Undergraduate Courses

1000-Level 

English 1110.01: First-Year English Composition

Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Writing and Information Literacy
GEL: Writing and Communication: Level 1

English 1110.02: First-Year English Composition

Section 70 & 80 Instructor: Frank Donoghue
Section 90 Instructor: Ashleigh Hardin
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Writing and Information Literacy
GEL: Writing and Communication: Level 1

2000-Level

English 2202: Selected Works of British Literature: 1800 to Present

Instructor: Jill Galvan
This class will dig through the complexities of British cultural history and consider how it has generated interesting, world-important literature and ideas that still resonate with us today. We’ll cover the Haitian and French Revolutions, slavery and abolitionism, empire and decolonization, the rise of the capitalist middle class, debates over gender roles and sexuality, and the cultural entrenchment of scientific values. Art forms and movements will also be central to our discussions. Some examples include poetry of Romantic sublime, the Gothic, satire, Aestheticism, detective fiction, realism, and magic realism.

Authors will likely include (among others) Mary Prince, William Blake, Mary Wollstonecraft, Christina Rossetti, Oscar Wilde, Robert Browning, Toru Dutt, Arthur Conan Doyle, Virginia Woolf, Una Marson, and Mohsin Hamid.

Likely course requirements: active and engaged participation, three short response papers, two exams, and a final critical project.
GE Categories: 
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies 
GEL: Literature 

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare

Section 20 Instructor: Alan B. Farmer
In this course we will read several plays written by Shakespeare and consider how they both conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history, and romance. Looking at the plays as works to be both performed and read, we will pay particular attention to the politics of gender, religion, and kingship in the plays, topics that Shakespeare returned to again and again and that were vitally important, and indeed controversial, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. In addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, Henry The Fifth, Othello, and The Tempest. Requirements include a midterm exam, final exam, two essays (one shorter, one longer), regular attendance, and active participation.

Section 10 Instructor: Eileen Horansky
Study of selected plays designed to give an understanding of drama as theatrical art and as an interpretation of fundamental human experience.

GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2221: Introduction to Shakespeare, Race, and Gender

Instructor: Alan B. Farmer
In this course we analyze how Shakespeare's plays engage with issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Part of the course will thus consider what these plays reveal about the history of these concepts and how they were understood in early modern England. But the course will also examine how Shakespeare's plays continue to shape lived experiences today, and how his plays have been used to reinforce and challenge understandings of identity at different moments in history. Readings will include: (1) critical and historical essays on the history of race, religion and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality; (2) some combination of the following plays, Titus Andronicus, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Othello; (3) and selected modern adaptations of the plays on stage, in film, and in literature. Requirements include a midterm exam, final exam, two essays (one shorter, one longer), regular attendance, and active participation.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity

English 2260: Introduction to Poetry

Instructor: Lauren Colwell
Designed to help students understand and appreciate poetry through an intensive study of a representative group of poems.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction

Instructor: Matthew Cariello
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2262: Introduction to Drama

Instructor: Shaun Russell
A critical analysis of selected dramatic masterpieces from Greek antiquity to the present, designed to clarify the nature and major achievements of Western dramatic art.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2263: Introduction to Film

Section 10 Instructor: Jesse Schotter
This course offers an introduction to the language and aesthetics of cinema, familiarizing students with the basic building blocks of film, the forms that movies use to tell stories, communicate complex ideas, and dramatize social conflicts. It also introduces students to significant developments in film history and ways of approaching film interpretation. We will use each week’s film as both a case study in the strategic deployment of certain cinematic techniques, and as a specific set of images and sounds that combine to create a unique cinematic expression.

Throughout the term, we will focus on detailed analysis of films, analyzing closely the ways in which the multiple elements of moviemaking come together to make, and complicate, meaning. Our primary goal in this class is to become skilled at thinking, talking, and writing critically about movies and, in the process, to deepen our appreciation and understanding of the film medium.

Texts: Do the Right Thing, His Girl Friday, In the Mood for Love

Section 20 Instructor: Patrick McCabe  
Introduction to methods of reading film texts by analyzing cinema as technique, as system, and as cultural product.  
GE Categories: 
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Cultures

Section 10 Instructor: Umut Mert Gurses
Section 20 Instructor: Zainab Saleh  
This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Popular Culture Studies through a variety of methods and case studies. The specific focus will be on the entanglement of race, ethnicity, and gender in popular cultures.  
GE Categories: 
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing

Section 30 Instructor: Mikayla Schutte  
In this course, we will ask ourselves the fundamental questions of fiction writing. How do you build a scene? How do you make your characters compelling? How do you write believable dialogue? How do you create a world from scratch? Through various writing exercises and a discussion of published stories from contemporary writers like Carmen Maria Machado, George Saunders, and Karen Russel, we will begin to answer these questions and create a cache of tools to use in our own writing. By the end of this course, you will have learned the basics of fiction writing, read a variety of published work, taken part in a writing workshop, and built a portfolio of work to carry you into your future as a fiction writer.  

Section 10 Instructor: Chinasa Menakaya
Section 40 Instructor: Fengyuan Liu
Section 50 Instructor: Porter Yelton
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre.  

English 2266: Introductory Poetry Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Max Gillette
Section 20 Instructor: Connor Beeman  
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets.  

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing

Instructor: Misha Ponnuraju
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres.

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing

Instructor: Heather McCabe  
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of creative nonfiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published essays by masters of the many forms of creative nonfiction.  

English 2269: Digital Media Composing

Instructor: Joshua Cornelius
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2270: Introduction to Folklore 

Instructor: Rosemary Hathaway  
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs.  
GE Categories: 
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion

Section 10 Instructor: Corinne Sugino 
This course introduces students to rhetoric as an "art of persuasion." Rhetoric is a primary means by which identity, participation, and agency is expressed in public discourse. This course engages the questions: how does rhetoric enable us to express our interests, formulate identity, shape social reality, right wrongs, urge fairness, enact justice, and elicit compassion? How might we develop a critical lens for interpreting and engaging public texts and arguments, as well as how they interact with issues of justice, citizenship, and public decision-making? Students will learn about foundational and contemporary concepts in rhetorical theory, including the elements of persuasion, audience and rhetorical effects, genres and situations, forms and structures, argumentation schemes, narrative and myth, tropes and metaphors, and cultural and ideological frameworks. They will develop their skills in both constructing persuasive arguments as well as critically examining what factors make texts persuasive, how rhetoric constructs social reality, and how rhetoric interacts with issues of diversity, justice, and equity.
Texts: Hallsby, "Reading Rhetorical Theory: Speech, Representation, and Power", Palczewski et al, "Rhetoric in Civic Life"

Section 20 Instructor: Elizabeth Velasquez  
Introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media, and cultural contexts.  
GE Categories: 
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies 

Section 10 Instructor: Katelin Anderson
Disability is commonly understood as the absence of health or well-being. However, the abundance of disability art, culture, scholarship, and activism all indicate that the full story of disability is more complex, and Disability Studies is all about the investigation of that complex story! We’ll explore how disability is discussed, theorized, represented, and experienced as an embodied phenomenon, drawing on scholarship and media from disabled people inside and outside the academic field of Disability Studies. 
Texts: Keywords for Disability Studies, ed. Adams et al., Academic Ableism, Dolmage (selections), Various online videos and articles

Section 20 Instructor: Luke Van Niel  
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability.  
GE Categories: 
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 

Enliglish 2280: The English Bible

Instructor: James Fredal
If you've always wanted to know what was in the Bible and how to approach it, this would be a good course for you. By the time you've completed this class, you will have read from most books of the Bible, from all the major Biblical genres, in both testaments, from Genesis to Revelation. You'll be familiar with biblical history, events, figures, and culture, with biblical themes like holiness, prophecy, worship, wisdom, apocalyptic, gospel, and messianism, with biblical language, terms and style, and with biblical analysis and criticism. We'll have short answer exams roughly every week, a midterm, and a final. Your only required text is an NRSV Bible, preferably a study Bible like the Harper Collins or Oxford editions. 
Texts: 
NRSV Harper Collins Study Bible.
GE Categories: 
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience 

English 2367.04: Technology and Science in the U.S. Experience

Instructor: Garrett Cummins
In the standard course descriptions, English 2367.04 extends and refines expository writing and analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality and reflection on compositional strategies on topics about Science and Technology in America. In this course, we look at American attitudes about technology, from business majors to education majors, to humanities majors, sports management, to STEM majors. In other words, for both STEM and non-STEM majors, we will focus on how attitudes about Science and Technology inform various disciplines. Studying these attitudes includes analyzing a piece of popular STEM writing that deals with attitudes about technology.

However, these topics and the related readings only work as a springboard for your own writing and research. As a composition course, we focus on the writing process, research, and using OSU’s libraries online resources, along with Google Scholar.
Texts:  I will provide all the readings and textbooks you need because this course uses Open Educational Resources.
GE Categories:  
GEL: Writing and Communication: Level 2

English 2367.06: Composing Disability in the U.S. 

Instructor: Shalini Abayasekara  
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. Only one decimal subdivision of English 2367 may be taken for credit.  
GE Categories: 
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being 
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication: Level 2 

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games and Virtual Worlds

Section 30 Instructor and Title: Emily Eikost - Storytelling and Identity
The goal of this course’s theme is to examine the ways in which storytelling and player identity impact one another within video games, primarily through RPG (role-playing games) that allow students to "write" the story along with the game’s creators through the complex decisions that they make within it along the way. In order to do so, it is important to understand how and why these games not only reflect aspects of our own society but also the ways in which it impacts our own perceptions of ourselves. Fantasy has a well-established history in treating present concerns through a distanced, fictional lens while storytelling itself has often been used as a mechanism for exploring our own individual and collective identities, though the ways we tell stories has evolved over time. Video games are a blend of this, introducing a modern way of telling stories that requires audience participation. We will tackle various issues regarding the representations of race, gender, class, sexuality, and mental health as we discuss at length intersections between player choice, fantasy, and world-building.
Texts: Ede, Lisa. The Academic Writer. Fifth Edition (2021). World of Warcraft (base game through level 20 is free). Detroit: Become Human (free through DMP or available for purchase on STEAM).

Section 10 Instructor: Karen Aston
Section 20 Instructor: Erin Temple
Section 40 & 50 Instructor: Guy Spriggs
Section 60 Instructor: Samantha Trzinski 
Section 70 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
Section 80 Instructor: Calvin Olsen
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required.  
GE Categories: 
GEN: Theme: Lived Environments 
GEL: Writing and Communication: Level 2 

3000-Level

English 3031: Rhetorics of Health, Illness, and Wellness

Instructor: Eduardo Mabilog
Students examine rhetorical concepts and how rhetorical devices construct our understanding of our bodies, health and wellness. Students learn how power structures and ideologies enable commonplace rhetorical devices to structure normative beliefs about bodies, health, and wellness and how rhetoric shapes perceptions of health and wellness and makes and unmakes healthy bodies, including your own.
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being

English 3304: Business and Professional Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Zaira Girala Muñoz
Section 20 & 140 Instructor: Calvin Olsen
Section 30 Instructor: Adrian Salgado
Section 40 & 130 Instructor: Kelsey Mason
Section 50, 60, 110 & 120 Instructor: Erin Bistline
Section 70 & 80 Instructor: Liz Miller
Section 90 & 100 Instructor: Guy Spriggs
Section 150 Instructor: Ashleigh Hardin
The study of principles and practices of business and professional writing.

English 3305: Technical Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Irma Zamora
Section 20 & 40 Instructor: John Seabloom-Dunne
Study of principles and practices of technical writing. Emphasis on the style, organization, and conventions of technical and research reports, proposals, memoranda, professional correspondence, etc.

English 3378: Special Topics in Film and Literature

Section 20 Instructor & Title: Luke Wilson - Shakespeare's Tragedies
In this course we will read and discuss five or six of Shakespeare’s tragedies and watch and analyze some significant film adaptations of these plays. We’ll work by reading the plays themselves, carefully, first, and then investigate how different directors have responded.  Film adaptations of Shakespeare cover a wide range of approaches, from those that follow Shakespeare’s text closely to those that translate the text into a wholly different language and idiom.  The best filmic renderings of Shakespeare tend not to scrupulously adhere to the text but rather bring to bear the film medium’s own unique representational resources.  Because parody is often the most productive form of imitation, we will pay special attention to films that undertake to parody their models.  In this course we’ll focus on Shakespeare’s major tragedies (chosen from among Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Coriolanus), and watch one or two films of each play.  You’ll write frequently about what you’re reading and watching, in discussion posts and response papers, and you’ll have a chance to explore your ideas in greater depth in a substantial essay.  There will also be a final exam, as well as an assignment in which you report on a film we haven’t watched in class.  Possibly group presentations.
Texts: Five or six of the following plays: Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Richard III, Coriolanus.

Section 10 Instructor: Simone Drake (Session 2 course)
This course focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and nation in film and fiction. We will focus on texts that challenge viewers and readers to think critically about how they understand core philosophical concepts such as what makes one human; what constitutes freedom; the line between reality and fiction; and what does justice look like. The creative texts will be paired with social and culture theories that students will be expected to apply when analyzing the texts. Assignments include weekly short review papers, a midterm exam, and a final exam.
Texts: Joe Talbot, The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower. James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”. Cord Jefferson, American Fiction. Julia Hart, Fast Color. Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things. Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Kate Chopin, “Desiree’s Baby”. Plato, Allegory of the Cave. Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall. Kasi Lemmons, The Caveman’s Valentine. Toni Morrison, Recitatif. Charles Chesnutt, “The Wife of His Youth”. Celine Song, Past Lives.

GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 3395: Literature and Leadership

Instructor: Shaun Russell
In this course students consider leadership as a component of national citizenship and literature as a mode of exploring and analyzing a range of perspectives on leadership. The course will encourage students to think about how responses to power are mediated by race, gender, and class and how literary study can help them reflect on and articulate their own leadership strengths and aspirations.
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World

English 3466: Special Topics in Intermediate Poetry Writing

Instructor: Katelyn Roth
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing poetry. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored.

English 3468: Special Topics in Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing

Instructor: Julie Kim
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing creative nonfiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored.

4000-Level

English 4578: Special Topics in Film

Instructor and Title: Sandra MacPherson - Weeping, Screaming, Wanting: Film's Body Genres
Why and how does film affect our bodies, using its technical apparatus and formal conventions to make viewers cry, or gasp in terror, or feel desire? As a visual and aural medium capturing real bodies moving in space and time, film always depends upon embodiment. But its three "body genres” (melodrama, horror, and pornography) are unique in being singularly devoted to representing and producing bodily responses (tears, screams, and arousal, respectively). We will survey the history and logic of each of the genres separately; discover what they have in common; and, since genres function by reflecting and seeking to resolve social problems, we’ll learn what these ones have to tell us such things as gender, sexuality, identity, performance, intimacy, harm, and justice.
Texts: will include All That Heaven Allows, Candyman, Videodrome, and The Handmaiden among many others

English 4591.01H: Special Topics in the Study of Creative Writing

Instructor: Nick White
A seminar in literary forms and themes, with a significant creative writing component.

5000-Level

1000-Level 

English 1110.01: First-Year English Composition

Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Writing and Information Literacy
GEL: Writing and Communication: Level 1

English 1110.02: First-Year English Composition

Section 30 Instructor: Staff
Section 50 Instructor: Frank Donoghue
Section 60 Instructor: Frank Donoghue
Section 70 Instructor: Ashleigh Hardin
Section 100 Instructor: Staff
Section 150 Instructor: Staff
Section 1140 Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Writing and Information Literacy
GEL: Writing and Communication: Level 1

2000-Level

English 2201: Selected Works of British Literature: Medieval through 1800

Instructor: Leslie Lockett
This course will provide a taste of some of the best items on the menu of British literature, stretching from the so-called Dark Ages (spoiler: they weren't as dark as you think!) through the era of Transatlantic exploration and colonization. These include Beowulf, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko. Lectures will emphasize close reading, form and genre, and historical context; recitation assignments will encourage you to engage creatively with our readings and to think beyond the confines of the textbook. 
Texts: In addition to the long works listed above, we'll read short and mid-length poems from each era, such as The Dream of the Rood (Old English), plenty of sonnets (Renaissance), satirical poems by Jonathan Swift (18th century), and we'll read sci-fi by Margaret Cavendish and an autobiographical slave narrative by Olaudah Equiano.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2202H: Selected Works of British Literature: 1800 to Present

Instructor: Jill Galvan
This class will dig through the complexities of British cultural history and consider how it has generated interesting, world-important literature and ideas that still resonate with us today. We’ll cover the Haitian and French Revolutions, slavery and abolitionism, empire and decolonization, the rise of the capitalist middle class, debates over gender roles and sexuality, and the cultural entrenchment of scientific values. Art forms and movements will also be central to our discussions. Some examples include poetry of Romantic sublime, the Gothic, satire, Aestheticism, detective fiction, realism, and magic realism. 
Texts: Tentative selections for the longer works: Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol; Olive Schreiner, The Story of an African Farm; Mohsin Hamid, Exit West
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare

Section 20 Instructor: Luke Wilson
Study of selected plays designed to give an understanding of drama as theatrical art and as an interpretation of fundamental human experience. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare

Section 30 Instructor: Alan Farmer
In this course we will read several plays written by Shakespeare and consider how they both conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history, and romance. Looking at the plays as works to be both performed and read, we will pay particular attention to the politics of gender, sexuality, religion, race, nationalism, and kingship in the plays, topics that Shakespeare returned to again and again and that were vitally important, and indeed controversial, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. 
Texts: In addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Henry the Fifth, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and The Tempest.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2260: Introduction to Poetry

Section 10 Instructor: Kayla Probeyahn
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
Designed to help students understand and appreciate poetry through an intensive study of a representative group of poems. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction

Section 20 & 30 Instructor and title: Elizabeth Renker – “Game of Thrones as Literature”
Even the most dedicated fans might not realize that Game of Thrones is also a skilled and complex work of literature. Focusing on the first two seasons of the HBO series, this class will train you in core analytical and literary methods that will enable you to understand GoTat a deeper level; it will also improve your analytical skills overall. (We will not have time to read the books by George R.R. Martin.) You will see very quickly how literary analysis unlocks a deeper understanding of Game of Thrones.
Requirements: watch all eight seasons of the HBO series before second session begins; re-watch (and read the transcript for) one episode per asynchronous lecture; answer five homework questions as you watch the episode; take a quiz about the homework questions prior to watching the lecture; listen carefully to lecture; take three exams on Carmen, of which the two highest grades will count. Required materials: an HBO subscription; additional readings posted on Carmen. 
Texts: The first two seasons of the HBO series "Game of Thrones."

Section 40 Instructor: Samantha Trzinski
Section 60 Instructor: Angus Fletcher
Section 70 Instructor: Staff
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included.

GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2263: Introduction to Film

Instructor: Jared Gardner
Introduction to methods of reading film texts by analyzing cinema as technique, as system, and as cultural product. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Cultures

Instructor: Staff
This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Popular Culture Studies through a variety of methods and case studies. The specific focus will be on the entanglement of race, ethnicity, and gender in popular cultures. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Staff
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
Section 30 Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre.

English 2266: Introductory Poetry Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Staff
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets.

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing

Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres.

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing

Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of creative nonfiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published essays by masters of the many forms of creative nonfiction.

English 2269: Digital Media Composing

Section 10 Instructor: Jessica Vazquez Hernandez
Section 40 Instructor: Elizabeth Velasquez
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2270: Introduction to Folklore

Section 10 Instructor: Daisy Ahlstone
Section 20 Instructor: Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2270H: Introduction to Folklore

Instructor: Merrill Kaplan
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion

Instructor: James Fredal
Introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media, and cultural contexts. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies

Instructor: Shalini Abayasekara
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2281: Introduction to African-American Literature

Instructor: Adeleke Adeeko
A study of representative literary works by African-American writers from 1760 to the present. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Literature

English 2291: U.S. Literature: 1865 to Present

Instructor: Thomas Davis
This course will provide a survey of American literature from the end of the Civil War to the present day. We will attend closely to the formal and stylistic developments of different periods of literary history with an eye on the political, social, and historical antagonisms that accompany and underwrite these aesthetic innovations. The lectures will sketch out the broad historical, cultural, and artistic transformations of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: the changes wrought by the aftermath of war; the transformative realities and legacies of industrial capitalism, settler colonialism, and imperial ambition; the material and psychological impact of two world wars; economic turbulence; shifts in American conceptions of race, gender, and sexuality; and the role of technological innovation. As we move through the centuries, we will be able to see how literature not only internalized many of these historical pressures, but provided unique ways to see and to think about them. Recitations will enhance your understanding of these issues, develop close reading skills, and allow you to work through texts not covered during the lectures.
Texts: The Norton Anthology of American Literature 2: 1865 to the Present; Nella Larsen, Passing; and either Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones or Richard Powers, Bewilderment.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2367.01: Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience

Section 30, 40, 60, & 190 Instructor: Garrett Cummins
The particular popular culture and education topics we will be looking at focus on how STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) relates to writing in our majors and/or future professions, open to all majors. In the instance of things like climate change denial intersects with all kinds of majors in all kinds of ways, from business majors to education majors, to humanities majors, sports management, to STEM majors. For both STEM and non-STEM majors, we will focus on how popular American STEM writing and communication intersect with STEM literacy, i.e. the American public’s understanding, misunderstanding, use, and misuse of STEM-related facts, such as climate change denial, flat-earth conspiracy, COVID denial, etc. 
Texts: Potential excerpts (provided on Carmen) include The War on Science (Shawn Otto), The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit (John V. Petrocelli), Not a Scientist (Dave Levitan), Merchants of Doubt (Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway), Unscientific America(Chris Mooney). Our text is a free Open Educational Resource, English Composition 2.

Section 70 Instructor: Rachel Jurasevich
Section 80 Instructor: Mary Gibaldi
Section 90 Instructor: Natalie Kopp
Section 120 Instructor: Rachel McCoy
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. Only one 2367 (367) decimal subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience

Section 20 & 40 Instructor and Title: Shaun Russell - "Character and Characterization"
This course will develop your ability to write analytically by focusing on a variety of American literature. The course theme is loosely Character and Characterization, which is meant to highlight one important aspect of fictional literature, but our conversations will surely explore a wide range of aspects about the chosen works. Since the course is about literature, broadly defined, we will read works in the genres of fiction, poetry, and perhaps even drama. Writing assignments will include two major papers, as well as some shorter writings and occasional low-stakes reading quizzes. Through it all we will learn about different elements of literature and how to write effectively about the literary genre. 
Texts: We will read some works by Flannery O'Connor, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others. Note that while there will be a few texts for you to purchase, most will be provided. 

Section 10 Instructor: Kayla Goldblatt
Section 70 Instructor: Jessica Prinz
Discussion & practice of the conventions, practices, & expectations of scholarly reading of literature & expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience. Only one 2367 (367) decimal subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Literature
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.04: Technology and Science in the U.S. Experience

Instructor: Staff
Explores how technological changes impact our culture & relationships; students build & expand skills in rhetorical analysis & composition through experimentation with new forms of communicating. One 2367 (367) subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.05: Writing About the U.S. Folk Experience

Instructor: Mintzi Martínez-Rivera
Concepts of American folklore and ethnography; folk groups, tradition, and fieldwork methodology; how these contribute to the development of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills in the context of lived environments.
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Lived Environments
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.06: Composing Disability in the U.S.

Instructor: Lauren Chivington
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. Only one decimal subdivision of English 2367 may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.07S: Literacy Narratives of Black Columbus

Instructor: Staff
This service-learning course focuses on collecting and preserving literacy narratives of Columbus-area Black communities. Through engagement with community partners, students refine skills in research, analysis, and composition; students synthesize information, create arguments about discursive/visual/cultural artifacts, and reflect on the literacy and life-history narratives of Black Columbus. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Lived Environments
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games and Virtual Worlds

Section 10 Instructor: Brittany Halley
Section 20 Instructor: Erin Temple
Section 30 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
Section 40 Instructor: Jonathan Thomas
Section 50 Instructor: Staff
Section 60 Instructor: Staff
Section 70 Instructor: Staff
Section 80 Instructor: Staff
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2463: Introduction to Video Games Analysis

Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
An introduction to humanities-based methods of analyzing and interpreting video games in terms of form, genre, style, and theory. No background in video game play is necessary. All students will have regular opportunities for hands-on experience with different game types and genres in both the computer-based classroom and the English Department Video Game Lab. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2464: Introduction to Comics Studies

Instructor: Rachel Stewart
Study of sequential comics and graphic narrative and the formal elements of comics, how word and image compete and collaborate in comics to make meaning and how genre is activated and redeployed. Students analyze comics texts, articulate and defend interpretations of meaning and learn about archival research at OSU's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. No background in comics is required. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts2000-Level

English 2201: Selected Works of British Literature: Medieval through 1800

Instructor: Leslie Lockett
This course will provide a taste of some of the best items on the menu of British literature, stretching from the so-called Dark Ages (spoiler: they weren't as dark as you think!) through the era of Transatlantic exploration and colonization. These include Beowulf, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko. Lectures will emphasize close reading, form and genre, and historical context; recitation assignments will encourage you to engage creatively with our readings and to think beyond the confines of the textbook. 
Texts: In addition to the long works listed above, we'll read short and mid-length poems from each era, such as The Dream of the Rood (Old English), plenty of sonnets (Renaissance), satirical poems by Jonathan Swift (18th century), and we'll read sci-fi by Margaret Cavendish and an autobiographical slave narrative by Olaudah Equiano.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2202H: Selected Works of British Literature: 1800 to Present

Instructor: Jill Galvan
This class will dig through the complexities of British cultural history and consider how it has generated interesting, world-important literature and ideas that still resonate with us today. We’ll cover the Haitian and French Revolutions, slavery and abolitionism, empire and decolonization, the rise of the capitalist middle class, debates over gender roles and sexuality, and the cultural entrenchment of scientific values. Art forms and movements will also be central to our discussions. Some examples include poetry of Romantic sublime, the Gothic, satire, Aestheticism, detective fiction, realism, and magic realism. 
Texts: Tentative selections for the longer works: Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol; Olive Schreiner, The Story of an African Farm; Mohsin Hamid, Exit West
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare

Section 20 Instructor: Luke Wilson
Study of selected plays designed to give an understanding of drama as theatrical art and as an interpretation of fundamental human experience. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare

Section 30 Instructor: Alan Farmer
In this course we will read several plays written by Shakespeare and consider how they both conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history, and romance. Looking at the plays as works to be both performed and read, we will pay particular attention to the politics of gender, sexuality, religion, race, nationalism, and kingship in the plays, topics that Shakespeare returned to again and again and that were vitally important, and indeed controversial, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. 
Texts: In addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Henry the Fifth, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and The Tempest.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2260: Introduction to Poetry

Section 10 Instructor: Kayla Probeyahn
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
Designed to help students understand and appreciate poetry through an intensive study of a representative group of poems. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction

Section 20 & 30 Instructor and title: Elizabeth Renker – “Game of Thrones as Literature”
Even the most dedicated fans might not realize that Game of Thrones is also a skilled and complex work of literature. Focusing on the first two seasons of the HBO series, this class will train you in core analytical and literary methods that will enable you to understand GoTat a deeper level; it will also improve your analytical skills overall. (We will not have time to read the books by George R.R. Martin.) You will see very quickly how literary analysis unlocks a deeper understanding of Game of Thrones.
Requirements: watch all eight seasons of the HBO series before second session begins; re-watch (and read the transcript for) one episode per asynchronous lecture; answer five homework questions as you watch the episode; take a quiz about the homework questions prior to watching the lecture; listen carefully to lecture; take three exams on Carmen, of which the two highest grades will count. Required materials: an HBO subscription; additional readings posted on Carmen. 
Texts: The first two seasons of the HBO series "Game of Thrones."

Section 40 Instructor: Samantha Trzinski
Section 60 Instructor: Angus Fletcher
Section 70 Instructor: Staff
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included.

GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2263: Introduction to Film

Instructor: Jared Gardner
Introduction to methods of reading film texts by analyzing cinema as technique, as system, and as cultural product. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Cultures

Instructor: Staff
This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Popular Culture Studies through a variety of methods and case studies. The specific focus will be on the entanglement of race, ethnicity, and gender in popular cultures. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Staff
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
Section 30 Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre.

English 2266: Introductory Poetry Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Staff
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets.

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing

Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres.

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing

Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of creative nonfiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published essays by masters of the many forms of creative nonfiction.

English 2269: Digital Media Composing

Section 10 Instructor: Jessica Vazquez Hernandez
Section 40 Instructor: Elizabeth Velasquez
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2270: Introduction to Folklore

Section 10 Instructor: Daisy Ahlstone
Section 20 Instructor: Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2270H: Introduction to Folklore

Instructor: Merrill Kaplan
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion

Instructor: James Fredal
Introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media, and cultural contexts. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies

Instructor: Shalini Abayasekara
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2281: Introduction to African-American Literature

Instructor: Adeleke Adeeko
A study of representative literary works by African-American writers from 1760 to the present. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Literature

English 2291: U.S. Literature: 1865 to Present

Instructor: Thomas Davis
This course will provide a survey of American literature from the end of the Civil War to the present day. We will attend closely to the formal and stylistic developments of different periods of literary history with an eye on the political, social, and historical antagonisms that accompany and underwrite these aesthetic innovations. The lectures will sketch out the broad historical, cultural, and artistic transformations of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: the changes wrought by the aftermath of war; the transformative realities and legacies of industrial capitalism, settler colonialism, and imperial ambition; the material and psychological impact of two world wars; economic turbulence; shifts in American conceptions of race, gender, and sexuality; and the role of technological innovation. As we move through the centuries, we will be able to see how literature not only internalized many of these historical pressures, but provided unique ways to see and to think about them. Recitations will enhance your understanding of these issues, develop close reading skills, and allow you to work through texts not covered during the lectures.
Texts: The Norton Anthology of American Literature 2: 1865 to the Present; Nella Larsen, Passing; and either Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones or Richard Powers, Bewilderment.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2367.01: Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience

Section 30, 40, 60, & 190 Instructor: Garrett Cummins
The particular popular culture and education topics we will be looking at focus on how STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) relates to writing in our majors and/or future professions, open to all majors. In the instance of things like climate change denial intersects with all kinds of majors in all kinds of ways, from business majors to education majors, to humanities majors, sports management, to STEM majors. For both STEM and non-STEM majors, we will focus on how popular American STEM writing and communication intersect with STEM literacy, i.e. the American public’s understanding, misunderstanding, use, and misuse of STEM-related facts, such as climate change denial, flat-earth conspiracy, COVID denial, etc. 
Texts: Potential excerpts (provided on Carmen) include The War on Science (Shawn Otto), The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit (John V. Petrocelli), Not a Scientist (Dave Levitan), Merchants of Doubt (Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway), Unscientific America(Chris Mooney). Our text is a free Open Educational Resource, English Composition 2.

Section 70 Instructor: Rachel Jurasevich
Section 80 Instructor: Mary Gibaldi
Section 90 Instructor: Natalie Kopp
Section 120 Instructor: Rachel McCoy
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. Only one 2367 (367) decimal subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience

Section 20 & 40 Instructor and Title: Shaun Russell - "Character and Characterization"
This course will develop your ability to write analytically by focusing on a variety of American literature. The course theme is loosely Character and Characterization, which is meant to highlight one important aspect of fictional literature, but our conversations will surely explore a wide range of aspects about the chosen works. Since the course is about literature, broadly defined, we will read works in the genres of fiction, poetry, and perhaps even drama. Writing assignments will include two major papers, as well as some shorter writings and occasional low-stakes reading quizzes. Through it all we will learn about different elements of literature and how to write effectively about the literary genre. 
Texts: We will read some works by Flannery O'Connor, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others. Note that while there will be a few texts for you to purchase, most will be provided. 

Section 10 Instructor: Kayla Goldblatt
Section 70 Instructor: Jessica Prinz
Discussion & practice of the conventions, practices, & expectations of scholarly reading of literature & expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience. Only one 2367 (367) decimal subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Literature
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.04: Technology and Science in the U.S. Experience

Instructor: Staff
Explores how technological changes impact our culture & relationships; students build & expand skills in rhetorical analysis & composition through experimentation with new forms of communicating. One 2367 (367) subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.05: Writing About the U.S. Folk Experience

Instructor: Mintzi Martínez-Rivera
Concepts of American folklore and ethnography; folk groups, tradition, and fieldwork methodology; how these contribute to the development of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills in the context of lived environments.
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Lived Environments
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.06: Composing Disability in the U.S.

Instructor: Lauren Chivington
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. Only one decimal subdivision of English 2367 may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.07S: Literacy Narratives of Black Columbus

Instructor: Staff
This service-learning course focuses on collecting and preserving literacy narratives of Columbus-area Black communities. Through engagement with community partners, students refine skills in research, analysis, and composition; students synthesize information, create arguments about discursive/visual/cultural artifacts, and reflect on the literacy and life-history narratives of Black Columbus. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Lived Environments
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games and Virtual Worlds

Section 10 Instructor: Brittany Halley
Section 20 Instructor: Erin Temple
Section 30 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
Section 40 Instructor: Jonathan Thomas
Section 50 Instructor: Staff
Section 60 Instructor: Staff
Section 70 Instructor: Staff
Section 80 Instructor: Staff
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2463: Introduction to Video Games Analysis

Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
An introduction to humanities-based methods of analyzing and interpreting video games in terms of form, genre, style, and theory. No background in video game play is necessary. All students will have regular opportunities for hands-on experience with different game types and genres in both the computer-based classroom and the English Department Video Game Lab. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2464: Introduction to Comics Studies

Instructor: Rachel Stewart
Study of sequential comics and graphic narrative and the formal elements of comics, how word and image compete and collaborate in comics to make meaning and how genre is activated and redeployed. Students analyze comics texts, articulate and defend interpretations of meaning and learn about archival research at OSU's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. No background in comics is required. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts2000-Level

English 2201: Selected Works of British Literature: Medieval through 1800

Instructor: Leslie Lockett
This course will provide a taste of some of the best items on the menu of British literature, stretching from the so-called Dark Ages (spoiler: they weren't as dark as you think!) through the era of Transatlantic exploration and colonization. These include Beowulf, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko. Lectures will emphasize close reading, form and genre, and historical context; recitation assignments will encourage you to engage creatively with our readings and to think beyond the confines of the textbook. 
Texts: In addition to the long works listed above, we'll read short and mid-length poems from each era, such as The Dream of the Rood (Old English), plenty of sonnets (Renaissance), satirical poems by Jonathan Swift (18th century), and we'll read sci-fi by Margaret Cavendish and an autobiographical slave narrative by Olaudah Equiano.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2202H: Selected Works of British Literature: 1800 to Present

Instructor: Jill Galvan
This class will dig through the complexities of British cultural history and consider how it has generated interesting, world-important literature and ideas that still resonate with us today. We’ll cover the Haitian and French Revolutions, slavery and abolitionism, empire and decolonization, the rise of the capitalist middle class, debates over gender roles and sexuality, and the cultural entrenchment of scientific values. Art forms and movements will also be central to our discussions. Some examples include poetry of Romantic sublime, the Gothic, satire, Aestheticism, detective fiction, realism, and magic realism. 
Texts: Tentative selections for the longer works: Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol; Olive Schreiner, The Story of an African Farm; Mohsin Hamid, Exit West
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare

Section 20 Instructor: Luke Wilson
Study of selected plays designed to give an understanding of drama as theatrical art and as an interpretation of fundamental human experience. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare

Section 30 Instructor: Alan Farmer
In this course we will read several plays written by Shakespeare and consider how they both conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history, and romance. Looking at the plays as works to be both performed and read, we will pay particular attention to the politics of gender, sexuality, religion, race, nationalism, and kingship in the plays, topics that Shakespeare returned to again and again and that were vitally important, and indeed controversial, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. 
Texts: In addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Henry the Fifth, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and The Tempest.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Global Studies
GEL: Literature

English 2260: Introduction to Poetry

Section 10 Instructor: Kayla Probeyahn
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
Designed to help students understand and appreciate poetry through an intensive study of a representative group of poems. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction

Section 20 & 30 Instructor and title: Elizabeth Renker – “Game of Thrones as Literature”
Even the most dedicated fans might not realize that Game of Thrones is also a skilled and complex work of literature. Focusing on the first two seasons of the HBO series, this class will train you in core analytical and literary methods that will enable you to understand GoTat a deeper level; it will also improve your analytical skills overall. (We will not have time to read the books by George R.R. Martin.) You will see very quickly how literary analysis unlocks a deeper understanding of Game of Thrones.
Requirements: watch all eight seasons of the HBO series before second session begins; re-watch (and read the transcript for) one episode per asynchronous lecture; answer five homework questions as you watch the episode; take a quiz about the homework questions prior to watching the lecture; listen carefully to lecture; take three exams on Carmen, of which the two highest grades will count. Required materials: an HBO subscription; additional readings posted on Carmen. 
Texts: The first two seasons of the HBO series "Game of Thrones."

Section 40 Instructor: Samantha Trzinski
Section 60 Instructor: Angus Fletcher
Section 70 Instructor: Staff
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included.

GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2263: Introduction to Film

Instructor: Jared Gardner
Introduction to methods of reading film texts by analyzing cinema as technique, as system, and as cultural product. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Cultures

Instructor: Staff
This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Popular Culture Studies through a variety of methods and case studies. The specific focus will be on the entanglement of race, ethnicity, and gender in popular cultures. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Staff
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
Section 30 Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre.

English 2266: Introductory Poetry Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Staff
Section 20 Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets.

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing

Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres.

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing

Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of creative nonfiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published essays by masters of the many forms of creative nonfiction.

English 2269: Digital Media Composing

Section 10 Instructor: Jessica Vazquez Hernandez
Section 40 Instructor: Elizabeth Velasquez
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2270: Introduction to Folklore

Section 10 Instructor: Daisy Ahlstone
Section 20 Instructor: Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2270H: Introduction to Folklore

Instructor: Merrill Kaplan
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion

Instructor: James Fredal
Introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media, and cultural contexts. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies

Instructor: Shalini Abayasekara
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 2281: Introduction to African-American Literature

Instructor: Adeleke Adeeko
A study of representative literary works by African-American writers from 1760 to the present. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEN: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Literature

English 2291: U.S. Literature: 1865 to Present

Instructor: Thomas Davis
This course will provide a survey of American literature from the end of the Civil War to the present day. We will attend closely to the formal and stylistic developments of different periods of literary history with an eye on the political, social, and historical antagonisms that accompany and underwrite these aesthetic innovations. The lectures will sketch out the broad historical, cultural, and artistic transformations of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: the changes wrought by the aftermath of war; the transformative realities and legacies of industrial capitalism, settler colonialism, and imperial ambition; the material and psychological impact of two world wars; economic turbulence; shifts in American conceptions of race, gender, and sexuality; and the role of technological innovation. As we move through the centuries, we will be able to see how literature not only internalized many of these historical pressures, but provided unique ways to see and to think about them. Recitations will enhance your understanding of these issues, develop close reading skills, and allow you to work through texts not covered during the lectures.
Texts: The Norton Anthology of American Literature 2: 1865 to the Present; Nella Larsen, Passing; and either Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones or Richard Powers, Bewilderment.
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 2367.01: Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience

Section 30, 40, 60, & 190 Instructor: Garrett Cummins
The particular popular culture and education topics we will be looking at focus on how STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) relates to writing in our majors and/or future professions, open to all majors. In the instance of things like climate change denial intersects with all kinds of majors in all kinds of ways, from business majors to education majors, to humanities majors, sports management, to STEM majors. For both STEM and non-STEM majors, we will focus on how popular American STEM writing and communication intersect with STEM literacy, i.e. the American public’s understanding, misunderstanding, use, and misuse of STEM-related facts, such as climate change denial, flat-earth conspiracy, COVID denial, etc. 
Texts: Potential excerpts (provided on Carmen) include The War on Science (Shawn Otto), The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit (John V. Petrocelli), Not a Scientist (Dave Levitan), Merchants of Doubt (Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway), Unscientific America(Chris Mooney). Our text is a free Open Educational Resource, English Composition 2.

Section 70 Instructor: Rachel Jurasevich
Section 80 Instructor: Mary Gibaldi
Section 90 Instructor: Natalie Kopp
Section 120 Instructor: Rachel McCoy
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. Only one 2367 (367) decimal subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience

Section 20 & 40 Instructor and Title: Shaun Russell - "Character and Characterization"
This course will develop your ability to write analytically by focusing on a variety of American literature. The course theme is loosely Character and Characterization, which is meant to highlight one important aspect of fictional literature, but our conversations will surely explore a wide range of aspects about the chosen works. Since the course is about literature, broadly defined, we will read works in the genres of fiction, poetry, and perhaps even drama. Writing assignments will include two major papers, as well as some shorter writings and occasional low-stakes reading quizzes. Through it all we will learn about different elements of literature and how to write effectively about the literary genre. 
Texts: We will read some works by Flannery O'Connor, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others. Note that while there will be a few texts for you to purchase, most will be provided. 

Section 10 Instructor: Kayla Goldblatt
Section 70 Instructor: Jessica Prinz
Discussion & practice of the conventions, practices, & expectations of scholarly reading of literature & expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience. Only one 2367 (367) decimal subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Literature
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.04: Technology and Science in the U.S. Experience

Instructor: Staff
Explores how technological changes impact our culture & relationships; students build & expand skills in rhetorical analysis & composition through experimentation with new forms of communicating. One 2367 (367) subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.05: Writing About the U.S. Folk Experience

Instructor: Mintzi Martínez-Rivera
Concepts of American folklore and ethnography; folk groups, tradition, and fieldwork methodology; how these contribute to the development of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills in the context of lived environments.
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Lived Environments
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.06: Composing Disability in the U.S.

Instructor: Lauren Chivington
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. Only one decimal subdivision of English 2367 may be taken for credit. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.07S: Literacy Narratives of Black Columbus

Instructor: Staff
This service-learning course focuses on collecting and preserving literacy narratives of Columbus-area Black communities. Through engagement with community partners, students refine skills in research, analysis, and composition; students synthesize information, create arguments about discursive/visual/cultural artifacts, and reflect on the literacy and life-history narratives of Black Columbus. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Lived Environments
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games and Virtual Worlds

Section 10 Instructor: Brittany Halley
Section 20 Instructor: Erin Temple
Section 30 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
Section 40 Instructor: Jonathan Thomas
Section 50 Instructor: Staff
Section 60 Instructor: Staff
Section 70 Instructor: Staff
Section 80 Instructor: Staff
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2

English 2463: Introduction to Video Games Analysis

Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
An introduction to humanities-based methods of analyzing and interpreting video games in terms of form, genre, style, and theory. No background in video game play is necessary. All students will have regular opportunities for hands-on experience with different game types and genres in both the computer-based classroom and the English Department Video Game Lab. 
GE Categories:
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2464: Introduction to Comics Studies

Instructor: Rachel Stewart
Study of sequential comics and graphic narrative and the formal elements of comics, how word and image compete and collaborate in comics to make meaning and how genre is activated and redeployed. Students analyze comics texts, articulate and defend interpretations of meaning and learn about archival research at OSU's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. No background in comics is required. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts

3000-Level

English 3011.01: Digital Activism

Instructor: John Jones
Because of their networked nature and participatory potential, digital media can be powerful actors in affecting social change and enacting citizenship. We tag, tweet, retweet, swipe left, swipe right, add filters, link, like, follow, friend, and more. Connections are made. Alliances are forged. Technology, power, and values are wonderfully and frightfully connected. In this class, we will investigate and experiment with digital media’s affordances and constraints‚Äîparticularly for the ways they do or do not engender social concern, garner attention, mobilize human and monetary resources, and spark political action.
Texts: Alexander, Jarratt, & Welch (2018). Unruly Rhetorics: Protest, Persuasion, and Publics; Roberts-Miller (2017). Demagoguery & Democracy.
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World

English 3031: Rhetorics of Health, Illness, and Wellness

Instructor: Margaret Price
Students examine rhetorical concepts and how rhetorical devices construct our understanding of our bodies, health and wellness. Students learn how power structures and ideologies enable commonplace rhetorical devices to structure normative beliefs about bodies, health, and wellness and how rhetoric shapes perceptions of health and wellness and makes and unmakes healthy bodies, including your own. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being

English 3110: Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity in Literatures, Cultures, and Media

Instructor: Staff
Since the beginning of the modern nation state, cultural texts (poems, novels, films, pamphlets, zines, short stories, advertisements, comics, etc.) have been the essential medium through which the discourse of citizenship has been developed, constructed, refined, and debated. In this course student examine a range of literary periods, genres, and media focused on citizenship and social justice. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World

English 3264: Monsters Without and Within

Section 20 Instructor: Aman Garcha
We will learn how some of the horror stories of the 19th to the 21st century reveal profound anxieties about individualistic ambition, changing norms of gender and sexuality, political threats, and technological change. 
This online course will require students to complete regular quizzes on the reading and recorded lectures; there will also be a final exam. 
Texts: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), and Steven King’s The Shining (1977). Films will include Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Cabin in the Woods (2011).

Section 40 Instructor: Sandra MacPherson
What’s up with the proliferating A-24 roster of Horror movies—Heredity, Midsommar, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Under the Skin, Saint Maud?  What is at stake in a similar flourishing of Black Horror—Blacula, Tales of the Hood, Candyman, Get Out, His House? In this course we will investigate the long cultural history of tales of horror and deviance, asking what historical conditions the genre might be responding to, and what it reveals about changing notions of danger, harm, personhood, humanity, and inhumanity. Assignments will include weekly quizzes or responses, an oral presentation, a course journal, and a cumulative final exam.
Texts: Possibilities include some of the aforementioned films; gothic novels from the eighteenth-century to the present—The Castle of Otranto, Wuthering Heights, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Beloved, White is for Witching; a trove of graveyard poems; and some philosophical accounts of monstrosity. 

Section 50 Instructor: Shaun Russell
What to expect from a course called Monsters Without and Within? Monsters, of course. And there is no question that we will be exploring some literary monsters from the past few centuries. But beyond some traditional monsters, we will also be exploring the boundaries of what that key term even means. Not every monster has fangs or claws, nor does every monster skulk in the shadows or lurk in your dreams. Some monsters hide in plain sight, and some are the perfect picture of normalcy...until they're not. So yes, we will examine the monsters that exist outside the fringes of humanity, as well as those that exist within. Along the way we'll look at some canonical and traditional literature, as well as some works that might challenge those definitions. Fiction, drama, poetry, and film will all be on the agenda, and assignments will include at least one exam, at least one major paper, some low-stakes reading quizzes, and perhaps a creative assignment to round everything out.
Texts: Stories by Kafka, Mansfield, Poe, O'Connor, and King; poetry by Auden, Rossetti, and Milton; a play by Shakespeare, and likely a novel or two, among other works. Film(s) TBA.

Section 80 Instructor: Jill Galvan
VARIETIES OF THE GOTHIC, THEN AND NOW. Where does the Gothic come from? How do authors and filmmakers use it now? This class will cover the origins of the genre, go up through the nineteenth century, and continue into the present. We’ll study how creators use major gothic features for socially provocative purposes. This is a fascinating art form, in which our fear response is constantly being twisted to explore identity and culture. How does the gothic force us to think about the nature of the human or about gender, sex, sexuality, and race, for instance? Among other topics, we’ll look at domestic gothic, urban gothic, queer gothic, southern gothic, new black gothic, and Mexican gothic.
Graded requirements: biweekly viewing of class videos, occasional discussion posts, reading/viewing quizzes, two exams, and a final project.
Texts (tentative): Novels—Frankenstein, Bondwoman’s Narrative, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mexican Gothic. Short stories by Charles Dickens, Edgar Allen Poe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Flannery O’Connor, and others. Films—It Follows, Get Out, Us, The Babadook, Lake Mungo, Barbarian.

Section 10 Instructor: Calvin Olsen
Section 30 Instructor: Christopher Jones
Section 60 Instructor: John Rooney
Storytellers have long used monsters not only to frighten us but also to jolt us into thinking deeply about ourselves, others, and the world we live in. This course examines how various horror genres use monsters to explore issues of wellbeing and citizenship, and debates about race, gender, sexual orientation, mental health, social justice, and personal responsibility.

GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World
GEN: Theme: Health and Well-being

English 3271: Structure of the English Language

Section 10 Instructor: Clarissa Surek-Clark
Section 20 & 40 Instructor: Galey Modan
Students learn basic characteristics of English linguistics focusing on the basic building blocks of language; the sounds of English and how they are put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. Students investigate and explore linguistic variation, accents of American English, and the implications of language evaluation in educational settings. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 3304: Business and Professional Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Staff
Section 20 Instructor: Zaira Girala Munoz
Section 30 Instructor: Staff
Section 40 Instructor: Katelin Anderson
Section 50 Instructor: Staff
Section 60 Instructor: Staff
Section 70 Instructor: Staff
Section 80 Instructor: Staff
The study of principles and practices of business and professional writing.

English 3305: Technical Writing

Section 10 Instructor: John Seabloom-Dunne
Section 20 Instructor: Irma Zamora
Study of principles and practices of technical writing. Emphasis on the style, organization, and conventions of technical and research reports, proposals, memoranda, professional correspondence, etc..

English 3331: Thinking Theoretically

Instructor: Ethan Knapp
This class will offer a survey of some of the most important philosophical meditations on literature in history, stretching from Plato to Kant. We will take a step back from what usually happens in classes about literature (and art) and ask some of the big questions about why people study these things in the first place. Why is literature a good thing? How is the experience of art important and what does it have to teach us that is different from the experience of the real world? How are different kinds of art (literature, music, film) like each other and how do they present different worlds and different possibilities? Readings will include a wide selection of thinkers, from Plato and Aristotle to Mary Wollstonecraft and William Blake. The course should be very exciting for anyone interested in the connections between literature and philosophy. It is also recommended for anyone considering graduate school.
Texts: We'll use an anthology including many of the writers listed above

English 3364: Special Topics in Popular Culture

Section 20 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand (This section will count toward the Game Studies minor.)
This course aims to help us get a critical and theoretical handle on what is arguably the most dominant and influential cultural form of the 21st century: the video game. We start with the intuition that while we play games, games might also play us: the virtual worlds we inhabit are shaped by us, but also might come to shape us in surprising and important ways. The games we will play together in class run the gamut from retro games to indie titles to triple-A blockbusters, and we will play them with an eye to how they help us think about our present moment: how does Detroit Become Human reflect our anxieties about AI and digital culture? Can The Last of Us help us get a handle on climate change? In what ways does Omori transform discourses on mental health? How does Stardew Valley reflect post-pandemic politics? Can Undertale help us think about social and cultural differences? What does Call of Duty have to say about nationalism and imperialism? While we will play (many) games together, you do not need any previous experience with them to enjoy the class: all are welcome!

