourse, leading to questions about what role the "construction" of the African-American past plays in acts of collective memory. Readings may include the following: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Melville's Benito Cereno, Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Chesnutt's Conjure Woman tales, and Morrison's Beloved. Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 138 Gender, Sexuality and Literature

Gender and sexuality are - and always have been -culturally constructed. This means that our ideas of what a "woman" is, or a "heterosexual," have changed drastically throughout history. Our understanding of these identities has everything to do with forces in our society and next to nothing to do with the bodies we are born in. Literature plays an important role in exploring how gender has been constructed historically, and certain seminal texts have themselves caused cultural shifts in what these terms mean. To serve as a foundation, this course will consider a range of theoretical approaches, from psychoanalysis to queer studies to performance studies and beyond. Works by such authors as Mary Wollstonecraft, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, Anais Nin, Jean Genet, Radcliffe Hall, Audre Lorde, Jeannette Winterson and others will also be studied.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 141 The Literature of the Working Class

Since the invention of capitalism three centuries ago, workers have been writing and telling stories about their experiences. The industrial proletariat, slaves, unskilled workers, and unpaid domestic laborers have generated a rich literature addressing their struggle to live, express themselves and find happiness in economic and social environments that often present challenges to their physical survival and undermine their psychological well-being. Through the examination of a wide range of genres that include fiction, drama, poetry, music, folk tales, memoirs and manifestos, this course will explore the experience of workers in the industrial world across a wide variety of cultures. The treatment of workers’ struggles will cut across race, gender, continents and cultures in an effort to identify commonalities of experience shaping the perspectives of manual laborers.This course fulfills the Power, Institutions, and Structures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 142 Leadership and Literature

Through its ability to dramatize questions of character as they manifest themselves in moments of crisis, literature illustrates the importance of self-knowledge in fair-minded and effective leadership. By focusing on works of literature that present both negative and positive examples of leadership, this course explores themes such as rigidity and flexibility in decision-making, responsibility, the development and implementation of a vision, ethics, motivating others, the use and abuse of language and the tendency toward narcissism inherent in the exercise of power. What is good leadership? What role does self-knowledge and reflection play in being a successful leader? Each work will be examined for the way it dramatizes leadership in action. Literary texts will be supplemented by readings that explicitly address problems of leadership. This course fulfills the Self, Society, and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 144 Empathy and the Human Imagination

The concept of empathy has its origins in the work of the philosopher David Hume; however, evidence of what we now call empathy exists across all time periods and cultures. This course will explore how the literary imagination understands and depicts transformations in the human personality that lead to the development of empathy. We will examine the relationship of such transformations to the effects of political power as well as the conditions under which empathy might flourish. We will explore a number of questions related to empathy including the role that empathy might play in the development of non-hierarchical perspectives on the poor and marginalized in society, the conditions under which the personality without empathy might thrive and the way the literary imagination links both empathy and its absence to the condition of being an outsider. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures cluster requirement in the Core Curriculum.

Prerequisites of ENG 1 and ENG 2 are required.    Credits: 3

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ENG 152 The American Novel

This course traces the development of the novel in America from the late eighteenth century to the present. In addition to examining different types of fiction, such as sentimental, realistic, modernist, and postmodernist, we will also explore how these novels were shaped by and contributed to some of the social and cultural forces of their day. What makes these works "American?" How do they portray social, economic, and ethnic hierarchies in the United States? How do they wrestle with the failures of America's promise to offer all its citizens freedom and equality? After considering some of the earliest examples of American novels, we will study writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry James, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Don DeLillo, and Philip Roth.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 158 Freak Shows and the Modern American Imagination

The freak show was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in American culture between 1840 and 1940. Audiences clamored to see human exhibits featuring dog-faced boys, Siamese Twins, giants, dwarfs, hermaphrodites, and savage cannibals. Today, only remnants of these shows can be found in museums and state fairs, yet the freak show continues to have a powerful impact on contemporary literature and art. Why? How do these texts use freak shows and the freakish body to address social anxieties about difference? How do these images critique racial hierarchies and heterosexual norms in American culture? As spectators, what is our role in the othering of certain individuals and groups?

