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English
The
curriculum of the Department of English is intended to introduce
students to the main literary genres, to acquaint them with
representative works in important periods of English, American,
and Anglophone literature, and to aid them in developing
methods for critical interpretation.
Further
information about the department, faculty and courses is
available at the department's home page on the web (www.oberlin.edu/~english).
Advanced
Placement. Students will receive 3 hours of Oberlin
College credit for a score of 5 on the Advanced Placement
Examination in English Literature/Composition or English
Language/ Composition, and will be eligible for entry into
intermediate (200-level) courses in English.
Colloquia.
These small, Writing-Intensive classes are for first-year
students only, and do not count as part of the English major.
They will focus on the essential skills of reading, analysis,
writing, and discussion. The successful completion of any
first-year colloquium will count as prerequisite for intermediate
work in English, as will a Writing Intensive course in any
other department, or certification of writing proficiency
in any Writing Certification course in the Humanities division.
200-Level
Courses. English majors are expected to complete three
or more courses at the 200 level. Others interested in study
in the department are encouraged to do some work at this
level. These courses are designed to introduce students
to the discipline of literary study in English through a
substantial coverage of texts, instruction in the conventions
of genre, period, and region as appropriate, and attention
to fundamental issues and approaches in critical reading
and writing. Some of these courses are survey courses, others
are more closely focused in subject, but all are intended
to provide students with an understanding of important critical
issues and approaches, as well as sustained experience in
reading texts and in writing critical and interpretive papers.
300-Level
Courses. Courses at the 300 level are intended for students
who have completed at least three courses at the 200 level.
These advanced courses are smaller in size to facilitate
more intensive study than the 200-level courses.
400-Level
Courses. At the 400 level seniors (and occasionally
juniors) will have the opportunity to do individual work
based on focused reading of texts, criticism, literary history,
or theory, with the goal of engaging in extended research,
writing, or performance projects. Such opportunities are
available through seminars, special topics courses, the
honors program, or (in particular cases) independent projects.
Major.
The English major is designed to meet the needs of students
with various goals, including those who desire training
in English in preparation for graduate study in the field;
those seeking a foundation for postgraduate work or study
in fields related to English (e.g., education, communications,
editing and publishing, law, theater); and those who want
a humanistic base in reading, thinking, and writing for
a liberal arts education.
Students
interested in going on for graduate work in English should
be aware that their candidacy will be strengthened by the
following: readiness to define a likely direction or area
of ongoing scholarly interest; evidence of the ability to
conduct successful independent research and extended critical
writing; reading knowledge of at least one foreign language;
and a more ample distribution of historical period courses
than that minimally required by the major. Students should
consult with their advisors about the decision to go on
for graduate work in English.
The
Department offers two types of majors, regular and concentration
majors, described in detail below. The regular major is
primarily a course of study within the discipline of English;
the concentration majors are interdisciplinary. The following
describes the majors now in effect; those who declared
a major before spring 1998 should see below, "Previously
declared majors."
Students
may count toward the English major (at the 200 level) one
college course (up to 3 credit hours) in non-English literature,
whether read in the original or in translation. This course
will not satisfy an area distribution requirement, but may
satisfy a genre requirement as appropriate (see below).
For
students who entered Oberlin before 1998, the revised English
major will accommodate as equivalent to the new and renumbered
200-level courses (a) those courses formerly numbered 151,
152, and 153; and (b) any courses already completed at the
300 level.
English
majors are strongly encouraged but not required to enroll
in at least one course at the 400 level in their senior
year. Majors should consult with their advisors in the
middle of the junior year to plan for the specific senior
work, whether a special topics course or seminar, the honors
program, or a senior project option (see below, "Senior
options"). See the department's web site for further information
about the major.
The
regular major in English consists of 27 hours, including:
*
at least 3 courses at the 200 level
*
at least 4 courses at the 300 level or higher.
These
courses must also satisfy the following distribution requirements:
two courses in English literature before 1790 (designated
EL below), one course in British or world literature
since 1790 (WL), and two courses in American literature
(AL). They must also include at least one
course primarily in poetry (P), one in narrative
fiction (F), and one in drama (D). Checklists
for working out these requirements are available from the
department office (Rice 130).