Section 101 Instructor and title: Thomas Davis – “Insurgent Youth: Punk, Riot Grrrl, Black Metal”
How do underground subcultures develop and respond to their historical moments? How can music, art, and lifestyles model other ways of living and thinking? How do different subcultures theorize freedom and autonomy, shock and antagonism? This class pursues these questions by investigating three distinct subcultures: punk, riot grrrl, and black metal. We will listen to a wide range of music, placing it in its historical context and tracing its lasting influences. Readings and viewings will range across documentary films, memoirs, cultural theory, zines, a video game, a visit to OSU's Special Collections, and other literary and visual texts. 
AUTHOR VISITS: James Spooner (author of High Desert & director of Afropunk), Brad Sanders (music journalist for Bandcamp, Decibel, Pitchfork, and more), and more!
Texts: Sara Marcus, Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution; James Spooner, High Desert, Dick Hebdige: Subculture: The Meaning of Style

GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 3372: Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy

Section 50 Instructor: Zoë Brigley
Introduction to the tradition and practice of speculative writing. Provides students the opportunity to examine and compare works of science fiction and/or fantasy. 
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts
GEL: Literature

English 3378: Special Topics in Film and Literature

Instructor and title: Robyn Warhol – “Janeites: Austen Fiction, Films, and Fans”
All Jane Austen, all the time! Close study of Austen's fiction, film adaptations of her novels, and the fans who have adored her from the early 19th century to the present. Special attention paid to ideas about adaptation, narrative, film analysis, and historical context. If you love romance fiction and rom-coms and are willing to read five Austen novels cover-to-cover, this is the course for you. Not suitable for anyone who does not read novels.
Texts: Emma by Jane Austen; Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; Longbourn by Jo Baker
GE Categories:
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
GEL: Cultures and Ideas

English 3379: Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy

Instructor: Jonathan Buehl
Introduction to the interrelated fields of Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy, familiarizing students with key concepts that underlie work in these interrelated fields and to the scholarly methods of WRL. Together, this discipline studies the ways people use language and other symbols to convey messages, persuade audiences, and create meaning, and how these practices are learned and taught.

English 3395: Literature and Leadership

Instructor: Dorothy Noyes
Do we know what we mean when we celebrate leadership? This course explores depictions of leadership in literature, folklore, and related cultural representations from a variety of traditions. These texts also give us diverse perspectives on the exercise of leadership withindifferent traditions, notably the Anglo-American. We will learn how to read cultural texts as practice in thinking situationally and perspectivally--which happens to be why many prominent CEOs and politicians say they read literature. In a multi-stage course project, we'll transfer these analytical skills from the interpretation of leadership in fictive worlds to the diagnosis of real-life challenges of leadership, cooperation, citizenship, and justice. 
Texts: Appalachian, African American, Native American, and Italian folktales; war poetry; popular fiction by Horatio Alger, Harry Kemelman, and Octavia Butler; Américo Paredes' With His Pistol in His Hand; and more!
GE Categories:
GEN: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World

English 3398: Methods for the Study of Literature

Section 10 Instructor: Ethan Knapp
This course has two goals. First, the course will give you the tools you need to succeed as an English major. We will work on fundamental skills such as close textual analysis, practice putting together essays and research projects, and learn some of the specialized vocabulary writers and scholars use to talk about literary works. Second, we will also think together about why literature is important, what it does for us and how we understand its place in the modern world. 
Texts: We will use an anthology of poetry and also read Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun

Section 20 Instructor: Luke Wilson
Section 30 Instructor: Jessica Prinz
Section 70 Instructor: Sandra MacPherson
Serves as the "Methods" course for the Literature and Creative Writing concentrations within the English major. Its purpose is to familiarize students with literary studies in such a way as to prepare them for advanced courses in all literary fields and the genres of Creative Writing. Required of English majors. Open to English majors only or others by dept permission. 

English 3465: Special topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing

Section 30 Instructor and title: Trista Koehler - "Speculative and Imaginative Fiction"
In this class, we will be exploring the reading, writing, and interpreting of imaginative fiction. Imaginative fiction—what we can also call speculative or genre fiction—is writing that deals with worlds within or beyond our own, with the fantastical and the impossible. We will focus on the art of writing into the traditions of fabulism, fantasy, and science fiction, how to craft fantasy worlds, and how to break down barriers between the literary and the genre. In this course, we will learn to write not only what we know, but what we love, and what we can only dream of.
Texts: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Section 40 Instructor: Staff
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing fiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored.

English 3466: Special Topics in Intermediate Poetry Writing

Instructor: Sappho Stanley
As poets advancing in our journey together, we will be paying particular attention to the beginnings, endings, line breaks, and forms of poems. We will read a collection of poems by one poet and craft essays by many. We will be writing at least 4 poems together and workshopping each as a class.
Texts: Chord by Rick Barot

English 3467S: Issues and Methods in Tutoring Writing

Instructor: Beverly J. Moss
Do you like providing feedback to your classmates on their drafts? The aim of this course is to prepare you to work with writers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines in the University Writing Center. This class provides a unique opportunity for you to learn about composition theory and pedagogy, tutoring strategies, and writing center theories and practices in order to put these theories and practices to work in classroom and writing center settings. In addition to our regularly scheduled class time, each person enrolled in this course will spend approximately one hour per week in the Writing Center observing and working with experienced consultants. After successfully completing the course, you will be able to apply for a paid position in the Writing Center.
Texts: Possible texts include Fitzgerald and Ianetta's Oxford Guide for Writing Tutors and articles posted on Carmen.

English 3468: Special Topics in Intermediate Creative Nonfiction

Instructor: Staff
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing poetry. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored.

English 3662: An Introduction to Literary Publishing

Instructor: Staff
An introduction to the theory and practice of editing and publishing literature.

4000-Level

English 4150: Cultures of Professional Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Christiane Buuck
Section 30 Instructor: Jennifer Patton
Examine writing in various workplaces. Analyze writing discourse that shapes professional organizations. Explore ongoing technological and cultural shifts required of workplace writers and the role of digital media.

English 4189: Professional Writing Minor: Capstone Internship

Instructor: Jennifer Patton
Students work onsite in an organization doing writing-related work and meet weekly to discuss related topics.

English 4520.01: Shakespeare

Instructor: Jennifer Higginbotham
Critical examination of the works, life, theater, and contexts of Shakespeare.

English 4523: Special Topics in Renaissance Literature and Culture

Instructor and title:Sarah Neville - “Pastoral”
In the early modern imagination, the pastoral mode functioned like a safe space, a place where authors could cope with their anxieties by allegorizing their real world in what Philip Sidney called “pretty tales of wolves and sheep.” This course will examine the pastoral in all kinds of literary forms‚ “poetry, prose, and drama,” to consider why authors like Fletcher, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Spenser, Wroth, Sidney and others found this rustic world view so compelling a trope that they returned to it again and again.
Texts: The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, The Countess of Montgomery's Urania, Mucedorus, The Faithful Shepherdess, The Winter's Tale

English 4542: The Nineteenth-Century British Novel

Instructor: Aman Garcha
We will study how the novels of the 1800s reveal some of the major conflicts in nineteenth-century English society. The five works of fiction we will read, by Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and H. G. Wells, try to embrace seemingly irreconcilable ideas: of the aristocracy's age-old cultural power and the new middle class's influence; of a Romantic emphasis on individual passion and a growing emphasis on social conformity; of traditional, religious concepts of truth and a new embrace of science, including Darwin's theory of evolution; of male power and women's changing roles; and of small community identities and the expansion of British bureaucratic, capitalist, and imperial power. The class will provide some instruction in how to write critically about the texts we read.
Texts: Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice; Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights; Charles Dickens, Great Expectations; Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd; H. G. Wells, War of the Worlds

English 4543: 20th-Century British Fiction

Instructor: Jesse Schotter
A study of the development of British fiction after 1900, with emphasis on such major novelists as Conrad, Joyce, Lawrence, and Woolf.

English 4555: Rhetoric and Legal Argumentation

Instructor: James Fredal
Examines legal argumentation as a specialized type of rhetorical discourse; considers the relationship between rhetoric and legal discourse from historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives; covers key concepts in rhetorical theory and explores their relevance for analyzing and producing legal arguments; students apply theory in analysis and production of spoken and written legal arguments.

English 4565: Advanced Fiction Writing

Section 10 Instructor: Nick White
Section 20 Instructor: Lee Martin
Advanced workshop in the writing of fiction. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor.

English 4566: Advanced Poetry Writing

Instructor: Marcus Jackson
Advanced workshop in the writing of poetry. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor.

English 4569: Digital Media and English Studies

Instructor: Scott DeWitt
This course will explore how we use digital media technologies to document our lives, our worlds, our stories, and our times. Our class will consider documentary as both a genre and as a method of identifying, gathering, interpreting, and telling nonfiction stories.  The most significant part of this course will focus on production.  This course is structured mostly as a studio class where we will be working together in one of the Digital Media Project’s classroom.  I believe that we cannot talk intelligently about digital media technologies and their influences on the act of documenting until we compose with them. Some of you may have experience with the technologies we will compose with.  For those of you new to these technologies, I will teach you more than you need to know to be successful in this class.  Please do not let your lack of experience with technology intimidate you. 

You will not be asked to purchase a textbook for this class.  You will have access to cameras, audio recorders, and computers from The Digital Media Project.  You may need to spend a small amount of money on short-term subscriptions to various composing platforms.  Even in this era of cloud-based storage, you may choose to purchase a portable external hard drive.  I will advise you on this possible need once class begins.

This class can be used to fulfill the Digital Media Studies requirement in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy concentration for the English Major. 

English 4572: English Grammar and Usage

Instructor: Daniel Seward
An examination of terminology and structures traditionally associated with the study of English grammar and usage rules, especially problematic ones, governing edited written American English.

English 4572: English Grammar and Usage

Instructor: Lauren Squires
Have you ever been told not to end a sentence with a preposition? Not to split infinitives? To avoid adverbs or passive voice? Ever wondered what basis that kind of advice is given no? What even ARE prepositions, infinitives, adverbs, and passive voice?! Join this class for a deep dive into English grammar, where you will learn to describe and analyze the structure of English sentences. You will become familiar with grammar from a linguistic‚ scientific perspective. We will seek to understand the linguistic patterns that underlie all speaking and writing in English, and you will acquire the concepts and terminology necessary to describe those patterns. Importantly, this is not a writing course, an editing course, or a course designed to teach people how to speak/write in English. I will not tell you how to write, or what kinds of words or sentences to use or not to use! However, our enhanced understanding of how English grammar is structured will ultimately equip you with the knowledge to more critically understand speaking and writing styles, including effective writing, usage handbooks, dictionaries, and language-learning pedagogical materials.
Texts: Free Online textbook: English Learning Linguistics Modules

English 4578: Special Topics in Film

Instructor: Jesse Schotter
Examination of particular topics, themes, genres, or movements in cinema; topics may include particular directors (Orson Welles), periods (The Sixties), genres (horror).

English 4580: Special Topics in LGBTQ Literatures and Cultures

Instructor and title:Joe Ponce – “Reading Across Differences”
In this course, we will read a diverse sampling of late 20th and 21st-century North American literary texts that foreground the multiple, expansive, and competing meanings of “queer” sexualities and genders that have developed in the recent past. Moving beyond queer theory’s “single-issue” focus on sexuality alone, we will examine the literature in relation to a variety of intersectional frameworks that have extended and complicated what “queer” can mean and do both aesthetically and politically.
Texts: Alison Bechdel, Fun Home (2006); Monique Truong, The Book of Salt (2003); Rivers Solomon, An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017)

English 4581: Special Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literatures

Instructor and title:Joe Ponce – “Literatures of U.S. Empire: Race, Gender, Sexuality”
Over the past few decades, scholars have theorized U.S. empire as a capacious framework for examining how settler colonialism, transatlantic slavery, overseas military interventions, and immigration policies have produced racialized, gendered, and sexualized subjects. This course considers how 20th and 21st-century U.S. literatures by writers of color have remembered, represented, and resisted these geopolitical and social forces. We will focus in particular on the ways that the literary texts break with generic conventions and use innovative formal techniques in order to register the traumatic legacies of the past as well as construct cultures of survival, solidarity, and even joy in the face of these violent oppressions.
Texts: Toni Morrison, Beloved (1987); Deborah A. Miranda, Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir(2013); Randa Jarrar, A Map of Home (2008)

English 4584: Special Topics in Literacy Studies

Instructor and title:Beverly J. Moss – “Literacy, Place, and Community Spaces”
What are the dominant literacy practices in your communities outside school like your church, your sorority, the literacy center where you volunteer, or your intramural basketball team? Whether it is a focus on the work of literacy practitioners working in community literacy centers, community organizers using literacy for social justice, or members of a social club engaging in literacy practices that advance the mission of the club, documenting the rich and complex literacy practices that occur beyond traditional academic settings has become an important part of understanding the nature of community literacies and the relationship between literacy, space, and place. Literacy scholars have begun to question the “what” “how” and “why” certain literacy practices function and circulate in local community spaces, social clubs, community organizations, political organizations, community centers, churches, and other community sites. In this class, we will explore the following questions: 
Who are the literacy sponsors in these community spaces, and what are the constraints and affordances of these sponsorships? 

• What is the relationship between a community site’s dominant literacy practices and that site’s identity? 
• What is the relationship between the literacy identities of communities and how these communities are positioned economically, politically, socially, and rhetorically? 
• What constitutes “community”?

Texts: Possible texts: 
1) Campano, Ghiso, and Welch. Partnering with Immigrant Communities: Action through Literacy. NY: Teachers College Press, 2016; 
2) Henry and Stahl (Eds), Literacy across the Community: Research, Praxis, and Trends. NY: Routledge, 2021 

English 4590.05H: The Later 19th Century

Instructor: Clare Simmons
Intensive study of the later 19th century.

English 4592: Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture

Section 10 Instructor: Molly Farrell
What does the literary history of Black women’s writing in America tell us about the poetry book as a form, and vice versa? In this class, we will read across four centuries of Black women’s volumes of poetry, each book expressing a moment in time in the careers of legendary writers, rather than an anthology that attempts to be comprehensive. How do these poems speak to each other within the book, and how do African American women poets speak to each other—or not—across time? Our explorations into these questions will begin and end in the eighteenth century, with Rita Dove’s epic Sonata Mulattica set in that historical period, and with the first book published by an African American, Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects. In between we will read breakout books by Frances E. W. Harper in the nineteenth century and Gwendolyn Brooks in the twentieth; as well as books celebrating Black Power and the expansiveness of children’s literature. Course requirements may include short interpretive exercises, response papers, a discussion presentation, and a final essay.

Section 20 Instructor: Jennifer Higginbotham
Section 30 Instructor: Clare Simmons
Using feminist perspectives, students will learn to analyze literature and other cultural works (film, television, digital media) written by or about women. Time period and topic vary.

5000-Level

English 5191: Internship in English Studies

Instructor: Elizabeth Falter
Students may receive credit for internships across a wide variety of career fields including, but not limited to, the arts and nonprofit administration; creative, business, and technical writing; communications, marketing and public relations; consulting; education; human resources; law and politics; media production; publishing; sales; social services and counseling; and technology services.

English 5710: Introduction to Old English Language and Literature

Instructor: Christopher Jones
Introduction to Old English language, followed by selected readings in Anglo-Saxon prose and verse texts.

English 5720: Graduate Studies in Shakespeare

Instructor and title:Alan B. Farmer – “Shakespeare in History: Theater, Print, and Criticism”
This course will have two primary focuses: first, the history of Shakespeare in the early modern theater and the early modern book trade; and, second, the history of Shakespearean literary criticism, especially since the turn to New Historicism in the 1980s. We will read several plays and think about how they are not only works thoroughly immersed in the concerns of early modern English culture but also works that continue to resonate in fields of contemporary scholarship. We will study the collaborative practices of the early modern theater; the printing, and publishing of Shakespeare’s works in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England; and the sites where his plays were performed in London and at court. We will also read some of the most influential scholarly work on Shakespeare’s plays from the past several decades, criticism that ranges from editorial and bibliographic theory, feminist theory, and political theory, to studies of race, sexuality, and religion in early modern England. This course is open both to graduate students and to advanced undergraduates (it is an excellent course for undergraduates interested in or curious about pursuing graduate study in English).
Texts: In addition to reading several Shakespeare plays, we will read influential scholarly essays on theater history, book history, and the criticism of Shakespeare's plays.

1000-Level 

English 1110.01: First-Year English Composition  
Instructor: Staff 
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing & in the essays of professional writers. 
GEL Writing and Communication, level 1 
GEN Foundation, Writing and Information Literacy 

English 1110.02: First-Year English Composition  
Section 40 Instructor: Anthony Shuttleworth 
Section 70 Instructor: Francis Donoghue 
Section 80 Instructor: Francis Donoghue 
Section 90 Instructor: Seonoh Kim  
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts. 
GEL writing and comm course: level 1.  
GEN foundation writing and info literacy course.

2000-Level

English 2202: British Literature, 1800 to Present 
Section 10 Instructor: Amanpal Garcha 
This course will introduce students to the major movements in British literature since the end of the eighteenth century. We will read works from authors who have played dominant roles in shaping the English literary tradition; these authors include William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Salman Rushdie and many others. In lecture, we will learn about some of Great Britain’s dramatic social and political transformations over the last two hundred years as the nation became the first modern, industrialized imperial power in the nineteenth century and then, in the twentieth, faced crises arising from the crumbling of its colonial holdings, its economic decline and the effects of radically new technologies. Perhaps more importantly, the lectures will aim to show how those historical transformations influenced writers’ creativity as British literature moved from the idealism of the Romantic movement to the subdued pragmatism of the Victorian age, to the conceptual challenges brought on by the modern and postmodern eras. During recitation, students will explore the historical and artistic issues covered in lecture in more detail; recitation will also help students increase their understanding and appreciation of the assigned literary works. 
Potential Assignments: Quizzes, midterm, final exam 

English 2202: British Literature, 1800 to Present
Section 20 Instructor: Bethany Geiger 
Section 30 Instructor: Lauren Colwell 
Section 40 Instructor: Bethany Geiger 
Section 50 Instructor: Lauren Colwell 
An introductory critical study of the works of major British writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. 
GEL: Literature and Diversity Global Studies  
GEN Theme: Foundation Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2202H: British Literature: 1800 – Present
Instructor: Jill Galvan 
This course will introduce you to major British literary trends of the last two centuries. Class meetings will include both lecture and lots of discussion. Our texts will cover the Romantic, Victorian, modernist and contemporary periods, including a bit of the twenty-first century. We’ll talk about many major artistic forms and movements—for example, the lyric, the Gothic, the dramatic monologue, aestheticism, World War I poetry, postcolonial literature and magic realism. We’ll also cover the cultural and historical phenomena that inform our texts, including the Haitian Revolution, French Revolution, slavery and abolitionism, gender roles and “separate spheres,” major scientific discoveries, challenges to religious faith, imperialism, anti-imperialism, sexuality’s expression/oppression and burgeoning modern views about art. Finally, besides teaching you literary and cultural history, English 2202H will help you to become a better critical reader and literary analyst, either for future classes or for your own enjoyment. You’ll practice reading texts with an eye for fine detail (a.k.a. close-reading or explicating) in order to construct logical, complex interpretations based on textual evidence. 
Potential Texts:  Some of our authors: William Blake, Mary Prince, Mary Wollstonecraft, Henry Derozio, John Keats, Charles Dickens, Toru Dutt, Christina Rossetti, Olive Schreiner, Oscar Wilde, Wilfred Owen, Virginia Woolf, Una Marson, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Mohsin Hamid. 
Potential Assignments: Regular, active participation; two exams (midterm and final); three brief analytical responses, designed to build your skills in literary interpretation; and a final critical or creative project. 

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Luke Wilson 
Study of selected plays designed to give an understanding of drama as theatrical art and as an interpretation of fundamental human experience. 
GEL: Literature and Diversity Global Studies  
GEN Theme: Foundation Literature, Visual and Performing Arts

English 2220H: Introduction to Shakespeare, Honors 
Instructor: Alan Farmer 
In this course we will read several plays written by Shakespeare and consider how they both conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history, and romance. Looking at the plays as works to be both performed and read, we will pay particular attention to the politics of gender, religion, and kingship in the plays, topics that Shakespeare returned to again and again and that were vitally important, and indeed controversial, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Students will view and write a review of a performance of a Shakespeare play, and in addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: Richard II, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Othello and The Tempest. 
Potential Texts: I will order editions from the New Cambridge Shakespeare, but any modern edition with glosses, notes, and line numbers of the above plays is fine. Good editions of single plays are published by Folger, Pelican, Norton, Oxford, Bedford, Arden, Bantam, and Signet. Reputable one-volume editions of Shakespeare’s plays are published by Longman, Oxford, Pelican, Riverside, and Norton. You will need to have physical copies of the plays we read, so do not buy any electronic editions. 
Potential Assignments: Requirements include a midterm exam, final exam, an academic performance review, two critical essays (one shorter, one longer), regular attendance, and active participation.  

English 2260: Introduction to Poetry 
Instructor: Kayla Probeyahn 
This course will teach students how to unravel the meanings of poems through close-reading skills and understanding poetic form and historical context. We will read a selection of poems, ranging from Ancient Greece to 2013 Tumblr, with authors varying from Sylvia Plath to ChatGPT, from William Wordsworth to Kendrick Lamar, all while considering their ideological, aesthetic, and experimental aims. This course is designed for students new to the study of poetry, but will be worthwhile for students at any stage who want to read poetry and improve their close-reading and writing skills. 
Potential Assignment: Short essays and quizzes 

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction 
Section 10 Instructor: Sandra Macpherson 
Section 30 Instructor: Matthew Cariello 
Section 70 Instructor: Sean Yeager 
Section 80 Instructor: Matthew Cariello 
This course will introduce students to the study of fiction. Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included.  
GEL: Literature 
GEN Theme: Foundation Literature, Visual and Performing Arts

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction: Literature of Metamorphosis – Tales of Trickery and Transformation 
Section 20 Instructor: Shaun James Russell 
In this online asynchronous Intro to Fiction course, titled Literature of Metamorphosis: Tales of Trickery and Transformation, we will be reading a wide range of literary works spanning from antiquity to (almost) present day, and will have a few oddities sprinkled in with some generally canonical work. All of the works included will engage with the course theme to a large extent, but an open question we will be exploring throughout the course is: what constitutes transformation? Sometimes the answer will be clear: if an enchantress turns sailors into pigs, or if a man wakes up as a cockroach, that is a quite literal transformation. But what about when a boy has a pivotal moment in which he arguably becomes a man? Or when a woman realizes that she can only be herself when she dons the guise of others? Amid these and other thematic questions, we will also explore some of the building blocks of fiction, such as plot, character, setting, symbolism etc., and form our own educated opinions and analyses about what makes these literary works effective (or not).
Potential Texts: Apuleius's The Golden Ass; Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream; Ovid's Metamorphoses; Kafka's The Metamorphosis; Heywood's Fantomina; and several other works of short fiction. 
Potential Assignments: Discussion posts, mid-term exam, comparative analysis paper, final paper and likely one creative option
GEL: Literature 
GEN Theme: Foundation Literature, Visual and Performing Arts

English 2261H: Introduction to Fiction 
Instructor: Jill Galvan 
This course has two goals. The first is to familiarize (or re-familiarize) you with literary concepts associated with fiction, as well as to introduce new concepts that will allow you to see this genre in more sophisticated terms. The second is to teach you how to come up with persuasive, thought-provoking interpretations of literature. My goal is to help you feel confident analyzing fiction on your own (whether in books or in other media). Each class will include some lecture, but most of the course will be conducted as an open discussion. We will likely end with a unit that considers: how does learning about fiction help someone to become a better critical thinker about texts, voices, and stories overall—even stories that are technically nonfiction? Our readings will span time periods and cultural and social perspectives. 
Potential Texts:  (Tentative) Novels: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde, Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad, Justin Torres’s We the Animals, Iain Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West. Short story authors: Herman Melville, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Toni Morrison, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ted Chiang, Curtis Sittenfeld, Carmen Machado, and others. Plus at least one film. 
Potential Assignments: Regular and enthusiastic participation, three short response papers (1 ½-2 pp. each), a final project (5-7 pp.) and two exams. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN Theme: Foundation Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2262:  Introduction to Drama 
Instructor:  Samantha Trzinski 
This course will provide a broad overview of theatre and its historical development from ancient Greece to the modern day. It will place emphasis on nineteenth-century British drama and the material history of theatrical productions and the rise of celebrity culture. In addition to reading plays such as Bluebeard, Macbeth, and East Lynne, we will learn about the actors and set designs that brought these shows to life on the stage in the 1800s. The nineteenth century witnesses the rise of celebrity culture, with people like Sarah Siddons and Lord Byron becoming household names with countless fans. As we read and analyze dramas from this period, we will also consider concepts of fame and how they are connected to the literary and theatrical market. 
Potential Texts:  Lord Byron, Manfred; George Colman, Bluebeard; William Shakespeare, Macbeth; Ellen Wood, East Lynne. 
Potential Assignments: Weekly discussion boards, reading quizzes, short essays (1.5-2 pages), biography of a playwright/actor, performed monologue 
GEL: Literature 
GEN Theme: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2263: Introduction to Film 
Section 10 Instructor: Jesse Schotter 
Section 30 and 50 Instructor: Sam Risak 
Section 60 and 80 Instructor: Caleb Hays 
This course offers an introduction to the language and aesthetics of cinema, familiarizing students with the basic building blocks of film, the forms that movies use to tell stories, communicate complex ideas, and dramatize social conflicts. It also introduces students to significant developments in film history and ways of approaching film interpretation. We will use each week’s film as both a case study in the strategic deployment of certain cinematic techniques, and as a specific set of images and sounds that combine to create a unique cinematic expression. Throughout the term, we will focus on detailed analysis of films, analyzing closely the ways in which the multiple elements of moviemaking come together to make, and complicate, meaning. Our primary goal in this class is to become skilled at thinking, talking, and writing critically about movies and, in the process, to deepen our appreciation and understanding of the film medium. 
Potential Texts: Films may include: Top Gun: Maverick, His Girl Friday, Rear Window, In the Mood for Love, The Conversation, Killer of Sheep, Do the Right Thing, Cleo from 5 to 7 and more. 
Potential Assignments: Close analysis response, final paper, final exam 
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 
GEN Theme: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Cultures 
Instructor: Rachel Stewart  
This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Popular Culture Studies through a variety of methods and case studies. The specific focus will be on the entanglement of race, ethnicity, and gender in popular cultures.  
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 

English 2265: Introduction Fiction Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Megan Jones 
Section 30 Instructor: Gianna Gaetano 
Section 40 Instructor: Cat McMahan 
Section 50 Instructor: Porter Yelton 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre. 

English 2266: Introduction to Poetry Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Hannah Nahar 
The word "poem" comes from the Greek "poeisis," meaning to make. A poem is a "made thing." A thing made out of words, out of images, out of lines, out of thoughts, out of feelings, out of time! In this introductory poetry writing course, we will make poems and talk about them. We'll read lots of published poems and consider how they work, how they sing and move us. Together, we will define craft elements such as meter, rhyme, form, repetition, syntax, lineation, field of page, metaphor, image, etc. How do poems work, and what differentiates this strange, slippery genre from others? Why, across human history, do we keep making poems?  
Potential Assignments: Creative work, reflection papers on published poems, thoughtful notes on classmate work. 

English 2266: Introduction to Poetry Writing  
Section 20 Instructor: Alexandra Smereka  
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets. 

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing 
Instructor: Claudia Owusu 
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres. 

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Danielle Ola 
We all have stories to tell. This is a class that’s interested in nonfiction writing that defies convention and blurs genres. Be prepared to encounter essays that veer into poetry, pop culture critique that delves into memoir, and memoir that uses the tools of fiction to speculate what might have been. In our time together, we will develop a writing practice that captures the little wonders of our lives, become acquainted with the various forms our stories can take on the page, and expand our notions of what nonfiction can be. 
Potential Texts: Body Work, Melissa Febos; Letters to a Writer of Color, Ed. Deepa Anappara and Taylor Soomro; Craft in the Real World, Matthew Salesses; Excerpts from The Little Devil in America, Hanif Abdurraqib; “No Name Woman,” The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston; "Ground Zero", The Undocumented Americans, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. 
Potential Assignments: Weekly writing exercises, one presentation on a class reading, one creative essay submitted for workshop, feedback letters written for their peers 
Guiding Questions: How has the nonfiction genre evolved in modern literature? What form(s) does it take today?  

English 2269: Digital Media Composing 
Section 10 Instructor: Elizabeth Velasquez 
Section 40 Instructor: Luke Van Niel 
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production. 
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2270: Introduction to Folklore  
Section 10 Instructor: Zahra Abedi 
Section 20 Instructor: Daisy Ahlstone 
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion  
Section 10 Instructor: James Fredal 
Introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media, and cultural contexts. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion 
Section 20 Instructor: Kay Halasek  
How do citizens engage a public to express their interests, to right wrongs, urge fairness, enact justice and awaken compassion? How can citizens critically interpret and engage with public texts and arguments as members of a common political body? We’ll explore these questions and others through the lens of rhetoric as the art of public argumentation, persuasion and interpretation. We’ll learn about the elements of rhetorical interactions, including audience and rhetorical effects, texts and meanings, genres and situations, forms and structures, authors and authorial purposes, argumentation schemes, narrative and myth, tropes and metaphors, as well as cultural and ideological frameworks. 
Potential Texts: Our main course text will be Atilla Hallsby's Reading Rhetorical Theory: Speech, Representation, and Power. It's available online as an open access text that can be downloaded as a pdf.
Potential Assignments: Assignments tentatively include ungraded quizzes (to determine students’ degree of understanding of key terms and concepts), three short (2-page) papers, two unit exams and a take-home final exam in which students identify and analyze a rhetorical problem in terms of one of the three thematic situations set out by Hallsby: settler, secrecy, or digital rhetoric. For example, they may analyze the rhetoric of a contemporary perspective on the (1) rights of indigenous groups, (2) conservative or liberal conspiracy theory, or (3) racialized implications of digital algorithms. 
Guiding Questions: Because rhetoric (which includes basically every message you send or receive) has this world-building ability, it’s an appropriate tool to investigate questions of citizenship, diversity, and justice: Who counts as a citizen? What does it mean to be a citizen? How do we organize and maintain a just and diverse society? Through applying rhetorical concepts to historical and contemporary texts asserting people’s right to belong, this course teaches students to identify rhetorics of citizenry and justice, to analyze their effects and to understand their implications. 

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies  
Section 10 Instructor: Staff 
Section 20 Instructor: Katelin Anderson 
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN Theme: Health and Well-being 

English 2281: Introduction to African-American Literature  
Instructor: Cynthia Young  
This course introduces students to key African American writers and cultural movements of the last two and half centuries. Central questions for the class include: how are community, power, race, gender, and sexuality represented and experienced in and through the texts we will read? How are these texts shaped by the audience to whom they may be addressed? How do these texts relate to struggles for racial justice, including anti-slavery, anti-colonial, and prison abolition movements? We will read work by writers including Phyllis Wheatley, David Walker, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, Charles Chesnutt, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Toni Morrison, and Octavia Butler, and we will examine literary and political movements including the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. 
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 

English 2282: Introduction to Queer Studies 
Section 10 Instructor: Julia Applegate 
Section 20 Instructor: Peyton Del Toro 
Introduces and problematizes foundational concepts of the interdisciplinary field of queer studies, highlighting the intersections of sexuality with race, class, and nationality. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 

English 2290: Colonial and U.S. Literature to 1865 
Section 10 Instructor: Molly Farrell 
Section 20 Instructor: Soyoo Park  
Section 30 Instructor: Erin Temple 
Section 40 Instructor: Mica Edmiston 
Section 50 Instructor: Erin Temple 
Section 60 Instructor: Soyoo Park 
Section 70 Instructor: Mica Edmiston 
Introductory study of significant works of U.S. literature from its Colonial origins to 1865. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN Theme: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2367.01: Language, Identity, and Culture in the US Experience 
Section 10 Instructor: Mary Gibaldi  
Section 120 Instructor: Rebecca Thacker 
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2 

English 2367.01: Popular science writing and the American public's STEM literacy 
Section 50 and 140 Instructor: Garrett J Cummins 
From the standard course description, English 2367/01 extends and refines expository writing and analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality and reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education and pop culture in America. 
The particular popular culture and education topics we will be looking at focus on how STEM(science, technology, engineering, and math) relates to writing in our majors and/or future professions, open to all majors. In the instance of things like climate change denial intersects with all kinds of majors in all kinds of ways, from business majors to education majors; from humanities majors to sports management, and STEM majors to just name a few majors. 
For both STEM and non-STEM majors, we will focus on how popular American STEM writing and communication intersect with STEM literacy, i.e. the American public’s understanding, misunderstanding, use, and misuse of STEM-related facts, such as climate change denial, flat-earth conspiracy, COVID denial, etc. 
However, these topics and the related readings only work as a springboard for your own writing and research. As a composition course, we focus on the writing process, research, and using OSU’s libraries online resources, along with Google Scholar. 
Potential Texts:  Potential excerpt readings from the following books, which I will supply: The War on Science by Shawn Otto; The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit by John V. Petrocelli; Not a Scientist by Dave Levitan; Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway; Unscientific America by Chris Mooney.  
We will also read various scholarly and popular articles about popular STEM writing, American STEM literacy, and issues with STEM information and misinformation in online spaces, like social media. For the writing textbook, we will use an Open Educational Resource, called English Composition 2, which I will supply to you. 
Potential Assignments: Smaller, weekly discussion board posts that work to help you create writing for the larger assignments. These discussion board posts can be summaries, reading responses to course readings, or reflections on what we wrote. In turn, the class has the following assignment sequence for the larger assignments: Literature review/exploratory essay that connects American STEM literacy, popular STEM writing, and a topic from your major A critical analysis of a popular piece of STEM writing A piece of original writing that appeals to a public audience, arguing how STEM literacy is vital for understanding the topic related to your major. Reflection on what learned over the source of the semester. 
Guiding Questions: Potential questions for the course include: How does the American public’s STEM literacy affect how scientists and nonscientists compose and present STEM information in public forums, such as in online and popular publications? How does STEM literacy and popular information affect nonscientific disciplines, such as business, humanities, the arts, etc.? How does popular STEM writing and American STEM literacy affect policymakers’ decisions, which impacts all Americans’ lives--especially Americans from historically underrepresented populations? 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2 

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience  
Instructor: Kayla Goldblatt 
Discussion & practice of the conventions, practices, & expectations of scholarly reading of literature & expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience. 
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2 
GEN Theme: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2367.05: Writing About the U.S. Folk Experience 
Instructor: Mintzi A Martinez-Rivera 
This section of 2367.05 is designed to employ the core concepts and methods of the field of folklore as the basis for reading assignments and writing projects. Because the theme of this course is the U.S. Folk Experience, we will begin with a brief introduction to basic concepts of American folklore and ethnography, including folk groups, tradition, and fieldwork methodology, focusing on how these concepts and methodologies contribute to the development of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills. Along the way, we will explore the diversity of experiences of different groups in the U.S. both through course readings and through your writing assignments and projects. 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2 
GEN Theme: Lived Environments 

English 2367.06: Composing Disability in the U.S.  
Instructor: Lauren Chivington 
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2 

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games 
Section 10 Instructor: Christoffer Turpin 
Section 20 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand  
Section 30 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand  
Section 40 Instructor: Lauren Cook 
Section 50 Instructor: Liz Miller 
Section 60 Instructor: Liz Miller  
Section 70 Instructor: Lauren Cook  
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required. 
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2 
GEN Theme: Lived Environments 

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games 
Section 80 Instructor: Calvin Olsen 
This semester, our work will be situated around the theme of “Whose Game Is It Anyway?” In less pithy terms, we’re going to spend a lot of time playing, discussing, and writing about games that make decisions (conscious and unconscious) about who is depicted in them (and how). We’ll taking into consideration the way that many games were built by and for what digital humanities scholar Roopika Risam called the “exclusionary universal subject” (white dudes…like your professor…), and we will look at the presence and absence of diverse characters in the games. In order to ensure we devote plenty of time to the writing portion of the course, we’ll focus mostly on the two types of identifiers people think of when we consider diversity—race and gender/sexuality—but we’ll also work together to find and highlight games that make use of a wide a range of interesting characters that might guide us toward an inclusionary universal subject. The more the merrier, as they say. 
Potential Texts: Who Says? by Deborah H. Holdstein and Danielle Aquiline. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197525494. Required. 
Potential Assignments: Weekly discussion posts, project pitches, papers and side quests.

English 2463: Introduction to Video Games Analysis  
Section 10 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand  
Section 20 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand  
An introduction to humanities-based methods of analyzing and interpreting video games in terms of form, genre, style, and theory. No background in video game play is necessary. All students will have regular opportunities for hands-on experience with different game types and genres in both the computer-based classroom and the English Department Video Game Lab. 
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 

3000-Level

English 3000: Writing for Social Change  
Instructor: Rebecca Thacker  
In this course we will use academic writing and research practices across various forms of media to investigate the role of citizenship historically and currently, exploring the ways that we as citizens can work towards a more just and diverse society. We will develop a definition of citizenship that emphasizes a citizen?s relationship to their local, national, and global environments. 
GEN Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 

English 3020: Writing About Sustainability 
Instructor: John L. Seabloom-Dunner 
Writing about Sustainability is an advanced-level writing course that fulfills the GE requirements for the Sustainability Theme by asking students to consider their place in the natural world through the following learning activities: conducting primary and secondary research, analyzing data, composing and revising written arguments, and becoming more proficient with the conventions of academic discourses. 
Potential Texts: Graff + Birkenstein’s They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: WW Norton & Co. (5th Edition) 
GEN Theme: Sustainability 

English 3031: Rhetorics of Health, Illness and Wellness  
Instructor: Eduardo Mabilog  
Students examine rhetorical concepts and how rhetorical devices construct our understanding of our bodies, health and wellness. Students learn how power structures and ideologies enable commonplace rhetorical devices to structure normative beliefs about bodies, health, and wellness and how rhetoric shapes perceptions of health and wellness and makes and unmakes healthy bodies, including your own. 
GEN Theme: Health and Well-being 

English 3110: Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity in Literatures, Cultures, and Media: [Specific Topic: Law, Literature, and Contested Citizenship in the Long Nineteenth Century] 
Instructor: John Rooney 

“It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” 
   —Marbury v. Madison (1803) 
    
   “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” 
   —Percy Bysshe Shelley, A Defence of Poetry (1821) 
    
It is an odd fact: literary writers have, since the nineteenth century, imagined themselves as the unacknowledged legislators of the world. In short, they have maintained, sometimes in earnest and sometimes in jest, that literature might have the force of law. Since that time, the institutions of the law have, for their part, adopted the techniques of literary writers to lend their pronouncements gravity and authority, as if the force of law were at bottom a creation of literary style. In this course, we will examine the ways in which literature sought to read itself as law, and law as literature, at the time when both literature and law came to hold the meanings we now commonly associate with them—the nineteenth century, when both Anglo-American jurisprudence and literature were exercised over fundamental questions of citizenship and justice. In imagining who might be a citizen, and in excluding others from this newly and direly important category, the discourses of law and literature, borrowing from each other, created many of the assumptions, and much of the prejudice, surrounding questions of citizenship with which we still grapple to this day. In this class, we will read poetry, plays, short stories, philosophical treatises, and judicial opinions from both sides of the Atlantic authored in the century whose ways of imagining citizenship, community, and justice still haunt our contemporary moment. This course will be of special interest to pre-law students and to others considering a career in legal or law-adjacent professions, but all interests are welcome.     
Potential Texts: Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790); Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792); William Godwin, From An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793, 1796, 1798); Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound (1820); Mary Prince, The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, Related by Herself (1831); Additional Readings Posted to Carmen. Key cases in defining citizenship in legal casebooks and histories: Selections from Sources of English Constitutional History, edited by Carl Stephenson and Frederick George Marcham (1937, 1972); Selections from Constitutional Law and Politics, Volume 2: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, edited by David M. O’Brien and Gordon Silverstein, 12th ed. (2023); J. H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History, 5th ed. (2019) 
Potential Assignments: Commonplace journal containing favorite passages and interpretations; a choice of papers examining literary and/or legal texts from a critical perspective; weekly discussion posts on readings; and a final exam dependent on the chosen paper plan. Possibilities for creative assignments exist.

English 3264:  Monsters Without and Within 
Section 10 Instructor: William Spriggs 
Storytellers have long used monsters not only to frighten us but also to jolt us into thinking deeply about ourselves, others, and the world we live in. This course examines how various horror genres use monsters to explore issues of wellbeing and citizenship, and debates about race, gender, sexual orientation, mental health, social justice, and personal responsibility. 
GEN Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 
GEN Theme: Health and Well-being 

English 3264: Monsters Without and Within 
Section 20 Instructor: Calvin Olsen 
By writing Frankenstein (and publishing it in 1818), Mary Shelley brought a monster into the world (and birthed the science fiction genre). The novel’s creature has been a part of pop culture ever since, to the point that we conflate it with the word Frankenstein. One of the many interesting questions at the core of Frankenstein has to do with the monster’s humanity. It was made of (mostly) human parts, but is it human? This is an unanswerable question based on what we’ll encounter in the text, but one certainty is that the creature’s body is what makes it monstrous—or, better, what made humans label it monstrous. 
This course will examine a handful of literary monsters whose monstrosity is deeply rooted in and possibly inseparable from the human-ish bodies they inhabit. As we read and discuss these novels, we will examine how notions of monstrous corporeality (monstrous body-ness) push readers to explore fundamental issues of wellbeing and citizenship. We’ll stitch these texts together with ideas (and sometimes debates) about race, gender, sexual orientation, mental health, social justice, and national and/or personal responsibility. Each writer’s monster gives us a different angle from which to examine ourselves and our interactions with other humans, and each will push us to confront monsters without and within as we take a long look in the proverbial mirror. 
Potential Texts: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson; The Haar by David Sodergren 
GEN Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 
GEN Theme: Health and Well-being 

English 3264:  Monsters Without and Within 
Section 30 Instructor: Christopher A. Jones 
Why have vampires gripped the popular imagination for so long? How does the figure of the vampire reflect changing attitudes about health and disease, or community and alienation? Addressing such questions, this section of English 3264 will focus on the evolving figure of the vampire in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature. After a preliminary consideration of vampire legends from folkloric and scientific perspectives, we will focus on representations of the vampire across a series of texts including Stoker’s Dracula (1897), Matheson’s I Am Legend (1954), Rice’s Interview With the Vampire (1977) and Lindqvist’s Let Me In (2004), along with the film adaptations of each of these. There will be reading quizzes at least weekly, a final short paper, a take-home midterm exam, and a final research or creative project. This class is in person and attendance is required. 
GEN Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 
GEN Theme: Health and Well-being 

English 3264: Monsters Without and Within 
Section 40 Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin 
The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Old Nick, the Prince of the Power of the Air. For millennia, humans have attributed the evil in the world, even the evil that men do, to an external supernatural agent, a fallen angel, a demon, the Lord of Hell, the enemy of God and the Good. After exploring the origins of Satan, we’ll read a variety of works in different genres (plays, novels, films) featuring the Devil or characters like him. In Ben Jonson’s The Devil is an Ass, Satan sends a demon to corrupt London, but the city is already so corrupt that the demon ends up in prison. Norman Mailer’s last novel, The Castle in the Forest, is the story of Hitler’s childhood, told by the demon assigned to put him on the wrong path. Particularly influential is the legend of Faust, the man who sold his soul for knowledge and power. We’ll read the influential play by Johann von Goethe, Germany’s Shakespeare, James Hogg’s Faustian Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, and watch Istvan Szabo’s brilliant Nazi-era Faust film, Mephisto. But is the Devil just a projection of evil inclinations that are all too human? We’ll discuss devilish sociopaths and serial killers in Muriel Spark’s The Ballad of Peckham Rye, Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Sherman Alexie’s Indian Killer.  
GEN Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 
GEN Theme: Health and Well-Being 

English 3271: Structure of the English Language  
Section 10 Instructor: Clarissa Surrek-Clark 
Section 30 Instructor: Clarrissa Surek-Clark 
Students learn basic characteristics of English linguistics focusing on the basic building blocks of language; the sounds of English and how they are put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. Students investigate and explore linguistic variation, accents of American English, and the implications of language evaluation in educational settings. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3271: Structure of the English Language  
Section 20 Instructor: Elise Robbins 
This course is an introduction to English linguistics. You will gain the analytical tools to scientifically analyze any language, and apply those tools to English. We?ll learn about the basic characteristics of language: the sounds of English and how they?re put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. While studying how the basic building blocks of language work, we will also investigate linguistic variation, accents of American English, and language and education. We?ll also consider how standard and non-standard varieties of English get evaluated in the US, and the implications of such evaluations in educational settings.  
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3304: Business and Profesional Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Julianna Crame  
Section 20 Instructor: Adrian Salgado  
Section 30 Instructor: Angel Evans 
Section 40 Instructor: William Spriggs 
Section 50 Instructor: William Spriggs 
Section 60 Instructor: William Spriggs  
The study of principles and practices of business and professional writing. 

English 3305: Technical Writing  
Section 10 Instructor: Irma Zamora 
Section 30 Instructor (Session 2): Susan Lang  
Study of principles and practices of technical writing. Emphasis on the style, organization, and conventions of technical and research reports, proposals, memoranda, professional correspondence, etc.  

English 3305: Technical Writing  
Section 20 Instructor: John Seabloom-Dunne 
Technical Writing is designed to improve the communication skills and career prospects of three groups: (1) science and engineering majors preparing for technology-focused careers, (2) humanities majors interested in exploring career options in technical communication, and (3) students of any major who want to enhance their marketability by learning about workplace writing 

English 3360: Ecopoetics  
Instructor: David Ruderman  
'Ecopoetics' is a thematic literature course focused on interpretation and analysis of literary texts that represent interactions between humans and the natural world within specific cultural and historical settings, through a contextual examination of how human activity has impacted the environment, how social and natural systems interact, and the long-term impact of human choices. 
GEN Theme: Lived Environments 

English 3364: Special Topics in Popular Culture: Gaming and Playing 
Instructor: Misha Grifka Wander 
What do you think about when you hear the word “game”? Is it video games? Board games? Games of pretend? Maybe it’s TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, or game shows, or card games, or gambling games. Maybe it’s improv games or LARP. Maybe it’s something else entirely. Gaming and play are an important part of every human culture, throughout the millennia, but many people don’t think about them in depth. In this class, we will be diving into the depth and breadth of the world of games. What makes something a game? Do games have to be fun? How does the type of game influence what it’s like to play? How are some people encouraged or discouraged from playing games? We’ll look at board games, video games, tabletop games, and more. You’ll be introduced to game theories and theories of play, and produce both critical and creative writing on the class themes. This class will involve play, of course, but also serious thought about how games affect us, from the personal to societal level. You do not need to have experience with any specific type of game, so self-identified gamers and non-gamers alike are welcome! 
Potential Assignments: Papers, quizzes and creative work 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3372: Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy 
Section 10 Instructor: Robert Hughes   
Section 30 Instructor: Andrew Romriell 
Introduction to the tradition and practice of speculative writing. Provides students the opportunity to examine and compare works of science fiction and/or fantasy. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 3372: Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy
Section 20 Instructor: Zoe Thompson
When we hear the term, “science fictions,” we might immediately think of the word, “future,” and the genre certainly does look forward to fifty years from now, a hundred, a thousand or even ten thousand. Science fiction often speculates looking at everything from our intimate relationships to our social lives and how technology might change the way we live. Such stories, however, are always rooted in the present; reflections. on love, sex, community, and lifestyle are very often actually reflections on our lives in the present moment.
In this class, we are going to focus on two short forms: the short story and the TV episode. The short story is a brief but intense snapshot of an interlude, a specific chapter in a story. Because it does not have the room of the novel, it cannot tell an epic or give every detail of a character’s life story. Instead we have a glimpse and very often this might include an epiphany, a surprise, a twist, a revelation (unless writers are going against conventions). Frank O’Connor in The Lonely Crowd talks about how in a short story, “an iron bar must be bent, and it must be seen to be bent”.
The TV episode is slightly different, though it can sometimes stand alone, like a short story. Often however it is part of an interlinking story that takes up a whole series. The TV episode has an art to it however, and its brevity means that it has particular demands on it, as well the build-up of suspense and intrigue if it is part of a longer series. Your research project will be to explore these short forms and to discover and compare what the short story and the TV episode have in common and how they differ.
Potential Texts: We will look at specific stories from these anthologies, but I would recommend reading these collections widely to get a strong sense of the variety of the genre. 
Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century ed. Orson
   Scott Card.
   Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora, ed.
   Sheree R. Thomas.
TV Episodes: Electric Dreams, limited series, episode 3, ‘Human Is’. Electric Dreams, limited series, episode 9, ‘The Commuter’. Stranger Things, season 2, chapter 3 ‘The Pollywog’. Westworld, series 2, episode 5, ‘Akane no mai’. (This episode does have some spoilers – so binge-watch the rest beforehand if this bothers you.)
Optional: The Walking Dead series 1, episode 1. The Man in the High Castle, series 1, episode 1. Raised by Wolves, series 1, episode 1.
Potential Assignments: Online participation, essay plan, annotated bibliography, essay. 
Guided Questions: Could the TV episode be akin to the short story? And if so how are both the story and the episode used in science fiction storytelling? When science fiction stories present future worlds, to what extent are they reflecting back on our present, asking questions about how we want to live and what it is to be human?

English 3372: Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy 
Section 40 Instructor: Jesse Schotter
This class will survey some of the most important children's fantasy novelists of the 20th century, from E. Nesbit and C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien up through Lloyd Alexander, Ursula K. LeGuin, J.K. Rowling, Diana Wynne Jones, and N.K. Jemisin.  We will examine how these two genres--fantasy and children's lit--grew up together, and will explore the varying influences on these writers, from myth and folklore to Christianity and Taoism and Existentialism to feminism and critical race theory.  
Course requirements include a paper, two responses, a final exam, reading quizzes, and, active participation in class discussions.

English 3372: Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy: Fantasy Set in Our World 
Section 60 Instructor: David Brewer 
When most people think of fantasy, they think of fantastic other worlds: Middle Earth, Narnia, Westeros, or at least fantastic worlds hidden away within our own (Hogwarts). But there is a persistent strain of fantasy set squarely in our own world: past, present, or future. This course will investigate the difference it makes to locate fantasy within a world we know and can visit (or at least study the history of or speculate about the future of, based on our current knowledge). What happens when magic, supernatural beings, or any of the other stock elements of fantasy are combined with people and places that, at least in other situations, have seemed quite solid and mundane? It's something of a truism in the study of narrative that what happens depends in large part on where it happens. What sorts of fantastic stories are made available by (or foreclosed by) being set in, say, Seattle or provincial France or at the Target at Easton? 
Potential Texts: Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, Roshani Chokshi’s The Gilded Wolves, Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, and N. K. Jemisin’s The City We Became. 
Potential Assignments: A weekly reading journal; a recommendation of a fantastic story set in our world that we are not reading together; a response to one of your colleagues' recommendations; a few short writing exercises; active participation in our discussions; and a significant contribution to a group project in which you sketch out a fantasy narrative set in Columbus, Ohio. 

English 3378: Shakespeare and Film 
Instructor: Alan Farmer 
In this course, we will study some of the most innovative and influential films ever made of Shakespeare’s plays. We will both read specific plays (probably RICHARD III, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, ROMEO AND JULIET, HAMLET, TITUS ANDRONICUS, and MACBETH) and view films that cut across dramatic genres, time periods, countries, and cinematic styles, by such directors as Max Reinhardt (Austria and Germany), Laurence Olivier (England), Akira Kurosawa (Japan), Baz Luhrmann (Australia), Michael Almereyda (U.S.), and Al Pacino (U.S.). We will focus on how directors and actors have chosen to adapt Shakespeare for performance, but also consider how these films have shaped, and continue to shape, the cultural meaning of “Shakespeare” for modern audiences. This course can satisfy various requirements: an upper-level (4000-level) or lower-level (3000-level) course for the English Major and Minor; a course for the Film Studies Minor; a course for the Popular Culture minor; a film course for the Pre-Education Major; and a Historical and Cultural Studies course for the new GE. 
Potential Assignments: Requirements will include two essays, several quizzes, a midterm exam, a final exam, regular attendance, and active participation.  
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3379: Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy  
Section 10 Instructor: Susan Lang 
This course will introduce students to a continuum of research methods used by scholars in such fields as writing, rhetoric, literacy studies, composition studies, and technical communication. We will focus primarily on empirical research methods. You will learn techniques of these various methods and apply them to a series of activities throughout the semester. During the last month, we will shift focus to writing research in writing, rhetoric, and literacy studies. 

