News and Events
Fall Lineup—New and Noteworthy Courses
Autumn Quarter may still seem far away, but our faculty are already gearing up to offer a number of interesting and exciting courses, some of which satisfy the University's GEC requirements and are still available.
Two courses are being offered for the first time this Fall: Composing Digital Media (English 269) and Asian-American Literature (English 587).
English 269, taught by Professor Les Tannenbaum, will give students the opportunity to create and analyze digital photo portfolios, Web pages, audio tracks and movies. No prior technological experience is required (Call # 08695-2). This course satisfies GEC the requirement for Arts and Humanities, Analysis of Texts and Works of Art, Visual/Performing Arts.
English 587, taught by Professor Martin Ponce, will present a creative and interactive approach to engaging with Asian-American texts, through small-group and computer-based activities (including building collaborative Web pages). The class will meet in a computer lab, and no prior technological experience is necessary (Call # 08773-7).
Rockets, Robots, mad scientists, and invaders from Mars? What are the serious purposes behind "all that weird stuff"? Find out in Maura Heaphy’s Science Fiction course (English 275), which will use classic and modern Science Fiction texts to develop the skills of close reading and critical analysis, as well as to consider how these texts reflected the concerns of the time in which they were written – and why they continue to resonate today (Call # 08698-9). This course satisfies the GEC Arts and Humanities Literature Requirement.
Professor David Herman’s Critical Writing course (English 398) will focus on some key concepts in critical theory: the internal logic of literary works, representations of identity, the role of the reader, and the links between literature and history. The course will include a number of films, including John Huston’s film adaptation of James Joyce’s short story, "The Dead" (Call # 08745-9).
People interested in local history might want to take Professor Anne Marie Simpkins English 574 course (Special Topics in the History and Theories of Writing) which will deal with the origins, definitions, and development of writing history, with varying perspectives on historical, technological, theoretical, and ideological issues. Readings for this course will include Studs Turkel's Working and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States ( Call # 08767-2).
Professor David Riede's English H202 course will present an overview of British Romantic, Victorian, Modern and Postmodern literature, and it will feature three novels: Jane Austen's Emma, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and Zadie Smith's White Teeth (Call # 08677-1).
Students who want to write poetry will be interested in signing up for Catherine Crabtree’s English 266 course (Writing of Poetry I), which will give them an introduction to the practice of the writing of poetry, with an emphasis on the student’s own work and with reference to established poetic patterns and established poets (Call # 08693-1).
English 276, Introduction to Rhetoric, taught by Professor Kay Halasek, is a study of developments in rhetorical theory, teaching, criticism, and practice through examination of representative figures, texts, movements and periods from antiquity to the present (Call # 08699-4). Satisfies GEC Arts and Humanities Culture and Ideas Requirement.
For more information about these and other Autumn quarter English courses, see our Autumn course listings.