Concentration
Majors. There are six concentration majors. Based in
the discipline of English, these concentrations allow students
to concentrate on particular aspects of literary study by
bringing work in other disciplines to bear on their major
in English -- in particular, work in African-American Studies,
American Literature and Culture, Creative Writing, Modern
Culture and Media, Theater and Drama, and Women's Studies.
These concentration majors consist of 21 hours in English
and 15 hours outside of English.
For
all concentration majors, courses in English must
include:
*
3 courses at the 200 level
*
3 courses (4 for American Literature and Culture, or Modern
Culture and Media) at the 300 level or higher.
*
As with the standard major these courses must fulfill certain
distribution requirements: one course each with the designation
EL, WL, and AL, and courses in two
of the three genres (P, F, and D).
Specific
requirements for concentration majors, in addition to the
general requirements above:
*
African-American: in English: 3 courses with
strong focus on African-American or Third World literature
with a significant treatment of the literature of Africa
and/or the African diaspora; Outside English: 15
hours in African-American/Third World Studies courses, including
no more than one literature course.
*
American Literature and Culture: in English: 4
courses in American literature and culture; Outside English:
15 hours in courses dealing with American culture in History,
Art History, African-American Studies, etc.
*
Creative Writing: in English: 3 courses in
20th-century literature, including one in post-1945 literature;
Outside English: 15 hours in the Creative Writing
Program, a minimum of 10 hours of which must be in the form
of coursework offered for Creative Writing credit by Creative
Writing Program Committee faculty.
*
Modern Culture and Media: in English: 4 courses
dealing with issues in modern culture and media; Outside
English: 15 hours in courses dealing with modern culture
and media.
*
Theater and Drama: in English: 3 courses in
dramatic literature, playwriting, or other drama or film
topic; Outside English: 15 hours (total) in at least
two other areas (dramatic literature, theater, film) to
be chosen from among courses such as these: courses in Theater
and design/technical areas; film courses; other literature
courses in translation or in the original language of which
the substance is drama.
*
Women's Studies: in English: 3 courses with a
strong feminist or Women's Studies component; Outside
English: 15 hours from courses listed in the catalog
under Women's Studies; one of these courses must be Women's
Studies 100; the rest may include up to 3 hours in courses
listed as "Related Courses" in Women's Studies; the remainder
must be from courses listed as "Program Courses" or "Cross-Listed
Courses."
In
consultation with the department chairperson, majors may
devise other concentrations to meet their particular interests.
Because concentration majors require more advance planning
than the standard English major, they may not be declared
after the end of the student's junior year. Students who
choose a concentration major have no automatic entitlement
to courses outside the English Department required for that
major (in contrast, places are reserved in English courses
for English majors, including concentration majors).
Minor.
An English minor consists of at least 15 hours in the English
Department including:
*
3 courses at the 200 level
*
2 courses at the 300 level or higher.
*
As with the major, these courses must fulfill certain distribution
requirements: one course each with the designation EL,
WL, and AL, and courses in two of the three
genres (P, F, and D).
Senior
Options. Senior English majors are strongly recommended
to do work at the 400 level, because of the value of intense
and extended work among peers at an advanced level of practical
and theoretical skills. There are 3 principal options for
senior work:
Seminars
and Special Topics Courses. These courses are normally
for seniors who have completed at least two courses at the
300 level. Seminars will be available only by consent of
the instructor, through application in the preceding semester.
Whether focusing on specific authors, genres, periods, or
movements, or more broadly conceived around theoretical
or methodological approaches, these seminars will give students
the chance for extended focused study within a specific
area, culminating in a major research project or term paper.
Senior
Projects. The senior project is a semester-long individual
research project culminating typically in a 15-20 page essay
and an oral presentation of that work to a group of faculty.
Permission to do a senior project is by application in the
semester before the project and is available to a limited
number of students.
Honors.
The Honors Program is a year-long project involving a colloquium
in the fall, as well as year-long work on a research project,
leading to a 35-page essay or creative writing project and
an oral examination on that project. Successful work in
the Honors program will render a student eligible for consideration
for honors at graduation, but it does not guarantee such
honors.