English 3395: Literature and Leadership, Reluctant Leaders 
Instructor: Shaun James Russell 
Leadership is an intrinsic part of the human condition, and is often seen as a defining character trait. Someone can be a "born leader" or a "natural leader," and when we think about real-world concerns like politics, social justice, and career development, we place a high value on "leadership skills," broadly defined. It is often said that art imitates life, and the world of literature is full of stories of great leaders and conquering heroes who are much beloved by their followers. But not everyone is born to a leadership role, and the truth is that almost all of us have had to pivot from being supports to being leaders as situations require. Despite what we see in much historic literature, the human who does naught but lead is a rare bird indeed. Instead, when most people take a leadership role, it is often done reluctantly and out of necessity, with little thirst for the glory of command. This idea governs the theme of this course on Literature and Leadership: who are the reluctant leaders in literature and history, and how might we assess their character? Does one kind of "good leadership" easily transition to another? Can a group of people in a terrible predicament be a sort of leadership collective? Can a child ever lead, and if so, is it ethical for them to do so? All of these questions are directly connected to some of our readings. 
Potential Text: Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game; Robert Graves, I, Claudius; William Shakespeare, Coriolanus; John Steinbeck, The Moon is Down. We will also watch two films, and potentially some other shorter videos/episodes 
Potential Assignments: Two reflection papers, a mid-term exam, and a final essay, along with several low-stakes reading quizzes 

English 3398: Methods for the Study of Literature 
Section 20 Instructor: Clare Simmons 
English 3398, Methods for the Study of Literature, is designed to help develop the reading, analytical, research, and writing skills appropriate to the English major. We will read and discuss a variety of texts and practice developing responses both to the text itself and to what others have written about it. The loose topic for the course is nature and the environment, and how people have responded to the natural world in literature through the centuries. 
Potential Texts: Readings will likely include Shakespeare’s Tempest, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, a variety of poetry and short stories representing the natural world and the human impact on it from medieval to current times, and some ecocriticism. In addition we will use a writing handbook. 
Potential Assignments: Active engagement with the text and participation in discussion is important to the success of the class. There will be some short discussion prompts, three shorter papers and final research project. 

English 3398: Methods for the Study of Literature 
Section 30 Instructor: Jacob Risinger 
In this gateway course, we’ll take our cue from one of George Orwell’s famous lines: “If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.” Over the course of the semester, our weekly readings, discussions, and informal exercises will work to annihilate old patterns of complacent reading—leaving in their place the analytical skills and rhetorical strategies you need to establish your own critical/original perspective on literary texts. We’ll attend to the practical work of conducting literary research and writing solid, well-argued essays—but we’ll also practice using literary theory and various methods of criticism to identify new levels of meaning, even in familiar or (seemingly) straightforward texts. The hard work of writing and analysis will be supplemented by an array of engaging texts by writers like Mary Shelley, Elizabeth Bishop, Kazuo Ishiguro, Claudia Rankine, Jesmyn Ward, and others.  

English 3398: Methods for the Study of Literature 
Section 40 Instructor: Christopher Jones 
Section 60 Instructor: Luke Wilson  
Serves as the "Methods" course for the Literature and Creative Writing concentrations within the English major. Its purpose is to familiarize students with literary studies in such a way as to prepare them for advanced courses in all literary fields and the genres of Creative Writing.  

English 3405: Special Topics in Professional Communication: Automating Professional Communication through Interactive Documents, Structured Authoring, and Artificial Intelligence 
Instructor: Jonathan Buehl 
In this section of English 3405, you will learn about and practice using technologies that automate different aspects of professional writing. After initial discussions of the history and ethics of automating professional communication, we will explore how to automate writing through different composing tools—including desktop publishing platforms, XML editors, content management systems, and generative AI. Major assignments will be project-based and culminate in a portfolio of samples that demonstrate your ability to automate writing for different contexts.
Potential Assignments: Major assignments will be project-based and culminate in a portfolio of samples that demonstrate your ability to automate writing for different contexts. 

English 3465: Intermediate Fiction 
Instructor: Trista Koehler 
In this class, we will be exploring the reading, writing, and interpreting of genre fiction. Genre fiction--such as sci-fi, fantasy, romance, or horror--is still regarded in many academic circles as simplistic and non-literary. In this course we will work to break down those barriers and learn to write not only what we know, but what we love, and what we can only imagine 

English 3465: Special Topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing: Chapter. One  
Section 30 Instructor: Katheryn LeMon 
In the matter of a few pages, a good novel immerses you in a world, introduces you to characters, makes you care about them, and then plunges those characters into a plot that will play out over the course of however many hundred pages. But how, exactly, do they do all that? Together we will explore how published authors have crafted compelling first chapters and use what we?ve learned to draft the openings to our own novels. Later on, we?ll read a few novels in their entirety to see how the promises of their first chapters are developed and expanded into a full novel. We?ll explore different models of plotting and produce an outline that cultivates the seeds we planted in Chapter One. 

English 3466: Special Topics in Intermediate Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Aline Resende Mello 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing poetry. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3467S: Issues and Methods in Tutoring Writing 
Instructor: Allison Kranek 
Welcome to “Issues and Methods in Tutoring Writing”! English/CSTW 3467S focuses on theories and practices in tutoring writing. Whether you’re coming to this class with an interest in tutoring or teaching writing in the future, or are working to better understand how to work with others in individualized ways, this course seeks to equip you with tools to work productively with diverse writers across a variety of contexts. To that end, this course is guided by practical, pedagogical, and scholarly goals. We will use a range of resources to facilitate our learning, including in-class discussion of scholarly texts; observations of writing center sessions; and reflective reading and writing outside of class. These resources and activities are designed to intertwine and inform one another. At the beginning of the semester, we will invite your input on the course themes and shape of the course, but you can generally expect that we will discuss research on writing center theories and pedagogies that help us think about practical best practices for tutoring writing, including tutoring writing across disciplines, inclusive tutoring practices, and tutoring online, to name a few. Finally, we will also work toward an understanding of the writing center as a site of scholarly inquiry, a space where a myriad of forms of writing and research are created, cultivated, and nurtured. Our class will culminate in a research project related to the tutoring of writing. 

English 3468: Special Topics in Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing  
Instructor: Kurt Ostrow  
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing creative nonfiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3662: An Introduction to Literary Publishing 
Section 10 Instructor: Sappho Stanley   
*POETRY FOCUSED LITERARY PUBLISHING* In this course, we will be focusing on the methods and practices a poet may inhabit in relation to publishing. Topics will include writing practices, literary journals, contests, MFA programs, chapbooks, full length collections, how to read in front of an audience, & meetings with people experienced in the industry. We will take a week to discuss practices related to prose writing, as well.
Potential Texts: “Ordinary Genius” by Kim Addonizio
Potential Assignments: Class meetings, collecting poems into a document (10-20 pages)

English 3662: An Introduction to Literary Publishing  
Section 20 Instructor: Sophia Huneycutt 
An introduction to the theory and practice of editing and publishing literature. 

4000-Level

English 4150: Cultures of Professional Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Christiane Buuck 
This class will offer you a chance to explore to a range of types of workplace writing. Many of our course assignments are designed to help you compile a writing portfolio that will be useful if you apply to the Minor in Professional Writing, and/or in future job searches. Additionally, you will find and interview two professionals in your field of interest. You will hone your editing skills by practicing AP style, reviewing common usage mistakes and how to avoid them, giving and receiving feedback in peer review, practicing repurposing content and drafting for different audiences and revising for clean, professional copy in every deliverable. Throughout the term, you will work individually and collaboratively to explore a professional writing field of your choice, culminating in an engaging group presentation and panel discussion. 
Potential Texts: We will read many real world samples of the kinds of writing we'll work on in class.  
Potential Assignments: A variety of professional writing genres to help build your professional writing portfolio and your confidence as you anticipate professional spaces. 

English 4150: Cultures of Professional Writing 
Section 20 Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Examine writing in various workplaces. Analyze writing discourse that shapes professional organizations. Explore ongoing technological and cultural shifts required of workplace writers and the role of digital media. 

English 4189: Professional Writing Minor: Capstone Internship 
Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Students work onsite in an organization doing writing-related work and meet weekly to discuss related topics. 

English 4515: Chaucer 
Instructor: Ethan Knapp  
The aim of this course will be to introduce students to the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer, starting with his early works and leading up to a reading of large sections of his most famous poem, The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer's poetry offers a window onto an unusually exciting moment of political, cultural and philosophical transformations, and we will consequently read these poems with close attention to the society and culture that produced them, the turbulent end of the fourteenth century. Students should also acquire a familiarity with Chaucer's Middle English and with the literary culture of the time.
Potential Texts: Dream Visions and Other Poems and The Canterbury Tales
Potential Assignments: Two exams and one paper

English 4522: Renaissance Poetry: John Milton 
Instructor: Amrita Dhar 
In this course, we will read the major works of the seventeenth-century poet and polemic John Milton, especially Milton's magnificent epic, Paradise Lost. Reading Paradise Lost will be one of the grandest and most surprising and most rewarding literary/readerly/poetic experiences of your lives. Readers who have encountered Milton before are welcome, and even more welcome are those who have not. People who like poetry are welcome, and even more welcome are those who do not. Prepare to be challenged, amazed, and just possibly, to fall in love. 
Doing this class in 2024 is special. 2024 will see the 350th anniversary of Paradise Lost, A Poem in Twelve Books, published in 1674. 
Potential Texts: Lycidas, Areopagitica, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes 
Potential Assignments: Reflection papers, close reading papers, creative-critical work, and final essay. 

English 4533: The Early British Novel, 1688-1808 
Instructor: Roxann Wheeler 
ENG 4533 introduces the modern novel through a deep dive into the cultural and literary history that shaped it. We will focus on eighteenth-century novelists’ experiments in creating a new genre that came to be the preeminent literary form for representing the main character’s interiority at the same time it fostered a robust criticism of the ills of eighteenth-century society, including unchecked patriarchal privilege, especially landowning men’s behavior. As we study the ways that the novel is the middle class genre, we will focus on novelists’ experiments in formal elements of narration, character, tone, setting, plot, and structure: both first and third person narration are undergoing rapid transformation in this era.  
I have selected novels that dramatize the cultural debates and literary pleasures on which the early novel hinged. Tales of unrequited love and lethal lust; stories of shipwreck and enslavement on the fringes of the Ottoman and growing European empires in the Americas; representations of the hazards of courtship and marriage; and, depictions of overwrought emotions are the main topics of the early novel that we will study. These novels also explore philosophical issues, including the relationships among property, race, and enslavement; the emergence of individualism and modernity; and gendered and rank-specific behavior that becomes the hallmark of a “civilized people,” freighted with the implications for situating Englishness in a global world both sexually and otherwise. Contemporary counterparts to the novels we will read in literature and film include the interracial male buddy film/police TV show (Robinson Crusoe), the detective novel (Caleb Williams), the Gothic horror/terror film/novel (Caleb Williams and The Wrongs of Woman), the stage musical and soap opera (Pamela), the lives of the rich and famous celebrity exposé (The Fair Jilt and Fantomina), the coming of age novel/film (pretty much everything we are reading in one way or another), the courtship novel/film (Pamela, Evelina, The Woman of Color). 
Objectives for the course include your learning influential theories of the eighteenth-century novel, understanding the distinctive kinds of characters, plots, and aesthetics of the early novel, and recognizing the various modes in which the novel is written, including Romance, didacticism, satire, realism, and sensibility, all of which dramatized contemporary social ills distinctively but in ways we still see today (e.g., the #MeToo Movement). 
Potential Texts: Aphra Behn's, Oroonoko or The Royal Slave (1688); Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719); Samuel Richardson, Pamela or Virtue Rewarded (1741); Frances Burney, Evelina or A Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778); Anonymous, The Woman of Color (1808)
Potential Assignments: Short Analytical Papers 

English 4542: The Nineteenth-Century British Novel 
Instructor: Amanpal Garcha 
In this course, we will study how the novels of the 1800s, in their ways of representing characters and events, reveal some of the major conflicts in nineteenth-century English society. The five works of fiction we will read – by Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and H. G. Wells – try to embrace seemingly irreconcilable ideas: of the aristocracy's age-old cultural power and the new middle class's increasing influence; of a Romantic emphasis on individual passion and freedom and a growing emphasis on social conformity and productivity; of traditional, religious concepts of truth and a new embrace of rationality and science, including Darwin's theory of evolution; of male power and women's changing roles; and of small community identities and the expansion of populous urban cities and of British bureaucratic, capitalist, and imperial power. The class will provide some instruction in how to write critically about the texts we read.  
Potential Assignments: Requirements include regular class attendance and participation, the completion of periodic reading quizzes, a few short papers, and a comprehensive final exam. 

English 4554: English Studies and Global Human Rights: Trafficking Rhetoric: Human Rights and Modern-Day Slavery 
Instructor: Wendy S. Hesford 
Trafficking in human beings is a complex, global phenomenon. Human trafficking can be approached as an issue of migration or organized crime that affects state security, and/or from a human rights perspective, since trafficking encompasses a spectrum of human rights abuses. Increasingly, scholars, journalists, and activists classify human trafficking as a form of modern-day slavery. While the analogy between the contemporary problem of human trafficking and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade may bring greater attention to human trafficking, it also runs the risk of obscuring the afterlives of racial slavery in the post-civil rights era. In addition to considering both the scholarly promise and limits of the analogy between modern trafficking in humans and the slave trade of the past, this course will examine the formal elements of modern slave narratives, such as raid and rescue motifs, as well as the political role that such narratives play in anti-trafficking campaigns, legislation, and nation-state reports. 
Potential Texts: Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness;  Uzodinma Iweala, Beasts of No Nation; Zana Muhsen, Sold: One Woman’s True Account of Modern Slavery; Louise Shelley, Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective  
Potential Assignments: Two essays and one visual project (photoshop) 

English 4563: Contemporary Literature  
Instructor: Jessica Prinz 
A study of poetry and prose written since approximately 1960. 

English 4565: Advanced Fiction Writing  
Section 10 Instructor: Nick White 
Section 20 Instructor: Christopher Vanjonack 
Advanced workshop in the writing of fiction. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor. 

English 4566: Advanced Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Zoe Thompson 
Advanced workshop in the writing of poetry. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor. 

English 4568: Advanced Creative Nonfiction 
Instructor: Elissa Washuta 
The advanced creative nonfiction workshop is devoted to furthering your development of the craft of creative nonfiction. Through studying published nonfiction pieces and craft texts, developing new work, responding to peers’ manuscripts, and revising your essays, you will continue to refine your individual approach and further your understanding of how to most effectively use craft elements to shape your work. 
Potential Texts: No textbook will be required. Various essays and craft texts will be provided via Carmen. The bulk of students’ reading will consist of their peers’ workshop essays. 
Potential Assignments: Workshop essays, peer responses, writing exercises, and brief reading responses 

English 4569: Digital Media and English Studies  
Instructor: Calvin Olsen  
Students in 4569 will use the programable Arduino platform to explore the rhetorical possibilities of interactive digital objects, paying particular attention to the new forms of digital creativity these tools are enabling. In this way, students will not only analyze digital objects but become makers themselves, thinking about new relations between people and the physical world that are enabled by our devices and the new forms of writing they can support. 
Potential Texts: Massimo Banzi and Michael Shiloh, Getting Started with Arduino: The Open Source Electronics Prototyping Platform, 3rd Edition Readings supplied by the instructor 
Potential Assignments: Students will create multiple interactive design projects, a short paper, and take occasional quizzes. 

English 4572: English Grammar and Usage  
Section 10 and 20 Instructor: Daniel Seward 
In this class, we will explore English grammar as both a natural phenomenon and as an artificial collection of usage rules traditionally taught as the Standard, all while considering the social and ethical implications of using (or not using) and teaching (or not teaching) the Standard. Alongside lessons on English syntax and pragmatics, we will consider the affordances of non-standard English usage associated with particular discourse communities, as well as the ways spoken and written expression contribute to our personal, social, and cultural identities. Finally, we will consider what it means to be a good "citizen-grammarian": that is, someone who can offer accurate, pragmatic, and socially conscientious guidance about usage, all without simplistically privileging standardized forms, which tend to reflect the preferences of already-privileged discourse communities. 
Potential Texts: Required textbook: Louise Cummings, Working with English Grammar (Cambridge UP, 2018). This is available in print or electronic formats. Other readings on writing style will be distributed on Carmen as PDF documents or through URLs. 
Potential Assignments: Three online, open-resource exams; a Lexical Field Guide focusing on usage in a particular discourse community; weekly participation postings in various forms 

English 4572: English Grammar and Usage  
Section 30 Instructor: Lauen Squires 
 In this class you will learn to describe and analyze the structure of English sentences. You will become familiar with the concepts and patterns of grammar from a linguistic—a scientific—perspective. We will seek to understand the linguistic principles that underlie all speaking and writing in English. Importantly, this is not a writing course, an editing course, or a course designed to teach people how to speak/write in English. However, our enhanced understanding of how English grammar is structured will ultimately equip you with the skills to more critically understand speaking and writing styles, including effective writing and products designed to encourage it, such as usage handbooks and language-learning pedagogical materials.
Potential Texts: Online open-access (free) textbook
Potential Assignments: Midterm; final; journal; final assignment
Guiding Question: How do English sentences work?

English 4577.02: Legend, Superstition, and Folk Belief 
Instructor: Merrill Kaplan 
Have you heard? Rumors and conspiracy theories, spooky stories and superstitions, fake news and folk belief: folklorists study all these things and more as legendry. Societies work through their most pressing fears, beliefs, and doubts in just-might-be-true tales that spread like wildfire in every medium. Take this course for a deep dive into how we crystalize cultural anxieties into stories, memes, and TikToks and use them to debate the nature of our world. Your social media feed is already full of this stuff. Get the tools to understand it.  
Potential Texts: McNeill, Lynne S. Folklore Rules: A Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies. Utah State University Press, 2013. 
Potential Assignments: Students will identify examples legendry "in the wild," document and interpret them as cultural expressions. 

English 4578: Special Topics in Film: The Musical 
Section 20 Instructor: David Brewer 
This course will investigate what is perhaps simultaneously the most beloved and the most mocked of all film genres: the musical. We’ll explore the enduring appeal of characters bursting into song and dance when their emotions swell. We’ll investigate the perennial (and perhaps perennially flawed) attempts of filmmakers to make musicals edgier or cooler in some way. And we’ll consider why such an inherently ridiculous and unrealistic form should persist, despite all of the changes to both society and the film industry over the past century. 
Potential Texts: Singin' in the Rain; The Wizard of Oz; West Side Story; Cabaret; The Rocky Horror Picture Show; Grease; The Little Mermaid; Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Across the Universe; and Hamilton. 
Potential Assignments: A weekly viewing journal; a recommendation of a musical we are not watching together; a response to a colleague's recommendation; a few short writing exercises; active participation in our discussions; and a significant contribution to a group project in which you collectively sketch out a new film musical. 

English 4578: Special Topics in Film: FILM AND AMERICAN SOCIETY AFTER WORLD WAR II 
Section 30 Instructor: Ryan Friedman 
This course examines the history of the American cinema in the years immediately following the Second World War, covering the period from 1945 to 1960. We will view and discuss significant Hollywood films from a variety of genres (e.g., comedy, musical, film noir, western, melodrama, social problem film), contextualizing them by reading articles and excerpts from a variety of sources (e.g., popular magazines, film-trade publications, books of popular sociology, design treatises, political speeches) published during the era in which these films were produced and released. These textual primary sources will serve to illustrate historical discourses describing, reinforcing, and/or critiquing what were conceived of as significant social issues and shifts—from the “veterans problem,” to the “housing crisis,” to “juvenile delinquency,” to sexism, and racial segregation in schools. In our discussions, we’ll be interested in how the assigned films reflected, responded to, and inflected the print debates happening around these issues and shifts—even and perhaps especially when the films are not overtly working in the “social problem” genre. We’ll also approach the films in the context of the upheavals happening in the American film industry during this period, as a result of the Paramount decree, the HUAC hearings, suburbanization, and declining movie theater attendance. In particular, we’ll examine the ways in which the rise of television as a competing medium of mass entertainment shaped the stories that Hollywood movies told and the visual devices that they used to dramatize these stories. 
Potential Texts: Genre films and supporting primary texts from the postwar era. 
Potential Assignments: Weekly quizzes, group presentation, analytical essay, take-home final exam. 

English 4581: Special Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literatures 
Instructor: Pranav Jani  
Study of selected issues or forms in U.S. ethnic literatures and cultures. Topic varies. Examples: Native American autobiography, Asian American poetry; Latino/a novel. 

English 4583: Special Topics in World Literature in English  
Instructor: Pranav Jani 
Study of literatures written in English and produced outside of the U.S. and Britain; topics include colonial/postcolonial writing, regional literature, theoretical and historical approaches, genres. 

English 4588: Introduction to Latinx Literature and Culture 
Instructor: Mintzi A Martinez-Rivera 
Through the study of oral narratives (such as legends, corridos, and wordplay), novels (including Children and YA novels), poetry, short stories, musicals, and films, this course offers a broad introduction to the study of U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture. Moving among and away from the canon, we will explore issues of race and ethnicity, citizenship and belonging, ideologies of gender and sexuality, revolution and social movements, growing up in the U.S., among other topics, as they relate to the experience of Latinx communities living in the U.S. Through different assignments, students will have the opportunity to investigate a topic of their choice and create their own (non)creative project. 

English 4590.06H: The Modern Period 
Instructor: Jessica Prinz 
Intensive study of The Modern Period.  

English 4592: Special Topics in Women, Literature, and Culture: Women’s Sonnets 
Section 10 Instructor: Jennifer Higginbotham 
Women played an influential role in the development of the sonnet. When the Italian poet Petrarch popularized the form in the fourteenth century, he started an ongoing literary tradition, and women have been at the forefront of its innovation almost from the start. Initially present only as love objects, women quickly adapted the form to their own poetic voices. The Protestant exile Anne Locke was responsible for getting the first sonnet sequence in English published in 1560 when she appended Thomas Norton’s paraphrases of Psalm 51 to her translation of one of Calvin’s sermons, while women like Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley participated in the translation of Petrarch’s original Canzoniere in the 1590s. After we dive into the mechanics of what makes a sonnet “a sonnet,” we’ll apply our knowledge to trace the history of women’s sonnets from the sixteenth century to today. In addition to gaining mastery of poetic form, students will engage with feminist and queer theory to explore what sonnets help us understand about gender and sexuality, and what gender and sexuality can help us understand about sonnets. 

English 4592: Special Topics in Women's Literature: Artists and Artistry in U.S. Women's Writing 
Section 20 Instructor: Susan Williams 
Some of the most popular fiction by U.S. women, both in the 19th century and today, has featured characters and plots that focus on women writers and artists. From the March sisters' dreams of acting, painting, writing, and playing the piano in *Little Women* to the photographer Mia Warren in Celeste Ng's *Little Fires Everywhere*, best-selling authors have explored both the power of and barriers to artistry faced by amateur and professional practitioners. In this class, we will think about the enduring interest in the figure of the artist for U.S. women writers from both an historical and cultural perspective. We will also consider how and why these texts have inspired adaptations across a number of genres. Along the way, we will examine the nature of creative practice; the relation between craft and art; the evolving nature of "genius"; and the enduring power of art in U.S. culture. 
Potential Texts: Louisa May Alcott's, Little Women; Elizabeth Keckley, Behind the Scenes; Rebecca Harding Davis, Life in the Iron Mills; Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring; Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere  
Potential Assignments: Assignments will likely include one brief research paper; short in-class and homework exercises; a midterm exam; and a final project.  

English 4592: Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture: "The Surplus Woman Debate and the Beginnings of Feminism." 
Section 30 Instructor: Clare Simmons 
English 4592 fulfills an upper-level literature requirement for any English major; it is a requirement for the Pre-Education concentration. 
The British Census of 1851 revealed that there were perhaps half a million more women in Britain than there were men, leading to the conclusion that many women would never be wives. If marriage could no longer be assumed to be the ultimate goal of women’s lives, this raised the question of what women’s roles in society should be. Modern feminism owes much of its origins to debates over the so-called “Surplus Woman Question,” so in this course we will read examples of nineteenth-century women’s writing that challenge earlier notions of womanhood and that present a variety of answers as to how women might find personal fulfillment. Most of the texts that we will read provide insight not only into women’s lives but also into representations of race and colonialism in the nineteenth century. 
Potential Texts: Louisa May Alcott, Work; Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre; Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh; Lydia Maria Child, Hilda Silfverling; Diana Mulock Craik, The Half-Caste; Florence Nightingale, Cassandra; Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market; Mary Seacole, Wonderful Adventures in Many Lands. 
Potential Assignments: Presentation; short paper; longer research paper; reading preparation questions 

English 4597.01: The Disability Experience in the Contemporary World: Disability Poetry, Milton and Beyond 
Instructor: Amrita Dhar 
This advanced undergraduate seminar on critical disability studies will centre the disability poetics of John Milton, the seventeenth-century poet and polemic who is to this day credited with creating the greatest epic poem in the English language, Paradise Lost, a poem he composed while completely blind. Here are some of the questions we will consider: how does one write a poem that is 10,500+ lines long (and that is so beautiful that it is read hundreds of years on and celebrated in languages across the world) while blind, and In a time before assistive technology, before Braille, before even electricity? What does that composition look like--and where does it come from? What has the poem meant to generations of disabled writers, and what does it mean today in our world? 
Readers who have encountered Milton before are welcome, and even more welcome are those who have not. Those who enjoy poetry are welcome, and even more welcome are those who do not. Paradise Lost, which is often regarded as one of the most difficult and most allusive poems ever written, is also one of the most accessible poems ever written. It is a poem of genuine access and accommodation—matters which have become even more current and urgent in our day than they were in Milton’s. But Milton will always remain one of those who started the conversation to get us here. 
Doing this class in 2024 is special. 2024 will see the 350th anniversary of Paradise Lost, A Poem in Twelve Books, published in 1674. 
Potential Texts: Paradise Lost, Contemporary afterlives of Paradise Lost, Sonnets responding to Milton/Milton's sonnets 
Potential Assignments: Reflection papers, close reading papers, creative-critical work, final project. 

5000-Level

English 5191: Internship in English Studies 
Section 30 Instructor: Staff 
Section 40 Instructor: Elizabeth Falter 
This internship opportunity will offer students experience in creating timely, relevant and compelling short-form promotional media (primarily video and audio) for the Department of English. Students will work closely with their supervisor as well as with key communications personnel to develop projects and set priorities and deadlines. English 5191, Promotional Media Internship, will be intensely hands-on and focus almost exclusively on digital media production and related work-management skills in professional settings. This internship opportunity is especially applicable to students across majors who would like to develop their digital media skills in a workplace setting and for those who have digital media skills with nowhere to apply them. Media skills are NOT a pre-requisite for this internship; students will have the opportunity to learn all media skills necessary for the class. (This internship fulfills the digital media requirement for the Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy concentration in the English Major.) 
Potential Assignments: YouTube videos, podcasts. 
Guiding Questions: How can a promotional media internship opportunity help students across majors develop their digital media skills in a workplace setting? 

English 5664: Studies in Graphic Narrative: Graphic Memoir 
Instructor: Robyn Warhol 
A course designed for both advanced undergraduates and graduate students, “Graphic Memoir” will introduce the styles, structures, and strategies of autobiographical life stories told in comics form. Beginning with the insights we can gain about the form from how-to books drawn by comics artists Scott McCloud (Making Comics) and Matt Madden (99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style), we will read graphic memoirs in a range of genres and media, asking what it means to put the “graph” in “autobiography.”  
The class will tour the collection at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum on the OSU campus, which will be the focus of students’ research projects. 
Potential Texts: Among author graphic memoirs we will read "Maus" by Art Spiegelman, "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel, "One! Hundred! Demons!" by Lynda Barry, "Diary of a Teenaged Girl" by Phoebe Gloeckner, "Vietnamerica" by G. B. Tranh, "Hyperbole and a Half" by Allie Brosh, "Epileptic" by David B, "Cancer Vixen" by Marisa Acochella Marchetto and others. 
Potential Assignments: Assignments will include an in-class oral critique of a critical article on graphic memoir; an in-class oral presentation on a short passage from a graphic memoir; weekly 250-word reading responses that answer a question posted after each class on Carmen; a one-page “snippet” of graphic memoir; and a research paper or an extended graphic memoir project.  

English 5711: Intermediate Old English  
Instructor: Staff 
Students with intermediate or advanced reading knowledge of Old English will continue their study of Old English to strengthen translation skills, explore scholarship in the field, and learn discipline-specific research tools. 

English 5721.01: Graduate Studies in Renaissance Drama: Religion on Stage 
Instructor:  Hannibal Hamlin 
So what will a course on Renaissance Drama and Religion cover? Easy answer: the dramatic representation of everything that matters. Life, death, and what (?) comes next. Love, sex, and desire. Sin, corruption, and evil. Grace, forgiveness, and salvation. Politics and power, free will and fate, conflict and violence, martyrdom and conversion, plagues and earthquakes, gardens and games. It’s been argued that atheism was impossible in Renaissance Europe, but even if that’s not true, every man, woman, and child in England was required by law to attend church on Sundays and holidays, and most everyone did. Even among those few who didn’t, most risked punishment only to worship in a different way, Catholics persisting secretly in their faith in the midst of a Protestant nation, and a tiny number of Jews persisting in theirs even more secretly, Jews having been banished from England in the 12th century. Early moderns would not understand our word “religion” since everyone was in a basic sense religious, “religion” pervaded and influenced every aspect of daily life, and the Bible (the basis of Christian) was popular culture to an extent nothing in modern culture can approach. 
Potential Texts: We’ll begin with some popular medieval plays, whose influence lasted long after their last performances. Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century plays will include Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, about the legendary scholar who sells his soul to the devil, and the team-written The Witch of Edmonton, about an old woman who sells her soul to a black dog named Tom, who also happens to be the devil. We’ll look at the collision and conflict of Protestants and Catholics, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Massinger’s The Renegado, Dekker’s The Whore of Babylon, and Marlowe’s Jew of Malta. Peele’s David and Bethsabe and Greene and Lodge’s Looking Glass for London and England adapt biblical stories for the London stage, telling stories of sin and punishment, prophecy and repentance. Many plays reflect popular religious belief and practice as well as church orthodoxy, but only Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair features a Bible-based debate about gender and cross-dressing between a Puritan and a puppet. 
Potential Assignments: Evaluation will based on participation in discussion, a seminar presentation, and shorter and longer essays 
**English 5721 is open to graduate students and also experienced undergraduates, with the permission of the instructor.** 

1000-Level

English 1110.01: First Year English Composition 
Instructor: Staff 
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing & in the essays of professional writers.  
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1 
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy 

English 1110.02: First Year English Composition 
Instructor: Staff 
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing & in the essays of professional writers.  
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1 
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy 

English 1110.03: First Year English Composition 
Instructor: Staff 
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing & in the essays of professional writers.  
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1 
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy 

English 1193: Individual Studies 
Instructor: Christiane Buuck 
Intensive practice in the fundamentals of expository writing.  

2000-Level

English 2201: British Literature, Medieval-1800 
Instructor: Karen Winstead  
The readings and lectures will introduce you to trends, authors and works from each of the four major periods of pre-1800 British literature and explore the contexts—social, historical, political, cultural—within which works were written and read. You will discover important forerunners of today’s popular genres, including horror, romance, comics and science fiction.  
Potential Texts: Students will read a free online textbook I that developed specifically for this course.  
Potential Assignments: Weekly quizzes will help consolidate your knowledge, while weekly writing assignments and discussions will challenge you to apply what you learned and to grow intellectually from your colleagues’ insights. The final portfolio project encourages you to channel your knowledge and thinking in creative ways. 
GEL: Literature  
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies  
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare 
Section 10 Instructor: Jennifer Higginbotham 
Study of selected plays designed to give an understanding of drama as theatrical art and as an interpretation of fundamental human experience 
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2220H: Honors Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Luke Wilson 
Shakespeare continues to astound us over 400 years after his death. What's that all about? Why does he still occupy the top spot in the hierarchy of the literary - especially when what he wrote was not considered high literature at the time he wrote it? Our aim in this course will be to increase your understanding and enjoyment of Shakespeare’s plays; to give you a sense of the kinds of critical debates that surround the plays, and enough historical context to make clear how the times in which Shakespeare lived both differed from and resembled our own; and to lodge in your mind for future reference at least a bit of Shakespeare’s language. Our primary concern will be with Shakespeare’s text, but we will also spend some time discussing theatrical performances as well as film adaptations. We'll read about five plays, and possibly some of Shakespeare's sonnets. Plays may include Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Coriolanus and The Winter's Tale.
Potential Texts: The Norton Shakespeare, ed. Stephen Greenblatt, et al. 3rd ed. Norton, 2015. Vol. 1: Early Plays and Poems; Vol 1: Early Plays; Vol. 2: Later Plays. 
Potential Assignments: A paper, a group presentation, a critical article review, several short, informal writing assignments. 
Guiding Questions: What's the big deal about Shakespeare? How can we read Shakespeare in light of and as an expression of the period in English history in which he wrote? What would going to the theater have been like during his lifetime? How have filmmakers tapped into and transformed his texts? Why is he still a big box office draw at the movies? 
GEL: Literature  
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies  
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2221: Introduction the Shakespeare, Race and Gender 
Instructor: Sarah Neville 
This course explores the historical roots of our ideas about race and gender by way of Shakespeare and the culture in which he wrote. Students will learn how Shakespeare's formulations of issues of race and gender are products of a time when both categories were undergoing significant conceptual development and how Shakespeare's ways of imagining this turbulence continues to resonate today. 
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 

English 2260: Introduction to Poetry 
Instructor: Shaun Russell 
When you think of poetry, do you think of old, dead white guys? You would be forgiven for thinking so, and British poetry largely started out that way; but even in history, this form of literature is not the monolith it is sometimes made out to be. With that idea in mind, this Intro to Poetry course has the thematic subtitle of "The Renaissance and Everything After." While this course is a true survey, we will also explore the idea that much of the poetry that came after the Renaissance (also known as the early modern era) is both directly and indirectly indebted to the Renaissance in many ways. As a result, we will start the course with several weeks of early modern poetry before we segue into transhistorical and transatlantic poetry to see if we can make connections between the poems written in different centuries on different continents, and the poems written in 16th- and 17th-century Britain. In addition to many of the key figures of Renaissance poetry, such as Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne, Herbert and Milton (i.e. the traditional "canon"), we will also spend considerable time on women poets and poets of color, all with a view toward exploring the interconnectedness of influence across eras and areas. 
Potential Texts: Norton Anthology of Poetry, 6th edition 
Potential Assignments: Regular short reading quizzes, a close-reading assignment, a mid-term exam and a final research essay. 
Guiding Question: How did poetry of the English Renaissance influence the poetry that came after it?  
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction 

Section 20: Jessica Prinz  
Section 70: Roxann Wheeler 
Section 80: Sandra MacPherson 
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2261 (30): Introduction to Fiction 
Instructor: Jill Galvan
This course has two goals. The first is to familiarize (or re-familiarize) you with literary concepts associated with fiction, as well as to introduce new concepts that will allow you to see this genre in more sophisticated terms. The second is to teach you the skills for coming up with persuasive, thought-provoking interpretations of literature. Each class will include some lecture, but most of the course will be conducted as an open discussion. We will likely end with a unit that considers: how does learning about fiction help someone to become a better critical thinker about texts, voices and stories overall—even stories that are technically nonfiction? Our readings will span time periods and cultural and social perspectives. The schedule is still very tentative, but longer works might include Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde, Toni Morrison's Sula, and Iain Reid's I'm Thinking of Ending Things. We will also read short stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Leonora Carrington, ZZ Packer, Jennifer Egan, Ted Chiang, Carmen Machado, and others. Graded requirements (also tentative): regular and enthusiastic participation, three short response papers (1 ½-2 pp. each), a final project (5-7 pp.) and two exams.

English 2261 (90): Introduction to Fiction 
Instructor: Angus Fletcher 
Session 2
In this course, we'll use narrative theory to analyze how your favorite stories work--and identify the benefits they can give your brain. Grading will be assignment-based and does not require in-person attendance or participation. Students will have the opportunity to workshop assignments and ideas via weekly in-person meetings with the instructor and small online discussion groups.

English 2263: Introduction to Film 
Instructor: Jared Gardner 
Introduction to methods of reading film texts by analyzing cinema as technique, as system, and as cultural product.
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Cultures 
Instructor: Dennin Ellis 
This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Popular Culture Studies through a variety of methods and case studies. The specific focus will be on the entanglement of race, ethnicity and gender in popular cultures. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Kathryn LeMon 
Section 20 Instructor: Trista Koehler 
Section 30 Instructor: Gianna Gaetano 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre.   

English 2266: Introduction to Poetry Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Isaiah Back-Gaal 
Section 20 Instructor: Sappho Stanley 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets. 

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing 
Instructor: Aline Resende Mello 
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres.  

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Megan Jones 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft and composition; practice in the writing of creative nonfiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published essays by masters of the many forms of creative nonfiction. 

English 2269: Digital Media Composing 
Section 10 Instructor: Luke Van Niel 
Section 40 Instructor: Elizabeth Velasquez 
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production. 
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion 
Instructor: Kay Halasek 
Introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media and cultural contexts. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Theme - Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies 
Instructor: Amrita Dhar 
What is disability studies? How did we get to this field of inquiry? Why does the discussion of disability pertain to us all? This introductory class on interdisciplinary disability studies will provide students with a grounding in sociopolitical models of disability as well as community-based modes of knowledge production. Together, we will also read disability testimonials, think disability justice, and imagine a future of collective access and belonging. 
Potential Texts: Keywords for Disability Studies, eds Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reiss, and David Serlin Disability Visibility, ed. Alice Wong 
Potential Assignments: This class will ask students to complete brief reflection papers throughout the term, two class presentations, and a short final paper. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Theme - Health and Well-being 

English 2280: The English Bible  
Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin  
The Bible contains some of the weirdest and most wonderful literature you will ever read, and there is certainly no book that has had a greater influence on English and American literature from Beowulf to Paradise Lost, Pilgrim’s Progress to The Chronicles of Narnia, Whitman’s Song of Myself to Morrison’s Song of Solomon. We will read a selection of biblical books in order to gain some appreciation of the Bible’s wide range of literary genres, forms, styles and topics. Our discussion will include the nature of biblical narrative and characterization, the function of prophecy and its relation to history, the peculiar nature of biblical poetry, so-called Wisdom literature, anomalous books like Job and The Song of Songs (including the historical process of canonization that made them “biblical” and the kinds of interpretation that have been used to make them less strange), the relationship between (in traditional Christian terms) the Old and New Testaments (including typology, the symbolic linking of characters, events, themes and images in the books before and after the Incarnation), and the unity (or lack thereof) of the Bible as a whole. As occasion warrants, we will also look at some of the diverse ways the Bible has been read and interpreted––the stranger the better––by poets and writers, artists and film-makers over the past millennia. 
Do note: this is NOT a course in religion, but rather an English course on the Bible as a literary work. Any and all faiths, or none, are welcome, and none will be privileged. 
Potential Texts: The English Bible: King James Version (2 vols.), ed. Herbert Marks (1) and Gerald Hammond and Austin Busch (2), Norton Critical Edition 
Potential Assignments: Evaluation will be based on active participation in class discussion and activities, a film review, an essay, a mid-term test and a final exam. 
GEL: Literature  
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2281: Introduction to African-American Literature 
Instructor: Elizabeth Sheehan 
This course introduces students to key African American writers and cultural movements of the last two and half centuries. Central questions for the class include: how are community, power, pleasure, race, gender and sexuality represented and experienced in and through the texts we will read? How are these texts shaped by the audience to whom they may be addressed? How are these texts related to struggles for racial justice, including anti-slavery, anti-colonial, and prison abolition movements? We will read work by influential African Americans writers and activists including Phillis Wheatley, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, and Toni Morrison, and we will examine key literary and political movements including the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. 
GEL: Literature  
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the United States  
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts  
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity and Gender Diversity 

English 2282: Introduction to Queer Studies 
Instructor: Staff 
Introduces and problematizes foundational concepts of the interdisciplinary field of queer studies, highlighting the intersections of sexuality with race, class and nationality. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity 

English 2291: American Literature 1865 to the Present 
Instructor: Thomas Davis  
This course provides a survey of American literature from the end of the Civil War to the present day. We will attend closely to the formal and stylistic developments of different periods of literary history with an eye on the political and historical antagonisms that accompany and underwrite these aesthetic innovations. The lectures will sketch out the broad historical, cultural and artistic transformations of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: the changes wrought by the aftermath of war; the transformative realities and legacies of capitalism, settler colonialism and imperial ambition; the material and psychological impact of two world wars; economic turbulence; shifts in American conceptions of race, gender and sexuality; and the role of technological innovation. As we move through the centuries, we will be able to see how literature not only internalized many of these historical pressures, but provided unique ways to see and to think about them. 
Potential Texts: Norton Anthology of American Literature 1865 to the Present and a contemporary novel such as Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower, Ling Ma's Severance, or Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones. 
Potential Assignments: A few quizzes, a midterm, a final and a handful of discussion posts. 
Guiding Questions: What are the multiple ideas of "America" that emerge in and through a diverse and dynamic set of writings? What is the relationship between innovations in literary form and the historical, political and social turbulence of these decades? And what exactly do we want literature to do for us? 
GEL: Literature  
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2367.01: Language, Identity and Culture in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Natalie Kopp 
Have you ever wanted to make a documentary? In this second-year writing course, you will become a storyteller behind a camera or microphone as you combine words, sounds, and images to explore the stories behind a community to which you belong. As an advocate-storyteller, you will consider your role as a community member, individual, and author as you investigate the roles we take on when we write about ourselves, our surroundings, and others. We will explore concepts such as authorship, documentary and nonfiction ethics, and community belonging. Before creating our own video, audio, and written pieces about our communities, we will explore documentary works that explore similar concepts, such as James Chase Sanchez’s Man on Fire and Elizabeth Barret’s Stranger with a Camera. No prior video, audio, or creative nonfiction experience is necessary to take this course. As a second-year writing course, we will be using nonfiction writing and documentary as a way to hone analytical research skills. 
Potential Assignments: Nonfiction essay, digital documentary short (video or audio) 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 2 

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Staff 
Discussion & practice of the conventions, practices, & expectations of scholarly reading of literature & expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience. 
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 2 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2367.06: Composing Disability in the U.S. 
Instructor: Staff 
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 2 

2367.07S: Literacy Narratives of Black Columbus 
Instructor: Angel Evans 
ENG 2367.7s is a service-learning course centering literacy practices in Black communities of Columbus. You will learn about the field of literacy studies and African American literacies along with the importance of collecting, analyzing, and preserving life history and literacy narratives through ethnographic research. You will also collaborate with a small group of peers to gather literacy narratives in partnership with local members of the Black Columbus community, such as local Black artists, genealogists, historians, and civic leaders. 
More specifically, our course topic centers around the concepts of rhetorical lineage and homeplace; that is, how Black communities sustain their own trajectories of history, culture, and place-making. Ultimately, we'll ask ourselves: how do representations of homeplace and lineage show up in the literacies of Black Columbus? And how might we recognize these rhetorical modes as forms of liberation?  
All backgrounds are welcome. If you are looking for an opportunity to sharpen your skills as a writer, artist, activist, digital media worker, and/or community-minded researcher, join us next fall. 
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 2 
GEN: Theme - Lived Environments 

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience – Writing About Video Games 
Instructor: Calvin Olsen
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required.
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 2 
GEN: Theme - Lived Environments

English 2463: Introduction to Video Games Analysis 
Instructor: Staff
An introduction to humanities-based methods of analyzing and interpreting video games in terms of form, genre, style, and theory. No background in video gameplay is necessary. All students will have regular opportunities for hands-on experience with different game types and genres in both the computer-based classroom and the English Department Video Game Lab. 
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2464: Introduction to Comics Studies 
Instructor: Patrick McCabe 
Study of sequential comics and graphic narrative and the formal elements of comics, how word and image compete and collaborate in comics to make meaning and how genre is activated and redeployed. Students analyze comics texts, articulate and defend interpretations of meaning and learn about archival research at OSU's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. No background in comics is required. 
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2581: Introduction to U.S. Ethnic Literatures and Cultures 
Instructor: Staff 
This course provides a broad survey of literature produced by and about the major racial groups in the United States, examining how social movements of the 1960s and 70s led to the emergence of ethnic studies in higher education and how the literature addresses a wide range of historical events and political processes that have constructed racial differences and hierarchies in the U.S. 
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity & Gender Diversity

3000-Level

English 3011.01: Digital Activism 
Instructor: John Jones 
Because of their networked nature and participatory potential, digital media can be powerful actors in affecting social change and enacting citizenship. We tag, tweet, retweet, swipe left, swipe right, add filters, link, like, follow, friend, and more. Connections are made. Alliances are forged. Technology, power, and values are wonderfully and frightfully connected. In this class, we will investigate and experiment with digital media’s affordances and constraints—particularly for the ways they do or do not engender social concern, garner attention, mobilize human and monetary resources, and spark social justice. These are all valuable ways of performing citizenship. 
Potential Texts: Alexander, Jarratt, & Welch’s (2018) Unruly Rhetorics: Protest, Persuasion, and Publics, Roberts-Miller’s (2017) Demagoguery & Democracy 
Potential Assignments: Composing a spreadable 60-second mashup of various media that, through its mashing-up, constructs a suasive argument about a particular issue of social consequence; A mashup that demonstrates your facility with appropriation by designing a spreadable artifact; designing a “Bad Faith Resistance Campaign” aimed at warding off bad-faith digital activities that attempt to derail democratic participation 
Guiding Questions: What are the consequences of humans’ relationships with digital media? How can we become comfortable using digital technologies while examining their potentials, problems, and ways they present possibilities for democratic action and may be implicated in unjust systems of power, privilege, and exploitation? 
GEN: Theme - Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World 

English 3031: Rhetorics of Health, Illness and Wellness 
Instructor: Margaret Price 
We spend each day in a flood of communication about illness and disability (and related ideas, including “health,” “wellness,” and “self-care”). In the United States, we spend almost $10,000 per person per year on health care, while also being bombarded with information about the “Campus Mental Health Crisis.” Buzzfeed videos show us the latest stair-climbing wheelchair; Twitter debates Serena Williams’s choice of athletic attire; and Facebook is filled with requests to donate to GoFundMe for a person whose life-saving surgery has left them bankrupt. We, as writers and readers, are both the authors and the audience of all this information. The purpose of this course is to offer you a chance to think through and discuss these complicated discourses—what they say, how they circulate, what cultural stories they unearth and ultimately what they mean for you and your own understanding of health and illness. 
Potential Assignments: Papers & accessible multi-media assignments 
GEN: Theme - Health and Well-being 

English 3110: Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity in Literatures, Cultures, and Media 
Instructor: Beth Hewitt
Since the beginning of the modern nation state, cultural texts (poems, novels, films, pamphlets, zines, short stories, advertisements, comics, etc.) have been the essential medium through which the discourse of citizenship has been developed, constructed, refined, and debated. In this course student examine a range of literary periods, genres, and media focused on citizenship and social justice. This course will study literature about and from the numerous social reform movements that began to sprout up across the United States beginning in the early 19th century. We will read novels, poetry, and treatises about various social and political movements including abolitionism, temperance, women's suffrage, free love, anarchism, socialism, labor reform, health and sanitation reform, prison reform, American Indian rights, and others. This course fulfills the Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World GE requirement and will provide students an opportunity to read literature that analyzes how theories of justice have changed across history and influenced popular notions of citizenship. 
GEN: Theme - Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World 

English 3264: Monsters Without and Within 
Section 10 Instructor: Karen Winstead 
Section 20 Instructor: Calvin Olsen
Storytellers have long used monsters not only to frighten us but also to jolt us into thinking more deeply about ourselves, others, and the world we live in. This course will examine how four classic horror novel(la)s and their film adaptations use monsters to explore fundamental issues of wellbeing and citizenship: Frankenstein (Mary Shelley/James Whale), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson/Rouben Mamoulian), The Shining (Stephen King/Stanley Kubrick), and I Am Legend (Richard Matheson/Francis Lawrence). These texts join debates about race, gender, sexual orientation, mental health, social justice, and national and/or personal responsibility. 
Potential Assignments: Participation in weekly discussions, director's notebook, final project 
GEN: Theme - Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World  
GEN: Theme - Health and Well-being 

English 3271: Structure of the English Language  
Section 10 & 20 Instructor: Clarissa Surek-Clark 
Section 40 Instructor: Galey Modan  
Students learn basic characteristics of English linguistics focusing on the basic building blocks of language; the sounds of English and how they are put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. Students investigate and explore linguistic variation, accents of American English, and the implications of language evaluation in educational settings. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas  
GEN: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies  

English 3304: Business and Professional Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Staff  
Section 40 Instructor: Staff 
Section 50 Instructor: Staff 
Section 60 Instructor: Staff  
The study of principles and practices of business and professional writing. 

English 3305: Technical Writing  
Section 10 Instructor: Staff 
Section 20 Instructor: Staff 

Study of principles and practices of technical writing. Emphasis on the style, organization, and conventions of technical and research reports, proposals, memoranda, professional correspondence, etc.. 

