Recently Taught Courses
ENGL 3300: British Literature I
Broad survey of British literature, from its beginnings in the Anglo-Saxon period through the Middle Ages and Renaissance to the early part of the Enlightenment. The class emphasizes historical and cultural backgrounds for the literature studied, which includes canonical works such as Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, and Paradise Lost, along with works not traditionally included in the largely male-authored canon of British literature, such as the Lais of Marie de France, poetry by Queen Elizabeth I, and the sonnets of Lady Mary Wroth. The class also includes introductory study of earlier forms of English, including Old English and Middle English.
Broad survey of British literature, from its beginnings in the Anglo-Saxon period through the Middle Ages and Renaissance to the early part of the Enlightenment. The class emphasizes historical and cultural backgrounds for the literature studied, which includes canonical works such as Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, and Paradise Lost, along with works not traditionally included in the largely male-authored canon of British literature, such as the Lais of Marie de France, poetry by Queen Elizabeth I, and the sonnets of Lady Mary Wroth. The class also includes introductory study of earlier forms of English, including Old English and Middle English.
ENGL 1100: Literary Interpretation
An introduction to the study of literature, aimed at developing abilities to read literature and write about it with skill, sensitivity, and care. Students will read poetry, drama, and prose fiction, and through the writing of several papers will be introduced to terms and methods of formal study of literature. Course required for entry into most upper-level English courses.
An introduction to the study of literature, aimed at developing abilities to read literature and write about it with skill, sensitivity, and care. Students will read poetry, drama, and prose fiction, and through the writing of several papers will be introduced to terms and methods of formal study of literature. Course required for entry into most upper-level English courses.
ENGL 1050: Thought and Writing (Freshman Composition)
Freshman-level course in which students develop their understanding of the ways that writing is situated in both local situations and the mediation of historically-provided tools and practices. Students produce a range of academic and non-academic texts, applying knowledge of composing processes, rhetorical strategies, genre requirements, and textual conventions such as grammatical structure, style, and visual/structural design. Students also learn to analyze and map the different components of literate activity (production, representation, distribution, reception, and socialization) and to produce texts that take into account the complex interactions of these components in specific writing/composing tasks.
Freshman-level course in which students develop their understanding of the ways that writing is situated in both local situations and the mediation of historically-provided tools and practices. Students produce a range of academic and non-academic texts, applying knowledge of composing processes, rhetorical strategies, genre requirements, and textual conventions such as grammatical structure, style, and visual/structural design. Students also learn to analyze and map the different components of literate activity (production, representation, distribution, reception, and socialization) and to produce texts that take into account the complex interactions of these components in specific writing/composing tasks.
Proposed Courses
ENGL 2070: Here Be Monsters: Monstrosity in Global Literature
Monsters—frightening, fascinating, and fierce—live on the borders of the “normal,” embodying cultural fears, anxieties, and taboos about cultural, racial, political, economic, religious, sexual, and gender difference. This course explores the theme of monstrosity and these monstrous “Others” in literature from around the world, with readings of novels, short stories, poetry, and plays paired with analytical secondary sources from The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous. Exploration of a variety of sources from around the world and from the classical era to today develops students' skills in close reading, literary analysis, critical thinking, argumentation, research, and cultural understanding and competence. Students also read literature from a range of time periods, including ancient, medieval, and modern, and from Africa, South America, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.
Monsters—frightening, fascinating, and fierce—live on the borders of the “normal,” embodying cultural fears, anxieties, and taboos about cultural, racial, political, economic, religious, sexual, and gender difference. This course explores the theme of monstrosity and these monstrous “Others” in literature from around the world, with readings of novels, short stories, poetry, and plays paired with analytical secondary sources from The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous. Exploration of a variety of sources from around the world and from the classical era to today develops students' skills in close reading, literary analysis, critical thinking, argumentation, research, and cultural understanding and competence. Students also read literature from a range of time periods, including ancient, medieval, and modern, and from Africa, South America, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.
ENGL 2070: Heroes, Gods, and Monsters: Mythology and Modern Retellings
This course explores various world mythologies and their influences on modern literatures and helps students understand and articulate the role of mythology in forming ethnic/national/cultural identity—and vice versa. Introduces students to critical theories that focus on mythology and archetype as tools for literary analysis and to basic ideas of comparative mythology. Students read excerpts of Indian, Chinese, African, Native American, and Norse mythological or legendary texts, each followed by contemporary works that engage with and draw on their respective mythological themes and content, by Indian, Chinese, Nigerian, Kiowa, and Icelandic authors and poets. The semester culminates in an in-depth reading of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, a novel which engages deeply with concepts of mythology, archetype, cultural identity, and the effects of belief and changing values on mythology.
This course explores various world mythologies and their influences on modern literatures and helps students understand and articulate the role of mythology in forming ethnic/national/cultural identity—and vice versa. Introduces students to critical theories that focus on mythology and archetype as tools for literary analysis and to basic ideas of comparative mythology. Students read excerpts of Indian, Chinese, African, Native American, and Norse mythological or legendary texts, each followed by contemporary works that engage with and draw on their respective mythological themes and content, by Indian, Chinese, Nigerian, Kiowa, and Icelandic authors and poets. The semester culminates in an in-depth reading of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, a novel which engages deeply with concepts of mythology, archetype, cultural identity, and the effects of belief and changing values on mythology.
