ENGLISH COURSES
ENGL 600 Literary Theory (3): Focuses on the analysis of the relevant schools and methods of contemporary literary theory as practiced in current literary journals and books, as well as the application of those schools and methods to academic writing.
ENGL 601 History of the English Language (3): This course surveys the development of the English language from its origins to modern day English. Students will gain an understanding of the historical and social developments that shaped and continue to shape the English language. Students will also gain an understanding of the sounds, spelling, and grammar of the language as it has developed and be able to describe the changes in English pronunciation, writing, vocabulary, and sentence structure across time and place.
ENGL 602 Seminar in Fiction (3): A study of fiction as a genre, with emphasis on the process of reading and interpreting novels and short stories and on the development of the genre.
ENGL 603 Seminar in Poetry (3): A study of poetry as a genre, with emphasis on the process of reading and interpreting poems and on the means by which a poem creates its meanings.
ENGL 604 Seminar in Drama (3): A study of the genre of drama with emphasis on the interpretation of types of plays from different periods. Related dramatic criticism is also studied.
ENGL 605 Figures in Literature (3): Extended study in the work of from one to three writers of a given time and/or tradition.
ENGL 606 Principles of Literary Scholarship (3): Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of program chair required. This course focuses on the use of bibliographic materials, research methods and resources, and methods of presenting research. The course will concentrate on the range of bibliographic sources, both print and electronic. This course will emphasize the use and documentation of sources used in literary scholarship and the presentation of that material both orally and in print, in preparation of the successful completion and defense of a master's thesis in English 699.
ENGL 610 [Writing] (3): This course in writing is taught by the Writer-in-Residence. Enrollment is limited to specially selected students; prospective enrollees should apply to the Thornton Committee and be prepared to submit writing samples for admittance. The course is usually structured as a workshop and may be repeated for credit if the specific title and instructors are different. Students taking the class for graduate credit will be expected to compose a portfolio of original work to be submitted for publication.
ENGL 613 Advanced English Grammar and Linguistics (3): This course presents students with detailed information about the systems that comprise the English language and how these systems interact to function as language. Students will learn the basic components of the linguistics of English (the systems of sound, word formation, meaning, and structure) and will then focus on the detailed principles of phrase and clause structure. Finally, applications of the systems of language will be considered, which may include discourse and pragmatic variation, language acquisition, and social constructs imposed on language.
ENGL 616 Special Topics in English (3): Intensive study of a problem or topic or a detailed examination of a single author’s work. Topics will vary according to professor and term offered.
ENGL 623 Multicultural Literature (3): Exploration of different cultures and literatures, the effects of culture on perspective, the historical self-concepts of different peoples, and other peoples’ attitudes toward America, using such writers from around the world as Milan Kundera, Fae Myenne Ng, Chinua Achebe, and Sandra Cisneros.
ENGL 645 Rhetoric and Composition: Graduate Writing (3): Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of program chair required. An advanced course designed to expose the student to the broad range of strategies commonly used in invention, composition, and revision of expository prose and to cultivate the student’s command of expository prose through several carefully prepared and intensively revised papers. The course will be practical rather than theoretical and is intended to help students meet the standard expected of writing at the graduate level.
ENGL 646 Creative Writing (3): Poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction are analyzed from a number of points of view with a focus on generating and revising original literary works.
ENGL 647 Religion and Literature (3): Examines how religious institutions, concepts, and values have been presented in and challenged within literary works. The course may take as its emphasis a given time period and/or religious tradition. Readings may include works by authors from various religious communities as well as recent theoretical work by scholars working in the field of religion and literature.
ENGL 648 Gender and Literature (3): Focuses on representations of women and men, constructions of femininity and masculinity, and sexual politics while engaging with current debates regarding the materials and methods of literary studies of sex and gender. Major issues include questions of canon and canonicity, difference, equality, sexuality, constructions of gender, intersections of gender with race, class, and nationality, and the role of reading and writing in processes of social change.
ENGL 649 Transnational Literature (3): Study of literary movements, traditions, and legacies across national borders and continents.
ENGL 670 Independent Study (3): Prerequisite: Special permission is required. Provides for the pursuit of individual interests and projects not covered in existing courses. These courses may be repeated if subjects of study vary.
ENGL 699: Research and Thesis (3): This course provides students the opportunity to do extensive research on a topic of particular interest, culminating in the writing and defense of a thesis under a faculty director and a committee.