English 3340: Sustaining Literature 
Instructor: Sandra Macpherson 
The title of this course has various meanings. We will survey the literature of sustainability across a range of disciplines: natural history, legal and critical theory, ethnography, architectural planning, conceptual art, and fiction broadly construed (poetry, novels, non-fiction, film). We will investigate the concept of sustainability, which initially emerged as a critique of prosperity and perpetual growth but is fast becoming an alibi for maintaining present comforts in the face of escalating economic and ecological crises. We will investigate practices of sustainability as they exist at present and might be reimagined for the future. And we will ask: what is sustaining about the art and literature of catastrophe? Does literature itself need to be sustained? Or is that so much fiddling while Rome burns? What should be saved amidst the possibility of so much loss, and what should be let go?  
Potential Texts: The course will be organized around what the Greeks called the four elements, but which we might call the four disaster zones: earth, air, fire, water. Texts might include Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones; Ian McEwan’s Solar; Susan Orleans’s The Library Book, Amitav Gosh’s The Nutmeg’s Curse, John McPhee’s Coming Into the Country; selections from Rob Nixon’s Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor, Anna Tsing’s The Mushroom at the End of the World, Stefan Helmreich’s Alien Ocean: Anthropological Voyages in Microbial Seas, Elizabeth Kolbert’s Field Notes From a Catastrophe; poems by Oliver Goldsmith, Jorie Graham, Joshua Clover, and Juliana Spahr; and films such as Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer, Julie Hart’s Fast Color, James Cameron’s Avatar, Wanuri Kahiu’s Pumzi, and documentaries about fishing (Leviathan), plastic (Blue Vinyl), and regeneration (2040).  
Potential Assignments: Weekly quizzes or discussion posts, an oral presentation on extra-curricular material related to sustainability, an essay, and a cumulative final exam.  
GEN: Theme – Sustainability  

English 3361: Narrative and Medicine  
Instructor: Shalini A. Abayasekara 
When was the last time you noticed a story being included in a healthcare setting? Who told this story? How did the narrative make you feel? What has narrative got to do with medicine anyway? In this course, we will ask ourselves these questions and more! Narrative scholar and Ohio State English Professor James Phelan calls narrative medicine “a project for transforming medical practice grounded in the principle that increasing the skills of caregivers and patients as storytellers and story-listeners can improve both caregiver-patient interactions and the outcomes of medical treatment.” Delving into a range of stories about illness and treatment both within and outside the US, and bringing our own disciplinary perspectives to the table, we’ll test this principle that narrative competence can enrich the medical experience. In this way, the course will have a pragmatic component as we consider how aspects of healthcare would—or even should—change if caregivers and patients put the principle into practice.  
Potential Texts: Excerpts from Rita Charon’s Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness, excerpts from James Phelan’s Narrative Medicine: A Rhetorical Rx, excerpts from Charon et al.’s Principles and Practices of Narrative Medicine, journal articles and digital texts like videos, documentaries, websites and digital archives of narratives (e.g., the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives) 
Potential Assignments: Discussion posts, digital stories, presentations and a final project/paper 
Guiding Questions: Why study narrative in/and medicine? What medical narratives are we most familiar with and why? What makes a story easy or hard to tell in a healthcare context? How can skill in narrative analysis translate to skill in treating patients? How can skill in storytelling improve patients’ experiences with caregivers? 
GEL: Literature  

English 3364: Special Topics in Popular Culture: Early Modern England 
Instructor: Christopher Highley 
In this exploration of popular culture we will travel back to Early Modern England, or the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a period we associate with Tudor monarchs like Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. However, it's not the great and the good we will be interested in here, but their subjects: the common people, householders, craftsmen, apprentices, servants and farm workers who made up the bulk of the population. We will look at the customs and rituals that gave their lives meaning--customs and rituals based on a contested church calendar and the agricultural seasons. We'll discover how these people worshipped, but also how they feasted, drank, danced and sung. We'll study a range of media from printed ballads, that might recount tales of witchcraft or monstrous births, to wall paintings and graffiti. Along the way, we'll visit key cultural sites like alehouses, brothels, animal baiting arenas, and of course playhouses that admitted anyone with a penny to spare. Shakespeare might seem like high culture to us, but the milieu of the early theater was decidedly popular.
Potential Texts: Ballads, plays, prose romances. Most texts will be provided in pdf format. 
Potential Assignments: quizzes, papers, exams. 
Guiding Questions: What do we mean by popular? Did a clear distinction exist in this period between popular (or low) and elite (or high) culture? 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas  
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3372: Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy
Section 10 Instructor: Staff 
Section 10 Instructor, Session 2: Staff 
Section 20 Instructor: Staff 
Section 40 Instructor: Staff 
Introduction to the tradition and practice of speculative writing. Provides students the opportunity to examine and compare works of science fiction and/or fantasy 
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 3372 (50): Special Topics in Science Fiction and Fantasy: How Magic Works
Instructor: David Brewer 
The most fundamental mark of fantasy is that it features stories in which magic works. The magic may be front and center (Harry Potter) or kept largely in the background (Game of Thrones); it may be an instrument of strong good or evil or merely a morally neutral tool. But regardless of the form it takes, in the vast majority of fantasy, magic is real, which means that to the extent that we buy into these stories and the worlds in which they’re set, we are temporarily accepting the existence of magic (or at least suspending our disbelief in its existence). This course will investigate how that process works, and what it might be able to tell us about the practice of worldbuilding more generally. We’ll also consider how fantasy’s open embrace of magic has contributed to its (traditionally low, but recently rising) cultural status. 
Potential Texts:  J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Benedict Jacka, Veiled, Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn: The Final Empire, Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows, Ursula Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea, John Bellairs, The Face in the Frost, S. A. Chakraborty, The City of Brass, Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell 
Potential Assignments: A weekly reading journal; a recommendation, in the form of a slide show, of a magic system that is not part of what we’re reading together, posted to Carmen for your colleagues’ consideration; a short response to one of your colleagues’ recommendations; a short essay connecting one of the magic systems we’re exploring to the other tools of worldbuilding employed in that narrative; a significant contribution to a group project in which you collectively devise a new magic system and explain how it would help construct a fictional world; active, “game” participation in our discussions 
Guiding Questions: What place does magic occupy in the worldbuilding that's at the heart of fantasy and what might it teach us about other sorts of worldbuilding? 
GEL: Literature  
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 3378: Janeites: Austen Fiction, Films, and Fans 
Instructor: Robyn Warhol
Janeites: They have outfits. They re-enact Regency balls at annual conventions. They are Jane Austen fanatics. There are at least 62 film and TV adaptations of works by Austen, 28 of them made in the last decade. There’s Pride & Prejudice and Zombies, movies about “Jane” herself, and movies where modern people go into Austen’s world and vice-versa. There’s fan fiction. There are Jane Austen action figures and “Mrs. Darcy” t-shirts. And now there’s even an online role-play game, “Ever, Jane.” There are children’s versions of Austen novels. Jane Austen cookbooks. Advice books and board games about “WWJD?” (“What would Jane do?”) And of course, lots of literary criticism. In this class we will be reading some criticism as well as four Austen novels, and watching film adaptations including Clueless and the Bollywood-style Bride and Prejudice. We will look at the proliferation of all these contemporary avatars of Jane and more, to ask what it means, especially for women now. 
Potential Texts: Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813), Austen, Mansfield Park (1814), Austen, Emma (1815), Austen, Persuasion (1818), Fielding, Bridget Jones’s Diary (1999), Baker, Longbourn (2014), Copeland and McMaster, eds. Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen (2011) (this one is RECOMMENDED, not required) 
Films & TV Adaptations: Clueless (with Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd), 1995, Mansfield Park (with Frances O’Connor and Jonny Lee Miller), 1999, Bride and Prejudice (with Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson), 2004, Becoming Jane (with Anne Hathaway), 2007, Lost in Austen (TV miniseries, 4 episodes), 2007, Miss Austen Regrets (TV movie, available on Amazon Prime), 2008, Love and Friendship (with Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny), 2016 
Potential Assignments: We will have group oral presentations, twice-weekly brief writing assignments (some of them creative) and identification exams. 
Guiding Questions: What were Jane Austen's novels saying to her 19th-century audience? What do they mean today? Why is Austen still so popular? And what exactly is a "Janeite"?
GEL: Cultures and Ideas  
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3379 (20): Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy 
Instructor: James Fredal  
In English 3379, you will learn about Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy Studies by studying what researchers in these subfields of English Studies study and do. You will learn how to write effective research-based arguments in these subfields by practicing methods of data collection and analysis, developing research questions, working with genres of research writing, and revising your writing for clarity and purpose. You will understand how to transfer what you learn to new contexts, both other courses in the English major and contexts outside the university. 
Potential Texts: All materials are available for free on Carmen. This course was supported by an Affordable Learning Exchange grant, through which WRL faculty developed and curated free learning resources. 
Potential Assignments: Multiple short assignments to practice different methods; scaffolded writing activities; final project (paper or research proposal) 
Guiding Questions: What is rhetoric? What is writing? What is literacy? How do we study these concepts? How do they organize scholarly disciplines? 

English 3379 (30): Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy 
Instructor: Jonathan Buehl 
In English 3379, you will learn about Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy Studies by studying what researchers in these subfields of English Studies study and do. You will learn how to write effective research-based arguments in these subfields by practicing methods of data collection and analysis, developing research questions, working with genres of research writing and revising your writing for clarity and purpose. You will understand how to transfer what you learn to new contexts—both other courses in the English major and contexts outside the university. 
Potential Texts: All materials are available for free on Carmen. This course was supported by an Affordable Learning Exchange grant, through which WRL faculty developed and curated free learning resources. 
Potential Assignments: Multiple short assignments to practice different methods; scaffolded writing activities; final project (paper or research proposal) 
Guiding Questions: What is rhetoric? What is writing? What is literacy? How do we study these concepts? How do they organize scholarly disciplines? 

English 3395: Literature and Leadership  
Instructor: Dorothy Noyes 
In this course students consider leadership as a component of national citizenship and literature as a mode of exploring and analyzing a range of perspectives on leadership. The course will encourage students to think about how responses to power are mediated by race, gender, and class and how literary study can help them reflect on and articulate their own leadership strengths and aspirations. 
GEN: Theme – Citizenship for a Diverse & Just World 

English 3398 (10): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin 
Poems, plays and stories are part of what makes us human. We’ve been inventing these verbal contraptions for longer than recorded history, far longer than printing, way longer than we’ve been studying them in colleges and universities. What are these linguistic doohickeys, though? How do they work and what can they do? How do we read and make sense of them? How do we talk and write about them? In this course we will read a variety of provocative literary works, considering especially matters of literary history, genre, form and language, as well as the interconnected roles of authors, texts and readers, exploring all the many ways in which novels, poems, and plays make meaning. 
Potential Texts: Works will include Shakespeare’s young adult tragedy Hamlet; Dickens’ Hamlet novel Great Expectation; the dazzling poems of A.E. Stallings; and Tomson Highway’s trickster play, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing. We will also read critical essays on these works, representing different theoretical and methodological perspectives. 
Potential Assignments: Evaluation will be based on participation in discussion, short assignments, and four essays. 

English 3398 (20): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Christopher Jones 
Do you love reading literature but feel less confident about your ability to analyze and interpret it? Would you like to develop and make more concrete your strategies for "close reading" all kinds of texts? This section of English 3398 is designed to help you meet these goals. The class combines exercises in analytical reading with formal and informal writing assignments. The emphasis throughout is on the acquisition and strengthening of skills required in many upper-division English courses. These skills include (A) the ability to objectify and articulate what we, as readers, bring to interpretation of a text; (B) the ability to “close read” for patterns and argue from them; (C) the ability to identify the conventions of various textual forms (genres) and the different kinds of critical engagement they encourage; and (D) the ability to conduct and effectively incorporate research into the historical backgrounds, reception, or influence of authors and texts. 

English 3398: Methods for the Study of Literature  
Section 30 Instructor: Ethan Knapp 
Section 70 Instructor: Leslie Lockett 
Serves as the "Methods" course for the Literature and Creative Writing concentrations within the English major. Its purpose is to familiarize students with literary studies in such a way as to prepare them for advanced courses in all literary fields and the genres of Creative Writing. Required of English majors. Open to English majors only or others by dept permission.  

English 3465: Special Topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing  
Section 20 Instructor: Kurt Ostrow
Section 30 Instructor: Sophia Huneycutt  

For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing fiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored 

English 3466: Special Topics in Intermediate Poetry Writing  
Instructor: Hannah Nahar  
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing poetry. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3468: Special Topics in Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing  
Instructor: Andrew Romriell  
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing creative nonfiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored 

English 3662: An Introduction to Literary Publishing  
Instructor: Alexandra Smereka  
An introduction to the theory and practice of editing and publishing literature. 

4000-Level

ENGLISH 4150: Cultures of Professional Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Christiane Buuck 
Section 30 and 40 Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Examine writing in various workplaces. Analyze writing discourse that shapes professional organizations. Explore ongoing technological and cultural shifts required of workplace writers and the role of digital media. 

ENGLISH 4189: Professional Writing Minor - Capstone Internship
Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Students work onsite in an organization doing writing-related work and meet weekly to discuss related topics. 

English 4520.02: Special Topics in Shakespeare 
Instructor: Sarah Neville 
This upper-level Special Topics in Shakespeare course is designed to give students an opportunity to explore the relationship between dramatic texts, literary criticism and live performance through the hands-on experience of working on a real Shakespeare production. Lord Denney’s Players is producing A Midsummer Night’s Dream in November 2023, and this section of ENGL 4520.02 will form the show’s production team. Students in ENGL 4520.02 will work in groups to learn hands-on basics of theatrical adaptation from concept, dramaturgy and script development to casting, costumes, lighting/sound/set design, topromotions, budgeting, and front-of-house management. Beyond the practical theatre experience they will gain, students in this course will study the theatrical, textual and critical history of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, exploring topics like Elizabethan politics and censorship, Renaissance books in print, textual transmission and revision, performance criticism, theatre reviewing, adaptation, and Shakespeare’s use of popular and historical sources. In addition to our regularly scheduled class, students are required to attend a selection of the show’s rehearsals, which will run Monday-Thursday evenings between September and November. Students will be assessed by critical writing assignments, a theatre journal and a final reflection. Students in ENGL 4520.02 have the option of auditioning for the cast of the show in the first week of class, but they are not obligated to act in the production.  

English 4521: Renaissance Drama: The Dangerous Christopher Marlowe
Instructor: Alan Farmer 
Although Shakespeare is undeniably now the most famous dramatist from early modern England, that was not always the case. In the early 1590s, when Shakespeare’s career was just beginning, Christopher Marlowe was undeniably London’s most influential, notorious and dangerous playwright. A spy and supposed atheist, he was ultimately killed, and perhaps assassinated, in a lodging house in May 1593. Before then, Marlowe wrote plays that transformed the early modern theater in exciting, unsettling and troubling ways. His plays are filled with disturbing villains, daring women, violent spectacles, cruel humor, and subversive political and sexual philosophies. In this course, we will read each of Marlowe’s plays and consider how they offer radical explorations of such early modern—and contemporary—topics as religion, sexuality, feminism, race, politics, science and power.  
Potential Texts: Christopher Marlowe, THE COMPLETE PLAYS, ed. Frank Romany and Robert Lindsey (New York: Penguin, 2003) (ISBN 978-0140436334) 
Potential Assignments: Requirements include critical essays, research exercises, quizzes, an exam and active participation. 

English 4540: Nineteenth-Century British Poetry
Instructor: Jill Galvan
This course covers British poetry written between 1789 and 1901, encompassing the Romantic and Victorian periods. I’ll begin with some brief discussions of poetic elements and critical reading strategies, for those new to in-depth poetry analysis (or needing a refresher). (**You do not need to consider yourself fantastic at analyzing poetry to take this course! Part of my goal will be to help everyone become more confident approaching the genre by the end.)
Authors will include William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charlotte Smith, John Keats, Lord Byron, Henry Derozio, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, A.C. Swinburne, Toru Dutt, Augusta Webster, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, and Oscar Wilde. We will focus on these authors’ forms, styles, and thematic concerns. At the same time, we will consider how their poems respond to significant cultural ideas and historical developments—for example, slavery and empire, the French Revolution, abolitionism, ideas of the sublime, the “woman question” and debates about gender, momentous scientific discoveries, challenges to religious faith, and burgeoning modern views about the value of art. Students will also learn about important poetic forms (e.g., the ode, the sonnet, and the dramatic monologue) and important literary modes and movements (e.g., the Gothic, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and Aestheticism). I’ll be lecturing but will also incorporate lots of discussion. Tentative course requirements: regular and enthusiastic class participation, four brief analytical responses (1-2 pp. each), a final project (5-7 pp.), a midterm exam, and a final exam.

English 4550: Special Topics in Colonial American and Early National U.S. Literatures - Abolition Then and Now 
Instructor: Molly Farrell 
What do the writings of prison abolitionists today have in common—if anything—with those of the first antislavery abolitionists in America? From where we are in the 21st century, it’s hard to even imagine a world without incarceration; and in the 18th century, a global economic system without the trade in enslavement seemed pretty unimaginable, too. Putting texts by Black writers from then and now side by side, we will ask, how do we imagine alternative futures? Where does racism come from, and what is its relationship to capitalism and colonialism? When is reading transhistorically helpful, and when does it lead us astray? Through it all, we will seek to redefine what literature even is by blurring the lines between protest writings and genres like poetry and autobiography. Readings may include work by Phillis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano, Mariame Kaba, Ruth Wilson Gilmore and others. 
Potential Texts: Readings may include work by Phillis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano, Mariame Kaba, Ruth Wilson Gilmore and others. 
Potential Assignments: Literary critical essay, quizzes, presentation and short responses. 
Guiding Questions: What can literature of Black abolitionists in the eighteenth century teach us about our present struggles? 

English 4553: 20th-Century US Fiction - Fashion and Fiction 
Instructor: Elizabeth Sheehan 
This course explores the relationship between U.S. fashion and fiction across the 20th and early 21st centuries. It examines the connections between the ways that garments and texts construct narratives, shape identity and locate people and things within local and global systems. In fiction, for example, descriptions of dress help to set a scene, while fashions invite people to create certain stories about themselves and the world. Our study of fashion and fiction will also attend to how the history of fashion design, production, and consumption in the U.S. is related to developments in U.S. literary culture. We will consider what fashion—and related terms such as style, beauty, celebrity, branding and subcultures—can help us to understand about how literature has been written, sold and read over the last 120 years. Possible readings include literary texts by Edith Wharton, Nella Larsen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, Jhumpa Lahiri, William Gibson, Anne Boyer and Ocean Vuong. In addition to analyzing works of fiction, students will study garments, magazines, photographs, films, new media and critical and cultural theory.

English 4565: Advanced Fiction Writing 
Instructor: Nick White 
Welcome, writers! Join me this semester as we study the "willed word" that is our fiction. A man who suffers from PTSD after surviving a werewolf attack struggles to keep his family together; after accidentally shooting and killing an albatross, a young woman finds her life spiraling out of control; a flock of endangered birds sings a haunting eulogy to our dying planet - these are just a few of stories we will read and study this semester, with an eye toward what made them unforgettable pieces of art. You will also "join" the writerly conversation by workshopping your own short stories. I promise you much energy, much laughter, a touch of rue and many blessings with respect to our time together. 
Potential Texts: All texts will be provided as PDFs on Carmen/Canvas

English 4566: Advanced Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Marcus Jackson 
Advanced workshop in the writing of poetry. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor. 

English 4567S: Rhetoric and Community Service 
Instructor: Beverly Moss 
Are you interested in working with a non-profit? Gaining experience as a professional writer? Learning about the rhetorical moves that writers in non-profits employ? In this undergraduate service learning course, you will experience firsthand, through writing for a community non-profit coupled with in-class workshops and conversations how rhetoric (and writing) can affect (both positively and negatively) social change in an organization. You will be assigned to work with a specific community organization for ten weeks of the semester. 
Potential Assignments: You will complete writing assignments designated by your community partner, a rhetorical analysis of your community organization's public-facing documents, and compile a portfolio and reflection of your work with the community partner. 
GEL: Service Learning 

English 4568: Advanced Creative Nonfiction 
Instructor: Lee Martin 
This is a workshop for writers of creative nonfiction. We'll read examples of literary essays online, but the bulk of our work will involve conversations about our own creative work. Through these conversations, we'll get a better grasp on elements of the craft and then apply them to our revisions. 

English 4569: Digital Media and English Studies 
Instructor: John Jones 
Students in 4569 will use the programable Arduino platform to explore the rhetorical possibilities of interactive digital objects, paying particular attention to the new forms of digital creativity these tools are enabling. In this way, students will not only analyze digital objects but become makers themselves, thinking about new relations between people and the physical world that are enabled by our devices and the new forms of writing they can support. 
Potential Texts: Massimo Banzi and Michael Shiloh, Getting Started with Arduino: The Open Source Electronics Prototyping Platform, 3rd Edition 
Potential Assignments: Students will create multiple interactive design projects, a short paper, and take occasional quizzes. 
Guiding Questions: What are the rhetorical and communicative properties of objects? How can the affordances of interactive objects be leveraged for rhetorical purposes? 

English 4571: Special Topics in English Linguistics 
Instructor: Lauren Squires 
This course will explore language in popular media, bringing critical language analysis to bear on media texts. We will explore how sociolinguistic concepts can help us understand what we find in both mass media (like movies, TV, newspapers, music, and sports broadcasting) and digital media (like email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and texting). In our investigations, we will pay careful attention to media forms, linguistic forms, and social factors. You will leave the class equipped with new ways of viewing media and popular culture, and with new tools for critically considering the role of language in everyday life. 
Potential Texts: Queen, Robin. 2015. Vox popular: The surprising life of language in the media. Wiley Blackwell. Fought, Carmen, and Eisenhauer, Karen. 2022. Language and Gender in Children's Animated Films. Cambridge University Press. 
Potential Assignments: Class presentation; "TV Club" group online discussion and final presentation; final paper 
Guiding Questions: How does language in media reflect social identities? How can a sociolinguistic lens inform our understanding of pop culture?

English 4572: English Grammar and Usage 
Instructor: Lauren Squires 
Examination of terminology and structures traditionally associated with the study of English grammar and usage rules, especially problematic ones, governing edited written American English. 

English 4573.01: Rhetorical Theory and Criticism 
Instructor: Jonathan Buehl 
In this course, you will learn about rhetorical theories and apply those theories as you write different kinds of rhetorical criticism. 
Potential Texts: Rhetorical Criticism: Perspectives in Action, edited by Jim Kuypers and Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America by Cody Keenan 
Potential Assignments: Discussion posts; papers 
Guiding Questions: What is rhetoric? What are some important rhetorical theories? How can we use them to better understand rhetorical artifacts? 

English 4578 (10): Special Topics in Film - Black Independent Cinema After the Transition to Sound 
Instructor: Ryan Friedman 
This course will focus on what was known as "race films"--African American-cast movies made by independent companies to cater to African American film audiences--from the early 1930s through the late 1940s. Focusing on this period in the history of race cinema, rather than the better-known silent-era productions, we will delve deeply into the mode of production, aesthetics, and social and political concerns of filmmakers and audiences working in this Hollywood-adjacent film milieu. 

English 4578 (20): Special Topics in Film - Bad Reviews 
Instructor: Jesse Schotter 
“That story counts for less than gimmicks, and characters less than both.” “A big, expensive, time-consuming, essentially mechanical operation.” These are excerpts from some of the reviews that greeted The Empire Strikes Back when it premiered. In this class, we’ll watch a selection of classic, canonized films, and read bad reviews of them. What can we learn from these contrarian takes? About these films, or what we look for in films more generally? About critics’ blind spots when it comes to genre, gender, or race? About how certain films get canonized and others don’t? In so doing we’ll try to clarify what our own criteria are in judging movies and understand what makes for an insightful and effective review. 
Potential Texts: Films may include "The Empire Strikes Back," "Do the Right Thing," "The Heartbreak Kid," "Celine and Julie Go Boating," "Clueless," "They Love," "Schindler's List" and others. 
Potential Assignments: Three 3-page reviews and one 6-page review essay, plus quizzes and one discussion presentation. 

English 4580: Special Topics in LGBTQ Literature and Culture 
Instructor: Martin Joseph Ponce 
This course focuses on 20th and 21st-century North American literary texts that invoke “queer” histories, homelands and futures through the framework of LGBTQ+ literacies. What roles has reading (for) depictions of homoerotic desires and nonbinary gender embodiments played in the construction of queer and trans selves, communities, histories and traditions? How have those literacy practices and processes of self-understanding and community formation been complicated and transformed by the foregrounding of racial, colonial and other social differences? How have queer of color, queer diasporic and queer postcolonial approaches challenged both heteronormative and (white) queer histories and theories of sexuality and gender? Throughout the course, we will consider the ways that intersectional representation matters for diverse readers, while also remaining attentive to the array of formal strategies that LGBTQ+ writers (of color) have used to evoke and reimagine not only histories of gender-sexual, racial, and colonial violence and oppression but also alternative homelands and futures of survival and possibility. 
Potential Texts: Possible authors: Alison Bechdel, Eli Clare, Thomas Glave, Carmen Maria Machado, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Audre Lorde, Danez Smith, Rivers Solomon, Samuel Steward, Monique Truong, Craig Womack 
Potential Assignments: Attendance, participation, discussion posts, key term exercises, midterm paper, final project 

English 4583: Special Topics in World Literature - National and Transnational Narratives 
Instructor: Pranav Jani 
"Decolonial" and "anticolonial" perspectives link questions of identity and culture with on-the-ground movements for national liberation and self-determination. But nationalism, even anticolonial nationalism, can be limiting, too. This world literature course considers representations of colonized and postcolonial worlds in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Palestine, and Ireland. In the process we will study some poignant narratives about national oppression and resistance, and also consider transnational texts that focus on shared histories across national borders. 
Potential Texts: Tsitsi Dangarembga; Nervous Conditions, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing, Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place, Ken Loach, The Wind That Shakes the Barley (film), Mark Mathabane, Kaffir Boy, Viet Nguyen, The Refugees, Joe Sacco, Palestine, Kamila Shamsie, Burnt Shadows 
Potential Assignments: Eager class participation, weekly posts, short paper, research paper. 
Guiding Questions: (1) What is decolonial? What is postcolonial? (2) Why do artists from colonized places often turn to nationalism as a solution? How do such literatures, graphic novels, and films blend personal and political concerns? (3) What are the power and limits of nationalism? What is transnationalism? 
 

English 4587: Studies in Asian American Literature and Culture 
Instructor: Martin Joseph Ponce 
This course focuses on Asian American literary texts that engage in creative, experimental and reflexive ways with history—and, at the end, with the future. We will begin with the Asian American movement of the 1960s and 70s to appreciate the emergence of “Asian American” as a category of political identification and coalition. Then we will turn to (mostly) contemporary canonical writers who have engaged with key Asian/American historical events and processes in formally innovative ways. These include Chinese immigration and exclusion, Japanese American incarceration, Japanese imperialism in East and Southeast Asia, U.S. colonialism in the Philippines, the Vietnam War, 9/11/2001 and the persistence of the “model minority” myth since the Cold War era. Throughout the course, we will remain attentive to the ways that race and ethnicity intersect with class, gender, sexuality, dis/ability, location and other social differences to produce the heterogeneous imaginary known as “Asian America.” 
Potential Texts: Possible authors: Jessica Hagedorn, Mohsin Hamid, Cathy Park Hong, Maxine Hong Kingston, Chang-rae Lee, Ling Ma, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Julie Otsuka, Asako Serizawa, Karen Tei Yamashita 
Potential Assignments: Requirements: attendance, participation, discussion posts/presentations, informal journal responses, midterm paper, final project 
Guiding Questions: What historical knowledge does Asian American literature seek to reclaim and remember? What are the risks and possibilities of doing so using experimental literary forms? To what extent are these histories in tension with one another and thereby complicate “Asian American” as a panethnic coalitional identity? What insights do intersectional modes of analysis offer for reading this body of work? 

English 4590.02H: The Renaissance 
Instructor: Christopher Highley 
This class will explore one of the most turbulent and exciting periods in English history and culture from the late fifteenth to the late seventeenth century. This period saw an intellectual and cultural awakening (the Renaissance) as well as profound social and religious upheavals (the Reformation). We will examine and interrogate these 'movements' through some of the literary works that bear their imprint most vividly. These will include Shakespeare's great tragedy 'Hamlet,' Edmund Spenser's chivalric romance 'The Faerie Queene,' John Donne's lyrics and John Milton's biblical epic 'Paradise Lost.' These canonical masterpieces are grounded in their historical moment, but they also pose questions that we grapple with today: what does it mean to be human? What is the connection between the human and the divine? How should a society be organized? What is the relationship between the sexes? 
Potential Texts: Shakespeare's 'Hamlet,' Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene,' John Donne's lyrics, and John Milton's 'Paradise Lost.' 
Potential Assignments: quizzes, research papers, take home/in-class exams

English 4592 (30): Special Topics in Women and Literature - Gender and Empire 
Instructor: Molly Farrell  
The colonization of the New World has usually been told as a "boy story," with pirates or explorers, shipwrecks or frontiers, as its characters and settings. This class asks what would happen if we put girls and women, homes and domestic spaces, at the center of that story instead. Reading literature from and about early America, we will look at the ways sex, gender and families are inextricably bound up with appetites for expanding an Empire. Texts may include Toni Morrison's "A Mercy", early novellas about shipwrecks on deserted islands and novels about sex scandals from pre-"Bridgerton" New England and Jamaica. 
Potential Texts: Toni Morrison, A Mercy;  Phillis Wheatley, Complete Poems; Unca Eliza Winkfield, The Female American; William Hill Brown, The Power of Sympathy; Leonora Sansay, Secret History, or the Horrors of St. Domingo; Anonymous, The Woman of Colour: A Tale 
Potential Assignments: Course requirements will likely include two critical essays, two response papers, reading quizzes, presentations, attendance and participation. 
Guiding Questions: How are gender, race and empire related? What can we learn about intersectional feminism from early American writing? 

English 4592 (20): Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture 
Instructor: Koritha Mitchell 
Special Topic = Womanhood in Black and White. Using feminist perspectives, students in this course will analyze texts by or about women. As an intellectual community, we will explore literary works that help us to think critically about how womanhood figures in American culture. If literature both reflects existing ideas and shapes what seems possible, how varied are the possibilities it imagines for women? How does whiteness expand or limit options? How are an individual’s horizons affected when one is not considered white? We will operate as an intellectual community and help each other think through various authors’ representations of issues, such as romantic and platonic love, mothering and childfree living, and power dynamics of all sorts. 
Potential Texts: Likely authors include Harriet Jacobs, Frances Harper, Kate Chopin, Zora Neale Hurston, and Julie Otsuka. 
Potential Assignments: Consistent reading and very active class participation required. Quizzes are the norm as are oral presentations. 

English 4592 (10): Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture 
Instructor: Elizabeth Renker 
Special Topics in Women, Literature, and Culture: Sarah Piatt and 19th Century Concepts of Gender.  Sarah Piatt (1836-1919) has been called America’s great undiscovered poet. A celebrity in her own time, she was, like many women writers of the nineteenth century, expunged from the canon in the early twentieth century. In the 1990s, scholars began at last to bring her work back to public attention as part of a more general recovery of the work of women writers. Since that time, she has achieved recognition as one of the great voices of American and transatlantic literary history, writing extensively about the conflicts and fractures of nineteeth-century social life in a searing and often ironic voice. One of her major topics was the position of woman in society, including her roles as belle, wife, mother, poet, and public figure. This class will explore her poems and bring them into dialogue with public conceptions of gender as her world defined them as well as with selected short writings by other women of her era.

English 4597.01: The Disability Experience in the Contemporary World Instructor: Margaret Price 
This course is organized around the question, What does it mean to “see” disability? We will begin with an examination of the common metaphor for disability awareness, “visibility,” moving from there to questions of staring, looking, gazing and representing. For example, what does it mean to say one has an “invisible” disability? Why are visibly disabled people so often stared at; what are the purposes of those stares? What happens when the disabled person stares back? When we look to media such as films, paintings, advertisements, magazines and social media, how are disabled people represented—and who does the representing? What can we learn from looking at signage and iconography involving disability—for example, the conventional blue-and-white “accessibility logo” with an upright figure in a wheelchair, as well as more contemporary manifestations such as the one from the Accessible Icon Project (https://proxy.qualtrics.com/proxy/?url=http%3A%2F%2Faccessibleicon.org&token=IB8TcI40gFwa7ufUtmjZlNLqbltFYaKrwAZG5YUYOsc%3D)? How do spaces and interfaces affect the ways that disability appears (or disappears)? Rather than understanding representation as always and only visual, we will investigate ways that disability is represented multimodally—and will study ways of creating such multimodal compositions ourselves. 
Potential Assignments: Papers and accessible multi-media projects 
GEL: Cross-Disciplinary Seminar

5000-Level

English 5710.01-.02: Introduction to Old English 
Instructor: Christopher Jones 
"Old English" is the name for the earliest surviving form of the English language--the language of the great poem Beowulf and other fascinating texts from over a thousand years ago. Old English and its literature were an important influence on J. R. R. Tolkien and other pioneers of modern fantasy. This course aims to give students a basic reading knowledge of Old English. We will begin with a concentrated overview of its grammar before moving on to the translation of simple prose and poetry. In addition to a final exam, there will be short but frequent grammar or translation quizzes and a final translation or research project.  

English 5722.01-.02: Poetry and Social Disorder in Civil War England 
Instructor: Luke Wilson 
This course, designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, will focus on the poetry of perhaps the most unsettled and unsettling three decades in English history, from the mid-1630s to the mid-1660s. Dominated by the Civil Wars and the execution of Charles I in 1649, these years saw the world turned upside down. Radical religious heterodoxies sprang up along with schemes for the radical reorganization of the political, economic, and social order. And poets – among them John Milton, Andrew Marvell, Margaret Cavendish, Hester Pulter, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Carew, and many others – struggled to make sense of their role in it all. How does the poet, writing in times of crisis, rationalize what she or he does? What is the place of the poet in such times? What are the politics of poetic (and for that matter material) pleasures? What kinds of enjoyment are possible in a time of political exigency? What is the relation between models of authority – monarchist, parliamentarian, vitalist-materialist – and poetic style? We’ll pay special attention to the Cavalier poets, whose commitment to joy sat uneasily with the defeat of the Royalist cause, to the poems of Milton’s 1645 Poems, which are (apart from Paradise Lost) the preeminent expression of a radical Puritan sensibility for which joy was equally fundamental, and to the exuberant and politically elusive poems of Andrew Marvell. We’ll also devote significant attention to the female poets of the later years, including Margaret Cavendish and Hester Pulter, who complicate traditional accounts of the gendering of the poetic. Assignments will include a couple of short essays, a class presentation, and a final research paper. 

1000-Level

English 1110.01: First-Year English Composition  
Instructor: Staff 
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing & in the essays of professional writers. 
GEL Writing and Communication, level 1 
GEN Foundation, Writing and Information Literacy 

English 1110.01 (14): First-Year English Composition 
Instructor: Sean Yeager 
This is an introductory composition course. We will discuss the conventions of academic writing and put them into practice. Students will learn writing methods which are iterative and collaborative. 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1  
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy 

English 1110.01 (15): Representations of Place and Community in Media 
Instructor: Rachel Jurasevich
What is the relationship between place and community? Exploring topics ranging from environmental justice activism to eco-tourism, rural revitalization efforts, online forums, and TV/movies, this course will explore the various ways Place and Community and represented in media. How is "place" made? How are communities built, sustained, or destroyed? Let's find out together. In this writing course, you will develop your capacity for undertaking academic research and analysis through an original research project and presentation of the results of your work to an audience of your peers. You will identify an area of interest within our course theme—Representations of Place and Community in Media—and find materials to analyze, develop analytical research questions, explore secondary texts, and make claims that are connected to the evidence you have discovered.  
As many researchers do at this stage in their work, you will then reframe what you have learned for a public audience. During the research process, you will also be preparing for the English 1110 Symposium Presentation, a 5-minute presentation consisting of 15 images, each accompanied by 20 seconds of text/narration. The creation of your Symposium Presentation will provide significant opportunities for considering the nature of your research, the relationship between visual and written text, and issues of writing craft. 
Potential Texts: Ferebee, Kristin, Edgar Singleton, and Mike Bierschenk. The Writer’s Companion: A Guide to First-Year Writing with Excerpts from Writing Analytically. 2nd ed. Cengage Learning, 2017. 
Potential Assignments: Primary source analysis; annotated bibliography; a secondary source integration essay; an analytical research paper; a 5-minute Symposium Presentation

English 1110.01 (30): Writing and Information Literacy 
Instructor: Aline Resende Mello 
Your work in English 1110 will help you develop your writing and information literacy skills by engaging with and participating in a research community. You will learn to ask critical questions, make connections among writers and ideas, contribute to your peers’ understanding of a subject or issue, and reflect on your role as a writer and composer within your research community. Through a series of projects, you will gain experience locating, identifying, interpreting, and using objects within digitized collections and archives. Also, you will access a variety of databases to build a Worknet, a tool for researching and reading scholarly texts. You will learn responsible and ethical practices for accessing, using, and creating information. Finally, you will learn to make effective rhetorical choices while composing accessible print and multimodal texts.  
Potential Assignments: Major Project 1: The Archival Collage, Major Project 2: The Worknet, Major Project 3: Welcome to the Community, and Major Project 4: Asset 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1  
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy 

English 1110.01 (70): First Year English Composition 
Instructor: Eileen Horansky 
Your work in English 1110 will help you develop your writing and information literacy skills by engaging with and participating in a research community. You will learn to ask critical questions, make connections among writers and ideas, contribute to your peers’ understanding of a subject or issue, and reflect on your role as a writer and composer within your research community. Through a series of projects, you will gain experience locating, identifying, interpreting, and using objects within a collection of digital archives. 
Potential Texts: Ball, Cheryl E., Jennifer Sheppard, and Kristin L. Arola. Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects. 3rd Ed. Macmillan, 2022. ISBN: 978-1-319-24505-4. Lary-Lemon, Jennifer, Derek Mueller, and Kate Pantelides. Try This: Research Methods for Writers. WAC Clearinghouse, 2022.  
Potential Assignments:  Four major multimodal projects, period short writing assignments and discussion posts. 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1  
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy 

English 1110.01 (130): Language and Controversy 
Instructor: Evan DeCarlo  
Some times, with the unbelievably fast changes we see in technology, it becomes easy to lose sight of what else has been accelerating all along: language. Language today -- and the way we use it -- is in a constant state of change. And nowhere else do we see that change erupt more visibly than through the lens of public controversy. This course runs the gamut from seemingly small disagreements about controversial comma placements in legal language -- to debates about what we say on social media -- all the way up to massive cultural controversies about the ways we use language to define our own identities. Today's public discourse is fueled by disagreement about the words and rules we do (and do not) decide to use -- and that's exactly what we'll be studying and writing about this summer. 

Students are encouraged to bring their interests, expertise, and unique backgrounds to their work in this class as we select individual topics for research and analysis. Expect to write, chat, debate, and have a lot of fun as we explore this exciting topic together. 
Potential Assignments: Papers, Research Project, Creative Work 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1  
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy 

2000-Level

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Tamara Mahadin 
A visitor strolling along London’s South Bank in the late sixteenth century would encounter, in quick succession, brothels, a bull- and a bear-baiting ring, a notorious prison already centuries old, and a round wooden theater. For this theater, Shakespeare first wrote his influential plays, in the process attracting an audience from all walks of life—aristocrats and merchants, cobblers and tailors, seamstresses and fishwives. In this course, we’ll be imagining what it was like to be among them, experiencing Shakespeare’s plays in action.  
For better or worse, the figure of Shakespeare looms large in our cultural imagination. He is, without a doubt, the most canonized of English authors. Thus, to an introduction to his work is an introduction to literary study as a whole. It is also an introduction to the many ways Shakespeare is weaponized and valorized in our broader culture—from politics to business to medicine to law to psychology and more. Alert to such larger concerns, this course introduces students to some Shakespearean texts and contexts. Emphasis is placed on Shakespeare’s choice of drama— thus the plays are treated as plays, and experienced in performance—and on close reading and interpretation. But interpretation will be done in light of the traditions in and against which Shakespeare wrote, most especially the conventions of the three traditional Shakespearean genres: comedy, tragedy, and history. Potential Texts: Our in-depth exploration of Shakespeare’s language, works, and world will include the texts and contexts of Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, and The Tempest. 
Potential Assignments: Glossing Shakespeare's Language, Mini-Papers, Open-book Quizzes administered through Carmen, and Final Exam 
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2261 (20): Introduction to Fiction 
Instructor: Rachel Stewart 
"Elementary, my dear Watson!" Or, I should say, "Introduction to Fiction, my dear students!" In this course, we will examine the foundational elements of fiction through a focus on the detective fiction genre. Treating these elements as "clues" to be investigated, by the end of the semester you will understand the building blocks of fiction, as well as how these "clues" operate in one of fiction's most beloved genres. We will not be chained down by time period or type of media, starting with a visit to Sherlock Holmes in Victorian London, making a pit-stop in 1940's Japan, and ending with contemporary film and television detectives.  
Potential Texts: A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (1887), Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (1937), The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (1946), Knives Out by Rian Johnson (2019) 
Potential Assignments: Opportunity for both traditional papers and creative work for major assignments will be provided. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2261 (30): Introduction to Fiction 
Instructor: Samantha Trzinski 
C. S. Lewis once argued that “a children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest” Though intended for a younger audience, children’s literature teaches readers of all ages and can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. This course will focus on early forms of children’s literature from the late eighteenth century through the nineteenth century. We will read moral tales from authors such as Maria Edgeworth and Amelia Opie, selections from the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. We will learn how children’s literature evolved throughout the course of the nineteenth century and how changing concepts of childhood influenced literature. This course provides a foundational introduction to the study of fiction and will familiarize you with some of the basic literary concepts associated with the genre of fiction. Throughout the semester, you will learn college-level strategies for analyzing literature and how to construct logical interpretations based on textual evidence.   
Potential Texts: Moral tales from Maria Edgeworth and Amelia Opie, Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women 
Potential Assignments: Discussion boards, quizzes, short papers, creative final project 
GEL: Literature 
GEN Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Andrew Romriell 
Section 20 Instructor: Sophia Huneycutt 
Stephen King, Jane Austen, Sarah J. Maas, and Colleen Hoover all started somewhere. Now is your chance to start writing, too! In this class, we'll explore the pillars of fiction writing (character, dialogue, point of view and narration, plot and structure, suspense, setting, and style) and apply them to our own stories.  
Potential Texts: Shit Cassandra Saw That She Didn’t Tell the Trojans Because at that Point Fuck Them Anyway by Gwen E. Kirby, Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot by Robert Olen Butler, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado 
Potential Assignments: Writing new short stories and flash fiction; completing short craft analyses on published stories; sharing and giving feedback on classmates' stories 

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies 
Instructor: Amrita Dhar 
What is disability studies? How did we get to this field of inquiry? Why does the discussion of disability pertain to us all? This introductory class on interdisciplinary disability studies will provide students with a grounding in sociopolitical models of disability as well as community-based modes of knowledge production. Together, we will also read disability testimonials, think disability justice, and imagine a future of collective access and belonging. 
Potential Texts: Keywords for Disability Studies, eds Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reiss, and David Serlin, Disability Visibility, ed. Alice Wong 
Potential Assignments: This class will ask students to complete brief reflection papers throughout the term, two class presentations, and a short final paper. 

English 2291: American Literature 1865 to the Present 
Instructor: Thomas Davis 
This course provides a survey of American literature from the end of the Civil War to the present day. We will attend closely to the formal and stylistic developments of different periods of literary history with an eye on the political and historical antagonisms that accompany and underwrite these aesthetic innovations. The lectures will sketch out the broad historical, cultural, and artistic transformations of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: the changes wrought by the aftermath of war; the transformative realities and legacies of capitalism, settler colonialism, and imperial ambition; the material and psychological impact of two world wars; economic turbulence; shifts in American conceptions of race, gender, and sexuality; and the role of technological innovation. As we move through the centuries, we will be able to see how literature not only internalized many of these historical pressures, but provided unique ways to see and to think about them.  
Potential Texts: Norton Anthology of American Literature 1865 to the Present and a contemporary novel such as Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower or Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones. 
Potential Assignments: A few quizzes, a midterm, a final, and a handful of discussion posts. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2367.01 (10): Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor:  Addison Koneval 
The National Council of Teachers of English defines literacy as “a tool for meaningful engagement with society makes sense.” More than simply the ability to read and write, literacy is a complex means of communication, navigation, and even a means of empowerment or control. In this course, we will explore these complex facets of literacy, paying special attention to its entangled relationship to intersectionality, identity, and justice as they relate to literacy issues in education. We will understand how literacy practices, standards, and infrastructures inside and out of school contribute to “success” in school. Readings will explore topics like linguistic nationalism, linguistic discrimination, code-switching, neoliberal schooling standards, and more through a number of research-based literacy projects. 
Potential Texts: Who Says? The Writer’s Research. Deborah H. Holdstein & Danielle Aquiline. Third Edition. 
Potential Assignments: Major research-based literacy projects, weekly practice and reflection assignments 

English 2367.01 (20): Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Caleb González 
You are currently living #collegelife. As students at a major public research university, you are part of a community that produces, circulates, and critiques knowledge. But why do we live #collegelife? Who gets to live #collegelife? And why is #collegelife always being discussed in the news, popular culture, government committees, and private homes as both the problem and the solution to America's problems? In this course, we will critically and creatively explore American higher education – it's histories, identities, and representations – and produce research that addresses its cultural, sociological, economic, and affective aspects. 
Potential Assignments: Literacy narrative, rhetorical analysis of a podcast, research proposal and critical project. 

English 2367.01 (30): Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience Cultural Citizenship - Advancing Recognition through Literature and Media 
Instructor: Irma Zamora 
In this course we will use the definition by scholars Renato Rosaldo, William V. Flores and Rina Benmayor’s of cultural citizenship as the claim for marginalized groups to keep their differences while still belonging to the nation through a process of “building community, claiming space, and claiming rights” (Flores and Benmayor 296). Considering this, we will analyze representations of community-building, space-claiming, and belonging of marginalized group sin excerpts from novels, television, film and more. We will question: how are communities and spaces represented across media? How do these representations affect interpretations of belonging of marginalized groups in the United States? How are authors/creators from marginalized groups working towards cultural citizenship? What are the larger implications of literary representations of cultural citizenship? In what ways do these representations shape our understanding of the world around us? 
Potential Texts: Ede, Lisa. The Academic Writer: A Brief Rhetoric. Bedford, 2021. 5th ed. Holdstein, Deborah H. and Danielle Aquiline. Who Says? The Writer's Research. Oxford University Press, 2013. (2nd Edition) 
Potential Assignments: Discussion posts, Presentations, Final papers. 
Guiding Questions: How are communities and spaces represented across media? How do these representations affect interpretations of belonging of marginalized groups in the United States? How are authors/creators from marginalized groups working towards cultural citizenship? What are the larger implications of literary representations of cultural citizenship? In what ways do these representations shape our understanding of the world around us? 
Additional Materials: May need access to Netflix. 

English 2367.01 (40): Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience Instructor: Carissa Ma 
Our course theme is Rhetorical Perspective on Invasion Ecology in the U.S. In this class we will discuss the ways in which the notion of invasion, i.e. the entering or taking over of a place, is rhetorically deployed for particular projects of nationalism, white supremacy, imperialism, and other intersecting political frameworks. Non-native species are real and persistent features of life on this planet insomuch as beings (animals, plants, bacteria) physically move (or are moved) from one place to another. What constitutes a ‘non-native’, and the various vocabularies through which we are encouraged to ‘speak,’ ‘see,’ and act toward them, are, however, symbolic constructions. Indeed, “invasive species” as a trope turns our attention to such vital questions as: What belongs? What/where are the boundaries? Who constructs them? We’ll be reading a number of texts addressing eco/biological discourses, contemporary crises of refugees, policed borders, occupied Indigenous lands, etc. Through these readings and activities we’ll examine issues of ability, health, disease, and nativity. 
Potential Texts: Deborah H. Holdstein and Danielle Aquiline, Who Says? Ursula K. Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest (1972) 
Potential Assignments: Book Review, Reflections, Abstract, Final Paper & Draft 
Guiding Questions: What/who belongs? What/where are the boundaries? Who constructs them? 

English 2376.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience  
Instructor: Natalie Kopp 
The American Midwest, from the Rust Belt to Chicago to rural farmland, occupies a unique space in the American cultural imagination. It has been called everything from America’s “heartland” to “flyover country.” It is a place where politicians vie for votes, a cornerstone of American industry, and, sometimes, the punchline of jokes. In this course, we will turn to literature and film (poetry, creative non-fiction, fiction, and documentary) about the American Midwest, by the diverse voices that make it up. These works will serve as an entry point into conversations about the land and culture, including issues such as gentrification of midwestern cities and stereotypes surrounding rural and small-town midwestern life. We will call on our own regional backgrounds, from within and outside the Midwest, to enrich our discussions of the Midwest’s place in the American cultural imagination. As a second-year writing course with a literature focus, this class will allow you to hone your academic writing skills and further develop the ways in which you write about narratives and stories.  
Potential Texts: The Crown Ain’t Worth Much by Hanif Abdurraqib, Universal Harvester by John Darnielle, essays from Black in the Middle: An Anthology of the Black Midwest, and others.  
GEL: Literature 
GEL Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
GEL: Writing and Communication: level 2 
GEN Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 2367.08: A Cultural History of Video Games 
Instructor: Chris Turpin 
Depending on who you ask the first computer game was invented in either 1940 (Nimatron) or 1958 (Tennis for Two). The history of games go back even further. In nearly every society (historic and current) you can find evidence of people playing games, thinking about games, and discussing games. While they are often written off as simple wastes of time, games are and always have been huge cultural influences. Games have shaped how we think about everything from getting a date to waging global nuclear war. In this class you will learn about the the cultural impact of games from the very first extant board games to the next-gen video games the future. You will also learn how to write and talk about complex cultural phenomena like games in a way that is legible to academic audiences. By the end of the course you will have a fuller understanding of how games influence the world around us, how the world influences our games, and how to productively discuss those influences. You'll also get to play a lot of video games, which is almost never a bad thing 
Potential Assignments: Writing Papers and Recording Video Essays 
Guiding Questions: Where do games come from? What effects have games had on our society? What effects has society had on our games? 
Additional Materials: Xbox Live Cloud Gaming Pass 

3000-Level

English 3271: Structure of the English Language  
Instructor: Lauren Squires 
Want to learn more about how the English language works, and how it reflects social facts and identities? This class is an introduction to the linguistic structure of the English language: its systems of sounds, words, and sentences, and how these systems differ across dialects, contexts, and periods in history. This fully online, asynchronous version of the course moves quickly in an intensive 6-week session. We first work to acquire the analytical tools needed to scientifically analyze any language, and apply these to the structure of English. We then move to understanding patterns of English in its conversational and social contexts, exploring how English is used in interaction, how its dialects and styles vary across individuals and groups, how the language we now think of as “English” came to be. 
Potential Texts: Curzan, Anne and Michael Adams. 2012. How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction. 3rd edition. Boston: Longman. 
Potential Assignments: Weekly online activities including readings, quizzes, discussions, midterm and final exam 

English 3304: Business and Professional Writing 
Instructor: Rachel McCoy 
The study of principles and practices of business and professional writing. 

English 3372 (10): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy  
Instructor: Dennin Ellis 
Introduction to the tradition and practice of speculative writing. Provides students the opportunity to examine and compare works of science fiction and/or fantasy. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN Foundation: Literary, Visual & Performing Arts 

English 3372 (40): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy  
Instructor: Elise Robbins 
Building New Worlds (And Re-Building Our Own): One of the reasons fantasy appeals to so many is that it creates new worlds to escape to. But one of the most interesting things about these alternate worlds is often how they make us think about our own. The novels, short stories, games, TV shows, and films in this class will explore how writers and artists craft alternate worlds for their audiences. Together, we will discuss what makes these worlds appealing, unappealing, convincing, beautiful, etc. and what building worlds can show us about how narrative works more generally. We will also use fantasy worlds as lenses to re-examine the social, economic, political, racial, religious, and cultural contexts around us.

4000-Level

English 4450: Literature and Culture of London 
Instructors: Kay Halasek 
Admission by application only. Applications closed January 10, 2023. 
Literature and Culture of Londong: Detecting Victorian London_Crime in the City" engages students in investigating some of the most sensational criminal cases (both real and fictional) of the Victorian era. Seen through the lenses of poverty, policing, punishment, and popular opinion, the course seeks to explore racial difference and racism, social and economic class prejudice, and political constraint and upheaval—and their intersections—as they impinge upon crime, criminality, and social justice. 
While in London, students will attend classes, guest and public lectures, and theatre performances; visit museums; gather for group meals and high tea; and take tours of numerous London sites, including the East End, Highgate Cemetery, Inns of Court, and the Old Bailey. Planned out-of-London excursions include travel to Portsmouth and Southsea (on the southern coast of England)—Dickens' birthplace and Conan Doyle's home while first writing his Sherlock Holmes stories. 
Potential Texts: Students will examine how the cases studied themselves—as well as the genres of police memoir, crime reporting, ephemera, and fiction of the period (e.g., Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, C.L. Pirkis, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Sheridan Le Fanu, L.T. Meade, and Matthias McDonnell Bodkin)—reflected and influenced shifts in social and cultural practice, legal reform, and political belief.   
Potential Assignments: Topic overview (encyclopedic entry), British Library archival project, two multimodal projects, and textual and image analysis 

5000-Level

English 5189S - Comparative Studies Field School
Instructor - TBD
Introduction to ethnographic field methods (participant-observation, writing field notes, photography, interviewing), archiving, and public humanities. An introduction to fieldwork is followed by a field experience (where students will reside together in local housing) followed by accessioning, exhibition planning and reflection.