Admission
to the Honors program is by application in the spring of
the junior year; all majors are invited by mail to apply
for the program. Admission to the program is determined
on the basis of the strength of an applicant's work in the
major as evidenced by grade-point average in the major,
faculty recommendations, and personal interviews as needed.
Students are advised to have completed the majority of their
major requirements by the time they apply for honors, including
area and genre distribution requirements and the specific
requirements of a concentration major, and to have done
significant work at the advanced level.
Previously
Declared Majors. Students who declared a major in English
prior to the establishment (in 1998) of the guidelines described
here may be certified to have completed the major by meeting
the former requirements, which specified thirty hours within
the Department, including completion of three regular courses
(excluding private readings) in literature before 1900,
at least two of which must be in literature before 1800.
London
Program. One semester each year, an English Department
faculty member serves as co-director of the Danenberg Oberlin-in-London
Program, thereby facilitating applications for English majors
interested in that semester's program. For further information
see the section of the catalog entitled "London Program."
Transfer
of Credit. No more than 14 hours of transfer credit
in English literature may be applied to the Oberlin English
major. (Note: "English Literature" generally excludes basic
composition, introductory creative writing, and more than
one course in literature not written in English.) To have
transfer credit approval toward the major and/or toward
meeting prerequisites for upper-level courses, students
should consult the chair of the English Department (or his
designate), preferably with syllabi in hand.
Winter
Term. Winter Term projects sponsored by English faculty
will be according to the interests and availability of staff.
Students also are encouraged to propose group projects which,
with an approved sponsor, they will direct.
Composition
Courses
Students
interested in taking introductory-level courses in writing
should also see the Rhetoric and Composition section of
this catalog. Descriptions of writing-oriented courses and
procedures to be followed in order to meet the college-wide
writing requirements may be found there.
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Colloquia
Colloquia
will focus on critical writing and analysis through the
study of texts. These colloquia are for first-year students
only, and do not count for the English major, which
begins with foundation courses at the 200 level. All colloquia
are Writing Intensive courses. Students in their second
year or beyond should begin work in the English Department
at the 200 level.
119.
Media and Memory 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 2 ENGL-119-01 TuTh
11:00-12:15 Mr. Pence
121.
To Be Announced 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-121-01 TuTh
1:30-2:45 Ms. Bryan
124.
The Sense of Time and Place 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-124-01 MWF
10:00-10:50 Mr. Day
125. Shakespeare
and History 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-125-01 MWF
1:30-2:20 Mr. Pierce
ENGL-125-02 MWF 3:30-4:20 Mr.
Pierce
128. Theater,
Politics, and Community 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-128-01 TuTh
9:35-10:50 Ms. Geis
ENGL-128-02 TuTh 11:00-12:15 Ms.
Geis
131. Forms
of Dialogue 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-131-01 MWF
9:00-9:50 Mr. Hobbs
134. Novels
of Development 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 2 ENGL-134-01 MWF
1:30-2:20 Ms. Linehan
ENGL-134-02 MWF 3:30-4:20 Ms.
Linehan
146. Art
and Authenticity: Reading U.S. Minority Literatures 3
hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-146-01 MWF
9:00-9:50 Ms. Motooka
ENGL-146-02 MWF 11:00-11:50 Ms.
Motooka
148.
Pedagogies of Empire 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-148-01 TuTh
8:35-9:50 Ms. Needham
ENGL-148-02 TuTh 1:30-2:45 Ms.
Needham
155. W.
B. Yeats and the Irish Renaissance 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-155-01 TuTh
9:35-10:50 Mr. Olmsted
ENGL-155-02 TuTh 11:00-12:15 Mr.
Olmsted
177. Ways
of Seeing, Ways of Knowing 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-177-01 MWF
11:00-11:50 Ms. Zagarell
ENGL-177-02 MWF 2:30-3:20 Ms.
Zagarell
181.
Middle Passage and Migration in the African-American
Imagination 3 hours 3HU, CD, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 1 ENGL-181-01 MWF
1:30-2:20 Ms. Johns
188. To
Be Announced 3 hours
3HU, WRi
For full course description see section entitled "Colloquia
for First- and Second-Year Students."
