Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
The accepted authority on the English language, containing the meaning, history, and usage of 500,000 words and phrases across the English-speaking world.
English
American Romanticism
LT: American Romanticism: 1830-1860. In this course students will embark on a wild ride through the canon of mid-nineteenth-century American literature. During this literary odyssey, we'll explore both land and sea in the company of several great American writers: Cooper, Emerson, Fuller, Thoreau, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman and Dickinson.
Postcolonial Film, Literature and Theory
Postcolonial Literature and Theory:
This course introduces a distinct way of organizing literary study, substituting for the study of national traditions the notion of postcoloniality as a global condition affecting not only literature but also categories we use to think about human experience: relations between colonizers and colonized and between culture and power; identity, authenticity and hybridity; roots, motherland, mother tongue; nationality.
Projects for Seniors
Student-initiated projects involving significant study and writing carried out through frequent conferences with a faculty sponsor. These projects are completed in addition to the five courses required for the advanced level of the major. Prerequisites: senior standing, a 3.25 GPA in English, and approval by the departmental Honors/Independent Projects committee. Proposals for fall projects must be submitted to the committee by March 1 of the semester preceding the beginning of fall projects, and by November 1 of the semester preceding the beginning of spring projects.
British Romanticism
The Industrial Revolution. The French Revolution. Abolition. World exploration. The British Romantic period saw huge paradigm shifts in ideas about human rights, the natural world, and what it meant to be “English.” This period also saw a set of intellectual and aesthetic revolutions that resulted in a nearly complete overturning of what were considered the aims of “good” poetry and fiction.
Methods of Critical Analysis: Shaking Up Shakespeare
This course introduces students to a range of theoretical methodologies used by creative writers and literary scholars. While each section of the course may focus on a different theme or on a different group of primary texts, all sections encourage students to learn and to apply a variety of methods with the goal of crafting critical analyses of literature.
Introduction to Poetry
Does poetry tend to baffle you, although you know there’s something enticing about it that you’d like to understand better? Or have you enjoyed poetry before and would like to learn more about it? This is the course for you. We will explore many of the ways poets make art out of language, including the visual vistas, soundscapes, and mind-opening ideas that poems can give to their readers. Occasionally we’ll try out some of their creative techniques ourselves, but our consistent focus will be on appreciation and enjoyment.
Survey of British Literature: 1700-Present
These courses provide an overview of British literature, beginning with the Anglo-Saxon period and extending into the 20th century. Selections may be drawn from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Both courses invite students to explore developments in British literature through the lens of different historical contexts, and both feature a variety of writings from different social classes, genders, and cultural traditions.
Creative Non-Fiction
In this introductory course on the basics of writing literary nonfiction, we will read and analyze a variety of examples of creative nonfiction, including memoirs and personal essays, with an eye toward becoming better nonfiction writers and readers ourselves. By encountering diverse authors, periods, and approaches to storytelling and sharing insights and knowledge about our personal encounters with the world around us, we will improve our application of various important techniques such as form, structure, persona, characterization, and voice.
Advanced Stylistics
In this course, students will refine skills related to academic English and will have an intensive study of academic vocabulary. Students will study the authentic use of the English language in reading and writing and will examine advanced concepts related to academic English. This course works as a support for other courses and will help prepare students to be successful in their academic career. Non-native English speakers only.