English Course Offerings

The English Department's course offerings vary by semester. We offer 100-level composition courses, 200-level introductory courses, 300-level intermediate courses, 400-level advanced courses, and 500-level graduate courses.

▼   SUMMER 2024: Undergrad Courses (300/400 LEVEL)

Summer 2024 Undergrad Courses


EH 372 - Technical Writing (W) | Amare
FULL SUMMER TERM: MAY 29 - JULY 26
Online

The course is designed to help you to accomplish the following:

  • Understand and analyze writing situations and technologies and invoke the roles and strategies necessary to produce effective writing in localized and globalized contexts;
  • Improve your understanding of how writing practices and genres (memos, email, proposals, reports, and websites) function within and across organizations, including how various readers read, where readers look for information, and what multiple purposes documents serve inside and outside particular organizations;
  • Produce more effective visual, textual, and multimedia documents.

EH 372 - Technical Writing (W) | Gandy
FULL SUMMER TERM: MAY 29 - JULY 26
Online

Technical Writing is a real-world writing course for English majors, computer science majors, engineering majors, health careers majors, and other technical fields where soon-to-be professionals will be required to write in a team-concept work environment. The students choose specific subjects to argue logically, technically and factually for measurable improvements via specific behaviors in the workplace. These arguments may involve problem-solving of existing situations or establishment of new, innovative programs.


EH 372 - Technical Writing (W) | Jeter
FULL SUMMER TERM: MAY 29 - JULY 26
Online

While technical writing allows for a great deal of creativity, much of technical writing demands both a scrupulous editorial ability and a devotion to established forms: People expect a precisely written document that resembles what they have encountered before. Toward that end, this course aims to acquaint you with and help you master a variety of common letters and memos, as well as a research project on a technical topic written in APA form, a standard set of instructions for an activity of students' choice, and an oral presentation.


EH 480 - Gender & Lit: Women & the Macabre | McLaughlin
MAYMESTER: MAY 6 - MAY 24
MTWRF 1:00-3:30

If it is true that the Enlightenment gave birth to the Gothic, its light creating the dark shadows in which lurk that which resists human understanding, then it is equally true that the Gothic, with its locus in the irrational maze of the human psyche, prefigured and gave rise to psychoanalysis. Because psychoanalysis is itself a gothic discourse with its exploration of the death drive, family secrets, buried memories, hysterical fits, obsessive thoughts, erotic dreams, and mirror images, it will be the theoretical lens through which we will explore the relationship between women and the macabre in contemporary literature. 


EH 490 - Royal Orbits in Historical Fiction | Halbrooks
FULL SUMMER TERM: MAY 29 - JULY 26
MW 2:30-5:00

This course will focus on historical fiction that attempts to recreate the early modern world. Specifically, we will read three recent novels that focus on figures within royal orbits: Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, Arthur Phillips’s The King at the Edge of the World, and Daniel Kehlmann’s Tyll. Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, Elizabeth I, and James I all feature as major players in these books, along with scheming courtiers, a baffled Turkish physician, a tight-rope-walking trickster, and a hapless king without a kingdom. The course will be blended, with some in-person meetings and some asynchronous, online work, which will allow students to develop independent research projects, which they will present at a colloquium at the end of the term.


▼   SUMMER 2024: Graduate Courses (500 LEVEL)

Summer 2024 Graduate Courses


EH 590 - Royal Orbits in Historical Fiction | Halbrooks
FULL SUMMER TERM: MAY 29 - JULY 26
MW 2:30-5:00

This course will focus on historical fiction that attempts to recreate the early modern world. Specifically, we will read three recent novels that focus on figures within royal orbits: Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, Arthur Phillips’s The King at the Edge of the World, and Daniel Kehlmann’s Tyll. Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, Elizabeth I, and James I all feature as major players in these books, along with scheming courtiers, a baffled Turkish physician, a tight-rope-walking trickster, and a hapless king without a kingdom. The course will be blended, with some in-person meetings and some asynchronous, online work, which will allow students to develop independent research projects, which they will present at a colloquium at the end of the term.


EH 592 - Gender & Lit: Women & the Macabre | McLaughlin
MAYMESTER: MAY 6 - MAY 24
MTWRF 1:00-3:30

If it is true that the Enlightenment gave birth to the Gothic, its light creating the dark shadows in which lurk that which resists human understanding, then it is equally true that the Gothic, with its locus in the irrational maze of the human psyche, prefigured and gave rise to psychoanalysis. Because psychoanalysis is itself a gothic discourse with its exploration of the death drive, family secrets, buried memories, hysterical fits, obsessive thoughts, erotic dreams, and mirror images, it will be the theoretical lens through which we will explore the relationship between women and the macabre in contemporary literature.