Sem 2 ENGL-188-01 MWF
10:00-10:50 Staff
ENGL-188-02 MWF 1:30-2:20 Staff
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200-Level
Courses
These
courses are designed to introduce students to the discipline
of literary study in English through a substantial coverage
of texts, instruction in the conventions of genre, period,
and region as appropriate, and attention to fundamental issues
and approaches in critical reading and writing.
Prerequisites:
These courses are open to students who have completed any
Writing Intensive course, or have gained Writing Certification
in any course in the Humanities. They are also open to those
who have achieved a 5 on the AP exam in English Language/Composition
or English Literature/Composition, or a score of 710 or
better on the SAT II Writing test. Other students may be
admitted by consent of the instructor, with the understanding
that students should be able to demonstrate the ability
to handle writing, discussion, and analysis in ways typically
taught in Writing Intensive classes.
201. Chaucer 3
hours
3HU, WR
A study of Geoffrey Chaucer's poetry, to be read in Middle
English, with particular attention to The Canterbury
Tales; and with emphasis on the medieval setting in
which the poet wrote. P, EL. Prerequisite:
See headnote above. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 1 ENGL-201-01 TuTh 9:35-10:50 Ms.
Bryan
207. Sixteenth-
and Seventeenth-Century Poetry 3 hours
3HU, WR
Non-dramatic poetry from the period 1580-1660, with special
attention to Sidney, Shakespeare, Donne, Herbert, and
Marvell. The course will consider how these poems participate
in discourses of love in the Early Modern period. P,
EL. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment
Limit: 30.
Sem 1 ENGL-207-01 W 7:00-10:00 pm Mr. Pierce
212. Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature 3
hours
3HU, WR
We will read representative British works of the late-seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, focusing on the articulation
of individualism and its meanings in the age that witnessed
the birth of modern democracy. P, EL. Prerequisite:
See headnote above. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 2 ENGL-212-01 TuTh 3:00-4:15 Ms.
Motooka
216. Studies
in Shakespeare 3 hours
3HU, WR
Selected plays by Shakespeare, studied with reference
to issues of historical context and contemporary performance.
D, EL. Prerequisite: See headnote above.
Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 1 ENGL-216-01 TuTh 9:35-10:50 Staff
ENGL-216-02 TuTh 1:30-2:45 Staff
220. Romantic
Literature 3 hours
3HU, WR
An interdisciplinary study of "romanticism" in England
and Scotland between 1789 and 1832, treating works by
poets, essay writers, novelists, painters and urban architects.
Among works to be considered will be poems by Blake, Wordsworth,
Keats, Shelley and Byron, essays by Burke, De Quincey,
Coleridge and Hazlitt, and fiction by Mary Shelley and
Mary Wollstonecraft. Painters to be considered will include
Girtin, Constable, Turner and B. R. Haydon (some of whose
letters and journals we will also read). We will investigate
the Prince Regent's attempts, working with John Nash and
others, to transform London into an imperial city. P,
WL. Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment
Limit: 30.
Sem 2 ENGL-220-01 TuTh 1:30-2:45 Mr. Olmsted
ENGL-220-02 TuTh 3:00-4:15 Mr. Olmsted
228. Modern
British and Irish Fiction 4 hours
4HU, WR
Novels and short fiction by such major twentieth-century
writers as Conrad, Ford, Lawrence, Mansfield, Forster,
Joyce, Woolf, and Greene. F, WL. Prerequisite:
See headnote above. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 1 ENGL-228-01 MWF 1:30-2:20 Mr.
Walker
230. Reading
and Writing Poetry 3 hours
3HU, WR
In this course we'll use poetry-writing to sharpen your
critical insight and a close analytical reading of collections
by Yeats, Plath, and Merwin to develop and extend your
own poetic skills. Additional readings on poetic theory
and the creative process. Written work will be two critical
essays and a portfolio of poems. (No previous poetry-writing
experience necessary.) P. Prerequisite:
See headnote above. Enrollment Limit: 35.
Sem 2 ENGL-230-01 TuTh 9:35-10:50 Mr.