1000-Level

English 1110: First-Year English Composition 
Instructor: Garrett Cummins 
This class focuses on first-year composition students doing a semester-long research project related to writing in their majors, future professions and/or activist passion. As such we focus on connecting ideas about academic writing, rhetoric and information literacy so that we can better understand the conversations that are happening in our major field of study. Lastly, this class focuses on writing as both a way to learn information as well as learning how to write academic papers and do academic research. 
Potential Texts: The instructor supplies all the readings for the course because he uses open educational resources. 
Potential Assignments: The class has four assignments: 1) an initial source evaluation of research, 2) a literature review, 3) a researched argument related to information literacy in your major, 4) major written course reflection. Also, we write parts of the bigger assignments throughout the semester, giving students credit for their efforts. 

English 1110.01: Writing and Information Literacy 
Instructor: Shaun James Russell 
This course is not designed to teach you how to write. You already know how to write. Whether you believe your writing is a weakness, a strength, or somewhere in between, you have been using the written word in various forms for most of your life. Frankly, you wouldn’t be in a college classroom if you haven’t. Instead, this course is designed to hone the considerable writing ability you already possess, and develop it into a set of skills that will prove indispensable throughout your college career and beyond. Although much of this course will understandably be tied to the written medium—it is a composition course, after all—we will be using the theme of MUSIC AND IMAGE (broadly defined) to help get at many of the same concepts we will seek to uncover in our writing. This semester, we will examine some of the many ways in which music joins with images to help deliver a message, and we will analyze the effectiveness of its rhetoric. Through many examples (some of which you will provide) we will look at how music is being used with images, who is using it, for what purposes and why. 
Potential Texts: Rosenwasser, David, and Jill Stephen. Writing Analytically 8th ed. Cengage Learning, 2018. (ISBN 9781337559461 (paperback); 9781337672429 (ebook)). 
Potential Assignments: This course will feature an assignment sequence that includes source selection, a primary source analysis, an intro and thesis statement exercise, an annotated bibliography, a brief multimodal presentation, and a final analytical research paper. 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1 
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy   

English 1110.01: Writing and Information Literacy 
Instructor: Liz Miller 
Your work in English 1110 will help you develop your writing and information literacy skills by engaging with and participating in a research community. You will learn to ask critical questions, make connections among writers and ideas, contribute to your peers’ understanding of a subject or issue and reflect on your role as a writer and composer within your research community. Through a series of projects, you will gain experience locating, identifying, interpreting and using objects within a collection of digital archives. Also, you will access a variety of databases to build a Worknet, a tool for researching and reading scholarly texts. You will learn responsible and ethical practices for accessing, using and creating information. Finally, you will learn to make effective rhetorical choices while composing accessible print and multimodal texts. 
Throughout the semester, you will be encouraged to apply composing strategies and rhetorical analysis practices–we will learn these together during the course–to projects and topics that interest you personally. We’ll work together to brainstorm priorities for your individual research and writing to ensure that you’re able to create work that is meaningful to you beyond the immediate scope of our course. 
Potential Texts: Ball, Cheryl E., Jennifer Sheppard, and Kristin L. Arola. Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects. 3rd Ed. 
Clary-Lemon, Jennifer, Derek Mueller, and Kate Pantelides. Try This: Research Methods for Writers. 
Potential Assignments: Discord discussion, artifact presentations, creative digital projects, research work 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1 
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy   

English 1110.02: First-Year English Composition 
Instructor: Staff 
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts.  
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1 
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy   

English 1110.03: First-Year English Composition 
Section 10 Instructor: Staff 
Section 20 & 30 Instructor: Christiane Buuck 
Intensive practice in fundamentals of expository writing illustrated in the student's own writing and essays of professional writers; offered in a small class setting and linked with an individual tutoring component in its concurrent course, 1193. This course is available for EM credit only through the AP program. 
GEL: Writing and Communication, Level 1 
GEN: Foundation - Writing and Information Literacy   

English 1193: Individual Studies 
Instructor: Christiane Buuck 
Intensive practice in the fundamentals of expository writing. This course is graded S/U. 

2000-Level

English 2150: Career Preparation for English and Related Majors SESSION 2  
Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
This general elective course helps English majors and students from other Humanities disciplines to explore and prepare for careers after graduation. Students will analyze texts to gain a practical and theoretical understanding of the world of work. They will learn to identify their own strengths and preferences to guide their job activity and career choices. 

English 2201H: Selected Works of British Literature - Medieval through 1800 
Instructor: Christopher Jones 
The class introduces the literary history of England from the beginnings through the later 18th century. Through a study of representative authors from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and 18th century, students will trace major developments in literary forms, styles, and content. 
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2202: Selected Works of British Literature - 1800 to Present  
Instructor: Jill Galvan 
This course will introduce you to some of the major British literary and cultural trends of the last two centuries. Our texts will cover the Romantic, Victorian, modernist, and contemporary periods, including a bit of the twenty-first century. We’ll talk about many major artistic forms and movements—for example, the lyric, the Gothic, the dramatic monologue, aestheticism, World War I poetry and postcolonial literature. We’ll also cover the historical phenomena that inform our texts, including the French Revolution, slavery and abolitionism, industrialization, imperialism, debates over gender roles, the rise of scientific values, the two world wars and decolonization. Finally, besides teaching you literary and cultural history, English 2202 will help you to become a better critical reader and literary analyst, either for future classes or for your own enjoyment. You’ll practice reading texts with an eye for fine detail (a.k.a. close-reading or explicating) in order to construct logical, complex interpretations based on textual evidence. 
Potential Text(s): (tentative) William Blake, Mary Kingsley, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Keats, Christina Rossetti, Charlotte Brontë, Olive Schreiner, Oscar Wilde, Wilfred Owen, Virginia Woolf, Una Marson, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Kazuo Ishiguro 
Potential Assignments: (tentative) two exams, midterm and final; two short papers (3-4 pp. each), designed to build your skills in literary interpretation; and regular attendance and participation in a weekly recitation section 
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2220 (20): Introduction to Shakespeare  
Instructor: Christian B. Williams 
This Introduction to Shakespeare course introduces students to the plays, theater, life, and times of England’s greatest writer, Mr. William Shakespeare. In this course, students will learn how to read Shakespeare’s language, practice close-reading of selected passages, discuss dramatic form and genre, and contextualize Shakespeare’s dramatic works in their historical moment. In doing so, students will explore various questions and topics that particularly interest them as well as those that interest other Shakespeare scholars. These explorations will range from asking and answering such questions as what makes certain characters in Shakespeare’s plays so darn “mean and nasty” (and why we love them), to addressing the ever-popular question, “why does Shakespeare talk like that?”; from examining closely how a “savage” historical moment is possibly dramatized in a particular play, to understanding the ways in which certain forms and structures within the dramatic tradition work to bring all of these matters to life on the contemporary stage. 
Potential Texts: Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Measure for Measure, All's Well that Ends Well. 
Potential Assignments: Exam(s), formal-essay writing, short quizzes, close-reading assignments  
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2220 (40): Introduction to Shakespeare  
Instructor: Meaghan Pachay 
A visitor strolling along London's South Bank in the late sixteenth century would encounter in quick succession, brothels, a bull-and a bear-baiting ring, a notorious prison already centuries old, and a round wooden theater. For this theater Shakespeare first wrote his influential plays, in the process attracting an audience from all walks of life— aristocrats and merchants, cobblers and tailors, seamstresses and fishwives. In this course, we'll be imagining what it was like to be among them, experiencing Shakespeare's plays in action. For better or worse, the figure of Shakespeare looms large in our cultural imagination. He is, without a doubt, the most canonized of English authors. Thus, to an introduction to his work is an introduction to literary study as a whole. It is also an introduction to the many ways Shakespeare is weaponized and valorized in our broader culture— from politics to business to medicine to law to psychology and more. Alert to such larger concerns, this course introduces students to some Shakespearean texts and contexts. Emphasis is placed on Shakespeare's choice of drama— thus the plays are treated as plays, and experienced in performance— and on close reading and interpretation. But interpretation will be done in light of the traditions in and against which Shakespeare wrote, most especially the conventions of the three traditional Shakespearean genres: comedy, tragedy, and history.  
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2220H: Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin 
For four centuries now, William Shakespeare has been widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. He's certainly the most influential. More has been written about Shakespeare than any other writer in the history of the world, no joke. His plays have been adapted into countless other plays, novels, poems, music, paintings, films, TV shows, and comics, and not only in English but in German, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, and Yoruba. We will read a sampling of Shakespeare's plays in a variety of genres and over the course of his career. We'll think about how his plays work as theater; how he adapts and transforms the source material on which so many of his plays depend; how Shakespeare can be such an "original" when he borrows so much from other writers; how he can create such deep and realistic characters; and how it is that Shakespeare can accomplish all of the above (and more) through language. What we'll discover is that, as one critic put it, "the remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good in spite of all the people who say he is very good." 
GEL: Literature 
GEL: Diversity - Global Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2221: Introduction to Shakespeare, Race, and Gender 
Instructor: Tamara Mahadin 
How has the past shaped our society’s ideas about race and gender? When Shakespeare’s plays are read and performed today, how do they reinforce and challenge systems of oppression? We will examine these questions as we use the plays of Shakespeare to study the historically and socially constructed categories of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. This course attends to the ways these categories intersect to shape lived experiences today, and it considers how they influence what and how we read. We will analyze how Shakespeare represents the anxieties and desires of the past, as well as how modern playwrights like Toni Morrison resist and remake Shakespeare’s narratives. In doing so, we will reflect upon our own experiences and assumptions. 
Potential Texts: Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, The Merchant of Venice, and Othello; Toni Morrison's Desdemona 
Potential Assignments: Reflection quizzes, Glossing Shakespeare's Language, Play Analysis, Group Work: Adaptation Analysis, and Take-home final exam. 
Additional Materials: Laptops or tablets to watch performances (accessible through Ohio State library: Drama Online) 
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity and Gender Diversity 

English 2260 (20): Introduction to Poetry  
Instructor: Elise Robbins 
Designed to help students understand and appreciate poetry through an intensive study of a representative group of poems. This course will acquaint you with a variety of poetry, representing different eras, styles and topics. You do not need to consider yourself fantastic with poetry to take it! No matter what background you come from with poetry, my goal is that by the end, you'll feel comfortable articulating both how it works and why it matters. We will explore the art of poetry by reading, reciting, discussing, analyzing and writing a range of poems from across space and time. We will break down the mechanics of how poems work (e.g., rhyme, meter, word choice, genre, etc.) and how they've been used across cultures for millennia to tell stories, to celebrate religious rites, to preserve history, and to reflect on the human experience. In doing so, we will explore how this art both reflects and constructs both our collective cultures and our individual senses of what it means to be human. 
Potential Texts: Art of Poetry by Shira Wolosky, Citizen by Claudia Rankine, Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse by John Hollander, Odyssey by Homer / Emily Wilson 
Potential Assignments: (tentative) short response/analysis papers (2-3), creative oral presentation, midterm and final exams, final project (creative or critical) and class participation 
GEL: Literature  
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 2260 (30): Introduction to Poetry 
Instructor: John Rooney
“All high poetry is infinite; it is as the first acorn, which contained all oaks potentially." -Percy Bysshe Shelley (1821)
Poetry is infinite because, as English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley tells us, it must be rediscovered and even recreated by each generation. In this course, we will read and rediscover poetry in English of the past five centuries, from the English Renaissance to the present day, by focusing on the short lyric, a form both concise and inexhaustible. Along the way, we will see the lyric in many forms, including the sonnet, the ode, the ballad, the villanelle, and even free verse. We will also explore lyric’s many moods and modes: the mournfulness of elegy, the wit and humor of satire and epigram, the reverence of the hymn, the natural beauty of the pastoral, and the passion of love poetry. We will try to understand what makes these poems work, as we investigate meter, rhyme, word choice, and figures of speech. But, at the same time, we will also be deeply invested in attempting to realize what they make us feel, and enable us to know. We will read many poets, including William Shakespeare, John Donne, Katherine Philips, Thomas Gray, Charlotte Smith, John Keats, Emily Brontë, Alfred Tennyson, Christina Rossetti, Claude McKay, and Louise Glück, among others. No prior experience with poetry is necessary.
Potential Assignments: Engaged reading, short responses, and a choice of approaches to papers/projects.
GEL: Literature  
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction 
Section 10 Instructor: Sandra Macpherson
Section 30 and 70 Instructor: Matthew Cariello 
Section 80 Instructor: Jessica Prinz 
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included. 
GEL: Literature  
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2261 (20): Introduction to Fiction - What's Love Got to Do with It?: The History, Rhetoric, and Politics of Love Stories. 
Instructor: Antonio Ferraro
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included.  
GEL: Literature  
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2261H: Introduction to Fiction (Honors) 
Instructor: Jill Galvan  
This course has two goals. The first is to familiarize (or re-familiarize) you with literary concepts associated with fiction, as well as to introduce new concepts that will allow you to see this genre in more sophisticated terms. The second is to teach you the skills for coming up with persuasive, thought-provoking interpretations of literature. Each class will include some lecture, but most of the course will be conducted as an open discussion. We will likely end with a unit that considers: how does learning about fiction help someone to become a better critical thinker about texts, voices and stories overall—even stories that are technically nonfiction? Our readings will span time periods and cultural and social perspectives. 
Potential Text(s): Longer works (novel-length) (tentative): Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde, Justin Torres’s We the Animals, Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime. Short stories (also tentative): Herman Melville, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Toni Morrison, Jennifer Egan, Ted Chiang, Curtis Sittenfeld, Carmen Machado, and others. 
Potential Assignments: Regular and enthusiastic participation, three short response papers (1 ½-2 pp. each), a final project (5-7 pp.) and two exams (midterm and final). 
GEL: Literature  
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2263: Introduction to Film 
Instructor: Jesse Schotter 
This course offers an introduction to the language and aesthetics of cinema, familiarizing students with the basic building blocks of film, the forms that movies use to tell stories, communicate complex ideas, and dramatize social conflicts. It also introduces students to significant developments in film history and ways of approaching film interpretation. We will use each week's film as both a case study in the strategic deployment of certain cinematic techniques, and as a specific set of images and sounds that combine to create a unique cinematic expression. Throughout the term, we will focus on detailed analysis of films, analyzing closely the ways in which the multiple elements of moviemaking come together to make, and complicate, meaning. Our primary goal in this class is to become skilled at thinking, talking, and writing critically about movies and, in the process, to deepen our appreciation and understanding of the film medium. 
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts  
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Culture Studies 
Instructor: Natalia Colon Alvarez 
Introduction to the analysis of popular culture texts. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas  
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies.  
*Cross-listed in CompStd 

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing 
Section 30 Instructor: Katie Harms 
Section 40 Instructor: Aline Resende Mello 
Section 50 Instructor: Andrew Romriell 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre. 

English 2266: Introductory Poetry Writing  
Section 10 Instructor: Polley Poer 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets. 

English 2266 (20): Introductory Poetry Writing  
Instructor: Hannah Nahar  
The word "poem" comes from the Greek "poeisis," meaning to make. A poem is a "made thing." A thing made out of words, out of images, out of lines, out of thoughts, out of feelings, out of time! In this introductory poetry writing course, we will make poems and talk about them. We'll read lots of published poems and consider how they work, how they sing and move us. The primary materials for this course will be your own poems, though, and the interests of the class will help determine how we run it and what we read. 
Potential Texts: Poems, all available on Carmen 
Potential Assignments: Creative work, informal reading responses 
Guiding Questions: What is a poem? How can we make poems?

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing 
Instructor: Kurt Ostrow 
Essays, line breaks and plot—oh my! Buckle up for this crash course in creative writing. Over the course of the semester, we will flex our prose muscles, sharpen our poetry scissors and mix all our metaphors. As we read a lot of excellent, mostly contemporary writing, you will fill up notebooks with your own stories and poems—some true, others made up. We will also share work in class, giving and getting generous feedback. No creative writing experience required, just courage. 

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Elise Gorzela  
Anne Lamott says, “Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artists true friends…. We need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here—and, by extension, what we’re supposed to be writing.” In this course, I will encourage you to make a mess. Being a writer means putting aside the time to sit and stare and read and think and write, to make a mess over and over again to figure out how to tell the story you came to say. Life is messy and that makes writing nonfiction the unique work to form that mess into a narrative on the page. This course is set up to introduce students to writing nonfiction with a variety of readings to discuss craft, low stakes writing exercises and workshop where you will receive feedback on your writing. 
Potential Assignments: Writing exercises, one longer creative essay and a final portfolio. 

English 2269: Digital Media Composing 
Section 10 Instructor: Christoffer Turpin 
Section 40 Instructor: Elizabeth Velasquez 
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production.  
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts course 

English 2270: Introduction to Folklore 
Section 10 Instructor: Zahra Abedi 
Section 20 Instructor: Daisy Ahlstone 
A general study of the field of folklore including basic approaches and a survey of primary folk materials: folktales, legends, folksongs, ballads, and folk beliefs.  
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity and Gender Diversity 
*Cross-listed in CompStd 2350 

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion 
Instructor: Anna Bogen 
Introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media, and cultural contexts.  
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Theme - Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World 

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies 
Section 10 Instructor: Addison Koneval 
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability.   
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Theme - Health and Wellbeing 

English 2280: The English Bible 
Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin 
The Bible contains some of the weirdest and most wonderful literature you will ever read, and there is certainly no book that has had a greater influence on English and American literature from Beowulf to Paradise Lost, Pilgrim’s Progress to The Chronicles of Narnia, Whitman’s Song of Myself to Morrison’s Song of Solomon. We will read a selection of biblical books in order to gain some appreciation of the Bible’s wide range of literary genres, forms, styles, and topics. Our discussion will include the nature of biblical narrative and characterization, the function of prophecy and its relation to history, the peculiar nature of biblical poetry, so-called Wisdom literature, anomalous books like Job and The Song of Songs (including the historical process of canonization that made them “biblical” and the kinds of interpretation that have been used to make them less strange), the relationship between (in traditional Christian terms) the Old and New Testaments (including typology, the symbolic linking of characters, events, themes, and images in the books before and after the Incarnation), and the unity (or lack thereof) of the Bible as a whole. As occasion warrants, we will also look at some of the diverse ways the Bible has been read and interpreted––the stranger the better––by poets and writers, artists and film-makers over the past millennia.  
Do note: this is NOT a faith-based course in religion, but rather an English course on the Bible as a literary work. Any and all faiths, or none, are welcome, and none will be privileged.    
Potential Text(s): The English Bible: King James Version (2 vols.), ed. Herbert Marks (1) and Gerald Hammond and Austin Busch (2), Norton Critical Edition  
Potential Assignments: Evaluation will be based on active participation in class discussion and activities, a film review, an essay, a mid-term test, and a final exam.  
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 2281: Introduction to African-American Literature  
Instructor: Elizabeth Sheehan  
This course introduces students to key African American writers and cultural movements of the last two and half centuries. Central questions for the class include: how are community, power, race, gender, and sexuality represented and experienced in and through the texts we will read? How are these texts shaped by the audience to whom they may be addressed? How do these texts relate to struggles for racial justice, including anti-slavery, anti-colonial, and prison abolition movements? We will read work by writers including Phyllis Wheatley, David Walker, Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, Charles Chesnutt, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Toni Morrison, and Octavia Butler, and we will examine literary and political movements including the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement. 
GEL: Social Diversity in the United States  
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity and Gender Diversity  
*Cross-listed in AfAmASt 

English 2282: Introduction to Queer Studies 
Instructor: Lily Blakely 
Introduces and problematizes foundational concepts of the interdisciplinary field of queer studies, highlighting the intersections of sexuality with race, class, and nationality.  
GEL: Cultures and ideas and diversity soc div in the US course  
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies  
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity and Gender Diversity 
*Cross-listed in WGSSt 

English 2290: Colonial and U.S. Literature to 1865 
Instructor: Elizabeth Renker 
This course provides a broad survey of selected literature from the time of European colonial occupation in North America to the end of the Civil War and the beginning of federal Reconstruction of the former Confederate states. We will explore how various writers working in a number of genres--nonfiction, short fiction, the novel, and poetry--addressed a broad array of historical, cultural, and literary concerns, including settlement of the what they called a New World; encounters and conflicts with indigenous peoples; political and theological upheavals; aesthetic conventions and rebellions; race and gender categories; literary and philosophical movements; slavery and emancipation; and civil war and its contentious and violent aftermath.  
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2367.01: Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience 
Section 10 Instructor: Caleb Gonzalez 
Section 0120 Instructor: Peyton Del Toro 
Section 140 Instructor: Appy Frykenberg 
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America.  
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2  
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 

English 2367.01 (50): Language, Identity, and Culture in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Kay Halasek 
In this section of English 2367.01, you will analyze the various ways that scholars in academic disciplines and commentators in the public sphere take up and contribute to some of the most widely debated topics of our time. Working from within and across disciplinary texts and artifacts in mathematics and the sciences, social sciences, business, architecture, food and agricultural studies, engineering, education, humanities, health professions and arts, you will investigate the intersections among rhetoric, language, identity and culture and their relationship to citizenship for a diverse and just world. The course is framed by and engages these public and disciplinary conversations through concepts and theories from both classical and contemporary rhetorical theory.You will complete a series of scaffolded assignments that ask you to investigate, analyze, critique and contribute to current scholarly and public debates on your selected topics. The course includes extensive guided instruction and practice in scholarly research, and as a “flipped” classroom, it also asks that you a conduct a great deal of independent research and complete numerous activities outside of class. 
Potential Text(s): All course readings and videos will be available in Carmen. A separate textbook is not required. 
Potential Assignments: Students will complete a series of class activities, homework assignments, one Reading Response, an Academic Analysis Assignment, Public Discourse Analysis Assignment and Final Project (including a Proposal). 
Guiding Questions:  We will explore how scholars, researchers and other academics--as well as public figures--address and frame their arguments in a wide range of topics related to politics and ideology, higher education, technologies, gender and consumerism, etc. Questions might include the following: What does it mean to be a "good" citizen? What is the role (and responsibility) of scholars, researchers, and students in contributing to debates in the public sphere? 
Additional Materials: Students must have access to their Ohio State email and Carmen accounts and Microsoft 365. RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: Computer: current Mac (OS X) or PC (Windows 7+) with high-speed internet connection. Webcam: built-in or external webcam, fully installed and tested. Microphone: built-in laptop or tablet mic or external microphone. Other: a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) or landline to use for BuckeyePass authentication. 
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2  
GEL: Diversity - Social Diversity in the US 

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience 
Section 10 Instructor: Kayode Odumboni 
Discussion & practice of the conventions, practices, & expectations of scholarly reading of literature & expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience.  
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2  
GEL: Literature (BS only)  
GEL: Social Diversity in the United States 
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2367.02 (30): Literature in the U.S. Experience  
Instructor: Honor Lundt 
This course will be an introduction to science fiction, stretching from the pulp era to the present, which features short fiction, film, novels and television. We will use these examples of the fantastic to explore depictions of gender and race in the American imagination. 
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2  
GEL: Literature (BS only)  
GEL: Social Diversity in the United States 
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 2367.02 (50): Literature in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Amelia Mathews-Pett 
We will be exploring the Western genre in this course. By discussing literature, film, and other media, we will examine how Westerns create and mold American identity and mythology through their construction of race, ethnicity, class, gender, religion, and sexuality. Our consideration of Westerns will be integrated within a broader context of discussing genres, in which we will also examine how academic writing genres operate. Over the course of the semester, students will explore a storytelling genre of their choosing, and demonstrate their ability to write in the academic research writing genre for their final projects. 
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2  
GEL: Literature (BS only)  
GEL: Social Diversity in the United States 
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 2367.02 (70): Literature in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Carissa Ma 
Our course theme is Rhetorical Perspective on Invasion Ecology in the U.S. In this class we will discuss the ways in which the notion of invasion, i.e. the entering or taking over of a place, is rhetorically deployed for particular projects of nationalism, white supremacy, imperialism, and other intersecting political frameworks. Non-native species are real and persistent features of life on this planet insomuch as beings (animals, plants, bacteria) physically move (or are moved) from one place to another. What constitutes a non-native? And the various vocabularies through which we are encouraged to speak, see, and act toward them, are, however, symbolic constructions. We'll be reading a number of texts addressing eco/biological discourses, contemporary crises of refugees, policed borders, occupied Indigenous lands, etc. Through these readings and activities, we'll examine issues of ability, health, disease, and nativity. 
Potential Texts: Deborah H. Holdstein and Danielle Aquiline, Who Says?; Janet E. Gardner, Reading and Writing About Literature  
Potential Assignments: Papers, leading class discussion, oral presentation 
Guiding Questions: What/who belongs? What/where are the boundaries? Who constructs them?  
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2  
GEL: Literature (BS only)  
GEL: Social Diversity in the United States 
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 2367.02 (100): Literature in the U.S. Experience: Environmental Literature  
Instructor: Misha Grifka 
In this course, we will practice analyzing all kinds of written media - novels, short stories, poems, comics, even games - and understanding them in the context of the environment. How does literature portray and respond to climate change? How do writers and readers imagine their environmental surroundings? How have people tried to leave behind their anthropocentric perspective and understand nature on a deeper level? While we can't answer those questions definitively, we'll use them as a springboard for posing our own questions. 
Potential Assignments: Potential assignments include papers, creative works, short writing assignments, and quizzes. 
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2  
GEL: Literature (BS only)  
GEL: Social Diversity in the United States 
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 2367.04: Technology and Science in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Staff 
Explores how technological changes impact our culture & relationships; students build & expand skills in rhetorical analysis & composition through experimentation with new forms of communication.  
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2 

English 2367.05: Writing about the U.S. Folk Experience 
Instructor: Mary Hufford 
Concepts of American folklore and ethnography; folk groups, tradition, and fieldwork methodology; how these contribute to the development of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills in the context of lived environments.   
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2 
GEL: Social Diversity in the United States 
GEN: Theme - Lived Environments 

English 2367.06: Composing Disability in the U.S. 
Instructor: Staff 
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America.  
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2 
GEL: Social Diversity in the United States 

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience - Writing About Video Games 
Section 10 Instructor: Kelsey Mason 
Section 20 Instructor: Carlos Kelly 
Section 30 Instructor: Morgan Beers 
Section 40 and 50 Instructor: Lauren Cook 
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required.  
GEL: Writing and Communication - Level 2 

English 2463: Introduction to Video Game Analysis 
Section 10 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand 
Section 20 Instructor: Alex Thompson 
An introduction to humanities-based methods of analyzing and interpreting video games in terms of form, genre, style, and theory. No background in video game play is necessary. All students will have regular opportunities for hands-on experience with different game types and genres in both the computer-based classroom and the English Department Video Game Lab.  
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2464: Introduction to Comics Studies 
Instructor: Rolando Rubalcava 
Study of sequential comics and graphic narrative and the formal elements of comics, how word and image compete and collaborate in comics to make meaning and how genre is activated and redeployed. Students analyze comics texts, articulate and defend interpretations of meaning and learn about archival research at OSU's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. No background in comics is required.  
GEL: Visual and Performing Arts 
GEN: Foundation - Literature, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2581: Introduction to U.S. Ethnic Literatures and Cultures 
Instructor:  Julianna Crame 
This course explores multi-ethnic literature in the U.S. through the lens of U.S. empire, with a particular focus on how various generations interact with hegemonic systems of power based in colonialism. While dominant media often portrays U.S. society as socially equal and diverse, those who do not fit into colonial ideals based on their race, gender, sexuality, and/or class must contend with numerous inequalities. We will explore various literature (novels, short stories, memoirs, etc.) to discuss depictions of how Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinx Americans struggle against systems of U.S. empire. Each group’s different historical contexts influence their strategies for survival and the ideologies they instill in subsequent generations. Children born into the empire must then figure their roles in a society that both “Others” them and enforces their assimilation. These narratives will facilitate discussion on different kinds of colonialism, such as neocolonialism and internal colonialism, as well as strategies particular to the U.S. empire, such as the American Dream and model minority myth. Although U.S. media often asserts the injustices of colonialism are in the past, we shall see how these systems still inform current hierarchical social practices.  
GEN: Foundation - Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Diversity 

3000-Level

English 3110: Citizenship, Justice, and Diversity in Literatures, Cultures and Media - Social Reform Literature in the U.S. 
Instructor:  Elizabeth Hewitt 
This course will study literature about and from the numerous social reform movements that began to sprout up across the United States beginning in the early 19th century. We will read novels, poetry, and treatises about various social and political movements including abolitionism, temperance, women's suffrage, free love, anarchism, socialism, labor reform, health and sanitation reform, prison reform, American Indian rights, and others. This course fulfills the Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World GE requirement and will provide students an opportunity to read literature that analyzes how theories of justice have changed across history and influenced popular notions of citizenship. 
GEN: Theme - Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World 

English 3271: Structure of the English Language 
Section 10 and 30 Instructor: Clarissa Surek-Clark 
Students learn basic characteristics of English linguistics focusing on the basic building blocks of language; the sounds of English and how they are put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. Students investigate and explore linguistic variation, accents of American English, and the implications of language evaluation in educational settings.  
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3271 (20): Structure of the English Language 
Instructor: Galey Modan 
This course is an introduction to English linguistics. You will gain the analytical tools to scientifically analyze any language, and apply those tools to English. We'll learn about the basic characteristics of language: the sounds of English and how they're put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. While studying how the basic building blocks of language work, we will also investigate linguistic variation, accents of American English, and language and education. We'll also consider how standard and non-standard varieties of English get evaluated in the US, and the implications of such evaluations in educational settings. 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3304: Business and Professional Writing  
Section 20 Instructor: Lauren Colwell 
Section 40 Instructor: Natalie Kopp 
The study of principles and practices of business and professional writing.  

English 3304 (10): Business and Professional Writing  
Instructor: Angel Evans  
Who are you--professionally? What do you want your work to say about you--even in meetings and conference rooms where you aren't present? This course will guide students in personal branding, building an effective resume and cover letter, interviewing, salary negotiation, and successfully navigating other workplace situations/communicative contexts. Regardless of major, students who complete the course will gain more confidence and tools for their professional future. You will also complete a polished portfolio showcasing your experience to prospective employers. 

English 3304 (30): Business and Professional Writing 
Instructor: Christa Teston 
In this online, asynchronous course you will learn principles and practices associated with writing well in business and professional contexts. I’ll provide you with a lot of feedback on your prose and give you several opportunities to refine your style, organization, and collaborative writing strategies.
Because the majority of the writing you’ll do in this class is collaborative and in service of a community partner’s marketing campaign, students enrolled in this version of the course should be (or be willing to become) adept at asynchronous team writing. Asynchronous team writing regularly requires daily check-ins with team members and advanced time management skills.
At the end of this course, you will have writing samples that demonstrate expertise in the following genres,

• correspondence genres (letters, memos, social media);
• presentation genres (pitches, pecha kucha, slideware);
• collaboration genres (charter document, strategic plan);
• information genres (reports, documentation, public service announcements, fact sheets);
• proposal genres (project proposals, marketing proposals);
• employment search genres (resume, cover letter, interview techniques).

English 3305: Technical Writing  
Section 10 Instructor: Susan Lang 
Study of principles and practices of technical writing. Emphasis on the style, organization, and conventions of technical and research reports, proposals, memoranda, professional correspondence, etc.  

English 3305 (20): Technical Writing  
Instructor: Jonathan Buehl 
Technical Writing is designed to improve the communication skills and career prospects of three groups: (1) science and engineering majors preparing for technology-focused careers, (2) humanities majors interested in exploring career options in technical communication and (3) students of any major who want to enhance their marketability by learning about workplace writing. 

English 3331: Thinking Theoretically 
Instructor: Ethan Knapp 
This class will take a step back from what usually happens in classes about literature (and art) and ask some of the big questions about why people study these things in the first place. Why is literature a good thing? How is the experience of art important and what does it have to teach us that is different from the experience of the real world? How are different kinds of art (literature, music, film) like each other and how do they present different worlds and different possibilities? Readings will include a wide selection of thinkers, from Plato and Aristotle to Mary Wollstencraft and William Blake. The course should be very exciting for anyone interested in the connections between literature and philosophy -- or anyone interested in honing their abilities in critical thinking. Highly recommended for anyone considering graduate school. 
Potential Assignments: Midterm, Final, and possible short paper.

English 3361: Narrative and Medicine 
Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin 
Humanity's death rate remains steady at 100%. We all die. How we come to terms with death, or resist it, or deny it, varies among peoples and cultures. No surprise then that death has been so popular a topic throughout the history of stories. Adam and Eve bring death into the world by eating the forbidden fruit. Gilgamesh mourns his beloved friend Enkidu. Priam and Troy mourn the death of Hector. David laments Saul and Jonathan. The pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the terra cotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the Treasury at Petra, and Ohio's Serpent Mound are all tombs. This course explores plays, poems, stories, novels, and films about death. Aided by readings in sociology, philosophy, and medical ethics, we will ask what death is, why and how we die, how we grieve, why we treat the dead as we do, and why we imagine the dead returning to the living. Thinking about death and dying is obviously essential to anyone planning a career in health care, and studying literature allows this in ways unavailable to medicine, philosophy, sociology, and other disciplines. But readings in these fields will also enrich the experience of literature for students in English. 
Potential Texts: Readings will include excerpts from Atul Gawande's Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Thomas Lynch's The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade, Richard Selzer’s The Exact Location of the Soul, and Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Literary works will include excerpts from the Bible and Gilgamesh, stories by Poe and Raymond Carver, John Crace’s novel Being Dead, George Saunders' weird historical-purgatorial fantasy Lincoln in the Bardo, Wole Soyinka’s tragedy Death and the King’s Horseman, Abba Kovner’s verse illness narrative Sloan-Kettering, Amy Bloom’s memoir of her husband’s euthanasia, In Love, and Maylis de Kerangal’s novel of organ transplant, Heart.  
GEL:  Literature 

English 3364: Special Topics in Popular Culture: “Disneyfying” Diversity - Disney’s Depictions of Race in Feature Film and on Network Television  
Instructor: Katlin Marisol Sweeney-Romero 
On May 26, 2023, Disney will premiere its latest live-action remake of one of its most iconic, animated feature films: The Little Mermaid. When it was announced that Princess Ariel would be portrayed by multi-hyphenate superstar Halle Bailey, the internet was flooded with backlash exemplifying what media scholar Moya Bailey terms misogynoir: the combined anti-Black racism and misogyny that is projected at Black women across film, news and social media. In anticipation of the film’s release, we will place the online discourse surrounding The Little Mermaid in the larger context of how audiences have responded to The Walt Disney Company’s complicated 100-year history of depicting race on-screen. We will track the evolution of racial representation across Disney’s transmedia storytelling in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with attention to how its films, television shows, theme parks, soundtracks, and the careers of its “Franchisable Girl” stars have each contributed to this history. To guide our inquiries into this topic, we will analyze how the emergence of Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs) in the 1980s effectively capitalized on the nostalgia of Disney’s feature-length animated films for a new, “tween” market while simultaneously introducing new venues for racial representation. 
Potential Texts: Bailey, Moya. Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women's Digital Resistance (NYUP, 2021); Beltrán, Mary and Camilla Fojas, editors. Mixed Race Hollywood (NYUP, 2008); Blue, Morgan Genevieve. Girlhood on Disney Channel: Branding, Celebrity, and Femininity (Routledge, 2017); Brode, Douglas. Multiculturalism and the Mouse: Race and Sex in Disney Entertainment (U of Texas P, 2005); Cheu, Johnson, editor. Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability (McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2013); Telotte, J.P. The Mouse Machine: Disney and Technology (U of Illinois P, 2008) 
Additional Materials: Disney+ subscription (will be used for all primary viewings) 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies  

English 3372 (20): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy - My Hideous Progeny
Instructor: Karen Winstead 
"My hideous progeny" - that's what Mary Shelley called Frankenstein (1818), widely considered the first science fiction novel in English. Dr. Frankenstein created a living being and abandoned it, with devastating consequences. Shelley's Frankenstein introduced crucial questions that subsequent generations of science fiction authors and filmmakers have seized on: What is our responsibility towards the beings we create? What happens when our creatures develop minds of their own and goals that conflict with ours? What happens when they rebel? May their creators destroy them? We might think of theses science fiction authors and filmmakers as Shelley's spiritual children, and their works as Frankenstein's own "hideous progeny". In this course, we'll explore how authors of science fiction dealt with the issues Mary Shelley introduced. We'll begin by reading Frankenstein and move on to other novels and films treating the relation between creatures and their creators, including Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), Spike Jonze's Her (2013), Alex Garland's Ex Machine (2014), Neil Blomkamp's Chappie (2015), Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun (2021), and Sara Gailey's The Echo Wife (2021).
Potential Texts: Students would only need to purchase Klara and the Sun and The Echo Wife.
Potential Assignments: Weekly discussions, a reading/viewing journal, and a final project developed in consultation with me. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 3372 (30): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy  
Instructor: Dennin Ellis 
Science fiction is good for an awful lot (including pure entertainment), but in particular it gives us a lens through which to observe and reflect on our own world. This can be useful for exploring issues on the micro scale (such as those of individual identity) or the macro scale (issues pertaining to larger sociopolitical forces). We’ll be focusing on the latter in this class - how does the genre of science fiction address society, politics, culture, etc.? Specifically, we will consider how sci-fi addresses topics like (anti-)authoritarianism, (anti-)fascism and (anti-)capitalism. Don’t worry, those smaller issues of identity certainly come up too, as they’re swept along by these larger forces. We’ll also find some space to fit in some anime and comics. We’ll do a week on ‘the weird’ as a subgenre of sci-fi, and a week on the REALLY weird (Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges) in order to test the boundaries of sci-fi.
Potential Texts: Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic, Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Blade Runner (1982), Starship Troopers (1997), Things to Come (1936), Snowpiercer (2013), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Brazil (1985), Metropolis (1927).  
Potential Assignments: Writing/group activities throughout the semester, final project (solo or in a group) focusing on a text of your choice.  
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 3372 (40): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy - At the Margins of Humanity 
Instructor: Morgan Podraza 
What does it mean to be human? Through our readings and discussions, we will question and analyze concepts of the "human" and "humanity." The short stories, books, comics and films we will spend time with this semester will allow us to explore the qualities, experiences and potential futures of humanity through the science fiction genre. Together we will examine characters and worlds that will help us to see ourselves and others in new ways, to discover new ways of understanding our bodies and minds, and to make connections between the fictional worlds of science fiction and the world we live in. 
Potential Texts: The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin; Black Panther Volume 1 written by Ta-Nehisi Coates; The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe; Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro; The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang; O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti. 
Potential Assignments: Discussion posts, short essays, in-class debate and reflections. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 3372 (60): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy - How Magic Works 
Instructor: David Brewer 
The most fundamental mark of fantasy is that it features stories in which magic works. The magic may be front and center (Harry Potter) or kept largely in the background (Game of Thrones); it may be an instrument of strong good or evil or merely a morally neutral tool. But regardless of the form it takes in the vast majority of fantasy, magic is real, which means that to the extent that we buy into these stories and the worlds in which they're set, we are temporarily accepting the existence of magic (or at least suspending our disbelief in its existence). This course will investigate how that process works, and what it might be able to tell us about the workings of literature more generally. We'll also consider how fantasy's open embrace of magic has contributed to its (traditionally low, but recently rising) cultural status. 
GEL: Literature 
GEN: Foundation - Literary, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 3378: Special Topics in Film and Literature 
Instructor: Luke Wilson 
In this course we will read and discuss five of Shakespeare’s tragedies and watch and analyze some of significant film adaptations of these plays. We’ll work by reading the plays themselves, carefully, first, and then investigate how different directors have responded. Film adaptations of Shakespeare cover a wide range of approaches, from those that follow Shakespeare’s text closely to those that translate the text into a wholly different language and idiom. The best filmic renderings of Shakespeare tend not to scrupulously adhere to the text but rather bring to bear the film medium’s own unique representational resources. In this course we’ll focus on Shakespeare’s major tragedies (probably Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and Coriolanus), and watch one or two films of each play. You’ll write frequently about what you’re reading and watching, in discussion posts and response papers, and you’ll have a chance to explore your ideas in greater depth in a substantial essay. There will also be a final exam, as well as an assignment in which you report on a film we haven’t watched in class.
Potential Texts: An edition of Shakespeare's plays. Everything else on Carmen. 
Potential Assignments: Frequent short writing (discussion posts, response papers); a final paper; a final exam; a film review. 
Questions: How have some directors translated Shakespeare's densely literary texts into the cinematic medium? 
GEL: Cultures and Ideas 
GEN: Foundation - Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3379 (10): Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy 
Instructor: Susan Lang 
This course will introduce students to a continuum of research methods used by scholars in such fields as writing, rhetoric, literacy studies, composition studies, and technical communication. We will focus primarily on empirical research methods. You will learn techniques of these various methods and apply them to a series of activities throughout the semester. During the last month, we will shift focus to writing research in writing, rhetoric, and literacy studies. 

English 3379 (20): Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy 
Instructor: Kay Halasek 
Introduction to the interrelated fields of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy, familiarizing students with key concepts that underlie work in these interrelated fields and to the scholarly methods of WRL. Together, this discipline studies the ways people use language and other symbols to convey messages, persuade audiences and create meaning, and how these practices are learned and taught. 
Potential Text(s): No course textbook must be purchased for this course. All course materials will be available in Carmen. 
Potential Assignments: In-class activities and homework assignments; literacy autobiography; short rhetoric, writing and literacy unit projects; research proposal and final project; colloquium presentation.  
Guiding Questions: What is rhetoric--and how is its practice defined by cultures, politics, and education? How do we define literacies? Whose literacies are (de)valued and why? What does it mean to study writing as a rhetorical, political, and literate act? 
Additional Materials: Students will need access to a computer or other robust device during class with a current Mac (OS X) or PC (Windows 7+) with a high-speed internet connection. Webcams and microphones are optional. 

English 3398 (20): Methods for the Study of Literature  
Instructor: Thomas Davis 
This course offers a foundation for those seeking to develop the skills and practices to succeed in the English major. We will think carefully about how our understanding and analysis of texts relate to the world as well as the practical ends of the kinds of work we do; to that end, we will experiment with different methods and different forms of writing (close reading exercises, public-facing criticism, and researched essays). Students will engage with a wide range of genres, forms, and media, including poetry, climate fiction, visual media and possibly a video game. We will also consider the value of economic, intellectual, and cultural undertaking of humanistic work in our contemporary moment of political antagonism, economic transition, and ecological breakdown. 

English 3398 (30): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Leslie Lockett  
This course builds skills pertinent to the advanced study of literature, especially the close reading of literary texts, familiarity with multiple genres, the use of literary-critical methods and other scholars’ research in developing one's analysis of texts, and the construction of clear and insightful essays about literature. We will practice varied approaches to literary criticism and study texts from across different genres, including poems, short stories, drama, and the novel. Requirements include informal written assignments, which develop skills in academic argumentation, and three formal essays, two of which involve research. 

English 3398 (40): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Koritha Mitchell 
This class will introduce students to a variety of "methods" for literary studies. It builds on the critical thinking and writing skills that students already possess by offering opportunities to put forth clear, thesis-driven arguments. We will cover several theoretical approaches to literature. In many cases, we will examine The Great Gatsby through different lenses in order to get a feel for how these approaches illuminate the richness of a single text. To further test the theories introduced, we will read other literary forms, including drama and poetry. 
Potential Text(s): REQUIRED READING will include: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby; Lois Tyson, Critical Theory Today, 3rd edition; (all other texts available electronically) 
Potential Assignments: REQUIREMENTS will include: thoughtful class participation, three essays, a library assignment and a thesis-driven oral presentation. So, students enrolling in this section of 3398 should welcome the opportunity to practice their public speaking skills. 

English 3398 (60): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Sarah Neville 
This class is designed to support students in developing the writing and research skills they need to be successful English majors. Classes and short assignments will cover issues like: What does secondary criticism add to literature? How do I read actively? What kinds of tools do I need? How do I stake a claim? Do I need a flag? What's the difference between a long paper and a short one? How can I distinguish between what they say about a text and what I say? In addition, over the course of the term students will learn the types, tools, and methods of literary criticism that English scholars employ as they construct projects in both print and digital media. Along the way, we'll read a novel by Robertson Davies, short stories by Dorothy Parker, Lorrie Moore, Donald Barthelme, and George Saunders, plays by Djanet Sears and William Shakespeare, and poems by Billy-Ray Belcourt. Students will complete in-class exercises and multiple short writing assignments that ultimately build towards a longer research paper. Previous students have found this course "rigorous in the best way, "inspiring," "engaging," "respectful of students' time" and "encouraging." 

English 3405: Special Topics in Professional Communication 
Instructor: Jonathan Buehl 
This course will introduce students to a range of technical editing practices: developmental editing, comprehensive editing, focused editing (for style, structure, design, etc.), copyediting and proofreading. You will learn editing techniques and apply them in both print and electronic publishing contexts. We will also discuss the ethical and legal aspects of technical editing and the social and organizational factors that affect editorial practices. At the end of this course, you should feel confident in applying for an entry-level position as a technical editor. 
Potential Text(s): Cunningham, Malone, and Rothschild. Technical Editing: An Introduction to Editing in the Workplace. 
Potential Assignments: Editing projects, editing exams, regular practice assignments 
Additional Materials: Access to Micrsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat. We will also use an XML editor that 1) will be free to students and 2) is platform independent (Mac or PC). 

English 3465: Special Topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing 
Section 30 Instructor: Nicole Barnhart 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing fiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3465 (10): Special Topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing 
Instructor: Sahalie Martin 
Welcome to Intermediate Fiction: Kitchen Sink Storytelling! In your introductory writing courses, you have learned about the basic building blocks of fiction: character, plot and detail. Now we can focus on taking all of the disparate elements of fiction and balancing them to create strong, cohesive stories. With a vast amount of storytelling at our fingertips, it can be tempting to throw “everything but the kitchen sink” at your draft. But how do you narrow your focus to what your story actually needs to reach its full potential? To explore this question, we will be reading short stories from a diverse group of writers whose use of individual story elements bring their work to life.
Potential Assignments: One short story, one revised story, and multiple in-class creative exercises

English 3466: Special Topics in Intermediate Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Amanda Scharf 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing poetry. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3467S: Issues and Methods in Tutoring Writing 
Instructor: Allison Kranek 
Theories and practices in tutoring and writing; explores writing-learning connections and prepare students to work as writing consultants/tutors for individuals and small writing groups.  
*Cross-listed in ArtsSci 

English 3468: Special Topics in Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Amber Taylor 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing creative nonfiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored.  

English 3662: An Introduction to  Literary Publishing 
Section 20 Instructor: Eros Livieratos 
An introduction to the theory and practice of editing and publishing literature.  

English 3662 (10): An Introduction to  Literary Publishing 
Instructor: Hannah Smith 
In this course, we will consider the theory and practice of editing and publishing literature. We'll discuss the history and evolution of literary publishing across a variety of contexts, particularly focusing on how the industry is currently evolving. We’ll contemplate the various social, economic, and political factors that influence the publishing industry and how to engage with these elements of the literary landscape as readers, writers, publishers, and editors. Students will work on acquiring some of the basic skills demanded by the publishing industry: editing, industry knowledge, historical knowledge, development of aesthetic vision and discernment, considerations of ethics, and more. The course is designed around each student executing a major project of their choosing— something that will contribute to their job portfolios and/or development in their prospective career (writer, editor, literary agent, et cetera).
Potential Texts: Literary Publishing in the 21st Century; NYT and other journalistic articles; a collection of poetry + a collection of short stories
Potential Assignments: Write a book review; present on a topic within the publishing industry; create a zine

4000-Level

English 4150: Cultures of Professional Writing 
Section 20 Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Examine writing in various workplaces. Analyze writing discourse that shapes professional organizations. Explore ongoing technological and cultural shifts required of workplace writers and the role of digital media.  

English 4150 (10): Cultures of Professional Writing 
Instructor: Christiane Buuck 
This class will offer you the opportunity to explore a range of types of workplace writing. Many of our course assignments are designed to help you compile a writing portfolio that will be useful if you apply to the Professional Writing Minor, and/or in future job searches. Additionally, you will interview two professionals in your field of interest. You will hone your editing skills by practicing AP style, reviewing common usage mistakes and how to avoid them, giving and receiving feedback in peer review, practicing repurposing content and drafting for different audiences and revising for clean, professional copy in every deliverable. 
Potential Texts: All our texts will come from real-world examples, articles and other readings posted to Carmen. 
Potential Assignments: You'll practice writing in different professional genres including press releases, feature articles, agendas, reviews, brochures, procedural guides, website copy, and more. You'll also hone your editing skills each week through editing exercises that focus on common writing errors and how to revise them. 
Guiding Questions: What do I want to do when I graduate? How can I polish my writing? How can I build my professional network? How is the work world changing in and through this pandemic? What kind of professional life would I like to have? 

English 4189: Professional Writing Minor - Capstone Internship 
Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Students work onsite in an organization doing writing-related work and meet weekly to discuss related topics. 

English 4513: Introduction to Medieval Literature 
Instructor: Christopher Jones  
This class introduces students to medieval European literature, especially those aspects of it that would be influential on authors in subsequent periods of literary history. We will sample texts about mythology and religion, heroic legend, chivalric romance, satire, allegory, and autobiography. 

English 4520.01: Shakespeare 
Instructor: Alan Farmer 
This course will explore the formal, social and political engagements of Shakespeare’s plays. It will pay particular attention to how his plays conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history and romance, and to how they represent such issues as gender, sexuality, religion, race and political power. In addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure for Measure, Othello, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Requirements include two essays, an academic performance review, a midterm exam, a final exam, regular attendance and active participation. 
Potential Text(s):  I will order specific editions of the plays we will read, usually from the New Cambridge Shakespeare editions, but any modern edition with glosses, notes and line numbers will be fine. Good editions of single plays are published by Folger, Pelican, Cambridge, Norton, Oxford, Bedford, Arden, Bantam and Signet. Reputable one-volume Complete Shakespeares are published by Longman, Norton, Oxford, Pelican and Riverside. You will need to have physical copies of the plays we read, so do not buy any electronic editions. 

English 4522: Renaissance Poetry -The Faerie Queene 
Instructor: Sarah Neville   
Dragons. Knights. Swordfights. Magicians. Princesses. Satyrs. Tournaments of Champions. King Arthur. Giants. Enchantresses. Secret meanings. Symbolism. Righteous English patriotism. A desperate plea for patronage. And that’s just the first book. Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene is a rollicking adventure story, a powerful national epic, a searching philosophical meditation and guide for moral conduct, a profound exploration of renaissance theology, a pointed critique of traditional attitudes toward gender and class, a wildly imaginative work of fantasy and a deeply beautiful poem unto itself – this is unquestionably one of the most fascinating and complex works in all of English literature. In this course we will read the whole poem – all six books and change – paying special attention to historical questions about gender, class, politics, science and religion. Reading all of The Faerie Queene is a major accomplishment that few people ever attempt – Publishers’ Weekly named it one of the Top Ten Most Difficult Books – making it the Everest climb on an English major’s bucket list and offering lifelong bragging rights. Are you brave enough to take the challenge? 
Potential Text(s): Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene. 
Potential Assignments: Students will be evaluated by reading quizzes, short essays, and a final creative project. 

English 4542: The Nineteenth-Century British Novel 
Instructor: Amanpal Garcha 
We will study how the novels of the 1800s, in their ways of representing characters and events, reveal some of the major conflicts in nineteenth-century English society. The five works of fiction we will read -- by Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte Thomas Hardy, and others -- try to embrace seemingly irreconcilable ideas: of a Romantic emphasis on individual passion and freedom and a more modern emphasis on social conformity and productivity; of the aristocracy's age-old cultural power and the new middle class's increasing influence; of traditional, religious concepts of truth and new ideas from science, including Darwin's theory of evolution; of male power and women's changing roles; and of ancient community ideals and the expansion of governmental and capitalistic institutions. 