▼   FALL 2024: Undergrad Courses (300/400 LEVEL)

Fall 2024 Undergrad Courses


EH 300 - Introduction to Literary Study | Vrana
MWF 1:25-2:15

What, how, and why do we read in 2024? We will focus on basic methods and terminology of literary interpretation: close reading, analytical writing, and discussing complexity—skills key to a range of coursework and careers. Texts will be recent and may include (among others): The Underground Railroad (Colson Whitehead), The Last Final Girl (Stephen Graham Jones), Citizen (Claudia Rankine), and a film like Get Out.


EH 320 - Shakespeare's Plays | Hillyer
TR 12:30-1:45

We will be studying a representative selection of Shakespeare's plays in all the kinds that he wrote—tragedies, comedies, histories, and romances—grouped according to the likely chronological order of their composition. For class discussion, we will focus on analyzing the female roles (invariably performed by boy actors) in the hope that you will thereby improve your close-reading skills. Over time, too, this specializing approach might help you generate interesting paper topics about "Shakespeare’s Women."

EH 331 - American Novel to 1900 | Cesarini
TR 2:00-3:15

Students will read novels by important American writers of the period such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Henry James, Charles Chesnutt, and Kate Chopin. Attention throughout will be given to the interaction between form and meaning in each novel, and to the relation of each to its literary and historical contexts. There will be frequent reading quizzes, and students will write two essays, one of which will require research. 


EH 362 - American Novel from 1900 to 1945 | Raczkowski
MWF 11:15-12:05

U.S. culture and literature between 1900 and 1945 is often considered in terms of the historical experience of crisis and shock: Anarchists! Riots! World War! Women's Suffrage! Market Crash! World War. Again! In this course we will reflect on how a sense of historical crisis and the shock of the new differently animates the fiction of authors like William Faulkner, Willa Cather, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, Nella Larsen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Anita Loos.


EH 371 - Approaches to English Grammar (W) | Amare
TR 11:00-12:15

This course is designed for individuals who want a working knowledge of grammar and usage. In addition to learning grammar and usage concepts, we will explore different approaches to teaching grammar. You will research articles about the changing role of grammar in the English Studies curriculum to help you contextualize these concepts within the larger debate of English Studies and the teaching of grammar.


EH 372 - Technical Writing (W) | Beason
MWF 11:15-12:05 or 2:30-3:20

How can you effectively convey specialized or technical information in the workplace—to readers whose expertise with this information can vary greatly? Whether your field of study deals with health care, the sciences, the computer industry, the liberal arts, or almost any field of study, this course can assist you with varied types of workplace writing and editing. EH 372 can also help satisfy the W-requirement and count as an English elective for most English majors and minors.


EH 372 - Technical Writing (W) | Guzy
MWF 10:10-11:00

The purpose of this course is to train students in the kinds of written reports required of practicing professionals, aiming to improve mastery of the whole process of report writing from conceptual stage through editing stage. This course will introduce you to types of written and oral communication used in workplace settings, with a focus on technical reporting and editing. Through several document cycles, you will develop skills in managing the organization, development, style, and visual format of various documents.


EH 391 - Fiction Writing | Johnson
MWF 12:20-1:10

This course will introduce students to elements required to make strong short fiction—observation, plot, setting, characterization, surprise, economy, point of view, and so on. By reading contemporary examples of short fiction written in a variety of styles and modes, students will begin organizing their own craft toolboxes, which they'll then use to build original stories they share with their peers. After all, as the writer George Saunders said, "To study the way we read is to study the way the mind works: the way it evaluates a statement for truth, the way it behaves in relation to another mind (i.e. the writer’s) across space and time." In doing so, students will question what makes interesting short fiction, consider why they feel an urge to tell a particular story, and analyze how to shape said urge into a surprising, immensely readable work of art.

EH 395 - Poetry Writing | Pence
TR 12:30-1:45

In this course, we will practice writing poems in different forms, from the intellectual slinkiness of Shakespeare's sonnets to the cosmic embrace of Whitman's freeverse. Our focus will not be so much on the rules regulating each form, but on the deep history, artistry, and context behind those rules so that we can choose the right form for our poem’s content. Some forms will include syllabics, spoken word, persona poems, and freeverse. How one varies these forms and tailors them to a personal aesthetic will be the challenge and pleasure.


EH 401 - Teaching Composition (W) | Guzy
MWF 1:25-2:15

This course will introduce you to theories of composition and their applications for teaching writing at the secondary school level. In a seminar-style format, you will:

  • read and discuss the required texts,
  • lead a discussion on a journal article from English Journal or Voices from the Middle,
  • practice evaluating student essays, 
  • demonstrate a 30- to 50-minute writing lesson, and 
  • design a composition syllabus or detailed composition unit that is supported by a research-based rationale.