Hobbs
239. History
and Structure of the English Language 3 hours
3HU, WR
The development of English from its Anglo-Saxon beginnings
to the present, concentrating on changes in the meanings
of words, in grammatical forms, in pronunciation, and
in usage. EL. Prerequisite: See headnote
above. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 2 ENGL-239-01 MWF 11:00-11:50 Ms. Bryan
255. In
Search of America: Early American Writing in the Information
Age 3 hours
3HU, WR
A survey of American literature from 1600-1800 and an
introduction to research methods assisted by information
technology. F, AL. Prerequisite: See headnote
above. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 2 ENGL-255-01 TuTh 1:00-2:15 Mr. McMillin
257. The Re-making of "America" and "Americans": American
Literature at the Turn into the Twentieth Century 4 hours
4HU, WR
Tension and change marked the nation's racial and ethnic
composition, class formations, gender arrangements, laws,
and international status. The literature of the era not
only reflected this ferment, but participated in debates
about what "America" and "Americans" were. At the same time,
the nature of "literature" and the circumstances of its
production, distribution and reception were also in flux.
Reading will include narratives and essays by Howells, James,
Jewett, Freeman, Chesnutt, Hopkins, Twain, Garland, Dunbar
Nelson, Sui Sin Far, Zitkala Sa and others. F, AL.
Prerequisite: See headnote above. Enrollment Limit:
30.
Sem 2 ENGL-257-01 MWF 10:00-10:50 Ms. Zagarell
261.
Humor and Twentieth-Century African-American Literature
3 hours
3HU, CD, WR
Introduction to critical consideration of functions and
forms of the "funny," ironic, and satirical in literature
(through such theorists of the phenomenon as Hobbs, Freud,
Bergson, Rourke, Hughes, and others) and in African-American
literature in particular. Authors we will read may include
Chesnutt, Schuyler, Hurston, Hughes, Ellison, Reed, Bambara,
and Gaines. F, AL. Prerequisite: See headnote
above. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 1 ENGL-261-01 MWF 3:30-4:20 Ms. Johns
Sem 2 ENGL-261-01 TuTh 9:35-10:50 Ms. Johns
265. Anglophone
Literatures of the Third World 3 hours
3HU, WR
Through a variety of theoretical essays and novels, this
course will examine the problems of definition, analysis,
and evaluation that attend our interpretation of works
from the "Third World." We will consider, for instance,
whether or not: 1) "Third World" or "Post-colonial" are
appropriate designations; 2) notions of "marginality,"
"difference," "alterity," so often deployed to characterize
these works, are useful interpretive tools; 3) the perception
that these works are always already enactments of resistance
against dominant ideologies and formations is effective.
F, WL. Prerequisite: See headnote above.
Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 2 ENGL-265-01 TuTh 3:00-4:15 Ms. Needham
272. American
Cinema: The Possibilities of Art in the Entertainment
Business 4 hours
4HU, WR
This course will focus on how American cinema functions
as an entertainment industry and the ways in which the
demands of business and technology have shaped it. At
the same time we will explore American movies as works
of art produced in a tradition of strong genres and the
star system, and efforts of filmmakers to use these for
individualized expression. The course will focus particularly
on the two great eras of American cinema, the late 1930s
and early 1940s and the 1970s. (Not open to students who
have already taken ENGL 373.) F, AL. Prerequisite:
See headnote above. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 2 ENGL-272-01 MWF 10:00-10:50 Mr. Day
282. Survey
of Drama 3 hours
3HU, WR
This course will study the development of drama from the
ancient Greeks to the present with the aim of promoting
understanding and analysis of dramatic texts. By studying
the major forms of drama--tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy--within
their historical and cultural contexts, we will explore
the elements common to all dramatic works, as well as
the way in which those elements vary and evolve from one
time and place to another. D, WL. Prerequisite:
See headnote above. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 2 ENGL-282-01 MWF 11:00-11:50 Ms. Geis
ENGL-282-02 MWF 1:30-2:20 Ms. Geis
283. Modern
Irish Drama 3 hours
3HU, WR
A survey beginning with the founding of the Abbey Theatre
by W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1901, and continuing
with later Irish plays by John Synge, Sean O'Casey, Samuel
Beckett, and Brendan Behan, as well as recent works by
Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Sebastian Barry, and Marina Carr.
D, WL. Prerequisite: See headnote above.
Enrollment Limit: 30.
Sem 1 ENGL-283-01 MWF 11:00-11:50 Mr. Hobbs
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300-Level
Courses
Courses
at the 300 level are designed to broaden students' experience
of literature in English while also deepening the study of
the discipline through focused reading of texts, criticism,
literary history and theory.