English 4543: 20th-Century British Fiction 
Instructor: Elizabeth Sheehan  
Over the course of the 20th century, Britain went from being the world's largest empire to being one of a number of global financial and political powers. This course explores the relationship between literature and empire. Key questions for the class include: how do British writers--whether elite intellectuals in London or writers from British colonies--uphold or contest imperial systems? How do the form and content of literary texts register and reconfigure the dynamics of empire, including hierarchies of race, gender, sexuality, and class, as well as processes of extraction and migration? What might 20th century British fiction help us to understand about our contemporary moment, which has been described as a period of U.S. imperial decline? 
Potential Text(s): Works by Rudyard Kipling, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Claude McKay, George Lamming, Jean Rhys, Graham Greene, Jeanette Winterson, Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro, as well as related literary and cultural theory. 
Guiding Questions: How to British writers—whether elite intellectuals in London or writers from British colonies—uphold or contest imperial systems? How do the form and content of literary texts register and reconfigure the dynamics of empire, including hierarchies of race, gender, sexuality, and class as well as processes of extraction and migration? What might 20th century British literary text help us to understand about our contemporary moment, which has been described as a period of U.S. imperial decline?  

English 4551: Special Topics in 19th-Century U.S. Literature - Popular Culture, Industrial Print, and the Remaking of American Literature, 1830s-1890s 
Instructor: Jared Gardner  
This course will study the emergence of mass popular culture in the age of industrial print, opening up imaginative literature to new audiences, authors and media. We will look at the rise of serial fiction in the U.S. and at a range of new print marketplaces, including the penny press, the story paper, the dime novel. We will study the impact of the changing technologies and economics of print throughout the 19th century, and how the rise of popular literature shaped a new understanding of "serious literature" which American authors had to negotiate as they considered venues and publishers. We will conclude by looking at the emergence of two new narrative media at century's end—the twinned birth of comics and film—which would go on and shape popular culture for the first half of the twentieth century. 
Potential Text(s): Authors studied will include Edgar Allan Poe, Fanny Fern, E.D.E.N. Southworth, George Lippard and Charles Chestnutt. We will also read true crime writing, temperance literature, urban sketches and dime novels. 
Potential Assignments: We will engage in short projects involving archives, both traditional and online. Final projects will offer a wide range of possible methods and goals. 

English 4555: Rhetoric and Legal Argumentation 
Instructor: James Fredal   
In this course, we will learn about rhetorical theory, analysis and practice, as they apply to legal argumentation. We will begin by reviewing some fundamentals of rhetoric and its elements, and then we'll look at legal texts: oral arguments from trials, Supreme Court decisions, and law articles on the nature of legal argument. We'll ask what rhetorical methods can bring to an understanding of argument in the law. 

English 4562: Studies in Literature and the Other Arts 
Instructor:  Christopher Stackhouse 
However employed, verbal and written language has provided foil and scaffold in the visual arts. As much as the image of an artwork defines itself in our presence, descriptions by word have coordinated with our material and conceptual experience of it. Visual artists have long understood this; and writers – poets in particular – have necessarily exercised literary craft to accommodate the power of images. Historically, the Abrahamic religious traditions offered early examples of the deployment of images, which illustrated sacred texts or enhanced spiritual experiences for their publics. But the range of devotional practices where beliefs are represented by figural and abstract imagery extends far beyond Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. By contrast, our time now faithfully favors personal expression while relying on consonant systems of communication. Contemporary literary and visual artists often subvert wanting conceptual stabilities of ‘representation’ and ‘meaning’ to more importantly produce and convey sensibility. Our interdisciplinary survey will closely examine the plasticity of language across media and artistic fields, evaluating the archive through an ultramodern lens. 

English 4565: Advanced Fiction Writing 
Instructor: Austen Osworth 
This is the advanced undergraduate workshop in the writing of fiction, designed for creative writing concentrators and other writers by permission of the instructor. We'll begin the semester by looking closely at the work of such contemporary masters of the short story as Tessa Hadley, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Danielle Evans, and short writing assignments in response to prompts, and then we'll transition into workshopping your full-length stories. 
Potential Assignments: Numerous short assignments, two complete full-length stories and a final revision. 

English 4566: Advanced Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Kathy Grandinetti 
Advanced workshop in the writing of poetry. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor. 

English 4568: Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Elissa Washuta 
Advanced workshop in the writing of creative nonfiction. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor. 

English 4569: Digital Media and English Studies 
Instructor: John Jones 
Students in 4569 will use the programable Arduino platform to explore the rhetorical possibilities of interactive digital objects, paying particular attention to the new forms of digital creativity these tools are enabling. In this way, students will not only analyze digital objects but become makers themselves, thinking about new relations between people and the physical world that are enabled by our devices and the new forms of writing they can support. 
Potential Texts: Massimo Banzi and Michael Shiloh, Getting Started with Arduino: The Open Source Electronics Prototyping Platform, 3rd Edition. Readings supplied by the instructor 
Potential Assignments: Students will create multiple interactive design projects, a short paper, and take occasional quizzes. 
Guiding Questions: How can objects communicate? What is the rhetoric of objects? 
Additional Materials: The Arduino Starter Kit 

English 4572: English Grammar and Usage 
Instructor: Daniel Seward 
In this class, we will explore English grammar as both a natural phenomenon and as an artificial collection of usage rules traditionally taught as “the Standard”—all while considering the social and ethical implications of using (or not using) and teaching (or not teaching) “the Standard.” Alongside lessons on English syntax and pragmatics, we will consider the affordances of “non-standard” English usage associated with particular discourse communities, as well as the ways spoken and written expression contribute to our personal, social, and cultural identities. Finally, we will consider what it means to be a good "citizen-grammarian": that is, someone who can offer accurate, pragmatic, and socially conscientious guidance about usage, all without simplistically privileging standardized forms, which tend to reflect the preferences of already-privileged discourse communities. 
Potential Texts: Required textbook: Louise Cummings, Working with English Grammar (Cambridge UP, 2018). This is available in print or electronic formats. Other readings on writing style will be distributed on Carmen as PDF documents or through URLs. 
Potential Assignments: Three online, open-resource exams; a Lexical Field Guide focusing on usage in a particular discourse community; weekly participation postings in various forms.

English 4577.02: Folklore II - Genres, Form, Meaning and Use: Legend, Rumor, Superstition and Folk Belief 
Instructor: Merrill Kaplan  
Rumors and spooky stories, superstitions and conspiracy theories, fake news and folk belief, UFOs and elves: folklorists study all these things and more as legendry, the genre in which societies work through their most pressing fears, beliefs and doubts. Take this course for a deep dive into how legend crystalizes cultural anxieties and how people use legend in ongoing debates about the nature of our world. 
Potential Texts: Lynne McNeill, Folklore Rules: A Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies; Reidar Christiansen, ed., Folktales of Norway. 
Potential Assignments: Collection project, short writings 
Guiding Questions: What happens at the edge of narrative credibility? 

English 4578 (20): Special Topics in Film - Television, Narrative, Seriality 
Instructor: Sean O'Sullivan 
This course will consider central questions of televisual art and narrative, focusing on the first seasons of three 21st-century series: The Wire, Mad Men and Orange Is the New Black.  What are the basic narrative practices and structures of television—and serial television in particular?  How are story worlds created?  What are the strategies and effects of devices such as the episode and the season?  How does character operate within television narrative?  How does televisual storytelling organize space and time?  What are the consequences of genre conventions and audience responses?  A recurring subject for the class will be the tension between the episodic and the serial—between individual aesthetic experiences and sprawling fictional universes.  Throughout, we will examine the vital intersections of an array of fields and practices: film studies, narratology, literature, media studies, visual culture and the segmented organization of experience. 
Potential Assignments: Viewings (3-4 episodes per week); readings (typically modest in length); regular quizzes; two short essays; final project. 

English 4578 (30): Special Topics in Film - Film and American Society After World War II 
Instructor: Ryan Friedman 
This course examines the history of the American cinema in the years immediately following the Second World War, covering the period from 1945 to 1960. We will view and discuss significant Hollywood films from a variety of genres (e.g., comedy, musical, film noir, western, melodrama, social problem film), contextualizing them by reading articles and excerpts from a variety of sources (e.g., popular magazines, film-trade publications, books of popular sociology, design treatises, political speeches) published during the era in which these films were produced and released. These textual primary sources will serve to illustrate historical discourses describing, reinforcing, and/or critiquing what were conceived of as significant social issues and shifts - from the "veterans problem," to the "housing crisis," to "juvenile delinquency," to sexism, and racial segregation in schools. In our discussions, we'll be interested in how the assigned films reflected, responded to, and inflected the print debates happening around these issues and shifts-even and perhaps especially when the films are not overtly working in the "social problem" genre. We'll also approach the films in the context of the upheavals happening in the American film industry during this period, as a result of the Paramount decree, the HUAC hearings, suburbanization, and declining movie theater attendance. In particular, we'll examine the ways in which the rise of television as a competing medium of mass entertainment shaped the stories that Hollywood movies told and the visual devices that they used to dramatize these stories. Our primary goal in this course is to attain a deep understanding of the intersection of media and ideology during a particular historical moment. Students in this course will gain advanced experience in various aspects of film criticism, including formal analysis and the application of historical frameworks, and in making and supporting written and verbal arguments. The final research project will require students to situate a film of their choosing in relation to the major trends in postwar cinema covered by this course, and the final exam will test students' mastery of course content. 
Potential Texts: All videos and readings will be available through the library catalogue at no cost to students. 
Potential Assignments: Class participation, weekly quizzes, a group presentation, an analytical essay, and a take-home final exam. 

English 4583: Special Topics in World Literature in English - Self and Nation in World Literatures 
Instructor: Pranav Jani 
This course will offer a broad understanding of a field of world literature known as “postcolonial literature.” We will examine literature from several regions that are now politically independent but have been and continue to be fundamentally shaped by colonialism and imperialism, like Haiti, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. We will also deepen our understanding of postcolonial literature by comparing it with texts from groups who are colonized today – like Native Americans and Palestinians. While paying attention to historical and political contexts and the authors’ unique styles and narrative practices, we will read these texts through the lens of how they construct, in their specific contexts, unique notions of self and nation. We will learn critical terms and methods of reading that allow us to answer a number of questions about colonialism, nationalism, patriarchy, race, caste, class, sexuality and the construction of self in postcolonial literature. 
Potential Text(s): Authors will probably include: Edwidge Danticat, Salman Rushdie, Ama Ata Aidoo, Kamila Shamsie, Shyam Selvadurai, Tstisti Dangarembga, Randa Jarrar and Elissa Washuta, List subject to change. 
Potential Assignments: Weekly posts, 1-2 shorter paper, research project. 

English 4587: Studies in Asian American Literature and Culture 
Instructor: Jian Chen 
Focuses on problems and themes in Asian American literature and culture from the late nineteenth century to the present. Topic varies. Examples: Asian American Literature and Popular Culture; Empire and Sexuality in Asian American Literature. 

English 4588: Studies in Latino/a Literature and Culture 
Instructor: Paloma Martinez-Cruz 
This course is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of key themes in U.S. Latinx identities and cultural practices beginning with a timeline of Latino/a/x literature in the colonial period (shipwrecked Spaniards in Texas!) and concluding with the individual preparation of a critical anthology (choose your own adventure!) to demonstrate students’ ability to thoroughly read and meaningfully critique major themes in Latinx culture.  Class organization will emphasize critical engagement with texts, films, performances, lectures, discussion, and class materials that foster a greater awareness of how to interpret the cultural production of Latinx citizens and denizens of the U.S. national project along creative, political, social, and economic trajectories.  Class meetings are structured in a seminar format centered on thoughtful discussion of films and readings. The course will be conducted in English and readings will be in English and Spanglish. 

English 4590.04H: Romanticism - The Emergence of the Gothic 
Instructor: Jacob Risinger 
The Gothic, a genre that arose alongside Romanticism and continues to structure our imaginings and our understanding of fictionality.  In this class, we will dive into the Gothic at its moment of emergence, reading some of the novels, poems and plays that reviewers in the 1790s described as predicated upon “the art of frightening young people, and reviving the age of ghosts, hobgoblins, and spirits.”  All haunting aside, we’ll interrogate the cultural desires and anxieties that lurk beneath the surface of Gothic texts, as well as the historical and philosophical contexts that made this mode of writing both popular and culturally incisive.  In our wide-ranging class, we’ll read novels by writers like Ann Radcliffe, Jane Austen, James Hogg and Mary Shelley, and because the Gothic fixates on the return of the repressed, we’ll have occasion to think pay particular attention to the revolutionary Gothic, the feminist Gothic, and the postcolonial Gothic. 
Guiding Question: What happens when you live through the Enlightenment—a cultural moment attuned to the power of rationality, skepticism, and empirical science—only to discover that you are still afraid of the dark?  

English 4592 (10): Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture - Sarah Piatt and 19th Century Concepts of Gender. 
Instructor: Elizabeth Renker 
Sarah Piatt (1836-1919) has been called America's great undiscovered poet. A celebrity in her own time, she was, like many women writers of the nineteenth century, expunged from the canon in the early twentieth century. In the 1990s, scholars began at last to bring her work back to public attention as part of a more general recovery of the work of women writers. Since that time, she has achieved recognition as one of the great voices of American and transatlantic literary history, writing extensively about the conflicts and fractures of nineteenth-century social life in a searing and often ironic voice. One of her major topics was the position of woman in society, including her roles as belle, wife, mother, poet, and public figure. This class will explore her poems and bring them into dialogue with public conceptions of gender as her world defined them as well as with selected short writings by other women of her era. 

English 4592 (20): Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture - Medieval Women 
Instructor: Karen Winstead 
In this course you'll meet some of the diverse women who inhabited the Middle Ages, including Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, medieval Europe's first dramatist; Hildegard of Bingen, mystic, advisor to rulers and popes, inventor of a language and alphabet, and author of poetry, music, plays, and treatises on topics ranging from botany to sex; Margery Kempe, visionary, mother of fourteen, entrepreneur, and traveler; and Christine de Pizan, a young widow who supported her children and mother by writing poetry, political allegories, and self-help books at the court of France. You'll encounter remarkable gender-benders, including the military leader and martyr Joan of Arc and the (fictional) Silence, born a woman but raised to be a great knight.  You'll find that women's experience in the past was a lot more complex than you might have expected, and it can help you think in new ways about women's experiences today. 

English 4592 (30): Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture -The Surplus Woman Question and the Beginnings of Feminism 
Instructor: Clare Simmons 
The British Census of 1851 revealed that there were at least half a million more women in Britain than there were men, leading to the conclusion that many women would never be wives. If marriage could no longer be assumed to be the ultimate goal of women’s lives, this raised the question of what women’s roles in society should be. Modern feminism owes much of its origins to debates over the so-called “Surplus Woman Question,” so in this course we will read examples of nineteenth-century women’s writing that challenge earlier notions of womanhood and that present a variety of answers as to how women might find personal fulfillment. Many of the texts that we will read provide insight not only into women’s lives but also into representations of race and colonialism in the nineteenth century. 
Potential Texts: Texts will include Louisa May Alcott, Work; Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre; Diana Mulock Craik, The Half-Caste; Florence Nightingale, Cassandra; Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market; Mary Seacole, Wonderful Adventures. 
Potential Assignments: Course requirements are careful reading in advance; regular attendance and participation; reading response questions; two essays; and a teaching-related presentation. 
Guiding Questions: How did women start to make independent lives for themselves? How did women create ideas of community? How did Britain's colonial ventures impact them? 

English 4597.01: The Disability Experience in the Contemporary World  
Instructor: Amrita Dhar 
This advanced undergraduate class exists at the intersection of disability studies and cultural studies. We shall discuss a range of materials (including life writing, contemporary’s art and film, podcasts, academic essays) to explore the various meanings of disability in our world. We shall similarly take note of areas where work remains to be done: towards intersectional thinking, and wider recognition of the community scholarship and activism that advance the field of disability studies.  
Potential Texts: All the readings (book chapters, journal articles, blogs) will be available on Carmen in the pdf format. 
Potential Assignments: one-two paper(s), one group project, one creative work. 
Questions: What are some guiding questions that this course will explore?  
What does it mean to understand disability as a global phenomenon? How does disability intersect with race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, and geopolitics? 

5000-Level

English 5191: Internship in English Studies - Promotional Media Internship  
Instructor: Scott DeWitt 
This internship opportunity will offer students experience in creating timely, relevant and compelling short-form promotional media (primarily video and audio) for the Department of English. Students will work closely with their supervisor (Professor DeWitt) as well as with key communications personnel to develop projects and set priorities and deadlines. English 5191, Promotional Media Internship, will be intensely hands-on and focus almost exclusively on digital media production and related work-management skills in professional settings. This internship opportunity is especially applicable to students across majors who would like to develop their digital media skills in a workplace setting and for those who have digital media skills with nowhere to apply them. Media skills are NOT a pre-requisite for this internship; students will have the opportunity to learn all media skills necessary for the class. (This internship fulfills the digital media requirement for the Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy concentration in the English Major.) 
Potential Assignments: YouTube videos, podcasts. 
Guiding Questions: How can a promotional media internship opportunity help students across majors develop their digital media skills in a workplace setting? 
Additional Materials: Experience with technology is helpful, but you will learn all of the skills you need in class. 

English 5664: Studies in Graphic Narrative - Graphic Memoir 
Instructor: Jared Gardner 
A course designed for both graduate students and advanced undergraduates, "Graphic Memoir" will introduce the styles, structures, and strategies of autobiographical life stories told in comics form. Starting with "how-to" texts by comics artists, we will investigate the relationship among form, content, and medium in graphic memoirs in a variety of styles. The readings fall into three groupings: lifewriting set in the context of larger historical events; memoirs of illness and recovery; and women's memoirs focusing on gender and sexuality. 
Potential Texts:  David B, Epileptic (1996), Lynda Barry, One! Hundred! Demons!  (2005), Alison Bechdel, Fun Home (2006), Brownholtz, Bethany (2013), Exercises in Style: 21st-century Remix pdf:http://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1141&context=etd Phoebe Gloeckner, Diary of a Teenage Girl (2002), Matt Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style (2005), Marisa Acocella Marchetto, Cancer Vixen (2009), Scott McCloud, Making Comics (2006), Khale McHurst, I Do Not Have an Eating Disorder (webcomic): http://misspixnmix.tumblr.com/post/3232725607/i-do-not-have-an-eating-disorder-p01-ive-been Raymond Queneau, Exercises in Style (1947/1981) pdf: http://www.altx.com/remix/excerpts-ex.pdf Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis (2000), Art Spiegelman, Maus (1991), GB Tran, Vietnamerica (2011), Critical articles and book chapters on Carmen. 
Potential Assignments: Students write weekly reading responses and do two kinds of oral presentations, one a commentary on a critical reading and one a close reading of a single page of graphic memoir. Each student creates a one-page graphic memoir. For the final project, students may choose to write a research paper or to create a more extended graphic memoir. 
Questions: How do comics make meaning through graphic design? What can graphic narrative do for autobiography that prose narrative can't do? How (and why) do comics artists use their medium to represent personal, national and familial traumas?

English 5723.01: Tree, Forest, Pasture, Garden, Animal: The Literature and Politics of the Natural World in Seventeenth-Century England
Instructor: Luke Wilson 
At the heart of this course is the importance of the tree in the British literary and political imagination. One tree – the so-called Royal Oak – is central to some of the mythologies that shaped the English experience of the Civil War period. Pursued by the Parliamentary forces Charles II hid in it before fleeing to the continent; and the regicide of 1649 was represented as its felling at the hands of, or at least at the direction of, Oliver Cromwell. But trees were of far broader significance to English national identity. The seventeenth century gave rise to the phenomenon of what Keith Thomas has called “trees as pets” – singular, fetishized trees loaded with personal, familial, or historical significance. At the same time, trees collectively – forests, and the timber they produced – were esteemed as the symbolic and literal source of English power abroad and prosperity at home, but one that was increasingly recognized as under threat of exhaustion as the consequences of centuries of deforestation. 
In this course we’ll try, then, to see the forest for the trees, and the trees for the forest. But we’ll also read about other natural and artificial configurations of the landscape, including gardens, pastures, and fields, and about the animals that inhabited them. Some of the most important literary works of the century are shaped around these figurations of the natural world: Shakespeare’s As You Like It; Jonson’s The Forest, Marvell’s garden and country house poems; the spiritually-inflected landscapes of Herbert and Vaughan; Milton’s Paradise Lost and Masque at Ludlow Castle; Margaret Cavendish’s animal poems; country house poems by various writers; and many more, including works by Amelia Lanyer, Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, Edmund Waller, and Richard Lovelace. The Civil War period saw land-use disputes that called into question the traditional order of the landed gentry and its rights and obligations; we’ll read material related to the Digger and Leveller movements, which called for the conversion to public use of privately held farm and pastureland. The course will (probably) begin with As You Like (c. 1599) and end with excerpts from Paradise Lost (1667). 
Potential Texts: An anthology of seventeenth-century poetry; an edition of Shakespeare; most other material on canvas. 
Potential Assignments: Short paper; final research paper; class presentation. 
Questions: Why were the English so obsessed with trees? How was the natural world understood by the English in the seventeenth century? How did the political and social upheavals of the seventeenth century affect representations of the natural world? 

1000-Level

English 1110.01: First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. 
*Traditional and online sections available 
Old GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1 
New GE: Foundation Writing and Information Literacy Course

English 1110.02: First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts. 
*Traditional and online sections available 
Old GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1 
New GE: Foundation Writing and Information Literacy Course

English 1110.03 (10): First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
Intensive practice in fundamentals of expository writing illustrated in the student's own writing and essays of professional writers; offered in a small class setting and linked with an individual tutoring component in its concurrent course, ENGLISH-1193. This course is available for EM credit only through the AP program. 
Old GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1 
New GE: Foundation Writing and Information Literacy Course

English 1110.03 (20 and 30): First-Year English Composition 
Instructor: Christiane Buuck 
Intensive practice in fundamentals of expository writing illustrated in the student's own writing and essays of professional writers; offered in a small class setting and linked with an individual tutoring component in its concurrent course, ENGLISH-1193. This course is available for EM credit only through the AP program. 
Old GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1 
New GE: Foundation Writing and Information Literacy Course 

English 1193: Individual Studies
Instructor: Christiane Buuck
Intensive practice in the fundamentals of expository writing.

2000-Level

English 2201: Selected Works of British Literature: Medieval through 1800 
Instructor: Leslie Lockett 
We will explore major British literary texts written from the early Middle Ages through the late eighteenth century, including Beowulf, the lais of Marie de France, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the poetry of Shakespeare, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko. Our approach to the literature will emphasize close reading, form and genre, and historical context.  
Old GE: Literature 
Old GE: Diversity: Global Studies 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2202H: Survey of British Literature, Romanticism to the Present (Backwards)
Instructor: Robyn Warhol
This writing-and discussion-intensive course surveys English literature from the Romantics to the 21st century—backwards. We begin with postmodern-era writers from Africa, India, Canada, Ireland and England; next we read Modernist authors; then we survey the Victorian period; and finally, we come to the Romantics. By starting with the present, we can recognize the themes, styles and genres of the past that became important for the writers of today. We can place authors who are underrepresented in traditional literary history because of their race, gender or sexual orientation at the center of our inquiry, rather than coming to them last, as if they were an afterthought of literary history. 
Topics of discussion in the class are student driven. For each day of class, students come prepared with a short, informal written response to a specific question about the day’s reading assignment, which will be the first question we discuss. Every day one student will present an oral close reading of a 100-word passage from the assigned text, ending the presentation on a question for class discussion. Lectures—featuring illustrated powerpoints and focusing on the historical, biographical, geographical and cultural context for the day’s reading—will be open-ended, inviting questions and challenges from the class. 
In addition to informal writing assignments, students will do creative work such as mapping a storyworld, finding illustrations online for one of our texts, creating timelines of literary history, diagramming a plot and writing parodies or imitations of works that we discuss. Some projects will be individual, and students will work in groups for other projects. 
Guiding Questions: What do you need to learn to be able to comprehend any poem, story, play or novel you happen to pick up after this course is over? How does literary history look when you observe it upside down (placing Africa and Asia at the center, rather than North America) and backwards? 
Potential Text(s): The required text for the course is the Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors, 10th Edition, Volume 2. 
Old GE: Literature 
Old GE: Diversity: Global Studies 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2220 (10): Introduction to Shakespeare
Instructor: Tamara Mahadin
Study of selected plays designed to give an understanding of drama as theatrical art and as an interpretation of fundamental human experience.
Potential Text(s): TBD
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Global Studies 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2220 (20): Introduction to Shakespeare
Instructor: Christopher Highley
In late sixteenth-century London, on the south bank of the Thames, amongst bear-baiting rings and brothels stood a round wooden theater that brought together people from all walks of life - aristocrats and merchants, cobblers and tailors, seamstresses and fishwives. It was for this space and for these people that William Shakespeare first wrote his influential plays, and in this course, we'll be imagining what it was like to stand with them and watch Shakespeare's theater in action. Our in-depth exploration will include selected comedies and tragedies, not to mention a lot of fun along the way. 
Potential Text(s): Free online editions of Shakespeare from the Folger Shakespeare Library. 
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Global Studies 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2220 (30): Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Luke Wilson
Why does our culture continue to fetishize Shakespeare? In this course we'll try to find out, by reading five or six of the plays -- some more and some less well-known, along with a few of his sonnets. Our focus will be on close analysis of the texts themselves, but we’ll also pay attention to the social and political milieu in which the plays were composed and first performed. Possible plays include: The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Pericles and The Winter’s Tale.
Guiding Questions: What's so great about Shakespeare? How are his plays a part of what we are today? What were the cultural and historical circumstances that shaped what and how he wrote? 
Potential Text(s): The Norton Shakespeare, ed. Greenblatt, third edition, in two volumes (Early Plays; Later Plays). 
Potential Assignments: Weekly quizzes, a formal essay, a short writing exercise, a performance review and a final exam. 
Old GE: Literature 
Old GE: Diversity: Global Studies 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2220H: Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Alan B. Farmer
In this course we will read several plays written by Shakespeare and consider how they both conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history, and romance. Looking at the plays as works to be both performed and read, we will pay particular attention to the politics of gender, religion, and kingship in the plays, topics that Shakespeare returned to again and again and that were vitally important, and indeed controversial, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Students will view and write a review of a performance of a Shakespeare play, and in addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: Richard II, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure For Measure, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Macbeth and The Tempest.  
Potential Text(s): I plan to order specific editions from the New Cambridge Shakespeare series.
Potential Assignments: Requirements include a midterm exam, final exam, an academic performance review, two critical essays (one shorter, one longer), regular attendance and active participation.
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Global Studies 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2260 (20): Introduction to Poetry
Instructor: Jill Galvan
This course will acquaint you with a variety of poetry, representing different eras, styles and topics. You do not need to consider yourself fantastic with poetry to take it! Newcomers are welcome, and part of my goal will be to help everyone become more confident by the end of the semester. Our syllabus will be divided into four units. The first will overview primary elements and teach you how to break down a poem and develop an interpretation. The second unit will do a deep dive into specific genres (sonnet, dramatic monologue, ghazal, ballad, etc.). The third unit will cluster around particular themes, exploring how variously poets address them (for instance, love/sex; nature; mythological figures). The fourth unit will focus on a few specific poets.
Potential Texts: Poems by Ha Jin, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Ocean Vuong, Audre Lorde, William Shakespeare, Terrence Hayes, Robert Browning, Evie Shockley, Natalie Diaz, Sylvia Plath, Una Marson, Oscar Wilde, Mary Oliver, Ray Gonzalez, and many more.
Potential Assignments: (tentative): Three short analytical responses (1 1/2 - 2 pp. each), midterm and final exams, final project (either critical or creative) and regular participation

English 2260 (30): Introduction to Poetry 
Instructor: Ethan Knapp
Designed to help students understand and appreciate poetry through an intensive study of a representative group of poems. 
GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction 
Section 20 (Full term), 30 & 70 Instructor: Staff 
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included. 
GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2261 (40): Introduction to Fiction 
Instructor: Jill Galvan
This course has two goals. The first is to familiarize (or re-familiarize) you with some of the basic literary concepts (character, point of view, tone, symbolism, etc.) associated with the genre of fiction. The second is to help you feel comfortable approaching fiction critically. You will learn college-level strategies for analyzing literature, including reading a text with an eye for fine detail (a.k.a. close-reading), and how to construct logical interpretations based on textual evidence. I will probably provide some lecture in each meeting, but much of the class will be conducted as a general discussion. Our readings will span literary history and diverse cultural and social perspectives. Possibly, they will loosely circulate around the theme of humanity/what it means to be human (in a variety of senses!). We may also consider the question: how do we as readers (maybe unconsciously) bring ideas of fiction--a storyline, character, symbolism, etc.--into our consumption of *nonfiction*? How do these ideas influence how we read public accounts (like the news or social media)? How do they shape our experience of, say, memoir?
Potential Texts: (Tentative list for novels): Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Octavia Butler's Kindred, Art Spiegelman's Maus, Justin Torres' We the Animals, Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Trevor Noah's Born a Crime
Potential Assignments: (Tentative): Active participation, regular reading quizzes, three short response papers (1 1/2 - 2 pp. each), midterm exam, final exam

English 2261 (20 & 80)-SESSION 2: Introduction to Fiction
Instructor: Elizabeth Renker
Even the most dedicated fans might not realize that Game of Thrones is also a skilled and complex work of literature.  Focusing on the first two seasons of the HBO series, this class will train you in core analytical methods that will enable you to understand GoT at a deeper level; it will also improve your analytical skills overall.  (We will not have time to read the books by George R.R. Martin.)  All students are required to watch all eight seasons of the HBO series before second session begins. You will then re-watch (and read the transcript for) one episode per class period. Each class session will train you to understand and apply the core skills of literary interpretation without a lot of heavy reading assignments. You will see very quickly how meaningful and helpful they are in achieving a deeper understanding of Game of Thrones. Class meets via Zoom during our scheduled class period, and attendance is required.   
Potential Assignments: Daily attendance with cameras on (maximum of four absences and/or four days without camera allowed before a penalty begins); preparation of five daily written homework questions; short daily quizzes about the homework; daily participation in class discussion; and three exams conducted on Carmen, of which the two highest grades will count.   
Required Materials: an HBO subscription; additional readings posted on Carmen.
Old GE: Literature
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2263: Introduction to Film 
Instructor: Jared Gardner
This course offers an introduction to the language and aesthetics of cinema, familiarizing students with the basic building blocks of film, the forms that movies use to tell stories, move viewers emotionally, communicate complex ideas, and dramatize social conflicts. It also introduces students to significant developments in film history and ways of approaching film interpretation. Throughout the term, we will focus on detailed analysis of films, analyzing closely the way in which the multiple elements of movie-making coming together to make, and complicate, meaning. 
Potential Text(s): Opensource textbook and weekly screenings.
Potential Assignments: Two projects, including creative options, quizzes and active discussion on Carmen and in recitation.
Old GE: Visual and Performing Arts 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Culture Studies 
Section 10 Instructor: Rob Barry
Section 20 Instructor: Dennin Ellis
Introduction to the analysis of popular culture texts. 
GE: Cultures and Ideas 
New GE: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in CompStd 

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Nicole Barnhart
Section 20 Instructor: Grace Culhane
Section 30 Instructor: Katie Harms
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre. 

English 2266: Introductory Poetry Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Arah Ko
Section 20 Instructor: Eros Livieratos
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets. 

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing 
Instructor: Polley Poer
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres. 

English 2268 (10): Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Kurt Ostrow
In this course, we will write and share true stories about our lives and society. We will first study the craft of published works—from personal essays to cultural criticism—and write short pieces inspired by them. We will then workshop longer drafts of student essays with a protocol that we will create together. Why take this course? After all, creative nonfiction is vulnerable work. For me, Gloria Anzaldúa says it best: "I write...to discover myself, to preserve myself, to make myself...To convince myself that I am worthy and that what I have to say is not a pile of s***." Here, I hope we will all write ourselves closer to appreciating our own and others' worth. 
Potential Text(s): We will read work by writers such as Jo Ann Beard, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Eula Biss, Brian Blanchfield, Alexander Chee, Tressie Macmillan Cottom, Annie Dillard, Melissa Febos, Masha Gessen, John Green, Leslie Jamison, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Kiese Laymon, Audre Lorde, Rebecca Solnit, Jia Tolentino and Jerald Walker. 

English 2268 (20): Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Amber Taylor
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of creative nonfiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published essays by masters of the many forms of creative nonfiction. 

English 2269: Digital Media Composing 
Section 10 Instructor: Morgan Beers
Section 40 Instructor: Staff
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production. 
Old GE: Visual and Performing Arts 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts

English 2270H: Introduction to Folklore 
Instructor: Merrill Kaplan
"Wait, you can study that?" Folklore isn’t just fairy tales. It’s also everyday culture from rumors and memes to holiday recipes and Bloody Mary in the mirror. All of it is meaningful and communicates messages about the identity and values of groups and individuals. Take this course to learn about how to think about the familiar in unfamiliar ways, see the artistry in the everyday, and discover the fascinating culture that is already yours.
Guiding Questions: What is folklore? How is meaning encoded in the everyday things we say, do and make?
Potential Texts: Lynne McNeill, Folklore Rules: A Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies
Potential Assignments: Folklore collection project, short essays, leading class discussion
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 
New GE: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in CompStd 

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion 
Instructor: Melissa Guadron
English 2276 introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media and cultural contexts. Come learn the ancient and modern arts of persuasion! In English 2276, we'll practice techniques developed for writing effective, ethical (and stylish) arguments. Plus, we'll learn theory designed for dealing successfully with complex and contentious issues. 
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 
New GE: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies 
Instructor: Staff
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability. 
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 

English 2280: The English Bible 
Instructor: James Fredal
The Bible in English translation, with special attention to its literary qualities, conceptual content and development within history. 
Old GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2280H: The English Bible 
Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin
The Bible in English translation, with special attention to its literary qualities, conceptual content and development within history. 
Old GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2281 (20): Introduction to African American Literature 
Instructor: Koritha Mitchell
This course will not only introduce students to major figures in African American literature; it will also place these figures in the context of African American history and culture. We will work from the premise that this literary tradition has never existed solely to respond to so-called "dominant" culture and "mainstream" literature. In addition to well-known writers, such as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, this course will explore the work of equally important but less widely known authors, such as Harriet Jacobs, Ida B. Wells, Charles Chesnutt and Audre Lorde. All students must invest in both volumes of the Norton Anthology of African American Literature. 
Old GE: Literature 
Old GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 
New GE: Foundation: Race, Ethnic and Gender Diversity
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in AfAmASt 

English 2281 (30): Introduction to African American Literature 
Instructor: Adélékè Adéẹ̀kọ́ 
A study of representative literary works by African-American writers from 1760 to the present. 
Old GE: Literature 
Old GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 
New GE: Foundation: Race, Ethnic and Gender Diversity
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in AfAmASt 

English 2282: Introduction to Queer Studies 
Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
Introduces and problematizes foundational concepts of the interdisciplinary field of queer studies, highlighting the intersections of sexuality with race, class and nationality. 
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 
Old GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
New GE: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies
New GE: Foundation: Race, Ethnic and Gender Diversity
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in WGSSt 

English 2291: U.S. Literature 1865 to the Present
Instructor: Thomas Davis
This course will provide a survey of American literature from the aftermath of the Civil War to the present. We will attend closely to the formal and stylistic developments of different periods of literary history with an eye on the political and historical antagonisms that accompany and underwrite these aesthetic innovations. The lectures will sketch out the broad historical, cultural, and artistic transformations of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries: the changes wrought by war, race, colonialism, and capitalist expansion; the material and psychological impact of two world wars; technological transformation; and the lived experiences of environmental crisis. As we move through the centuries, we will be able to see how literature not only internalized many of these historical pressures, but provided unique ways to see and to think about them. Recitations will enhance your understanding of these issues and develop close reading skills.
Potential Assignments: Quizzes and exams. 
Old GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2367.01: Language, Identity and Culture in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Staff 
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. 
Old GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
Old GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience 
Section 20, 40 & 60 Instructor: Staff 
Discussion & practice of the conventions, practices, & expectations of scholarly reading of literature & expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience. 
Old GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
Old GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2 
Old GE: Literature (BS only) 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts

English 2367.02 (70): Literature in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Pranav Jani
Reserved: English Major Only
Our subject will be literature from 2001 to the present. Our class this semester has this thesis: while the up-to-date concern for diversity would seem apt for new forms of literature and contemporary modes of art, I will argue that diversity has always been a subject for Twentieth-Century authors. Most canonical works have always had the theme of diversity, We will see some of the following: ethnic diversity (African-American, Native American, Asian American and Jewish); literature about disabilities (injured veterans; blindness, autism, depression, alcoholism); the insane and the temporarily insane; the victims of racism, prejudice, and violence. Many works also consider traditionally denigrated groups, like women and homosexuals. The conclusion here is that such diversity in literature (as in life) calls for a good deal of tolerance and compassion, and it exercises our capacity for empathy and understanding.
Potential Texts: Jennifer Egan, A Visit From the Goon Squad, David Eggers The Circle, Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, Ian McEwan, Machines Like Me, Art Spiegelman Maus.
Potential Assignments: Two or three short essays, Midterm, Final, and Participation in Discussions.
Old GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
Old GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2 
Old GE: Literature (BS only) 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games
Section 10 Instructor: Christoffer Turpin
Section 20 Instructor: Ryan Helterbrand
Section 40 Instructor: Lauren Cook
Section 50 Instructor: Liz Miller
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required.
Old GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2 

English 2367.08 (30): The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games
Instructor: Kelsey Paige Mason
Our course will address theories in game studies, with the focus of our analysis being tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) and video game RPGs. Students will analyze character development and creators, plot and story, NPCs and party interactions, narrative structures, gameplay mechanics, worldbuilding and more. Our approach will be to look at all gameplay and story choices as intentional and rhetorical. The structure of this class will give students the opportunity to investigate TTRPG sourcebooks, video games, streams / podcasts and actual play performances.
Guiding Questions: How do we imagine decolonized, accessible, non-discriminatory game worlds? What influence does the past of roleplaying games have on possible futures for roleplaying game development? 
Potential Text(s): This is an asynchronous, online course with a variety of ways to participate. Materials will be available via Carmen. 
Potential Assignments: Assignments which will be revised and build into future assignments (scaffolded), presentation, creative project, annotated bibliography, peer review workshops. 
Old GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2 
*This is an asynchronous, online course with a variety of ways to participate. Materials will be available via Carmen. 

English 2464: Introduction to Comics Studies
Instructor: Natalia Colón Alvarez 
Study of sequential comics and graphic narrative and the formal elements of comics, how word and image compete and collaborate in comics to make meaning and how genre is activated and redeployed. Students analyze comics texts, articulate and defend interpretations of meaning and learn about archival research at OSU's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. No background in comics is required. 
Old GE: Visual and Performing Arts
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts

English 2581: Introduction to U.S. Ethnic Literatures and Cultures 
Instructor: Martin Joseph Ponce 
This course provides students with a broad survey of literature produced by and about the major U.S. racial groups from the late 19th century to the present. Through readings of novels, memoirs, short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, we will consider how African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Chicanx/Latinx writers have addressed the social and historical construction of racial differences and hierarchies—and their intersections with ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, dis/ability, location, citizenship status, and so on—while also seeking to imagine alternatives to those conditions of domination and subordination. 
Guiding Questions: How have African American, American Indian, Asian American and Chicanx/Latinx writers critically and creatively engaged with practices of racial, class and gender subordination and territorial dispossession? What kinds of historical, cultural and experiential knowledges—often obscured, forgotten or disavowed—do they demand that readers acknowledge, remember and reckon with? What sorts of literary forms have they used and invented to claim cultures and communities of survival, renewal and transformation? Most broadly, how have U.S. ethnic literatures challenged, revised and reimagined the realities, ideals and possibilities of “America”? 
Potential Text(s): Possible authors include: Toni Morrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Zitkala-Ša, Carlos Bulosan, Nella Larsen, Tomás Rivera, Julie Otsuka, James Baldwin, N. Scott Momaday, Audre Lorde, Maxine Hong Kingston, Leslie Marmon Silko, Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Javier Zamora, Mohsin Hamid, Claudia Rankine, Danez Smith, Layli Long Soldier. 
Potential Assignments: Requirements: attendance, participation, quizzes, worksheets, 2 discussion posts/presentations, 2 papers, final exam. 
New GE: Foundation: Race, Ethnicity and Gender Diversity 

3000-Level

English 3264: Monsters Without and Within 
Instructor: Karen Winstead
Storytellers have long used monsters not only to frighten us but to jolt us into thinking more deeply about ourselves, others and the world we live in. This course will examine how horror novel(la)s and their film adaptations use monsters to explore fundamental issues of wellbeing and citizenship. The films this course features are all “rogue adaptations,” that is, films that aggressively and self-consciously transform their literary sources—reinterpreting characters and retooling plots to create monsters that offer different visions of what we have to fear and of how we can (or cannot) overcome the monsters without and within.
Guiding Questions: How do literature and film use monsters to join debates on urgent contemporary issues? How can we analyze films’ multifarious, often antagonistic, relationships to their literary sources? How have works of horror anticipated social, personal and national problems before they were identified as such? How can you use monsters to think about the problems—personal, national, global—that confront us in the twenty-first century?
Potential Text(s): Stephen King, The Shining; Richard Matheson, I Am Legend; Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Potential Assignments: You'll be keeping a "Director's Notebook" through the term, reflecting on interpretive cruxes and the challenges of adaptation; you'll engage in weekly discussions; for your final project, you'll imagine how you might go about producing your own "rogue adaptation" of one of the works we have studied.
New GE: Theme: Citizenship for a Diverse and Just World
New GE: Theme: Health and Well-being

English 3271: Structure of the English Language 
Section 10 & 20 Instructor: Clarissa Surek-Clark
Students learn basic characteristics of English linguistics focusing on the basic building blocks of language; the sounds of English and how they are put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. Students investigate and explore linguistic variation, accents of American English, and the implications of language evaluation in educational settings. 
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 
New GE: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3271 (30): Structure of the English Language 
Instructor: Galey Modan
This course is an introduction to English linguistics. You will gain the analytical tools to scientifically analyze any language, and apply those tools to English. We will learn about the basic characteristics of language: the sounds of English and how they're put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. While studying how the basic building blocks of language work, we will also investigate linguistic variation, accents of American English, and language and education. We'll also consider how standard and non-standard varieties of English get evaluated in the US, and the implications of such evaluations in educational settings. 
Potential Text(s): How English Works, by Anne Curzan and Michael Adams.
Potential Assignments: Problem sets, slang journal, group discussions, quizzes, midterm and final.
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 
New GE: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3271 (40): Structure of the English Language 
Instructor: Lauren Squires
This class is an introduction to the linguistic structure of the English language: its systems of sounds, words, and sentences, and how these systems differ across dialects, contexts, and periods in history. We first will work to acquire the analytical tools needed to scientifically analyze any language, and apply these to the structure of English. We will then move to understanding patterns of English in its conversational and social contexts, exploring how English is used in interaction, how its dialects and styles vary across individuals and groups, how the language we now think of as “English” came to be, and what its future holds. 
Guiding Questions: What makes up the sound system of English? How does English form words? What makes English sentences grammatical? How can we understand society through understanding language variation?
Potential Text(s): Curzan, Anne and Michael Adams. 2012. How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction. 3rd edition. Boston: Longman.
Potential Assignments: Weekly online activities; homework sets; midterm quizzes; final quizzes; Slang journal.
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 
New GE: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3304: Business and Professional Writing 
Instructor: Staff 
The study of principles and practices of business and professional writing. 

English 3305: Technical Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Staff 
Section 20 Instructor: Lauren Colwell
Study of principles and practices of technical writing. Emphasis on the style, organization, and conventions of technical and research reports, proposals, memoranda, professional correspondence, etc. 

English 3360: Ecopoetics: British Environmental Poetry and the Industrial Revolution
Instructor: Clare Simmons
Why was “Nature” so important to nineteenth-century British poets? One answer is environmental: with the rise of industrialization, less and less Britons were living in rural communities, and an increasing proportion worked in factory cities where land, water and air were becoming polluted to the extent that human and animal life were endangered. 
This course, which can be used as part of the English major or towards the General Education “Lived Environments” Theme requirement, will provide an introduction to the types and forms of poetry in English, with a focus on poetry written during Britain’s first period of industrialization, approximately 1780 (the beginnings of factory production) to 1880 (after Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species and Descent of Man and general recognition of human impact on the environment). No previous experience in reading and writing about poetry is required. Students will have the opportunity to read a wide selection of readings contrasting the natural and industrialized environment; and to practice skills in close reading, analyzing, discussing and writing about literary works. 
Guiding Questions: How do we think of "Nature"? How does learning about past environmental disasters help guide our thinking today?
Potential Text(s): Online poetry anthology through Carmen.
Potential Assignments: Reading journal; quizzes; midterm and final.
New GE: Theme: Lived Environments

English 3361: Narrative and Medicine: Death
Instructor: Rolando Rubalcava
This class will cover narrative studies and its application towards narratives of illness and disability in an effort to apply and practice the goals of narrative medicine. By studying core concepts of narrative (time, plot, character), we will learn about the applications of narrative studies and how it can be used in a clinical setting. Readings will include novels, memoirs, short stories written by physicians and medical students, and graphic narratives, as well as theoretical texts to enhance our understanding of the goals of narrative medicine. This study is inherently interdisciplinary, encouraging students to bring their interests from fields outside of narrative studies to the class. By discussing key features like intersubjectivity and temporality, and its methods, including ethical listening and close reading, our class will become the vehicle for discussions on more complex topics, like health disparities, the ethics of medical practice, and acknowledging physician’s roles as listeners when engaging with narratives.
Guiding Questions: What are the goals for practitioners of narrative medicine? How can narrative medicine help bridge the study of medical education and the humanities? How can discussion on subjects such as narrative, temporality, and space help us think about the needs of patients?
Potential Texts: Being Mortal (Atul Gawande), No Apparent Distress (Rachel Pearson), Winter Journal (Paul Auster), Lighter Than My Shadow (Katie Green), COVID Chronicles (Ethan Sacks)
Potential Assignments: Assignments will include in-class discussions, reading responses, quizzes, and a final essay
Old GE: Literature 

English 3364: Special Topics in Popular Culture: Media Franchising in the Age of Streaming, Shared Universes and Legacyquels
Instructor: Alex Thompson
In this class students will examine two of the biggest current media franchises, Marvel and Star Wars, for how they operate in various media, including film, TV, comic books and video games. Students will ask how companies make decisions in situations where the stakes are as big as they can be, how creators attempt to make corporate art personal to them, and how audiences respond to those works in an ever-changing cultural, political and economic landscape. 
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 
New GE: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3372 (10): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy 
Instructor: Amelia Matthews-Pett
The content of this course inhabits a space between science fiction and fantasy. In it, we will explore what some of the most common supernatural threats in literature and popular culture at large can tell us about human anxieties. To this end, we will dip our toes into the world of monsters, exploring formerly-human entities, humans with special powers and human-made creatures. Our exploration will cover folklore, literature and film to discuss how people use the idea of monsters to explain the unexplainable and create possibilities for interpreting human experience. While this course is neither strictly science fiction or strictly fantasy, by tracing some of the most common supernatural entities in American popular culture we can consider how monsters are made across those and related genres, juxtaposing critical differences between magical and scientific worldbuilding. At the core of each week’s content will be one central question: “What do monsters tell us about ourselves?” 
Potential Text(s): Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu, Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Potential Assignments: Discussions, quizzes, creative and traditional essay options for midterm and final 
Old GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 3372 (20): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy 
Instructor: Morgan Podraza 
What does it mean to be human? This course explores the qualities, experiences and potential futures of humanity through science fiction. Together we will examine characters and worlds from a variety of media in order to test the boundaries of the human and discover new ways of understanding our bodies and minds.
Potential Text(s): Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler; O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti; Trouble on Triton by Samuel R. Delany; Advantageous by Jennifer Phang; The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Potential Assignments: Discussion posts, in-class presentations, creative mid-term and final projects.
Old GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 3372—SESSION 2: Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy 
Instructor: Molly Farrell
Introduction to the tradition and practice of speculative writing. Provides students the opportunity to examine and compare works of science fiction and/or fantasy. 
Old GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts

English 3372 (40): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy: Environmental Science Fiction 
Instructor: Thomas Davis
Science Fiction and Fantasy often takes us to places with weird environments, including future Earths, dreamscapes and other planets. In recent years, sci-fi and fantasy works have begun directly addressing the crises of climate change, the sixth mass extinction, and the uncertain prospects for human life on an altered planet. This class examines the ways environmental sci-fi/fantasy novels, short fiction and film narrate planetary change and what that means for human and nonhuman futures. Students will read from and view a diverse set of sci-fi/fantasy fiction, ranging from intergalactic epics, Afrofuturism, weird fiction and the recent subgenre cli-fi. Students will also get a chance to build their own environmental sci-fi/fantasy worlds.
Guiding Questions: How does literature think through environmental change? What does sci-fi world-building have in common with other types of modeling? What can environmental literature teach us now in our own moment of ecological breakdown?
Potential Text(s): H.G. Wells The Time Machine, Ursula K. Le Guin The Dispossessed, Octavia Butler The Parable of the Sower, Jeff VanderMeer Borne, Ling Ma Severance and the film The Girl With All the Gifts.
Potential Assignments: Short papers, a zine, a bestiary and a final world-building project.
Old GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts  

English 3372 (50): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy 
Instructor: Honor Lundt  
Introduction to the tradition and practice of speculative writing. Provides students the opportunity to examine and compare works of science fiction and/or fantasy. 
Old GE: Literature 
New GE: Foundation: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 

English 3378: Special Topics in Film and Literature: Filming the Pandemic in Black
Instructor: Simone Drake
This course will focus on “Black film” productions between 2019 and 2022. We will contemplate the various roles the COVID-19 pandemic played in the production, marketing and consumption of Black film as the entertainment industry, like the rest of the world, pivoted to virtual spaces. The selected films will be placed in conversation with African American writers, as we contemplate intertextuality and shared tropes between film, prose and performance. 
Potential Text(s): Films include: The Last Black Man in San Francisco; The Forty-Year-Old Version; Sylvie’s Love; Uncorked; Black Box; and Concrete Cowboy. Written texts include: Toni Morrison, Love; Lisa B. Thompson, Single Black Female; Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God; Richard Wright, “Almos’ a Man”; Tananarive Due, The Good House; and August Wilson, Radio Golf. 
Potential Assignments: Reading/viewing quizzes, active participation, a film reference entry paper (2 pages) and three synthesis papers (4-5 pages) are required. 
Old GE: Cultures and Ideas 
New GE: Foundation: Historical and Cultural Studies 

English 3379 (20): Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy 
Instructor: Jonathan Buehl
In English 3379, you will learn about the scholarly practices of researchers in Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy (WRL) Studies. You will learn how to write effective research-based arguments in these subfields of English studies by practicing methods of data collection and analysis, developing research questions, working with genres of research writing, and revising your writing for clarity and purpose. And you will understand how to transfer what you learn to new contexts - both other courses in the English major and contexts outside the university. 

English 3379 (30): Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy 
instructor: John Jones
In English 3379, you will learn about the scholarly practices of researchers in Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy (WRL) Studies. You will learn how to write effective research-based arguments in these subfields of English studies by practicing methods of data collection and analysis, developing research questions, working with genres of research writing, and revising your writing for clarity and purpose. And you will understand how to transfer what you learn to new contexts - both other courses in the English major and contexts outside the university. 
Potential Text(s): Students will read a range of articles in writing, rhetoric and literacy. 
Potential Assignments: Students will complete three questionnaires and worksheets that explore methods in writing, rhetoric and literacy, respectively, and propose or write an 8-page research project in one of these fields. 