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 166 American Rebels

This course offers students an opportunity to consider the ways social, economic, and political power have shaped American life since the mid-nineteenth century. Beginning with the emphasis on social reform among Transcendentalists, we will examine various forms of resistance to prevailing power structures in the United States. Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government” became a touchstone for the ways Americans—such as Suffragettes, Depression era labor unions, and Civil Rights activists—fought oppressive social and economic systems. Through a diverse range of materials, this class will consider some of the rebels that changed American culture through protest. This course fulfills the Power, Institutions, and Structures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Credits: 3

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ENG 183 Creative Non-Fiction

This workshop, in which students present their original writing and learn how to give and receive feedback on their work, explores nonfiction genres such as biography, autobiography and memoir, travel writing, and journal writing but particular emphasizes the essay and its elastic form governed by an aesthetic and epistemology distinct from traditional academic writing and argument. Academic writing often teaches students to defend assertions through logical appeal and to establish authority by eliminating the word "I." The creative nonfiction essay, on the other hand, relies on the subjectivity of an enquiring persona that tentatively explores questions and ideas. In this class, we will consider the value of this latter sensibility and how to cultivate it in our writing as well as the history that enabled and the theory that explains this genre. We will also give attention to the role/form of creative nonfiction in the evolving Web 2.0 environment. This course fulfills the Self, Society, and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 182 Introduction to Creative Writing

This course introduces students to a variety of literary genres, including short fiction, poetry, drama, and screenwriting, and helps them develop the analytical and technical skills to be better readers, writers, and critics. The lecture/workshop format of the course is designed to help students recognize that good writing and reading is a process. Students will be given numerous exercises (on character, dialogue, plot, etc.) and will distribute one scene and one longer work to the class for constructive feedback. By studying established writers, reading student work, and receiving lots of feedback from the instructor and peers, students will develop proficiency in various literary techniques and style.

This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 282 Fiction Writing

The course builds on the skills of ENG 182 with a particular emphasis on short fiction. We will focus on published readings, exercises, and workshops of your writings. Students will produce two long stories, which will be read by the entire class and instructor. By the end of the semester, the student will accumulate a portfolio of work, a significant portion of which will be a sophisticated revision of one story. This course may be taken more than once if the topic is different.

Prerequisites of ENG 1, 2, & 182 are required. Credits: 3

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ENG 283 Poetry Writing

This poetry workshop will involve constructive critical analysis of student writing as well as discussion on poems by canonical, established and emerging poets.  Knowledge of craft, established in ENG 182, will be strengthened; articulation of poetics, for one's own and others' work, will be stressed.  Emphasizing revision, workshops will address choices in form, layout, lineation, musicality, syntax, diction, figurative language, and reading/performance.  By semester's end, students will have created a portfolio of no less than six thoroughly developed, revised poems. This course may be taken more than once if the topic is different.

Prerequisites of ENG 1, 2, & 182 are required. Credits: 3

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ENG 284 Drama Writing

Through a series of varied weekly playwriting exercises, this course aims to acquaint students with the range of dramaturgical demands placed on the working playwright. Each is gradually more complex in both length and dramatic situation, eventually leading to a multi-character piece.  Each piece is given a roundtable reading in which every student participates, and several students will have the opportunity to have their work "performed" through moved readings. This course may be taken more than once if the topic is different.

Prerequisites of ENG 1, 2, & 182 are required. Credits: 3

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ENG 181 The Art of Expository Writing

This course explores what it means to write effectively through a consideration of purpose, audience, context, and genre. In particular, we will pay attention to the strategic deployment of pathetic, ethical, and logical appeals as well as other relevant rhetorical principles that aid us in creating and understanding "good writing." Class will be conducted in a workshop format whenever possible with emphasis on the composing and revision process.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 184 Writing and Healing

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." This quote, often attributed to Philo of Alexandria, points to the commonality of suffering and the importance of empathy in human interaction. How do we cope with and make sense of the painful dimensions of our existences? This creative nonfiction class uses the recent scholarship examining the connection between

psychological/social/physical healing and the creation of meaning that occurs through the writing process to help students explore the therapeutic dimension of storytelling for both writer and audience and to craft narratives in which painful experiences, including physical illness, become meaningful on both personal and social levels. Emphasis is placed on fostering a supportive but critical writing community to aid the creative meaning-making process of shaping private stories into public ones. This course is appropriate for those earnestly interested in effecting healing through writing about personal experiences and sharing their stories with others. This course fulfills the Self, Society, and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 185 Theories of Writing and Composing