Prerequisites:
These courses are open to students who have completed at least
3 courses at the new 200 level, or (for students who have
taken courses prior to 1998) at least 3 courses in English
at the 150 level or above, or by consent of the instructor.
302. Studies
in Medieval Literature 3 hours
3HU, WR
A selection of medieval authors drawn both from the Middle
English writers and from those in other languages. F,
EL. Prerequisite: Three 200-level courses (see
headnote above). Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 2 ENGL-302-01 MWF 2:30-3:20 Ms. Bryan
304. Shakespeare
and the Forms of Tragedy 3 hours
3HU, WR
Shakespeare repeatedly took up the form of tragedy during
his career. This course will explore the varied potentialities
of tragedy, including the different traditions available
to him, and we will consider what theoretical approaches
to tragedy shed light on his different approaches to the
genre in the dozen or so tragedies. D, EL. Prerequisite:
Three 200-level courses (see headnote above). Enrollment
Limit: 25.
Sem 2 ENGL-304-01 MWF 1:30-2:20 Mr. Pierce
315. Eighteenth-Century
Fiction 4 hours
4HU, WR
The emergence of prose fiction in the eighteenth century,
focusing on novelistic form, with attention to cultural
and historical contexts. Authors may include Behn, Defoe,
Haywood, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, Goldsmith, Lewis,
Austen. F, EL. Prerequisite: Three 200-level
courses (see headnote above). Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 1 ENGL-315-01 MWF 1:30-2:20 Ms.
Motooka
317. Nineteenth-Century
Novel 4 hours
4HU, WR
A survey of fiction written in nineteenth-century Britain,
with special attention being paid to historical and cultural
context, serial publication and changing readerships, the
emergence of a sophisticated aesthetic of fiction in critical
periodicals, and the interplay between text and visual image
in illustrated fiction. Works will include fiction by Austen,
Dickens, Thackeray, Gaskell, Emily Brontë, Charlotte
Brontë, Trollope, and George Eliot. F, WL. Prerequisite:
Three 200-level courses (see headnote above). Enrollment
Limit: 25.
Sem 1 ENGL-317-01 TuTh 3:00-4:15 Mr. Olmsted
327.
Modern Drama: Ibsen to Pirandello 3 hours
3HU, WR
This course explores the different ways in which "reality"
was staged by playwrights including Ibsen, Chekhov, Strindberg,
Shaw, and Pirandello. We will consider how modern theatrical
movements such as realism, naturalism, expressionism, and
metadrama sought to represent "reality," focusing on evolving
stagecraft. Emphasis will also be placed on the historical
and cultural contexts surrounding the early stages of modern
drama. D, WL. Prerequisite: Three 200-level
courses (see headnote above). Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 2 ENGL-327-01 Tu 7:00-9:30 pm Ms.
Tufts
332.
Modern Poetry II: Imagism to Postmodernism 3
hours
3HU, WR
Modern poetry between 1917 and 1945, including such developments
as the reaction to imagism, expressionism, surrealism, and
objectivism, and such major figures as Pound, Eliot, Stevens,
Williams, and Moore. P, WL. Prerequisite:
Three 200-level courses (see headnote above). Enrollment
Limit: 25.
Sem 1 ENGL-332-01 MWF 1:30-2:20 Mr. Hobbs
336.
Shakespeare and His Contemporaries 3 hours
3HU, WR
D, EL. Prerequisite: Three 200-level courses
(see headnote above). Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 2 ENGL-336-01 MWF 3:30-4:20 Staff
349. Contemporary
British and Irish Drama 3 hours
3HU, WR
This course focuses on major playwrights of England and
Ireland from post-World War II to the present. Some of the
areas of attention will be: the "angry young men"; metadrama;
gender, race, and ethnicity; responses to Thatcherism; and
the "new brutalism." Playwrights might include: Beckett,
Osborne, Bond, Stoppard, Hare, Pinter, Griffiths, Brenton,
Poliakoff, Churchill, Friel, McDonagh, Kureishi, Carr, Reid,
and Kane. Students will be expected to attend productions
and participate in scene enactments. D, WL. Prerequisite:
Three 200-level courses (see headnote above). Enrollment
Limit: 25.