English 3398 (10): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Sandra MacPherson
This course has two goals. First, the course will give you the tools you need to succeed as an English Major. We will work on fundamental skills such as close textual analysis, practice putting together essays and research projects, and learn some of the specialized vocabulary writers and scholars use to talk about literary works. Second, we will also think together about why literature is important, what it does for us and how we understand its place in the modern world. 

English 3398 (20): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Christopher Jones
This section of English 3398 combines exercises in analytical reading with formal and informal writing assignments. The emphasis throughout is on the acquisition and strengthening of skills required in many upper-division English courses. These skills include (a) the ability to objectify and articulate what we, as readers, bring to interpretation of a text; (b) the ability to "close read" for patterns and argue from them; (c) the ability to identify the conventions of various textual forms (genres) and the different kinds of critical engagement they encourage; and (d) the ability to conduct and effectively incorporate research into the historical backgrounds, reception, or influence of authors and texts. These four emphases inform the four unit divisions of our class. 

English 3398 (30): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Sarah Neville
This class is designed to support students in developing the writing and research skills they need to be successful English majors. Classes and short assignments will cover issues like: 

• What does secondary criticism add to literature? 
• How do I read actively? What kinds of tools do I need? 
• How do I stake a claim? Do I need a flag? 
•  What’s the difference between a long paper and a short one? 
• How can I distinguish between what they say about a text and what I say? 

In addition, over the course of the term students will learn the types, tools, and methods of literary criticism that English scholars employ as they construct projects in both print and digital media. Along the way we’ll read a novel by Robertson Davies, short stories by Dorothy Parker, Lorrie Moore, Donald Barthelme and George Saunders, plays by Djanet Sears and William Shakespeare, and poems by Billy-Ray Belcourt. Students will complete in-class exercises and multiple short writing assignments that ultimately build towards a longer research paper. Previous students have found this course “rigorous in the best way,” “inspiring,” “engaging,” “respectful of students’ time” and “encouraging.” 

English 3398 (70): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Elizabeth Hewitt
This section of English 3398 combines exercises in analytical reading with formal and informal writing assignments. The emphasis throughout is on the acquisition and strengthening of skills required in many upper-division English courses. These skills include (a) the ability to objectify and articulate what we, as readers, bring to interpretation of a text; (b) the ability to "close read" for patterns and argue from them; (c) the ability to identify the conventions of various textual forms (genres) and the different kinds of critical engagement they encourage; and (d) the ability to conduct and effectively incorporate research into the historical backgrounds, reception, or influence of authors and texts. These four emphases inform the four unit divisions of our class. 

English 3465: Special Topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing 
Section 20 Instructor: Sophia Honeycutt
Section 30 Instructor: Sahalie Martin
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing fiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3466: Special Topics in Intermediate Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Hannah Smith 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing poetry. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3468: Special Topics in Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Elise Gorzela
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing creative nonfiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3662: An Introduction to Literary Publishing 
Instructor: Amanda Scharf 
An introduction to the theory and practice of editing and publishing literature. 

4000-Level 

English 4150: Cultures of Professional Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Chrisstiane Buuck
Section 30 & 40 Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Examine writing in various workplaces. Analyze writing discourse that shapes professional organizations. Explore ongoing technological and cultural shifts required of workplace writers and the role of digital media. 

English 4189: Professional Writing Minor: Capstone Internship
Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Students work onsite in an organization doing writing-related work and meet weekly to discuss related topics. 

English 4515: Chaucer
Instructor: Ethan Knapp
A close study of Troilus and Criseyde and The Canterbury Tales as introduction to the artist and his period. 

English 4520.01 (20): Shakespeare
Instructor: Luke Wilson
This course is designed as an introduction to some of the more important critical problems and issues in Shakespeare studies through close study of plays in each of the dramatic genres in which Shakespeare wrote. Our primary concern will be with Shakespeare’s text, but we will also spend some time discussing theatrical performances as well as film adaptations. Written assignments will encourage you to develop your knowledge of Shakespeare by way of different sets of skills: informal response; close textual and semantic analysis; engagement with secondary (scholarly) discussions of Shakespeare; group work on play performance; and the production of substantial critical arguments of your own.
Guiding Questions: What's the big deal about Shakespeare? Why does our culture still fetishize his plays and sonnets?
Potential Text(s): The Norton Shakespeare, ed. Stephen Greenblatt, et al. 3rd ed. Norton, 2015. Vol. 1: Early Plays and Poems; Vol. 2: Later Plays.
Potential Assignments: Several informal responses; a close reading assignment; possible class presentation; possible group work on play performance; a final critical essay.

English 4523: Special Topics in Renaissance Literature and Culture: Court and Society in Stuart England.
Instructor: Christopher Highley
In the forty years after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, England went from a state of relative tranquility to the brink of bloody civil war. This course examines the political, religious and social forces that turned a nation upside down during the reigns of the first Stuart kings—James I and his son Charles I. We will explore one of Britain’s most politically tumultuous and culturally vibrant periods through classics like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, as well as the king’s own publications, and a plethora of poems, pamphlets and pictures. The course is organized around a series of crisis points, starting with the Scottish 'invasion' of England in 1603, and moving to the Gunpowder Plot, the death of a royal heir, the outbreak of war in Europe, court favorites and scandals, religious and political polarization and the struggle between king and parliament. We will read modern historical scholarship and literary criticism alongside the primary literary and political texts. 
Potential Texts: Elegies on the death of Elizabeth; King James's coronation pageant; Shakespeare, Macbeth; Selected works of King James, including Of Demonologie, A Counterblaste against Tobacco; preliminary materials to King James Bible; masques and other court entertainments; poetry of Ben Jonson, John Donne, Robert Herrick and others; libels and ballads; paintings by Van Dyck and others.
Potential Assignments:  Short exercises; quizzes; research papers.

English 4535: Special Topics in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture: The Invention of Celebrity 
Instructor: David Brewer
This course will investigate the invention of celebrity (and celebrities) over the course of the eighteenth century. Fame has been around since antiquity; celebrity began sometime between 1660 and 1820. In so doing, we'll try to get a new vantage point from which to assess our own culture of celebrity. Some of what we'll be considering will seem quite familiar, despite all the wigs and beauty marks. Some of it will seem deeply odd (though I hope equally deeply thought-provoking). Either way, though, you should come away from this course with not only a fresh sense of both the eighteenth century and our present moment, but also the often twisted and counterintuitive connections between the two. For better or worse, we are the heirs of the eighteenth century in far more ways than just our political system.
Guiding Questions: We will explore what sort of beings celebrities are, if and how that varies by what they're celebrated for, why we're so fascinated with them, and what the cultural consequences of that fascination might be.
Potential Texts: We'll be reading a range of plays, poetry and life writing (diaries and biographies) and considering quite a few images. Likely candidates include work by John Gay, David Garrick, William Shakespeare [as he was rewritten in the period], Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Samuel Pepys, Frances Burney, Olaudah Equiano, James Boswell, Lord Rochester, Alexander Pope, Phillis Wheatley, Lord Byron, William Hogarth and Thomas Rowlandson. We'll also consider some recent films, including The Favourite.
Potential Assignments: Course requirements will include active participation in our discussions, a weekly reading/viewing journal, a presentation on a current celebrity and how they fit or extend the questions we’re considering, a few short written exercises, and some engagement with the collections of our Rare Books and Manuscripts Library.

English 4540: Before Night Falls: Nineteenth-Century British Poetry
Instructor: Jacob Risinger
Set down on a darkling plain, poets from Thomas Gray and William Blake to Christina Rossetti and Oscar Wilde raged against the dying of the light. 
In this course, we will explore poets who tried to make sense of the long nineteenth century and its tumultuous changes. These poets were some of the first writers to grapple with the modern world as we know it. Their century was rocked by the invention of the train, the telegraph, the photograph and the bicycle. The industrial revolution gave rise to a broad but unpredictable social realignment, and Darwin’s evolutionary hypothesis disrupted religious convictions and comfortable visions of nature. Revolutionary political ideas prompted the reconsideration of tradition, custom and order. As the British Empire expanded to cover a quarter of the globe, many writers confronted an increasing disjunction between local culture and a globalized world. Over the course of the semester, we will think about how these developments resulted in the formal and thematic transformation of British poetry. 

English 4564.04: Major Author in the 20th-Century Literature in English: Reading Toni Morrison as Theory and Practice 
This course has two goals. The first is to read Toni Morrison’s fiction and non-fiction oeuvre as theoretical tools for studying and understanding the social construction of Blackness and its inseparability from various other identities. An important question arises: what knowledge is gained when we privilege the intellectual thought and creative production of a Black woman cultural producer and scholar like Toni Morrison over the canon of dead and aging white, male critical theorists? The second goal is to apply Morrison’s theories in our own work, as well as consider how her work can be placed in conversation with other types of cultural productions (i.e. music, visual art, film, dance, etc.) as well as social problems. 
Potential Text(s): Texts will include a selection of Morrison’s novels, essays, and speeches, along with other cultural texts that will be placed in conversation with her work. 
Potential Assignments: Reading quizzes, a digital project, and a seminar paper (12-15 pages) are required. 

English 4565: Advanced Fiction Writing 
Instructor: Lee Martin
Storytelling is a way of thinking on the page through action, character, dialogue and setting. In this workshop, you'll write stories and present them to the class for conversation about what the story is attempting to do, how it's attempting to do it, and what might be done in revision to make it better. We’ll think about the technical choices writers make and the effects these choices have on the process of storytelling. Reading and analyzing from a writer’s perspective gives us a chance to think about how stories are made and also an opportunity to build our own technical repertoire when it comes to constructing narratives.
Guiding Questions: What makes a story memorable?
Potential Text(s):  I'll provide online sample of published stories for our consideration.
Potential Assignments: Generally, each student will have the chance to present two original works, significantly revising one of them by the end of the semester. Each student will also provide verbal and written commentary for their peers' stories.

English 4566: Advanced Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Marcus Jackson
Advanced workshop in the writing of poetry. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor. 

English 4568: Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Staff
This is the advanced creative writing workshop in creative nonfiction. Admission is limited to creative writing concentrators who have taken English 2268, and to other students who have successfully completed English 2268 with permission of the instructor by portfolio submission. 
Potential Text(s): No textbook will be required. Various essays and craft texts will be provided via Carmen. The bulk of students' reading will consist of their peers' workshop essays.
Potential Assignments: Workshop essay, peer responses, writing exercises, and brief reading responses.

English 4569: Digital Media and English Studies
Instructor: John Jones
Students in 4569 will use the programable Arduino platform to explore the rhetorical possibilities of interactive digital objects, paying particular attention to the new forms of digital creativity these tools are enabling. In this way, students will not only analyze digital objects but become makers themselves, thinking about new relations between people and the physical world that are enabled by our devices and the new forms of writing they can support.
Guiding Questions: How can objects and the environment be rhetorical? In what ways can communicators learn to craft rhetorical interactions with objects?
Potential Text(s): Massimo Banzi and Michael Shiloh, Getting Started with Arduino: The Open Source Electronics Prototyping Platform, 3rd Edition.
Potential Assignments: Students will create multiple interactive design projects, write a short paper and take occasional quizzes.

English 4572: English Grammar and Usage 
Instructor: Lauren Squires
In this class you will learn to describe and analyze the structure of English sentences, becoming familiar with the concepts and patterns of grammar from a linguistic—a scientific—perspective. We will seek to understand the linguistic principles that underlie all speaking and writing in English. Sound boring? It won't be! By looking at grammar with an open mind, we will see how issues of grammar relate to our human interactions, social dynamics and identities, and the quirks and changes we all notice when we pay attention to the language around us. Note that this is not a writing course, an editing course, or a course designed to teach people how to speak/write in English. However, having an enhanced understanding of English grammar will equip you with the skills to more critically understand speaking and writing styles, including effective writing and products designed to encourage it, such as usage handbooks and language-learning pedagogical materials. 
Guiding Questions: How do English speakers form sentences? How do we know what kinds of sentences are grammatical in English? How can we investigate contemporary English usage?
Potential Text(s): Free online textbook: English Language Learning Modules.
Potential Assignments: 
Homework sets; midterm exam; final exam; final analysis project.  
Mode of Instruction: We will meet in a computer-equipped classroom so we can use digital tools daily for exploring grammar! 

English 4574: History and Theories of Writing
Instructor: Dan Seward
Theories of writing have generally reflected ideas about a) how the mind works in the act of communication and b) how individuals influence others through public and private discourse. In this class, we will learn the ways these ideas have evolved over time and across cultures. Our sources will include scholarly studies and two different kinds of primary texts, namely, philosophical reflections on writing and excerpts from writing handbooks representing a range of historical periods and places. 
And though this course focuses on theories, we will keep in mind that writing is a psychological and social act, one that needs to be mindfully performed to be understood. Towards that end, we will try our hands at writing exercises taught to onetime students like William Shakespeare and Martin Luther King. We will describe the distinctive features of written works by those left out of formal education, like Margaret Cavendish and Juana de la Cruz. We will rehearse moves of institutional resistance performed by reformers like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Kwame Nkrumah. In our final unit, we will practice different modes of digital composition as we examine modern theories influenced by cognitive studies, sociolinguistics, ecological sciences and disability studies. 
This class has something for anyone awed by or curious about the act of writing, including students of literary and political history, philosophers of the mind and society, students of human behavior, activists eager to influence, and all writers seeking to expand their communicative repertoires by exploring the techniques practiced by others.
Guiding Questions: How did past theories of writing shape the written work and intellectual dispositions of individuals living in those historical periods? What do these theories of writing reveal about our understanding of the human condition? How adaptable are past theories for 21st-century concerns about social justice, equity, wellness and accessibility? How do we weigh the act of writing—morally, intellectually and pragmatically—among other forms of action?
Potential Text(s): Excerpts from or short pieces by Plato, Han Fe Tzu, Quintilian, Nagarjuna, Aphthonius, Julian of Norwich, Erasmus, Elizabeth Tudor, Juana de la Cruz, John Milton, Margaret Cavendish, Adam Smith, Hugh Blair, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Virginia Woolf, M.K. Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Thich Nhat Hanh; chapters and articles by modern scholars surveying traditions of writing reflecting various cultures from across the globe.
Potential Assignments: Semi-formal online postings to facilitate reflection on and discussion of readings; an oral Reading Report (presenting an optional reading to classmates); a formal midterm paper (6-8 pages); a final web-based writing project (no prior web writing experience necessary; a great chance to learn).

English 4575: Special Topics in Literary Forms: Story Engineering
Instructor: Angus Fletcher
In this course, you'll learn to write like your favorite author, in any genre or any medium, from poetry to comics, film to fiction, essays to television, memoir to mashup, ancient or modern. You'll uncover your author's creative blueprint by identifying the formal elements that she uses like nobody else. Maybe her unique style, or her special recipe for character, or her innovative use of plot. Then you'll incorporate that blueprint into your own writing, creating an original piece that sounds just like your favorite author--while also sounding just like you. 
Potential Text(s): Your favorite books, scripts, comics, etc.

English 4578 (20): Special Topics in Film: Bad Reviews
Instructor: Jesse Schotter 
“That story counts for less than gimmicks, and characters less than both.” “A big, expensive, time-consuming, essentially mechanical operation.” These are excerpts from some of the reviews that greeted The Empire Strikes Back when it premiered. In this class, we’ll watch a selection of classic, canonized films, and read bad reviews of them. What can we learn from these contrarian takes? About these films, or what we look for in films more generally? About critics’ blind spots when it comes to genre, gender or race? About how certain films get canonized and others don’t? In so doing we’ll try to clarify what our own criteria are in judging movies and understand what makes for an insightful and effective review. 
Guiding Questions: What makes for an effective review? What can we learn about films, canons and the culture from reading negative reviews? What are your criteria for judging films?
Potential Texts: The Empire Strikes Back, Clueless, The Graduate, Schindler’s List, Do the Right Thing, The Tree of Life, They Live, and Celine and Julie Go Boating.
Potential Assignments: Three 3 page response papers, class discussions and one 6-8 page review.

English 4578 (30): Special Topics in Film
Instructor: Sandra MacPherson
Examination of particular topics, themes, genres or movements in cinema; topics may include particular directors, periods, genres. 

English 4580: Special Topics in LGBTQ Literatures and Cultures 
Instructor: Koritha Mitchell
When society is designed to deny your humanity, creating a life requires deliberate effort and purpose-driven strategies. Queer people of color are therefore some of the most intellectually rigorous artists on the planet. In this class, we will explore works by queer authors of color who have chosen to write about their lives. In so doing, we will approach queer literature in a way that does not exoticize queer experiences, but instead, highlights how strange society’s most accepted values are. To honor each author’s intellectual rigor, we will focus on the deliberate choices about craft that shape the texts and the deliberate choices that shaped the lives represented by those well-crafted narratives. To bolster our critical and literary awareness, we will also read scholarly analysis of the genres of life writing, memoir and biography. Students should register for this course only if they are also willing to hone their oral presentation skills. Public speaking is a top fear among Americans; college-educated people need practice. 
Potential Text(s): Janet Mock's Redefining Realness, Meredith Talusan's Fairest, Michael Arceneaux's I Can't Date Jesus, Samra Habib's We Have Always Been Here, and scholarship on life writing, memoir and biography.
Potential Assignments: Careful, consistent reading; active, thoughtful class participation; a scholarly annotation assignment; and oral presentations.

English 4581: Special Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literatures 
Instructor: Martin Ponce
This course considers how formally innovative texts produced by Indigenous and U.S. writers of color have engaged with deeply political topics, such as chattel slavery, settler colonialism, overseas war and imperialism, labor recruitment and exploitation, immigration exclusion, segregation, incarceration, policing, the “war on terror,” sexual violence, and queer genders and sexualities. 
Guiding Questions: In what ways have Indigenous and U.S. writers of color contested not only ideologies of racialization that have justified various modes of social domination and subordination but also the conventional literary forms expected of them? What are the aesthetic and political implications of using experimental techniques that result in potentially “difficult” texts to address conditions of oppression and forge possibilities for resistance?  
Potential Text(s): Possible authors: Toni Morrison, N. Scott Momaday, Deborah Miranda, Jessica Hagedorn, Emily Jungmin Yoon, Randa Jarrar, Philip Metres, Kazim Ali, Valeria Luiselli, Javier Zamora, Claudia Rankine.
Potential Assignments: Attendance, participation, in-class work, 2 discussion posts/presentations, midterm paper and final project.

English 4582: Special Topics in African American Literature: Things African American Poetry Does with Words
Instructor: Adélékè Adéẹ̀kọ́ 
This lecture and discussion, senior level, class, will read, analyze, and write about, panegyric, invective, and prophecy; three dominant, interrelated, thing-doing, world-changing, speech acts in African American poetry. Each of these acts will be interpreted and discussed apart from the standard metrical forms--e.g., spirituals, sonnet, blues, haiku, ballad, lyric--they inhabit. The three main speech acts will be further divided into other sub-forms like self-praise, the praise of culture heroes, self and social interrogation, malediction, divination, benediction, and prognostication. It is envisaged that at the end of the course, students would have developed a good understanding of how poems can be read as speech acts and, more specifically, how those acts constitute and articulate desires that are driven persistently by freedom aspirations in the larger African American society.
Guiding Questions: Poetry is hardly ever about itself; hardly ever.
Potential Texts: Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric; a course anthology of poems.
Potential Assignments: 12 weekly responses, each about 250 words; 2 analytical papers, each about 1,750 words; punctual and regular attendance
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in AfAmASt 

English 4584: Special Topics in Literacy Studies: Literacy, Place and Community Spaces
Instructor: Beverly J. Moss
Whether it is a focus on the work of literacy practitioners working in community literacy centers, community organizers using literacy for social justice, or members of a social club engaging in literacy practices that advance the mission of the club, documenting the rich and complex literacy practices that occur beyond traditional academic settings has become an important part of understanding the nature of community literacies and the relationship between literacy, space and place. With the “social turn” in Composition and Literacy Studies, writing and literacy scholars have begun to question the “what” “how” and “why” certain literacy practices function and circulate in local community spaces—social clubs, community organizations, political organizations, community centers, churches and other community sites.
Guiding Questions: 
In this class, we will explore the following questions:

• Who are the literacy sponsors in these community spaces, and what are the constraints and affordances of these sponsorships?
• What is the relationship between a community site’s dominant literacy practices, location, and that site’s identity?
• What is the relationship between the literacy identities of communities and how these communities are positioned economically, politically, socially and rhetorically?
• What constitutes “community”?  

These are just some of the questions that we will pursue as we read scholarship in community literacy, examine community literacy programs, explore the strengths and weaknesses of university-community literacy partnerships and engage in designing (and carrying out) community-based literacy research. 
Potential Assignments: One short essay, a longer research project and research journal.

English 4592 (20): Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture: The Marriage Plot, Then and Now 
Instructor: Robyn Warhol
Girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl marries boy in the end. . . But does she always have to? 
This course traces the convention of the marriage plot from its flowering in Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë, to its dominance in mainstream U.S. popular culture throughout the 20th century and even today. Looking at Hollywood films, T.V. movies, popular novels, graphic memoirs and literary fiction, we will identify the 21st-century strongholds of the marriage plot and explore variations, subversions and queerings of the form.
Guiding Questions: Where did the marriage plot come from in Western culture? What kinds of privilege does the marriage plot presume? Why has the storyline persisted into an era when women have so many other acceptable paths to follow besides marriage?
Potential Text(s): Readings will include Stephanie Coontz’s 2006 Marriage: A History, or, How Love Conquered Marriage; Austen’s Persuasion (1818); Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847); Frances Harper's Iola Leroy (1892), Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958); Alice Walker’s The Color Purple (1983), Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine (1989) and Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s graphic memoir Cancer Vixen (2006) as well as Hollywood films like Clueless, Pretty Woman and the most recent Pride and Prejudice.
Potential Assignments: In addition to a midterm and a final requiring identification of passages from the reading, students will write informal responses to daily prompts and present a close reading of one short passage in class. Students will also do group projects on cheap romance novels and Hallmark movies.

English 4592 (30): Special Topics in Women in Literature and Culture: Gender and Empire
Instructor: Molly Farrell
The colonization of the Americas has usually been told as a "boy story," with pirates or explorers, shipwrecks or frontiers, as its characters and settings. This class asks what would happen if we put girls and women, homes and domestic spaces, at the center of that story instead. Focusing on literature from and about early America, we will look at the ways sex, gender and families intersect with enslavement and empire. 
Potential Text(s): Toni Morrison's A Mercy and Playing in the Dark; early novellas about shipwrecks on deserted islands; and novels about sex scandals from pre-"Bridgerton" New England and Jamaica.
Potential Assignments: Two critical essays, presentations, response papers, reading quizzes, attendance and participation. 

English 4597.04H: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Narrative in the Contemporary World: Narrative Ethics 
Instructor: James Phelan
My working title for this course is "Ethics and the Experience of Reading Narrative." How, if at all, do moral values relate to authorial construction and readerly re-construction and de-construction of narrative? The short answer is "it's complicated, but way more than you probably suspect." The longer answer will be the course itself, as we work through some narrative theory and a range of contemporary narratives--short stories, novels, literary nonfiction, film and graphic narrative. More specifically, we will explore the crucial role of ethics in what I call rhetorical reading. 
Rhetorical reading is an activity rooted in two aspects of our engagements with literary narrative. (1) We love literary storytelling because it has the capacity to make us think and feel deeply about human experiences. (2) When we are engaged in such rich thoughts and feelings, we are finding pleasure and value in the lives we are living as readers. Rhetorical reading is a method for doing a deep dive into the lives we live as readers, and it sees ethics--the moral dimensions of storytelling--as central to our reading experiences. Rhetorical reading distinguishes between the ethics of the told and the ethics of the telling, even as it remains attuned to the interactions between them. The ethics of the told refer to the moral dimensions of characters and events (who are the good guys and bad guys, and what happens when it's hard to tell the difference?). The ethics of the telling refer to the moral dimensions of narrative strategies such as unreliable narration, surprise endings, and so on. Rhetorical reading also explores the interactions between readers' ethical engagements and both their emotional responses (those deep feelings) and their aesthetic judgments (is it any good?). 
Just as important, rhetorical reading distinguishes among three activities, as part of its own ethical stance: (1) understanding, the effort to meet authors and narratives on their own terms; (2) overstanding, the move to establish a dialogue between those terms and the readers' own values; and (3) spring boarding, an endeavor to use the narrative for the readers' own purposes, including finding various kinds of relevance between it and their particular situations. By the end of the course, students will have enhanced both their skills and their knowledge, as they deepen their understanding of the ethical dimensions of narrative, of the powers (and limits) of rhetorical reading, and of a range of rich narrative texts. 
Guiding Questions: Does this narrative succeed in making us think and feel deeply? If so, how? If not, why not? What role does ethics play in our response? How do we negotiate the relations between the ethical values we bring to our reading and the values underlying an author's construction of a narrative? Is understanding possible? Is it an ethical obligation? What are the ethical obligations of understanding? How does rhetorical reading handle disagreements among readers?
Potential Text(s): Spike Lee, Do the Right Thing (1989) (with that title, how could we not include it?), Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad; Miriam Engelberg, Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person; a range of short stories (by Edwidge Danticat, Joyce Carol Oates, Colm Toibin, William Trevor and others), and selected nonfiction narratives to be determined.
Potential Assignments: Everyone will have a turn to do an agenda setting. Two short papers, one an exercise in understanding, the second an exercise in overstanding or spring boarding; a final paper worked out in consultation with the instructor.

5000-Level

English 5612: The History of the Book in Modernity
Instructor: David Brewer
This course will explore books from the past two centuries as physical objects and consider what difference that makes for our understanding of the texts and images they bear and the uses to which they've been put. We will range widely in terms of genre, language and price point, and be completely embedded in the holdings of Ohio State's Rare Books and Manuscripts Library (indeed, we may never set foot in our assigned classroom in Denney). By the end of the course, you'll understand not only why judging books by their covers is impossible to avoid, but also why it's actually a good thing and how it can help us make sense of the many ways in which books work in and on the world. 
Please note that undergraduates can take 5000-level classes without any sort of special permission.
Guiding Questions: We've all been told not to judge a book by its cover. Yet we do it every day, and the world of books depends on our doing it. Let's learn to do it in better, more interesting and more far-reaching ways.
Potential Text(s): We will be considering a wide range of books, pamphlets, periodicals and zines from Ohio State's Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, not all of which we'll be able to read in the conventional sense. But we'll quickly see how much we can grasp about the function and use of books whether or not we know the languages in which they're written.
Potential Assignments: Course requirements will include active participation in our discussions, a weekly object journal, a few short written exercises, researching and deciding with your colleagues on a few new items to acquire for the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library [to be purchased by you with at least $5,000 of OSU funds], and a collectively curated exhibition of materials from the RBML collection that will be open to the public.

English 5710.01/5710.02: Introduction to Old English Language and Literature
Instructor: Christopher Jones
This course teaches students to read and declaim Old English, which was the spoken language of the English people in the early Middle Ages (up to ca. 1150), and the original language of evocative poems including Beowulf and The Wanderer. In the first half of the semester, we will learn declensions, conjugations, and vocabulary; in the second half, we will translate works of Old English prose and poetry. No prior knowledge of Old English or other languages is required. 
Potential Text(s): Mitchell and Robinson's A Guide to Old English 
Potential Assignments: Students are graded on their preparation for each class meeting, eight quizzes, three written translation assignments and a final exam. 

English 5721.01/.02: Graduate Studies in Renaissance Drama: The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher: Genre, Kingship, Sexuality and Colonialism 
Instructor: Alan B. Farmer 
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher were two of the most popular and innovative playwrights in Renaissance England. Their plays were regularly performed at court, were best-sellers in print, and were eventually monumentalized in a 1647 folio collection. The plays they wrote—by themselves, collaboratively with each other and collaboratively with other playwrights—radically changed the genres and forms of English drama. Beaumont’s wildly allusive The Knight of the Burning Pestle challenged audiences to follow its ironical, metatheatrical plots, while their tragicomedies The Faithful Shepherdess, Philaster and A King and No King astonished—and confused—audiences with their complex plots and surprise endings. Their plays often explored gender and power, as in The Woman's Prize, which centers on the revolt of a wife against her shrew-taming husband, and in The Maid's Tragedy, which ends with the King’s mistress taking revenge on her former lover, while several of the later plays of Fletcher, most notably The Island Princess and The Sea Voyage, present searing representations of European colonialism. In this course, we will read several well-known and lesser-known plays by Beaumont and Fletcher as we consider how these plays engage with such important early modern topics as courts and kings, gender and sexuality, London and colonialism, revenge and tragedy.
Potential Assignments: Several short research assignments, a presentation and a final essay.

1000-level

English 1109: Intensive Writing and Reading
Instructor: Erin Bistline
Provides intensive practice in integrating academic reading and writing.

English 1110.01: First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. 
GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1

English 1110.02: First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts. 
GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1

English 1110.03: First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Staff
Intensive practice in fundamentals of expository writing illustrated in the student's own writing and essays of professional writers; offered in a small class setting and linked with an individual tutoring component in its concurrent course, 1193.

GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1

English 1193: Individual Studies
Instructor: Christiane Buuck
Intensive practice in the fundamentals of expository writing.

2000-level

English 2202: British Literature, 1800-Present 
Instructor: Amanpal Garcha 
This course will introduce students to the major movements in British literature since the end of the eighteenth century. We will read works from authors who have played dominant roles in shaping the English literary tradition; these authors include William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and many others. In lecture, we will learn about some of Great Britain’s dramatic social and political transformations over the last two hundred years as the nation became the first modern, industrialized imperial power in the nineteenth century and then, in the twentieth, faced crises arising from the crumbling of its colonial holdings, its economic decline and the effects of radically new technologies. Perhaps more importantly, the lectures will aim to show how those historical transformations influenced writers’ creativity as British literature moved from the idealism of the Romantic movement, to the subdued pragmatism of the Victorian age, to the conceptual challenges brought on by the modern and postmodern eras. During recitation, students will explore the historical and artistic issues covered in lecture in more detail; recitation will also help students increase their understanding and appreciation of the assigned literary works. 
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Global Studies 

English 2220 (10): Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Luke Wilson
In this online, asynchronous introduction to Shakespeare, we will read five or six plays representing some of Shakespeare’s range, including some of the most canonical and some that are less well known. Our focus will be on close analysis of the texts themselves, but we’ll also pay attention to the social and political milieu in which the plays were composed and first performed. Possible plays include: The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, King Lear, Pericles and The Winter’s Tale.  
Potential Text(s): Text: The Norton Shakespeare, ed. Greenblatt, third edition, in two volumes (Early Plays; Later Plays).  
Potential Assignments: Weekly quizzes; a formal essay; a short writing exercise; a performance review; and a final exam.  
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Global Studies 

English 2220 (20): Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Alan Farmer 
In this course we will read several plays written by Shakespeare and consider how they both conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history and romance. Looking at the plays as works to be both performed and read, we will pay particular attention to the politics of gender, religion and kingship in the plays, topics that Shakespeare returned to again and again and that were vitally important, and indeed controversial, in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. In addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: The Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, Henry the Fifth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Othello, Macbeth and The Winter's Tale. 
Potential Texts:  I will order the New Oxford Shakespeare, gen. ed. Gary Taylor et al. (ISBN 9780198749721), but any modern edition with glosses, notes and line numbers of the above plays is fine. Good editions of single plays are published by Folger, Pelican, Cambridge, Norton, Oxford, Bedford, Arden, Bantam and Signet. Reputable one-volume Complete Shakespeares are published by Longman, Pelican, Riverside and Norton.  
Potential Assignments: Requirements include a midterm exam, final exam, two essays (one shorter, one longer), regular attendance and active participation.
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Global Studies 

English 2220 (40): Introduction to Shakespeare
Instructor: Sarah Neville 
This class will approach a selection of Shakespeare’s plays through several methods, examining them not only as historical artifacts rooted in the time and place of their creation, but also as spectacles created to be continuously performed and re-adapted right through to our modern age. In order to better enable us to consider the ways that staged properties, blocking, special effects and audience engagement are crucial parts of Shakespeare’s stagecraft, this section of 2220 is especially interested in the practical means by which Shakespeare’s plays resonate with both historical and contemporary audiences. Through exercises, assignments and class discussions in costuming, casting, producing and directing, we will seek to answer questions like: “How was the English stage of 1592 different from a typical American stage of 2020?” “How did a production simulate two actors playing twins?” “When you don’t have modern technologies, how do you create special effects?” and “What did Elizabethans think a Roman or medieval battle looked like?” Students in this class will develop the capacity for discriminating judgment based on aesthetic and historical appreciation of Shakespeare through reading, discussion and informed critical written interpretation of the texts. Through this process, students will also learn to appraise and evaluate both the social values of Shakespeare’s cultural moment as well as their own.  
Potential Text(s): New Oxford Shakespeare (2016). 
Potential Assignments: Students will be evaluated by short writing assignments, a group presentation and a final exam.  
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Global Studies 

English 2220H: Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Jennifer Higginbotham 
In late sixteenth-century London, on the south bank of the Thames, amongst bear-baiting rings and brothels stood a round wooden theater that brought together people from all walks of life—aristocrats and merchants, cobblers and tailors, seamstresses and fishwives. It was for this space and for these people that William Shakespeare first wrote his influential plays, and in this course, we’ll be imagining what it was like to stand with them and watch Shakespeare’s theater in action. Our in-depth exploration will include selected comedies and tragedies, not to mention a lot of fun along the way. 
Potential Texts: Readings will be from the free online editions published by the Folger Shakespeare Library. 
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Global Studies 

English 2260 (20): Introduction to Poetry 
Instructor: Jill Galvan 
This course will acquaint you with a variety of poetry, representing different eras, styles and topics. You do not need to consider yourself fantastic with poetry to take it! Newcomers are welcome, and part of my goal will be to help everyone become more confident by the end of the semester. Our syllabus will be divided into three units. The first will overview primary elements and teach you how to break down a poem and develop an interpretation. The second unit will do a deep dive into a few specific genres (sonnet, dramatic monologue, ghazal, ballad, etc.). The third unit will cluster around a few particular themes, exploring how variously poets address them. Our authors will range widely, including Ha Jin, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Ocean Vuong, Audre Lorde, William Shakespeare, Terrence Hayes, Robert Browning, Evie Shockley, Natalie Diaz, Sylvia Plath, Una Marson, Oscar Wilde, Mary Oliver, Ray Gonzalez and many more. 
Potential Assignments:  Tentative course requirements: three short analytical responses, two exams, final project (either critical or creative) and regular participation.  
GE: Literature 

English 2260 (30): Introduction to Poetry: Ohio Poets 
Instructor: Shaun Russell
This Intro to Poetry course has the thematic subtitle of "The Renaissance and Everything After." While this subtitle is a little tongue-in cheek, it evokes an unspoken idea that we’ll explore in this course: that much of the poetry that came after the Renaissance (also known as the early modern era) is fundamentally indebted to the Renaissance in many ways, both directly and indirectly. As a result, we'll start the course with several weeks of early modern poetry before we segue into transhistorical and transatlantic poetry to see if we can make connections between the poems written in different centuries on different continents, and the poems written distinctly in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Britain. In addition to many of the key figures of Renaissance poetry, such as Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne, Herbert, and Milton, we will also spend considerable time on women poets and poets of color, all with a view toward exploring the interconnectedness of influence across eras and areas. Assignments will include regular short reading quizzes, a close-reading assignment, a mid-term exam, and a final research essay.
GE: Literature 

English 2260 (40)--SESSION 2: Introduction to Poetry
Instructor: Timothy Griffin
Designed to help students understand and appreciate poetry through an intensive study of a representative group of poems.
GE: Literature 

English 2260H: Introduction to Poetry 
Instructor: Elizabeth Renker 
This class will train you to understand how poems work. Week by week, you will learn specific analytical methods that will unlock the art of poetry for you. (Most college students report that they have not learned these methods in high school.) Each week, we apply new concepts as we break down and discuss two or three short poems each day. (Reading assignments are mostly short poems, so there are few pages of reading for each class.) Class will include a mini-lecture on the day’s topic followed by extensive discussion during which I will guide you in learning the core skills of valid interpretation based in meaningful evidence. Your skills will grow and improve each week. You will complete this class with a new ability to understand poetry as well as with improved analytical skills overall. Class will include a unit on current song lyrics (the most popular form of poetry in the US today). 
Guiding Questions: How do poems work? Why do so many people feel intimidated by "poetry"? When I read a poem for the first time, what basic features do I want to notice in order to start to unlock it? 
Potential Assignments:  Five short papers (1-3 pages), one of which you will present in class.  
GE: Literature 

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction 
Section 10 and 30 Instructor: Zoë Brigley Thompson 
Section 20 Instructor: Sandra MacPherson 
Section 70 and 80 Instructor: Matthew Cariello 
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included. 
GE: Literature 

English 2261 (90 and 100): Introduction to Fiction 
Instructor: Jessica Prinz 
This class has not only a subject (fiction) but also a thesis. While the up-to-date concern for diversity would seem apt for new forms of literature and contemporary modes of art, I will argue that diversity has always been a subject for twentieth-century authors. Such “canonical” works (those texts deemed to be part of the “great” tradition) have always treated the theme of diversity. Thus, such writers like Hemingway and Ellison, Ozick and Spiegelman, all address the diverse nature of life in the U.S and Europe. This semester we’ll see some of the following: ethnic diversity (African American, Native American, Asian American, and Jewish); literature about disabilities (injured veterans; blindness, autism, depression; alcoholism); the victims of racism, prejudice and violence. Many works also consider traditionally denigrated groups, like women and homosexuals (LGBTQ). The conclusion here is that such diversity in literature (as in life) calls for a good deal of tolerance and compassion, and it exercises our capacity for empathy and understanding 
Potential Texts: Texts will include short fiction from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. 
Potential Assignments: Two short papers and two exams. Participation in discussion required. 
Additional Materials: Almost all readings will be available in Carmen. 
GE: Literature 

English 2263: Introduction to Film 
Instructor: Ryan Friedman 
This course familiarizes students with the basic building blocks of film, the forms that movies use to tell stories, move viewers emotionally, communicate complex ideas and dramatize social conflicts. It also introduces students to significant developments in film history and ways of approaching film interpretation. Our primary goal in Introduction to Film is to become skilled at thinking, talking and writing critically about movies and, in the process, to deepen our appreciation and understanding of the film medium. 
Potential Texts: Looking at Movies (6th edition): e-textbook available at a reduced cost and integrated into Carmen site through CarmenBooks program. 
Potential Assignments: Weekly quizzes, shorter analytical writing assignments, a shot-by-shot analysis essay and participation in recitation. 
GE: Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Culture Studies 
Instructor: Staff
Introduction to the analysis of popular culture texts. 
GE: Cultures and Ideas 
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in CompStd 

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Sahalie Martin 
Section 30 Instructor: Katie Harms 
Section 40 Instructor: Sophia Huneycutt 
Section 50 Instructor: Clancy Tripp 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre. 

English 2266: Introductory Poetry Writing 
Section 10 Instructor: Maya McOmie 
Section 20 Instructor: Neomi Chao 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets. 

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing 
Instructor: Elizabeth Lawson 
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres. 

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Elise Gorzela 
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of creative nonfiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published essays by masters of the many forms of creative nonfiction. 

English 2269: Digital Media Composing 
Instructor: Staff
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production. 
GE: Visual and Performing Arts 

English 2270: Introduction to Folklore 
Instructor: Staff 
Folklore theory and methods explored through engagement with primary sources: folktale, legend, jokes, folksong, festival, belief, art. Folklore Minor course. 
GE: Cultures and Ideas 
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in CompStd 

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion 
Instructor: James Fredal 
Introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media, and cultural contexts. 
GE: Cultures and Ideas 

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies 
Instructor: Staff
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability. 
GE: Cultures and Ideas 

English 2281: Introduction to African American Literature 
Instructor: Staff 
A study of representative literary works by African-American writers from 1760 to the present. 
GE: Literature 
GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in AfAmASt 

English 2282: Introduction to Queer Studies 
Instructor: Staff 
Introduces and problematizes foundational concepts of the interdisciplinary field of queer studies, highlighting the intersections of sexuality with race, class, and nationality. 
GE: Cultures and Ideas 
GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in WGSSt 

English 2290: Colonial and U.S. Literature to 1865 
Instructor: Elizabeth Renker 
This course provides a broad survey of selected literature from the time of colonial occupation in North America to the U.S. Civil War. We will explore how various writers working in a number of genres--nonfiction, short fiction, the novel and poetry--addressed a broad array of historical, cultural and literary concerns, including settlement of the “New World”; encounters and conflicts with the indigenous peoples who already lived there; political and theological upheavals; aesthetic conventions and rebellions; race and gender categories; literary and philosophical movements; slavery; and civil war. This course fulfills a GE requirement in Literature. The format of the two weekly lectures will be synchronous online and will include some class discussion; attendance at lecture is optional, and lectures will be recorded for later viewing. Recitation sections will meet synchronously once per week, and attendance is required. 
Guiding Questions: What are the basic analytical methods that help students to understand literary texts, even those written in remote historical periods? Why is literature interesting? How does historical context inform literature?  
Potential Texts: Students must rent or purchase one (new or used) paperback anthology that contains most of our assigned class readings and one short paperback novel. Any additional reading will be posted to Carmen. 
Potential Assignments: Daily reading assignment; brief Carmen quiz prior to each of the two weekly lectures; attendance and participation at each of the weekly recitation sections; three exams, of which you may count the two highest grades.  
GE: Literature 

English 2367.01: Language, Identity and Culture in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Staff 
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America. Only one 2367 (367) decimal subdivision may be taken for credit. 
GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Staff 
Discussion & practice of the conventions, practices, & expectations of scholarly reading of literature & expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience. 
GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2 
GE: Literature (BS only) 

English 2367.03: Documentary in the U.S. Experience 
Instructor: Zoë Brigley Thompson 
An intermediate course that extends and refines skills in critical reading and expository writing through analysis of written texts, video, and documentaries. 
GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2 

English 2367.06: Composing Disability in the U.S. 
Instructor: Staff 
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America.  
GE: Diversity: Social Diversity in the US 
GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2 

English 2367.08: The U.S. Experience: Writing About Video Games 
Section 10 and 20 Instructors: Staff 
Section 30 and 40 Instructor: Lauren Cook 
Emphasizes persuasive and researched writing, revision, and composing in various forms and media. Focusing on digital literacy, development of critical thinking skills and skill in producing analytical prose, students explore key conversations in the field of game studies and analyze a variety of types of video game writing. No prior knowledge of video games or game studies is required. 
GE: Writing and Communication: Level 2 

3000-level

English 3271: Structure of the English Language 
Section 10 and 30 Instructor: Clarissa Surek-Clark
Students learn basic characteristics of English linguistics focusing on the basic building blocks of language; the sounds of English and how they are put together, word formation processes, and rules for combining words into utterances/sentences. Students investigate and explore linguistic variation, accents of American English, and the implications of language evaluation in educational settings. 
GE: Cultures and Ideas 

English 3304: Business and Professional Writing 
Instructor: Staff 
The study of principles and practices of business and professional writing. 

English 3305: Technical Writing 
Instructor: Staff 
Study of principles and practices of technical writing. Emphasis on the style, organization, and conventions of technical and research reports, proposals, memoranda, professional correspondence, etc. 

English 3331: Thinking Theoretically: TOYS R US
Instructor: Sandra MacPherson 
This class will introduce students to a millennial strand of critical theory called “Thing Theory,” an intellectual project devoted to thinking through the relationship between human beings and the non-human entities we create, use and misuse. What is a thing, anyway? Is it different from an “object”? The philosopher Martin Heidegger says yes: a thing is what emerges when an object forces itself upon our attention by breaking. A hammer is an object; a broken hammer is a thing. On this account, things are defined by their relation to the human subjects who use them. This makes sense as a way of thinking about tools, perhaps: tools are made by us for us. What about paintings, however? Paintings are objects made by human subjects. But are they made to be used? If not, what are they made for? Is there a difference between the painting as painting and the painting as a commodity in the art market? What about natural objects such as trees? These are not made by us, but they are used—and used up—by us. In recent years the law has increasingly been willing to grant non-human animals the status of legal persons, endowed with rights and protections. (As I write this, drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s hippos were just made legal persons.) Should we not likewise protect the natural objects upon which the human species depends for breath and shelter? If corporations have rights, why not forests or water systems? We live in a world organized on the one hand around a pervasive interface of human and machine, and on the other around a growing understanding of the human species as itself a natural object, a geologic force. How might contemporary developments in robotics, climate change, genetic engineering and animal rights require us to rethink the special status of the human being upon which Thing Theory—and indeed much of the history of culture—is based?  
Potential Text(s): Theoretical texts by Martin Heidegger (on things), Sigmund Freud (on the fetish), Karl Marx (on the commodity), Roland Barthes (on fashion), Norman Bryson (on still life painting), Donna Haraway (on the cyborg), Katherine Hayles (on cybernetics), Jane Bennet (on the electrical grid), Anna Tsing (on mushrooms), Peter Stallybrass (on gloves), Heather Keenleyside (on pets), Anne Cheng (on ornaments), Stephen Best (on the slave). Possible literary texts include J. M. Coetzee’s Slow Man, Richard Powers’ The Overstory, a selection of Georgic poems, short stories by Virginia Woolf and A. M. Homes, films by Robert Bresson (Au Hasard Balthazar), Agnès Varda (The Gleaners and I) and Julia Ducourneau (Titane), and artworks by Jean-Siméon Chardin, Anne Valleyer-Coster, J.M. Turner, John Constable, Charles Ethan Porter, Agnes Martin, Cindy Wright, Theo Jansen and Olafur Eliasson. 

English 3361: Narrative and Medicine: Death
Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin 
Humanity’s death rate remains steady at 100%. We all die. How we come to terms with death, or resist it, or deny it, varies among peoples and cultures. No surprise then that death has been so popular a topic throughout the history of the arts. Adam and Eve bring death into the world by eating the forbidden fruit. Gilgamesh mourns his beloved friend Enkidu. Priam and Troy mourn the death of Hector. David laments Saul and Jonathan. The pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the terra cotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the Treasury at Petra, and Ohio’s Serpent Mound are all tombs. This course explores plays, poems, stories, novels, and films about death. Aided by readings in sociology, philosophy, and medical ethics, we will ask what death is, why and how we die, how we grieve, why we treat the dead as we do, and why we imagine the dead returning to the living. 
Potential Texts: Readings will include excerpts from Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Thomas Lynch’s The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade and Mary Roach’s Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Literary works will include excerpts from the Bible and Gilgamesh, René Depestre’s magical Haitian zombie novel Hadriana in All My Dreams, George Saunders’ weird historical-purgatorial fantasy Lincoln in the Bardo, Alejandro Amenábar’s haunting film The Others, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s visionary Civil War novel The Gates Ajar, stories by Raymond Carver, and elegiac poems by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. 
GE: Literature 

English 3364: Special Topics in Popular Culture: Insurgent Youth: Punk, Riot Grrrl, and Black Metal 
Instructor: Thomas Davis 
How do subcultural worlds develop and respond to moments of political distress? How can music, art, and lifestyles model other ways of living and thinking? This class pursues these two questions by investigating three distinct subcultures: punk, riot grrrl, and black metal. We will listen to a wide range of music, placing it in its historical context and tracing its lasting influences. Readings and viewings will range across documentary films, memoirs, cultural theory, zines, and other literary and visual texts. We will have visits from Hawak (California based punk band), Myke C-Town (Dead End Hip Hop), and others. We will also collaborate with OSU's Special Collections and work with their archive of punk, queercore, and Riot Grrrl zines. 
Potential Texts: Dick Hebdige Subculture: The Meaning of Style; Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington DC (Film); Decline of Western Civilization (Film); Until the Light Takes Us (Film); Punk Singer (Film); Gone Home (Video Game) 
Potential Assignments: Three short concept papers, a zine, and longer cultural analysis final project. 
GE: Cultures and Ideas 

English 3372: Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy 
Section 20 & 30 Instructor: Staff 
Introduction to the tradition and practice of speculative writing. Provides students the opportunity to examine and compare works of science fiction and/or fantasy. 
GE: Literature 

English 3372 (60): Special Topics in Science Fiction or Fantasy 
Instructor: Jared Gardner 
This course turns to a wide range of speculative fictions taking us into futures in which climate change has already wrought monumental changes. National borders have been rewritten, economies have crumbled or completely transformed, political systems have been upended and everyday life moves to rhythms unimaginable in our present. As we come upon a tipping point beyond which these possible futures become increasingly probable, this course will allow us to use the imaginative time travel of science fiction to think about what lies beyond for a world in which climate change is no longer a call to action that keeps on not coming, but is now a transformative event from which humanity and the planet we share must now rebuild. Some of these works will be grim, to be sure, but many are also hopeful, imagining possibilities on the other side of a climate changed to rethink many of the forces that have brought us to this juncture in human history. We will read novels, short fiction and graphic narrative (and maybe watch a movie or two) so as to visit a range of futures in which all we fear has come to pass and humanity—always adaptable, infinitely resilient, but so terribly bad at imagining its own futures—tries not to make the same mistakes again.  
GE: Literature 

English 3378: Special Topics in Film and Literature: Shakespeare and Film 
Instructor: Alan Farmer 
In this course, we will study some of the most innovative and influential films ever made of Shakespeare’s plays. We will both read specific plays and view films that cut across dramatic genres, time periods, countries and cinematic styles, by such directors as Max Reinhardt (Austria and Germany), Laurence Olivier (England), Akira Kurosawa (Japan), Baz Luhrmann (Australia), Michael Almereyda (U.S.), Al Pacino (U.S.) and Julie Taymor (U.S.). We will focus on how directors and actors have chosen to adapt Shakespeare for performance, but also consider how these films have shaped, and continue to shape, the cultural meaning of “Shakespeare” for modern audiences.  
Potential Texts: Probably Richard III, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Titus Andronicus and Macbeth. 
Potential Assignments: Requirements will include two essays, several quizzes, a midterm exam, a final exam, regular attendance and active participation.  
GE: Cultures and Ideas 

English 3379: Methods for the Study of Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy 
Section 10 Instructor: Susan Lang 
Section 20 Instructor: James Fredal 
Introduction to the interrelated fields of Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy, familiarizing students with key concepts that underlie work in these interrelated fields and to the scholarly methods of WRL. Together, this discipline studies the ways people use language and other symbols to convey messages, persuade audiences, and create meaning, and how these practices are learned and taught. 

English 3398 (20): Methods for the Study of Literature 
Instructor: Susan Williams 
Let's hone your writing skills and de-mystify the methods behind literary analysis! This course will familiarize you with analytical methods in such a way as to prepare you for advanced courses in all literary fields and the genres of creative writing. We will practice the skills of literary criticism and apply a range of critical theories to poems and short stories, with a particular interest in those that explore and respond to works of art. We will also practice using digital databases to do research in literary history.  
Guiding Questions: How do we articulate the relationship between literature and the visual arts? How do different theoretical, conceptual and thematic frames affect literary interpretation? What are the transferable critical thinking skills that come from literary analysis? What does "close reading" really mean?  
Potential Texts: In addition to poems from different historical periods, we will read Suzan-Lori Parks’s play In the Blood and Celeste Ng's novel Little Fires Everywhere as re-readings of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, considering how authors build on each other as they practice their craft.  
Potential Assignments: Three papers; one 2-3 page close-reading exercise; two peer review assignments; occasional asynchronous homework assignments  

English 3398: Methods for the Study of Literature 
Section 30 Instructor: Jacob Risinger 
Section 60 Instructor: Ethan Knapp 
Serves as the "Methods" course for the Literature and Creative Writing concentrations within the English major. Its purpose is to familiarize students with literary studies in such a way as to prepare them for advanced courses in all literary fields and the genres of Creative Writing. 