EH 404 - Grant Proposal Writing | Amare
TR 9:30-10:45

Grant funding is vital for the sustainability of many organizations, with funds procured through successful grant proposals. Grant proposal writing is a competitive field that enables writers to meaningfully contribute to causes and organizations reliant on external monetary support. Successful EH 404 students will find and assess funding opportunities, develop a grant budget and budget sheet, and write a grant application with supplementary documents in response to a real funding opportunity.


EH 421 - Literary Criticism to 1900 (W) | Halbrooks
MWF 12:20-1:10

This course will survey some of the major debates about literature beginning with Gorgias, Plato, and Aristotle. What is literature? What does it do, and what is its function? What is the relationship between literature and the world? How do we define and categorize literary form and genre? What is the responsibility of the writer? How can women respond to a predominantly male literary canon? How can people of color respond to a predominantly white literary canon? What might constitute productive (or ethical) strategies of literary interpretation and analysis?


EH 483 - Advanced Fiction Writing | Johnson
T 6:00-8:30

This course is a seminar, writing workshop, and directed study for intermediate and experienced writers of fiction. Through tailored writing projects that range from short stories, novellas, and novel excerpts, students will learn to utilize peer and instructor feedback that leads to stronger, more original work. Students will also develop a greater understanding of the critical and cultural lineage of their work. Discussions and assignments will address the craft of writers foundational to the study of fiction. Conferences and independent projects will focus on literary journals and the submission process, when appropriate.


▼   FALL 2024: Graduate Courses (500 LEVEL)

Fall 2024 Graduate Courses


EH 502 - Graduate Writing for English | Cesarini
M 6:00-8:30

Our work as researchers and teachers does not necessarily make us good writers. There are varieties of academic writing in English, all with their own conventions that can be learned. Students in EH 502 will study representative examples of scholarly writing in English, so that we can understand its diversity over time, across sub-fields, and in different venues. Students will also undertake their own projects, in studied steps, from project proposal, to literature review, to annotated bibliography, culminating with a conference paper.


EH 505 - Teaching College Writing | Shaw
MW 2:30-3:45

This course examines issues in composition history, theory, and pedagogy in the context of teaching first-year composition. Students will use this knowledge to develop course material appropriate to teaching first-year composition. Topics include syllabus and assignment design, lesson planning, course management, teaching in the linguistically and culturally diverse classroom, and assessment. Pre-requisite / Co-requisite: EH 502.

EH 521 - 17th Century Poetry | Hillyer
R 6:00-8:30

We will be studying representative poems by Ben Jonson and by some of the men of letters more or less closely associated with him: the so-called Cavalier Poets. The main assignment will be a research paper of 20 pages developed in stages. I will also require each student to give at least one oral report, based on the critical essays included in the same anthology we will be using for the primary texts. 


EH 572 - Modern American Fiction | Raczkowski
W 6:00-8:30

The modernist novel in the United States was never singular, but took on a number of forms ranging from the experimental or "high" modernism of Gertrude Stein and William Faulkner; to the popular modernism of Anita Loos; to the Harlem Renaissance modernism of Nella Larsen and Rudolph Fisher. As a study of modernist fiction in America, the goal of this class will be to introduce students to some of these different modernisms while keeping an eye on the competing aesthetic and political arguments that modernist writers structured implicitly in their fiction and explicitly in their manifestoes, reviews and literary criticism.


EH 583/4 - Graduate Fiction Writing Workshop I/II | Prince
T 6:00-8:30

This course is a seminar, writing workshop, and directed study for graduate writers of fiction. Through tailored writing projects that range from short stories, novellas, and novel excerpts, students will learn to utilize peer and instructor feedback that leads to stronger, more original work. Students will also develop a greater understanding of the critical and cultural lineage of their work. Discussions and assignments will address the craft of writers foundational to the study of fiction. Conferences and independent projects will focus on literary journals and the submission process, when appropriate.


EH 591 - Writing the Contemporary American South | Johnson
W 6:00-8:30

This course asks students to interrogate and define for themselves what it means to write fiction about and from the contemporary American South. To do so, students will read creative works by contemporary Southern writers (Jesmyn Ward, Brad Watson, S.A. Cosby, Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, others), literary criticism, and scholarly pieces that contextualize certain conventions and traditions—for better and worse. Students will also write an original piece of fiction set in the contemporary American South and workshop it alongside their peers.


 

A full listing of all courses in the departmental catalog is available via the University Bulletin.  For a listing of courses offered in a given semester, please visit the University's Schedule of Classes(Select "Dynamic Schedule" > "Browse Classes," enter the catalog term you wish to search, and select "English" as the subject.)