This course will acquaint students with the history of writing studies and introduce some of the theoretical strands, including overlaps and controversies, that inform the contemporary practice of teaching writing.  The course will also treat practical implementation of composing theory and help students become aware of their own writing process and writing standards as well as the political and ethical dimensions of teaching and assessing writing and communication. Some of the topics that may be covered are the origin and history of composition and rhetoric and the process and post-process movements, including the influence of rhetoric, WAC, ESL and linguistics, collaborative learning, expressionism, cognitivism, social constructivism, social epistemic, critical pedagogy, new media/digital literacy, and assessment.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 186 Writing in a Digital Age: Multimodal Rhetoric and Composition

What counts as writing? From an early age we are taught to view writing in a certain way, perhaps as words on a page. However, for many people the so-called “digital age” has changed this definition because suddenly we are able to more easily combine images, sounds, colors, and gestures alongside our words. But how are these combinations different in online and digital writing from previous writing genres like the book, maps, or sheet music? This course will explore the theories of multimodality and give students experience composing in online, digital, and multimodal environments. Throughout, students put into practice ideas of rhetorical choice, audience, adaptability, access, and authorship by designing projects such as multimodal instructions, accessible webtext, or multichannel advocacy projects. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 187 Editing and Professional Writing

This course in professional writing and editing will explore the options for making writing accessible to an audience by exploring a number of genres for publication, as well as what makes writing professional, rhetorically effective, and publishable. The emphasis of the course will be on experiential learning and "real world" publishing contexts. Students will be introduced to technologies, options, and processes of copy-editing with an emphasis on rhetorical choice, as well as strategies in document format and design. The course will follow a workshop format and will guide students through the process of taking one significant piece of writing through all the stages of design to copy-editing and publication. Additionally, all students will be required to engage in an on-campus publishing context by submitting an article to the LIU Post student newspaper, The Pioneer.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 188 Writing in the Workplace: The Rhetoric of Professional Communication

Students will learn the differences as well as overlaps between academic writing and writing in the workplace as well as rhetorical principles of purpose, audience, and context in communication. With these considerations in mind, students will learn and practice "professional" and "business" writing and analyze and discuss the rhetorical principles that seem to govern these genres. Our assumption will be that rather than a simple, dry matter of adhering to static rules, producing such writing involves a creative and complex negotiation of language. In particular, students will study the way ethos is established through word choice and/or document design and the importance of this principle in effective communication. Students will learn and demonstrate their understanding of this rhetoric by composing in a variety of

"professional" genres, such as emails, memos, resumes, reports, and brochures, and by critiquing and analyzing these genres through discussion and other collaborative classroom activities designed to promote such analysis and discussion, including reading journals, threaded discussion, and collaborative work and research. This course fulfills the Power, Institutions, and Structures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 189 Experimental Fiction Writing

With the rise of digital humanities and the popularity of graphic novels as vehicles of fiction and memoir, fiction writing continues to push on the boundary of what it means to tell a story. This course will continue to foreground the important of character, conflict, and the craft of fiction writing, while simultaneously opening up a space for experimentation with form, hyperlinking, and the inclusion of sound and image. Students will spend the beginning of the course engaging in smaller projects of experimentation before developing a longer piece through a series of workshops and revisions. Students’ final portfolios should include their fully-developed, revised pieces, as well as the inclusion of at least one other piece developed from one of the earlier exercises, a proposal for a future experimental piece, and a plan for future publication/analysis of publication venues. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 192 Technical Writing

Technical writing and technical communication are sometimes defined as acts of writing that accomplish a specific task whether that task involves composing a tutorial or set of instructions, redesigning a website, reporting on data collected about a problem, or describing an art exhibition to the public. Technical writing involves a heightened sense of audience, rhetorical purpose, design usability/accessibility, and style. In this course students will practice composing for different situations, audiences, and modes of delivery, as well as assessing popular examples of technical writing. Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 193 The Young Adult Novel

The young adult novel has emerged as a dominant force in twenty-first century publishing. With the help of highly successful film adaptations, these books have both captivated teenage audiences and muscled their way into the adult reading market. What explains this immense popularity? How does teen fiction differ from adult fiction in terms of theme, characterization, and content? And what skills and writerly techniques can we use to work most effectively within this genre? By considering market trends, researching teenage audiences, and reading several novels, we will explore young adult fiction with the goal of producing our own work in this genre. We will craft plots, write scenes, experiment with voice, develop effective dialogue, and do a range of exercises to tap into our inner teen. This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 201 The English Language