English 3465 (10): Special Topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing 
Instructor: Katie Pyontek 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing fiction. This intermediate fiction workshop will focus on story structure and the writing process. We’ll start the semester watching films, reading published short stories, and discussing how and why these different stories work for us. Then we’ll devote time to generating new stories and talking about issues students come across in their writing. The second half of this course will focus on workshopping student stories with the intent of exploring what’s working and how to best revise. Students will begin at least three new stories, and workshop at least one short story in class.

English 3465 (30): Special Topics in Intermediate Fiction Writing
Instructor: Macey Phillips 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing fiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3466: Special Topics in Intermediate Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Arah Ko 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing poetry. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3467S: Issues and Methods in Tutoring Writing 
Instructor: Allison Kranek 
Theories and practices in tutoring and writing; explores writing-learning connections and prepares students to work as writing consultants/tutors for individuals and small writing groups. 

English 3468: Special Topics in Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Louise Edwards 
For students who have experience with the basic elements of writing creative nonfiction. Special topics focus on particular aspects of the genre; advanced techniques are explored. 

English 3662: An Introduction to Literary Publishing 
Section 10 Instructor: Hannah Smith 
Section 20 Instructor: Amanda Scharf 
An introduction to the theory and practice of editing and publishing literature. 

4000-level

English 4150 (10): Cultures of Professional Writing 
Instructor: Christiane Buuck 
This class will explore a range of types of workplace writing. Many of our course assignments are designed to help you compile a writing portfolio that will be useful if you apply to the Professional Writing Minor, and/or in future job searches. Additionally, you will interview two professionals in your field of interest. You will hone your editing skills by practicing AP style, reviewing common usage mistakes and how to avoid them, giving and receiving feedback in peer review, practicing repurposing content and drafting for different audiences and revising for clean, professional copy in every deliverable.  
Guiding Questions: What do I want to do when I graduate? How can I polish my writing? How can I build my professional network? How is the work world changing in and through this pandemic? What kind of professional life would I like to have?  
Potential Texts: All our texts will come from real-world examples, articles and other readings posted to Carmen.  
Potential Assignments: You'll practice writing in different professional genres including press releases, feature articles, agendas, reviews, brochures, procedural guides, website copy, and more. You'll also hone your editing skills each week through editing exercises that focus on common writing errors and how to revise them.  

English 4150 (20): Cultures of Professional Writing 
Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Examine writing in various workplaces. Analyze writing discourse that shapes professional organizations. Explore ongoing technological and cultural shifts required of workplace writers and the role of digital media. 

English 4189: Professional Writing Minor: Capstone Internship
Instructor: Jennifer Patton 
Students work onsite in an organization doing writing-related work and meet weekly to discuss related topics.

English 4321: Environmental Literatures, Cultures and Media 
Instructor: Thomas Davis 
Can literature and art help us live more justly on a warming planet? This course begins to answer that question by examining the intertwined relationship of cultural production and environmental justice movements over the last several decades. We will explore the critical roles of imaginative storytelling, activist writing, documentary film, poetry and visual art in shaping the knowledge and tactics of environmental justice struggles. How do these works center the voices and lived experiences of Black, Indigenous and people of color who have historically experienced greater exposure to toxic waste, oil spills, geographic displacement, and environmental racism? Over the course of the semester will we ask how environmental justice reframes our ideas of nature, culture, violence, and the human. We will look at artworks that emerge from key situations—the #NoDAPL movement at Standing Rock, Cancer Alley in Louisiana, Hurricane Katrina and campaigns for justice for nonhumans. Our case studies will allow us to think more critically and imaginatively about the different futures for life on a warming planet. 
Potential Texts: Non-fiction and criticism: Henry David Thoreau, Robert Bullard, Nick Estes, Dina Gilio-Whitaker, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Julie Sze, Dana Alston and Andreas Malm. Poetry: Nikky Finney, Gwendolyn Brooks, Layli Long Soldier and Craig Santos Perez. Fiction: Cherie Dimaline The Marrow Thieves, Jesmyn Ward Salvage the Bones and Ashley Shelby Muri. Visual art: Cannupa Hanska Luger, The Winter Count Collective and Monique Verdin.
Potential Assignments: Short critical and creative assignments, a collaboratively authored "Keywords for Environmental Justice" zine and a longer project modeling environmental futures. 

English 4513: Introduction to Medieval Literature 
Instructor: Leslie Lockett 
This course introduces students to major genres of medieval European literature written over the span of a millennium and situates those works of literature within their diverse historical and intellectual contexts. Building upon selections from classical Rome and early Christianity, we will explore the medieval literature of feud and warfare, romance, monastic and scholastic learning, and popular religion and mysticism. Along the way, we will work to dismantle “presentist” misconceptions about the Middle Ages, particularly those that oversimplify pliable categories such as “hero” and “feminist.” Students are strongly encouraged to choose topics for written assignments that will make the literature more meaningful and enjoyable within the contexts of their individual interests.  
For most of our readings, students are required to bring paper copies to class or to have electronic copies that can be marked up on a tablet. Some works are best consulted in the editions prescribed on the syllabus; some will be compiled in a course pack that will be housed on Carmen.  
Potential Texts: Vergil, Aeneid; Augustine of Hippo, Confessions; Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy; selected Lives of Saints; short Old English poems such as "The Wanderer"; anonymous, Njal's Saga; anonymous, Song of Roland; Chrétien de Troyes, Percival; Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias; Peter Abelard, History of My Misfortunes; Thomas of Celano, Life of St. Francis of Assisi.  
Potential Assignments: Two research projects, in-class presentation, midterm and final exams. 

English 4522: Renaissance Poetry 
Instructor: Luke Wilson 
How did English poets of the Renaissance think and write about the natural world? What even was “the natural world” for them? Was that even a thing? Maybe; but when poets wrote about what we’d call nature they were really writing as much about the human as about something outside it. Perhaps that’s true of all writing about nature, but it’s especially important to avoid misunderstanding Renaissance poetry. The course title avoids labels such as “ecopoetics” and “the environment” in order to resist, at the outset, an anachronistic approach more oriented toward our own categories of thinking than the period’s; our approach will be primarily, but not exclusively, historical rather than theoretical. 
We’ll read Renaissance poetry, primarily by major and minor English poets of the seventeenth century, probably including Ben Jonson, Amelia Lanyer, Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, John Milton, Henry Vaughan, Andrew Marvell and Margaret Cavendish. The seventeenth century, at the center of which were the English civil wars (1642-1651), was a period of intense political violence and struggle, and either in spite of or because of this, these poets turned with renewed interest to the natural environment as a means of making sense of the times, but also as a source of poetic interest in its own right. Time permitting, we’ll also read prose from the period addressing different elements of the natural world in more practical contexts (forestry, mining, farming, legal disputes involving land use, and so on). Some likely topics: trees as pets; pets and other animals; forests and their cultural, political, and allegorical significance; agrarian land use and labor; resource extraction; “the country” as a political and socio-economic category; chorography and mapping; literary genres including pastoral, georgic and the sylva.  
Potential Assignments: Short response papers; discussion posts; joint class presentations; a final research paper.  

English 4533: The Early British Novel: Origins to 1830 
Instructor: Roxann Wheeler 
What is the history of the novel before Jane Austen wrote? Criticizing powerful Englishmen is at the heart of the early novel; the flip side of this coin is representing what was on the minds of fictional characters whose situations were made miserable by elite men? The early novel dramatizes a new kind of character in literary history: the underdog, and it stages both cultural debates about and literary pleasures of unrequited love and lust; the hazards of courtship and miserable marriage; enslavement on the colonial fringes of empire; and overwrought emotions aroused by a stranger's suffering. These early novels for the first time depict an ordinary protagonist's interiority, the hallmark of the modern novel, as they explore modern emotions elicited by dislocations of slavery, capitalism and overbearing patriarchal power. In studying how to interpret the strange characters and disturbing plots of early novels, we will learn how to situate literary Englishness in a global world both sexually and otherwise. 
Guiding Questions: What forms of the novel were popular and important? What made the eighteenth-century novel's theory of character, setting and plot different from the nineteenth century's? 
Potential Texts: Aphra Behn, Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave (1688); Samuel Richardson, Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded (1741); Frances Burney, Evelina; the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778); William Godwin, Things as They Are: or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794); Anonymous, The Woman of Color (1808). 
Potential Assignments: One short literary analysis, one research paper and a final exam. 

English 4542: The Nineteenth-Century British Novel 
Instructor: Clare Simmons 
Victorians loved novels. In the Victorian period, the novel became the dominant literary form in Britain, providing a means both to express cultural anxieties and to escape them. A loose theme for this course is the representation of social class in the novel, raising such questions as how novels delineate class distinctions; the respective roles of men and women in society; and the role of outsiders. We will consider not only what story is told, but how the story is told and how the novel form reflects both material and cultural changes over the course of the nineteenth century from the Romantic period to the late Victorian period. We will examine the works in their historical and cultural contexts and try to account for material and social circumstances that give rise to different sub-genres such as the Gothic, realism, the sensation novel and naturalism.  
Guiding Questions: How do novels raise our awareness both of the social and cultural contexts in which they were written, and of human values?  
Potential Texts: Readings will include: Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights; Dinah Mulock Craik, The Half-Caste; Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol; Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret; and Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles.  
Potential Assignments: Regular attendance and participation; reading response questions; two essays.  

English 4565: Advanced Fiction Writing 
Instructor: Michelle Herman 
This is the advanced undergraduate workshop in the writing of fiction, designed for creative writing concentrators and other writers by permission of the instructor. We'll begin the semester by looking closely at the work of such contemporary masters of the short story as Tessa Hadley, Jhumpa Lahiri and Danielle Evans, and short writing assignments in response to prompts and then we'll transition into workshopping your full-length stories. 
Potential Assignments: Numerous short assignments, two complete full-length stories, a final revision. 

English 4566: Advanced Poetry Writing 
Instructor: Kathy Grandinetti 
Advanced workshop in the writing of poetry. This is a class for serious students of creative writing. Admission is by portfolio submission to the instructor.

English 4568: Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing 
Instructor: Lee Martin 
This is an advanced workshop for those of you interested in writing creative nonfiction. We'll study the craft though assigned readings and the discussion of your own essays. 

English 4572: English Grammar and Usage 
Section 10 and 20 Instructor: Daniel Seward 
An examination of terminology and structures traditionally associated with the study of English grammar and usage rules, especially problematic ones, governing edited written American English. 

English 4578 (20): Special Topics in Film: Bad Reviews
Instructor: Jesse Schotter 
“That story counts for less than gimmicks, and characters less than both.” “A big, expensive, time-consuming, essentially mechanical operation.” These are excerpts from some of the reviews that greeted The Empire Strikes Back when it premiered. In this class, we’ll watch a selection of classic, canonized films, and read bad reviews of them. What can we learn from these contrarian takes? About these films, or what we look for in films more generally? About critics’ blind spots when it comes to genre, gender or race? About how certain films get canonized and others don’t? In so doing we’ll try to clarify what our own criteria are in judging movies and understand what makes for an insightful and effective review. 
Potential Texts: Films may include The Empire Strikes Back, Schindler’s List, The Graduate, Do the Right Thing, Clueless, The Tree of Life, Celine and Julie Go Boating and others. 
Potential Assignments: Assignments will include two brief reviews of films and one longer analytical essay, as well as participation in class discussions. 

English 4578 (30): Special Topics in Film: Film and American Society After World War II 
Instructor: Ryan Friedman 
This course examines the history of the American cinema in the years immediately following the Second World War, covering the period from 1945 to 1960. We will view and discuss significant Hollywood films from a variety of genres (e.g., comedy, musical, film noir, western, melodrama, social problem film), contextualizing them by reading articles and excerpts from a variety of sources (e.g., popular magazines, film-trade publications, books of popular sociology, design treatises, political speeches) published during the era in which these films were produced and released. These textual primary sources will serve to illustrate historical discourses describing, reinforcing, and/or critiquing what were conceived of as significant social issues and shifts—from the “veterans problem,” to the “housing crisis,” to “juvenile delinquency,” to sexism and racial segregation in schools. In our discussions, we’ll be interested in how the assigned films reflected, responded to and inflected the print debates happening around these issues and shifts—even and perhaps especially when the films are not overtly working in the “social problem” genre. We’ll also approach the films in the context of the upheavals happening in the American film industry during this period, as a result of the Paramount decree, the HUAC hearings, suburbanization and declining movie theater attendance. In particular, we’ll examine the ways in which the rise of television as a competing medium of mass entertainment shaped the stories that Hollywood movies told and the visual devices that they used to dramatize these stories. 
Guiding Questions: Our primary goal in this course is to attain a deep understanding of the intersection of media and ideology during a particular historical moment. Students in this course will gain advanced experience in various aspects of film criticism, including formal analysis and the application of historical frameworks, and in making and supporting written and verbal arguments. The final research project will require students to situate a film of their choosing in relation to the major trends in postwar cinema covered by this course, and the final exam will test students’ mastery of course content. 
Potential Texts:  All videos and readings will be available through the library catalog at no cost to students. 
Potential Assignments: Class participation, weekly quizzes, a group presentation, an analytical essay and a take-home final exam. 

English 4580: Special Topics in LGBTQ Literatures and Cultures 
Instructor: Martin Ponce 
This course examines 20th and 21st-century U.S. literary and visual texts that explore “queer” histories, homelands and futures through the framework of LGBTQ2+ literacies. What roles has reading (for) depictions of homoerotic desires and nonbinary gender embodiments played in the constitution of queer and trans selves, communities and traditions? How have those literacy practices and processes of self-understanding and community formation been transformed by the foregrounding of racial and colonial differences? What histories, homelands and futures have LGBTQ2+ readers and writers (of color) invoked, represented and reimagined?
Potential Text(s): Alison Bechdel, Samuel R. Delany, Natalie Diaz, Audre Lorde, Larissa Lai, Carmen Maria Machado, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Joanna Russ, Danez Smith, Samuel Steward, Monique Truong and Craig Womack. 
Potential Assignments: In-class exercises, two discussion posts + presentations, one shorter paper and one final project. 

English 4581: Special Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literatures 
Instructor: Pranav Jani 
In September 2020, US President Trump aimed to turn back the clock, arguing that classroom curricula – including Critical Race Theory, historians like Howard Zinn and critiques of whiteness – have diminished the “greatness” of the US in the eyes of Americans. Since then, the fights over "CRT" have gotten even more intense, with states like Ohio attempting to pass bills banning the teaching of "divisive concepts." 
But Ethnic Studies and related fields, in explaining why racism and white supremacy have such a strong hold in US society, push in the opposite direction, building on past criticisms of racism to expand our understanding of it. Indeed, classes like this would be under threat if Ohio HB 322 & 327 passed. 
These debates lower the bar about what racism is, and how we learn about it. Our class will raise the bar, and go well beyond the basic defense of racial justice education. 
Reading novels, short stories, essays and films, we will take up: How can we grasp the different but linked experiences and histories of Black, Native, Latinx, Asian and Arab peoples in the US? How do the legacies of settler colonialism in the Americas, the enslavement of Africans and colonialism in Asia and elsewhere shape BIPOC lives in the US? How do gender, sexuality and the family interact with race? 
We will examine how people of color and Indigenous peoples have survived and struggled in racialized spaces that are very much products of US history. Part of this history is the effort to articulate these stories in the face of dominant forces that would rather ignore and erase them/us.  
Guiding Questions: How is race tied to history? How are people of color and indigenous people differently racialized? How can literature and culture show points of solidarity and difference? Why is the right-wing so invested in fighting histories that center BIPOC peoples?  
Potential Text(s): Gyasi, "Homecoming"; Kincaid, "A Small Place"; Aldama, "Long Stories Cut Short"; Jarrar, "A Map of Home"; Nguyen, "The Refugees"; Shamsie, "Burnt Shadows"; Native Nonfiction essays from Washuta and Warbuton anthology; Nair, "Mississippi Masala" (film). 
Potential Assignments: Two short papers, oral presentation, research paper and weekly Carmen posts.

English 4583: Special Topics in World Literatures in English: Literature of the Black Atlantic 
Instructor: Elizabeth Hewitt 
The term "Black Atlantic" was coined by the cultural historian, Paul Gilroy, to describe the historical encounters between African, European and American people that have shaped our modern world. This course will study the literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, film and comics) of this encounter. We will read writing from four centuries of the Black diaspora and we will consider how this writing challenges the nationalist emphasis that dominates literary studies. We will study work by Phillis Wheatley, Olaudah Equiano, Honorée Fanon Jeffers, Mary Prince, Ousmane Sembène, Ryan Coogler, Toussaint Louverture, Herman Melville, Frederick Douglass, George Lamming, Saidiya Hartman and others.  
Potential Assignments: Course requirements will include two reflection essays, annotation and archival projects and creative lesson plans.  

English 4584: Special Topics in Literacy Studies 
Instructor: Christopher Castillo 
Whether you are trying to cop a new pair of Bad Bunny Crocs, find a local coffee shop near you, or building your own website, coding presents new opportunities to investigate the theory and practice of emerging digital literacies. In this seminar, we will investigate how coding as a type of literacy and sociomaterial theory of new literacies inform the practices of particular cultural communities. We will read scholarship that explores how people develop and use their digital literacies practices in response to intersecting themes of oppression and discrimination. We will also develop as coders by practicing genres unique to coding such as app and web page development.  
Guiding Questions: Who programs, and who can call themselves a programmer?; How is programming learned and sponsored?; How is programming used?; How do technologies and social factors intersect in programming?  
Potential Text(s): Byrd, Antonio. "Like Coming Home": African Americans Tinkering and Playing toward a Computer Code Bootcamp. College Composition and Communication 71.3 (2020): 426-452. Watkins, S. Craig, and Alexander Cho. The Digital Edge: How Black and Latino youth navigate digital inequality. Vol. 4. NYU Press, 2018. Vee, Annette. Coding literacy: How Computer Programming is Changing Writing. Mit Press, 2017.  
Potential Assignments: App Development; Web page development; and argumentative essays.

English 4590.08H: U.S. and Colonial Literature 
Instructor: Molly Farrell 
How do contagious diseases make us who we are? Starting from the premise that epidemiology is a narrative form, this class will call into question the boundaries between science and literary or historical study. Immunities and illnesses that take place in the body also create communities that can overlap or transgress categories like race, nation and culture. Just as medical doctors and public health advocates seek to understand the dangerous force of disease outbreaks, so too have storytellers from ancient times to the present. Pairing medical information with narrative texts, the class will consider five pandemics that preceded COVID-19: plague, smallpox, yellow fever, influenza and AIDS. Collectively, we will develop an understanding of why humans repeatedly feel compelled to contain epidemics through narrative, and speculate how we might begin to narrate COVID-19. 
Potential Text(s): Journal of the Plague Year; Clotel; Pale Horse, Pale Rider; The Normal Heart; Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative; and Contagion [film].  
Potential Assignments: Course requirements may include research presentations, written responses, composing your own outbreak narrative and a final project.  

English 4591.01H: Special Topics in the Study of Creative Writing: Monsters, Mayhem, Method: Crafting Horror
Instructor: Nick White 
Writers, beware: There will be no happy endings in this class. In this workshop, I will expect you to learn an appreciation for the shocking art and bewitching craft that is horror. For those of you daring enough to face the abyss with me, I can teach you how to bedevil the minds and entangle the senses of your readers with the demonically-willed word. Stephen King has said that "we make up horrors to help us cope with real ones." In that spirit, the kind of horror literature we will study and write in this workshop will not be interested cheap thrills and schlocky gore alone, but in plumbing the depths of what frightens us to better understand ourselves and each other.  
Potential Texts:  Flash pieces from Tiny Nightmares: Very Short Stories of Horror; Short novels by Victor LaValle (The Ballad of Black Tom), Carmen Maria Machado (Especially Heinous), Stephen Graham Jones (Night of the Mannequins) and Samanta Schweblin (Fever Dream).  
Potential Assignments: Shorter creative flash pieces to specific writing prompts and one longer short story. 

English 4591.02H: Special Topics in the Study of Rhetoric 
Instructor: Kay Halasek 
Guilt. Fear. Shame. Anxiety. Remorse. Tools of the trade for tyrants and despots—and also for Big Oil, political extremists and the NRA (to name just a few); as they seek to secure their bottom lines, increase their political power; and deflect attention away from their own culpability, lies, and deceits. Just how do corporations, organizations, political figures and zealots use language, images, objects or actions to convince us of their (un)truth(s)? Investigating that question is at the center of “Rhetorics of Deception and Deflection: How Big Oil, Political Extremism and the NRA are Framing Our Future.” Taking as our primary case study the competing contemporary rhetorics of global climate change, we will collectively investigate how rhetorical appeals, the arts of linguistic deception and deflection, and the framing of arguments define and defy truth. Students will analyze discourses, images, bodies, actions, digital platforms, and material artifacts through a wide range of methods and methodologies: cluster criticism, qualitative coding, historiographic analysis, case studies, ethnography, and fieldwork. Each student will select and investigate throughout the term a debate, public policy, social movement, organization, etc., deploying multiple means of analysis—not to settle on a belief (or persuade others to that belief) but—to examine (as Krista Ratcliff writes) “how we use language and how languages uses us.” 
Guiding Questions:  Just how do corporations, organizations, political figures and zealots use language, images and objects or actions to convince us of their (un)truth(s)? What tools (if not those of the master) can I use (to quote Audre Lorde) to “dismantle the master’s house”?  
Potential Texts: Jensen, Tim. Ecologies of Guilt in Environmental Rhetorics, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. Mann, Michael E. The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back the Planet,  Public Affairs, 2021. Rai, Candice, and Caroline Gottschalk Druschke, eds. Field Rhetoric: Ethnography, Ecology, and Engagement in the Places of Persuasion, The University of Alabama Press, 2018.  
Potential Assignments: Short rhetorical analysis exercises, ethnographic observations, "fieldwork" investigating living-rhetoric-in-action, a final project and showcase (discursive, visual, or multimodal). 

English 4592 (10): Special Topics in Women, Literature and Culture: Women's Sonnets 
Instructor: Jennifer Higginbotham 
Women played an influential role in the development of the sonnet. When the Italian poet Petrarch popularized the form in the fourteenth century, he started an ongoing literary tradition, and women have been at the forefront of its innovation almost from the start. Initially present only as love objects, women quickly adapted the form to their own poetic voices. The Protestant exile Anne Lock was responsible for getting the first sonnet sequence in English published in 1560 when she appended Thomas Norton’s paraphrases of Psalm 51 to her translation of one of Calvin’s sermons, while women like Elizabeth Carey and Lady Spencer participated in the translation of Petrarch’s original Canzoniere in the 1590s. After we dive into the mechanics of what makes a sonnet “a sonnet,” we’ll apply our knowledge to trace the history of women’s sonnets from the sixteenth century to today. In addition to gaining mastery of poetic form, students will engage with feminist and queer theory to explore what sonnets help us understand about gender and sexuality, and what gender and sexuality can help us understand about sonnets. 
Potential Texts: Stephen Regan, Mary Wroth, Emma Lazarus, Charlotte Smith, Patience Agbabi, Natasha Trethewey, Marilyn Nelson, Marilyn Hacker, Gwendolyn Brooks and June Jordan. 

English 4592 (20): Special Topics in Women, Literature and Culture: Medieval Women
Instructor: Karen Winstead 
In this course you’ll meet some of the diverse women who inhabited the Middle Ages, including Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, medieval Europe’s first dramatist; Hildegard of Bingen, mystic, advisor to rulers and popes, inventor of a language and alphabet and author of poetry, music, plays and treatises on topics ranging from botany to sex; Margery Kempe, visionary, mother of fourteen, entrepreneur and traveler; Christine de Pizan, a young widow who supported her children and mother by writing poetry, political allegories and self-help books at the court of France; Leoba, the teacher who promoted self-care as a prerequisite to effective learning. You’ll encounter remarkable gender-benders, including the military leader and martyr Joan of Arc and the (fictional) Silence, born a woman but raised to be a great knight. 
Guiding Questions: How do the structures of patriarchy that prevailed during the Middle Ages resemble or differ from those that prevail now? What were the social, political, economic, and cultural factors that shaped women's lives and writings? How can a nuanced understanding of women's experience in the past nuance our understanding of women's experience in the present? How did queerness manifest itself in the Middle Ages?  
Potential Texts: The Romance of Silence, Book of Margery Kempe, Letters of Abelard and Heloise, Lais of Marie de France, Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan.  
Potential Assignments: Most of your grade will be determined by your performance on the weekly quizzes and informal writing assignments designed to deepen your engagement with and appreciation of the literature you will be reading. For your final project, you will construct a metaphorical "City of Ladies" from the stories and experiences of the women you have studied.  

English 4592 (30): Special Topics in Women, Literature and Culture: African American Women’s Poetry Books, 1773-present--SESSION 2
Instructor: Molly Farrell
What does the literary history of Black women’s writing in America tell us about the poetry book as a form, and vice versa? In this class, we will read across four centuries of Black women’s volumes of poetry, each book expressing a moment in time in the careers of legendary writers, rather than an anthology that attempts to be comprehensive. How do these poems speak to each other within the book, and how do African American women poets speak to each other—or not—across time? Our explorations into these questions will begin and end in the eighteenth century, with Rita Dove’s epic Sonata Mulattica set in that historical period, and with the first book published by an African American, Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects. In between we will read breakout books by Frances E. W. Harper in the nineteenth century and Gwendolyn Brooks in the twentieth; as well as books celebrating Black Power and the expansiveness of children’s literature. Course requirements may include short interpretive exercises, response papers, a discussion presentation, and a final essay.

English 4597.01: The Disability Experience in the Contemporary World 
Instructor: Sona Hill 
Disability Studies is a field of study which offers a critique of commonly held assumptions regarding oppressive binaries such as normal/abnormal, disabled/non-disabled, rational/irrational, human/subaltern, white/colored, civilized/savage – binaries that are justified by claiming that they are rooted in irrefutable scientific fact. This course aims at fostering a critical conversation among social justice studies, transnationalism (or global studies) and disability studies. These are three interdisciplinary realms of knowledge in need of engagement with one another, given today’s socio-political landscape. 
In the global context, people become disabled as they are often forced to move/migrate/seek-asylum. At other times, people cannot move precisely because they are disabled. People become disabled in containment/immobility (e.g., prison), or they are imprisoned in institutions because they are disabled. A new wave of emerging literature argues that moving and not-being-able to move in relation to borders, walls, wars and bodies should be politicized and historicized. In this course, we use the global context of a capitalist economy, the imperialist politics of the US, Western Europe, Russia and China, and regional imperialism(s) and nationalism(s) in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Latin America to understand how disabled bodies are generated through incarceration, neocolonialism, forced migration and armed conflicts sustained by exploitative social relations, which are always and inevitably gendered and raced. In this course, we will also take a look at Indigeneity (relationship to land) and disability. In order to think about race, Indigeneity and disability together, we must pay close attention to the multiple dimensions of settler-colonial violence, including the violence of: healthcare, education and social services. Moreover, we must grasp both the ways in which settler-colonialism is disabling through its violence, racism and gross inequality; and the ways in which settler-colonialism represents Indigenous people as always/already disabled. 
This course is designed in a way that Disability Studies attempts to take up disability in the context of settler- and neo-colonialism as well as global- and regional-imperialism(s). We will query the seemingly irresistible urge toward research entitlement in health and disability studies in the global context, and interrogate locations of settler/imperial power and privilege. As well, this course will focus on the gender, race, and class dimensions of population movement, global class relations, and forced migration. The course will pay careful attention to competing theoretical analyses of the relationship between disability, gender, race, and class in the context of neocolonialism and imperialism. We will discuss disability theories, critical feminist and race theories, Marxist feminist analysis, transnational, diaspora, mobility and cultural studies.  
Guiding Questions: What does it mean to understand disability as a global phenomenon? How does disability intersect with race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class and geopolitics?  
Potential Text(s): All the readings (book chapters, journal articles, blogs) will be available on Carmen in the pdf format.  
Potential Assignments: One-two paper(s), one group project, one creative work.  

5000-level

English 5191: Internship in English Studies 
Instructor: Scott DeWitt 
This internship opportunity will offer students experience in creating timely, relevant and compelling short-form promotional media (primarily video and audio) for the Department of English. Students will work closely with their supervisor (Professor DeWitt) as well as with key communications personnel to develop projects and set priorities and deadlines. English 5191, Promotional Media Internship, will be intensely hands-on and focus almost exclusively on digital media production and related work-management skills in professional settings. This internship opportunity is especially applicable to students across majors who would like to develop their digital media skills in a workplace setting and for those who have digital media skills with nowhere to apply them. Media skills are NOT a pre-requisite for this internship; students will have the opportunity to learn all media skills necessary for the class. (This internship fulfills the digital media requirement for the Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy concentration in the English Major.) 
Potential Assignments: YouTube videos, podcasts. 
Guiding Questions: How can a promotional media internship opportunity help students across majors develop their digital media skills in a workplace setting? 
Additional Materials:  Experience with technology is helpful, but you will learn all of the skills you need in class. 

English 5664: Studies in Graphic Narrative: Graphic Memoir 
Instructor: Robyn Warhol 
A course designed for both graduate students and advanced undergraduates, “Graphic Memoir” will introduce the styles, structures and strategies of autobiographical life stories told in comics form. Starting with “how-to” texts by comics artists, we will investigate the relationship among form, content and medium in graphic memoirs in a variety of styles. The readings fall into three groupings: lifewriting set in the context of larger historical events; memoirs of illness and recovery; and women’s memoirs focusing on gender and sexuality. 
Guiding Questions: How do comics make meaning through graphic design? What can graphic narrative do for autobiography that prose narrative can't do? How (and why) do comics artists use their medium to represent personal, national and familial traumas? 
Potential Texts:  David B (1996), Epileptic; Lynda Barry (2005), One! Hundred! Demons!;  Alison Bechdel (2006), Fun Home; Bethany Brownholtz (2013), Exercises in Style: 21st-century Remix pdf;  Phoebe Gloeckner (2002), Diary of a Teenage Girl; Matt Madden (2005), 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style; Marisa Acocella Marchetto (2009), Cancer Vixen; Scott McCloud (2006), Making Comics; Khale McHurst, I Do Not Have an Eating Disorder (web comic); Raymond Queneau (1947/1981), Exercises in Style pdf; Marjane Satrap (2000), Persepolis; Art Spiegelman (1991), Maus; GB Tran (2011), Vietnamerica. 
Potential Assignments: Students write weekly reading responses and do two kinds of oral presentations, one a commentary on a critical reading and one a close reading of a single page of graphic memoir. Each student creates a one-page graphic memoir. For the final project, students may choose to write a research paper or to create a more extended graphic memoir. 

English 5721.01/5721.02: Graduate Studies in Renaissance Drama 
Instructor: Christopher Highley 
This course will introduce students to current critical approaches, methodologies and resources in the study of Early Modern drama. It defines drama broadly, in a way that encompasses many forms of performance, from adult and boy plays on the public stage, to school plays and court masques. Topics include: the business of theater; playwrights, players, and playgoers; the control and regulation of the stage; drama in print; the closing of the public theaters; and editing Early Modern plays. The plays we read will depend on student interests, but there will be a mix of the canonical (Marlowe's Dr. Faustus) and the more obscure (Ralph Roister Doister). We will also read modern scholarship, as well as documents from the period. 
Guiding Questions: What forms did dramatic performance take in early modern England? What functions and whose interests did it serve? Why did a culture of public playgoing emerge in London and its suburbs in the later sixteenth centuries? How was public theater organized, managed and regulated? What sorts of questions and approaches have guided recent criticism of this drama and English theatrical culture more generally? What new resources are available for the study of this subject? 
Potential Texts: Various paperback versions of plays as well as lots of Carmen readings. 
Potential Assignments: Students will give in-class reports and write a research paper (which may be based on an examination of a play in the library's rare book room). There will also be various short exercises that utilize resources like the Early English Books Online (EEBO) database; the Database of Early English Playbooks (DEEP); Martin Wiggins, British Drama: A Catalogue; the Records of Early English Drama (REED); and the Map of Early Modern London (MOEML). 

1000-level

English 1109: Intensive Writing and Reading
Instructor: Staff
Provides intensive practice in integrating academic reading and writing.

English 1110.01: First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. 
GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1

English 1110.02: First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Staff
Practice in the fundamentals of expository writing, as illustrated in the student's own writing and in the essays of professional writers. Taught with an emphasis on literary texts. 
GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1

English 1110.03: First-Year English Composition
Instructor: Staff
Intensive practice in fundamentals of expository writing illustrated in the student's own writing and essays of professional writers; offered in a small class setting and linked with an individual tutoring component in its concurrent course, 1193.
GE: Writing and Communication—Level 1

English 1193: Individual Studies
Instructor: Christiane Buuck
Intensive practice in the fundamentals of expository writing.

2000-level

English 2150: Career Preparation for English and Related Majors
Instructor: Jenny Patton
This general elective course helps English majors and students from other Humanities disciplines to explore and prepare for careers after graduation. Students will analyze texts to gain a practical and theoretical understanding of the world of work. They will learn to identify their own strengths and preferences to guide their job activity and career choices

English 2201: British Literature to 1800 
Instructor: Karen Winstead 
I teach this course with the conviction that engaging deeply with the literature of the past can enrich your lives and make you savvier consumers of the present. Everything you read and do is designed to stimulate a creative and productive engagement with the literature and culture of pre-1800 Britain. The readings and lectures will introduce you to major trends, authors and works from each of the four major periods of pre-1800 British literature and explore the contexts—social, historical, political, cultural—within which works were written and read. You will discover important forerunners of today’s popular genres, including horror, romance, comics and science fiction. Weekly quizzes will help consolidate your knowledge, while weekly writing assignments and discussions will challenge you to apply what you learned and to grow intellectually from your colleagues’ insights. The final portfolio project encourages you to channel your knowledge and think in creative ways. 
Potential text(s): All readings will be available in a PressBoooks anthology designed specifically for this course. 
Potential assignments: Weekly quizzes and informal writing assignments; participation in recitations; and a final portfolio project 
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity: Global Studies

English 2201H: Selected Works of British Literature: Medieval through 1800
Instructor: Christopher Jones
This class seeks to give students a roadmap to the history of English literature from the earliest recorded texts to the late 1700s. Older literature in English often intimidates modern readers, but this course aims both to make texts understandable and to show their enduring interest and relevance to questions about identity, morality and aesthetics that still confront us today.
Guiding question(s): What is literature? How has it both shaped and been shaped by society? What value is there is studying texts written centuries ago?
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity: Global Studies

English 2202H: Survey of British Literature—Romantics to the Present 
Instructor: Robyn Warhol 
This writing- and discussion-intensive course surveys English literature from the Romantics to the 21st century—backwards. We begin with postmodern-era writers from Africa, India, Canada, Ireland and England; next we read Modernist authors; then we survey the Victorian period; and finally, we come to the Romantics. By starting with the present, we can recognize the themes, styles, and genres of the past that became important for the writers of today. Authors who are underrepresented in traditional literary history because of their race, gender or sexual orientation are at the center of our inquiry, instead of coming last, as if they were an afterthought of literary history. 
Guiding question(s): What does the history of English literature look like, if viewed from other places in the world where English is spoken and written? What does our present-day culture remember about the Romantics, the Victorians and the Modernists, and what have we forgotten? What reading techniques can we use to get the most out of fiction, poetry and drama from the present and the past? 
Potential text(s): The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Major Authors, 10th Edition, Volume 2. Be sure that you use this edition of the anthology. At least one copy will be on reserve at Thompson Library. 
Potential assignments: Students will do creative work (like mapping, illustrating and parodying works we read) as well as informal and formal writing. Each student will also present one oral close reading of a short passage from the assigned reading. 
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity: Global Studies

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare
Section 10 and 20 Instructor: Jennifer Higginbotham
In late 16^th-century London, on the south bank of the Thames, amongst bear-baiting rings and brothels stood a round wooden theater that brought together people from all walks of life—aristocrats and merchants, cobblers and tailors, seamstresses and fishwives. It was for this space and for these people that William Shakespeare first wrote his influential plays, and in this course, we’ll be imagining what it was like to stand with them and watch Shakespeare’s theater in action. Our in-depth exploration will include selected comedies and tragedies, not to mention a lot of fun along the way. 
Potential text(s): Free online editions of Shakespeare from the Folger Shakespeare Library. 
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity: Global Studies

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare
Section 30 Instructor: Allison Hargett
When taking a course based entirely on one author, we have to ask: Why is Shakespeare so popular? Shakespeare’s enduringness and universality, as shown by the dozens of current film and novel adaptations of his plays, makes him a constant in English departments and high school curriculums. However, despite being the most quoted author in the English language and, debatably, the center of Renaissance literary studies, Shakespeare hardly existed in a vacuum. Our study of Shakespeare will move chronologically through a selection of his major works including lyric poetry, sonnets and plays, while recognizing those works by lesser-known authors that influenced and were influenced by Shakespeare. We’ll explore the social and political conditions in which Shakespeare wrote and aim to bust some common myths about several of Shakespeare’s major works and his representations of gender, sexuality, race and social identity. Ultimately, we’ll question how Shakespeare achieved his dominance in English classrooms while considering the impact of his works on 17th-century London and beyond.
Potential text(s): Free online editions of Shakespeare’s plays and poetry from the Folger Shakespeare Library.
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity: Global Studies

English 2220: Introduction to Shakespeare
Section 40 Instructor: Luke Wilson
Shakespeare continues to blow our minds, over 400 years after his death. This is a little surprising. No other writer, before or since, has quite captured the minds of people across the globe in the way that Shakespeare has. His plays have been translated into over 100 languages, and performed in at least 75 countries. Countless film versions have been made in dozens of countries, including all the European ones (of course) but also India, China, Japan, Russia, Korea, Madagascar, and on and on. Despite a decline in the popularity of live theater in western cultures, Shakespeare continues to thrive on stage. And his works continue to be read at all levels in the Anglo-American world and beyond. What accounts for this enduring popularity? Why do we care so much about Shakespeare? In this course we’ll explore some of the reasons for this global phenomenon, by reading the plays themselves closely and by studying the historical conditions—the culture, the politics, the religious milieu—in which Shakespeare wrote and lived. We’ll play special attention to the theatrical conventions that shape the kinds of plays Shakespeare wrote (comedies, histories, tragedies, romances), and to the ways in which he combined socially conservative views with an often radical and seemingly modern understanding of the relation between persons and cultural norms.
Potential text(s): Third edition of The Norton Shakespeare, in two volumes (early plays and late plays).
Potential assignments: Quizzes, response papers, collaborative group project, and one formal essay.
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity: Global Studies

English 2220H: Honors Introduction to Shakespeare 
Instructor: Alan Farmer 
In this course we will read several plays written by Shakespeare and consider how they both conform to and work against the genres of comedy, tragedy, history and romance. Looking at the plays as works to be both performed and read, we will pay particular attention to the politics of gender, religion and kingship in the plays, topics that Shakespeare returned to again and again and that were vitally important, and indeed controversial, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. 
Potential text(s): In addition to some critical and historical essays on the early modern theater and culture, we will read some combination of the following plays: Richard II, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Othello, Macbeth, and The Winter's Tale. I will order the New Oxford Shakespeare, gen. ed. Gary Taylor et al. (ISBN 9780198749721), but any modern edition with glosses, notes and line numbers of the above plays is fine. Good editions of single plays are published by Folger, Pelican, Cambridge, Norton, Oxford, Bedford, Arden, Bantam and Signet. Reputable one-volume Complete Shakespeares are published by Longman, Pelican, Riverside and Norton. 
Potential assignments: Requirements include a midterm exam, final exam, two essays (one shorter, one longer), regular attendance and active participation. 
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity: Global Studies

English 2260 (20): Introduction to Poetry
Instructor: David Brewer
Poetry used to be a fairly central part of American life, both in school and out. These days, except for song lyrics, it’s not. I think that’s a loss. This course will be devoted to exploring the many joys and insights that poetry (including lyrics) has to offer, in the hope that it will become a pleasure and a resource in your own lives, both now and going forward.
Potential assignments: Course requirements include a weekly reading journal; several short written exercises; several opportunities to write your own verse; active participation in our discussions; and a final project.
GE: Literature

English 2260 (30): Introduction to Poetry
Instructor: Leslie Lockett
This course introduces students to strategies for understanding and enjoying poetry in English, from Old English elegies through Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyrics to the musical Hamilton. We will learn about the sounds of poetry in the ear and the shapes of poetry on the page; we will discuss social and political uses of poetry; and we will learn about the techniques by which poets imbue their words with multiple layers of meaning.
Guiding question(s): How can we unfold the multiple layers of meaning in great poetry? How can we describe the sounds of poetry, and what do those sounds do to enhance a poem's meaning? How does performance, with or without music, change our perception of poetry?
Potential text(s): Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton; Shira Wolosky, The Art of Poetry; Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Wreck of the Deutschland"; and many short poems.
Potential assignments: Commonplace Book entries, several very short papers and quizzes.
Additional materials: Subscription to Disney+ for at least a month in order to view Hamilton multiple times.
GE: Literature

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction
Section 20 Instructor: Jessica Prinz
Our subject will be literature from 2001 to the present. Our class this semester has this thesis: while the up-to-date concern for diversity would seem apt for new forms of literature and contemporary modes of art, I will argue that diversity has always been a subject for 20th-century authors. Most canonical works have always had the theme of diversity. We will see some of the following: ethnic diversity (African-American, Native American, Asian American and Jewish); literature about disabilities (injured veterans; blindness, autism, depression; alcoholism); the insane and the temporarily insane; and the victims of racism, prejudice and violence. Many works also consider traditionally denigrated groups, like women and homosexuals. The conclusion here is that such diversity in literature (as in life) calls for a good deal of tolerance and compassion, and it exercises our capacity for empathy and understanding.
Guiding question(s): What are the central themes in the literature of our time?
Potential text(s): Jennifer Egan, A Visit From the Goon Squad; David Eggers, The Circle; Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go; Ian McEwan, Machines Like Me; Art Spiegelman, Maus.
Potential assignments: A few short essays; a midterm; a final; and participation in discussions.
GE: Literature

English 2261: Introduction to Fiction
Section 30 and 40 Instructor: Staff
Section 60 Instructor: Sandra MacPherson
Examination of the elements of fiction -- plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc. -- and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included.
GE: Literature

English 2261 (Session 2): Introduction to Fiction—Game of Thrones as Literature
Instructor: Elizabeth Renker
Even the most dedicated fans might not realize that Game of Thrones is also a skilled and complex work of literature.  Focusing on the first two seasons of the HBO series, this class will train you in core analytical methods that will enable you to understand GoT at a deeper level; it will also improve your analytical skills overall.  (We will not have time to read the books by George R.R. Martin.)  All students are required to watch all eight seasons of the HBO series before second session begins. You will then re-watch (and read the transcript for) one episode per class period. Each class session will train you to understand and apply the core skills of literary interpretation without a lot of heavy reading assignments.  You will see very quickly how meaningful and helpful they are in achieving a deeper understanding of Game of Thrones.
Potential assignments: Daily attendance with cameras on (maximum of four absences and/or four days without camera allowed before a penalty begins); preparation of five daily written homework questions; short daily quizzes about the homework; daily participation in class discussion; readings posted on Carmen; and three exams conducted on Carmen, of which the two highest grades will count. 
Additional materials: An HBO subscription
GE: Literature

English 2261H: Introduction to Fiction
Instructor: Antony Shuttleworth
Examination of the elements of fiction—plot, character, setting, narrative, perspective, theme, etc.—and their various interrelations; comparisons with nonfictional narrative may be included.
GE: Literature

English 2263: Introduction to Film 
Instructor: Jared Gardner 
This course offers an introduction to the language and aesthetics of cinema, familiarizing students with the basic building blocks of film, the forms that movies use to tell stories, move viewers emotionally, communicate complex ideas and dramatize social conflicts. It also introduces students to significant developments in film history and ways of approaching film interpretation. Throughout the term, we will focus on detailed analysis of films, analyzing closely the way in which the multiple elements of movie-making come together to make and complicate meaning. 
Potential assignments: Two projects, including creative options; quizzes; and active discussion on Carmen and in recitation 
GE: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2264: Introduction to Popular Culture Studies
Instructor: Rob Barry
Introduction to the analysis of popular culture texts.
GE: Cultures and Ideas
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in CompStd

English 2265: Introductory Fiction Writing
Section 10 Instructor: Marne Litfin
Section 20 Instructor: Max Delsohn
Section 30 Instructor: Elise Gorzela

An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of fiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published stories by masters of the genre.

English 2266: Introductory Poetry Writing
Section 10 Instructor: Hannah Smith
Section 20 Instructor: Maya McOmie
An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, composition, and prosody; practice in the writing of poetry; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published poems by established poets.

English 2267: Introduction to Creative Writing
Instructor: Clancy Tripp
An introduction to the writing of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Analysis and discussion of student work, with reference to the general methods and scope of all three genres.

English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing
Section 10 Instructor: Amber Taylor
Section 20 Instructor: Elizabeth Lawson

An introduction to the fundamentals of technique, craft, and composition; practice in the writing of creative nonfiction; and analysis and discussion of student work as well as published essays by masters of the many forms of creative nonfiction.

English 2269: Digital Media Composing
Instructor: Staff
A composition course in which students analyze and compose digital media texts while studying complex forms and practices of textual production.
GE: Visual and Performing Arts

English 2270: Introduction to Folklore
Instructor: Emma Cobb

Folklore theory and methods explored through engagement with primary sources: folktale, legend, jokes, folksong, festival, belief, art. Folklore Minor course.
GE: Cultures and Ideas
*This is a combined-section course. Cross-listed in CompStd

English 2276: Arts of Persuasion
Instructor: Andrew Bashford
English 2276 introduces students to the study and practice of rhetoric and how arguments are shaped by technology, media, and cultural contexts. Come learn the ancient and modern arts of persuasion! In English 2276, we'll practice techniques developed for writing effective, ethical (and stylish) arguments. Plus, we'll learn theory designed for dealing successfully with complex and contentious issues.
GE: Cultures and Ideas

English 2277: Introduction to Disability Studies
Instructor: Melissa Guadron
Foundational concepts and issues in disability studies; introduction to the sociopolitical models of disability.
GE: Cultures and Ideas

English 2280H: The English Bible
Instructor: Hannibal Hamlin
The Bible contains some of the weirdest and most wonderful literature you will ever read, and there is certainly no book that has had a greater influence on English and American literature from Beowulf to Paradise Lost, Pilgrim’s Progress to The Chronicles of Narnia, Whitman’s Song of Myself to Morrison’s Song of Solomon. We will read a selection of biblical books in order to gain some appreciation of the Bible’s wide range of literary genres, forms, styles and topics. Our discussion will include the nature of biblical narrative and characterization; the function of prophecy and its relation to history; the peculiar nature of biblical poetry; so-called Wisdom literature; anomalous books like Job and The Song of Songs (including the historical process of canonization that made them “biblical” and the kinds of interpretation that have been used to make them less strange); the relationship between (in traditional Christian terms) the Old and New Testaments (including typology, the symbolic linking of characters, events, themes and images in the books before and after the Incarnation); and the unity (or lack thereof) of the Bible as a whole. As occasion warrants, we will also look at some of the diverse ways the Bible has been read and interpreted—the stranger the better—by poets and writers, artists and film-makers over the past millennia.
Do note: this is NOT a course in religion, but rather an English course on the Bible as a literary work. Any and all faiths, or none, are welcome, and none will be privileged.
Potential text(s): The English Bible: King James Version (2 vols.), ed. Herbert Marks (1) and Gerald Hammond and Austin Busch (2), Norton Critical Edition.
Potential assignments: Evaluation will be based on active participation in class discussion and activities; a film review; an essay; a mid-term test; and a final exam.
GE: Literature

English 2281 (10): Introduction to African American Literature
Instructor: Adélékè Adéẹ̀kọ́
"It is right that what is just should be obeyed.” (Blaise Pascal, Pensee 1670)
In this introductory course, we will be interpreting fiction, poetry, film, drama and commentary about variations on the African American drive for justness. The historical coverage will be wide, and the range will extend far back to 1773.
Guiding questions: One recurrent question: why seek justness?Potential texts:  Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Valerie Smith (eds.), Norton Anthology of African American Literature. Films: Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters; Jordan Peele's Get Out; Ryan Coogler's The Black Panther
Potential assignments: (a) Two analytical papers, each about 1,500 words long, on different sections of course readings and discussion topics; (b) One short answer final exam on the main themes, genre and texts discussed in the class; (c) Reading assignment quizzes.
Additional materials: MS Office, Adobe Acrobat
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity (Social Diversity in the US)
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in AfAmASt.

English 2281 (20): Introduction to African American Literature
Instructor: Ryan Friedman
This course offers a chronological survey of African American literature from its beginnings in the 1700s through the late twentieth century, introducing students to major African American-authored texts from a variety of genres (autobiography, poetry, fiction, drama, oratory, and essay). While conceiving of African American literature as a coherent set of traditions with recurring themes and styles, we will seek to understand each writer’s representational project in depth and to situate his or her work in its specific literary, cultural, and historical contexts.
Potential Texts: We'll be looking at texts included in The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. The authors we read will likely include: Philip Wheatley, David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Keckley, Frances E. W. Harper, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Charles Chesnutt, Ida Wells-Barnett, Claude McKay, Rudolph Fisher, Sterling Brown, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, and Octavia Butler.
Potential Assignments: Daily reading quizzes, two shorter papers, a midterm exam, and a final exam.
GE: Literature
GE: Diversity (Social Diversity in the US)
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in AfAmASt

English 2282: Introduction to Queer Studies
Instructor: Lesia Pahulich

Introduces and problematizes foundational concepts of the interdisciplinary field of queer studies, highlighting the intersections of sexuality with race, class, and nationality.
GE: Cultures and Ideas
GE: Diversity (Social Diversity in the US)
*This is a combined-section class. Cross-listed in WGSSt

English 2291: U.S. Literature—1865 to the Present 
Instructor: Brian McHale 
This course provides a broad survey of American literature over more than a century and a half, from the aftermath of the Civil War to the new millennium. Examining a wide range of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, the course studies literary engagements with such historical and cultural phenomena as post-Civil War Reconstruction; the expanding social, economic and cultural networks of the late-19th and early 20th centuries; immigration and internal migration; race and regional identity; the two World Wars and other armed conflicts of the 20th century; and the increasingly rapid pace of social and technological changes over the last 75 years. Our investigation of literary responses and influences will include attention to such literary genres, trends and movements as the short story, the emergence of new forms of poetry, realism and its variants, modernism and postmodernism. 
Guiding question(s): 1) How did U.S. literature change over the decades from Reconstruction to the end of the 20th century? In response to what external and internal factors? 2) How do the successive periods of U.S. literature – Realism, Modernism, Postmodernism – differ from each other? What is distinctive about each? 3) Who made U.S. literature in these decades? What were their backgrounds? How did U.S. writers relate to each other, to the cultural institutions of their time, and to the larger forces of history? 4) What kinds (genres) of writing were practiced in each period of U.S. literary history?  
Potential text(s): Robert S. Levine et al, editors, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol. 2: 1865 to the Present. Shorter Ninth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 2017. Other texts will be made available via Carmen. 
Potential assignments: Weekly quizzes; regular posting to discussion boards; midterm exam; final exam 
GE: Literature

English 2367.01: Language, Identity and Culture in the U.S. Experience
Instructor: Staff
Extends & refines expository writing & analytical reading skills, emphasizing recognition of intertextuality & reflection on compositional strategies on topics pertaining to education & pop culture in America.
GE: Writing and Communication (Level Two)
GE: Diversity (Social Diversity in the US)

English 2367.02: Literature in the U.S. Experience
Section 20, 40 and 60 Instructor: Staff
Discussion and practice of the conventions, practices and expectations of scholarly reading of literature and expository writing on issues relating to diversity within the U.S. experience.
GE: Writing and Communication (Level Two)
GE: Diversity (Social Diversity in the US)
GE: Literature (B.S. only)