Many of us are unfamiliar with fundamental aspects of the English language that we use for everyday communication as well as in our academic and creative work.  In this course, the English language will take center stage as we investigate the structures, sounds, history, variation and use of the English language. We will look into the unique history of English as well as its affinities with languages such as German, Dutch and French. We will examine the differences between the varieties of English that exist within the U.S. and around the world, the so-called Global Englishes. We will also consider English in diverse contexts of use to see how speakers draw inferences in conversation and how our use of the language speaks to our attitudes toward class, gender and other sociocultural variables. Finally, the course will consider the ways in which specialized knowledge of the English language can be drawn upon by educators, creative writers and scholars of literature. This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.   Credits: 3

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ENG 3 Grammar and the Structure of English

This course will examine the structures of the English language from both descriptive and prescriptive points of view.  We will discuss why certain structures have been deemed to be more correct than others that are also in common use, and how correctness differs from grammaticality. We will examine why the use of certain structures constitutes "good" or "bad" grammar, and look into how these standards have emerged and changed over time.  Topics will include sentence structure and phrase structure rules, style, word classes, constituency, parts of speech, sentence relatedness, and usage. Special sections are offered for students in the Program for Academic Success (P sections). Prerequisites of ENG 1 and ENG 2 are required. 

Credits: 3

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ENG 202 Varieties of English

This course will look into the ways in which varieties of the English language differ and will consider the reasons for these differences. Using Standard American English as a starting point, we will look at the important differences in structure, sound and vocabulary between American English and varieties such as Black English, Appalachian English, Standard British English, Belfast English, Singapore English, Australian English, South African English and others. As we go, we will address important questions such as: Is one variety of English "better" than the others? How do different varieties come into existence? What have been the effects of the gradual spread of English on indigenous languages? This course fulfills the Perspectives on World Cultures thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 204 Theories of Persuasion: Ancient and Modern

This course examines the different theories of persuasion from ancient times to early twentieth century. Throughout the semester students learn how to write persuasively using the ethical and emotional techniques of classical Greece, the theological strategies of the Middle Ages, the psychological techniques of the Enlightenment, and the stylistic and grammatical techniques of the early twentieth century.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 251 American Writers Since the Civil War

After the Civil War, realist depictions of upper- and middle-class life in American literature soon gave way to a darker, more fragmented vision of the world. How did American writing move from the fiction of William Dean Howells, who was celebrated as the greatest living writer at his seventy-fifth birthday party in 1912, to T.S. Eliot's nightmarish portrait of modern life in The Waste Land ten years later? What were some of the social, cultural, and political forces that shaped such a change? How were American writers influencing and/or responding to other artistic media such as painting, photography, film, and music? This course examines these types of questions as we survey four literary movements since 1865: Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. We will not only make connections across the boundaries of social class, gender, race, and culture, but we will also interrogate the notion of

"American" literature itself.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 183 Creative Non-Fiction

This workshop, in which students present their original writing and learn how to give and receive feedback on their work, explores nonfiction genres such as biography, autobiography and memoir, travel writing, and journal writing but particular emphasizes the essay and its elastic form governed by an aesthetic and epistemology distinct from traditional academic writing and argument. Academic writing often teaches students to defend assertions through logical appeal and to establish authority by eliminating the word "I." The creative nonfiction essay, on the other hand, relies on the subjectivity of an enquiring persona that tentatively explores questions and ideas. In this class, we will consider the value of this latter sensibility and how to cultivate it in our writing as well as the history that enabled and the theory that explains this genre. We will also give attention to the role/form of creative nonfiction in the evolving Web 2.0 environment. This course fulfills the Self, Society, and Ethics thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3

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ENG 182 Introduction to Creative Writing

This course introduces students to a variety of literary genres, including short fiction, poetry, drama, and screenwriting, and helps them develop the analytical and technical skills to be better readers, writers, and critics. The lecture/workshop format of the course is designed to help students recognize that good writing and reading is a process. Students will be given numerous exercises (on character, dialogue, plot, etc.) and will distribute one scene and one longer work to the class for constructive feedback. By studying established writers, reading student work, and receiving lots of feedback from the instructor and peers, students will develop proficiency in various literary techniques and style.

This course fulfills the Creativity, Media, and the Arts thematic cluster requirement in the core curriculum.

Prerequisite of ENG 10 required for all English majors. Prerequisite of ENG 1 & 2 required for all non-majors.

Credits: 3