Sem 1 ENGL-349-01 TuTh 1:30-2:45 Ms. Geis
353. American
Literature: 1825-1865 4 hours
4HU, WR
An exploration of work by Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne,
Melville, Jacobs, Stoddard, Douglass, Whitman, and Dickinson.
F, AL. Prerequisite: Three 200-level courses
(see headnote above). Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 2 ENGL-353-01 MWF 1:30-2:20 Ms.
Zagarell
360. Representing
Blackness, Whiteness, and Citizenship in American Fiction 4
hours
4HU, CD, WR
This course centers on readings of select novels and short
fiction by black and white American authors highlighting
or masking the presence of racial tenets and/or anxieties
in imaginative contemplations of the national identity and
citizenship during key transitional moments: loosely, the
1850s, 1890s, 1920s, and (possibly) 1960s. F, AL.
Prerequisite: Three 200-level courses (see headnote
above). Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 2 ENGL-360-01 TuTh 1:30-2:45 Ms. Johns
365.
American Drama 3 hours
3HU, WR
Selected works of major American playwrights. Emphasis will
be placed on close reading, as well as on the significance
of each play in regard to political and social movements
of the time and the evolution of the American theater. Among
the playwrights to be considered: Odets, O'Neill, Williams,
Hellman, Albee, Shepard, Baraka, Bullins, Fornes, and Kushner.
D, AL. Prerequisite: Three 200-level courses
(see headnote above). Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 2 ENGL-365-01 MW 12:00-1:15 Ms.
Tufts
366.
Nature & Transcendentalism 4 hours
4HU, WR
An examination of the writings of the American Transcendentalists
of the 19th century with special attention to Emerson, Thoreau,
and the concept of nature. We will study some of the early
contributors to this school of thought, as well as more
recent expositors. Students should be prepared to tackle
difficult texts that pose challenging philosophical, political,
and interpretive questions. AL. Prerequisite:
Three 200-level courses (see headnote above). Enrollment
Limit: 25.
Sem 1 ENGL-366-01 TuTh 1:00-2:15 Mr. McMillin
372. Contemporary
Literary Theory in American Culture 4 hours
4HU, WR
This course is about developments in literary theory in
the last thirty years not as abstract systems but in the
larger context of American intellectual and artistic culture.
Our concern will be understanding literary theories in their
historical and institutional contexts as well as considering
their value as ways of thinking. We'll pay particular attention
to the impact of post-structuralism on American critics,
the relation of literary criticism to culture criticism,
and the elaboration of the idea of post-modernity. AL.
Prerequisite: Three 200-level courses (see headnote
above). Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 1 ENGL-372-01 MWF 11:00-11:50 Mr. Day
376.
Screening Spirituality 4 hours
4HU, WR
Since its inception, cinema has maintained a perennial concern
with problems of representing experiences of the miraculous
or transcendental. Despite the customary linkage of film
to secular modernization, then, filmmakers and critics have
returned repeatedly to the form's profound evocation of
a sense of reality to explore the limits and consequences
of this tendency. Across historical and national divisions,
we will investigate cinematic treatments of spirituality
in light of the challenges they present to critical theory
and practice. F, AL. Prerequisite: Three 200-level
courses (see headnote above) or consent of instructor. Enrollment
Limit: 25.
Sem 2 ENGL-376-01 TuTh 3:00-4:15 Mr.
Pence
Tu 7:00-9:30 pm
386. Narrating
the Nation: Historical and Literary Approaches to Nationalism
4 hours
2HU, 2SS, CD, WR
This
course offers an analysis of the narratives through which
nationalisms acquire credibility and authority. This discussion-centered
class will examine the nationalisms of Latin America, the
Caribbean, and South Asia with particular reference to those
of Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Haiti, and India. Narrative
theories as deployed in and by the disciplines of history
and English literary studies provide the overarching critical
methodologies for interdisciplinary analysis. F, WL.
Identical to HIST 367. Consent of instructor required.
Enrollment Limit: 25.
Sem 1 ENGL-386-01 MW 12:00-1:15 Ms. Needham,
Mr. Volk
391. Selected
Authors: George Eliot and Virginia Woolf 4 hours
4HU, WR
The course will use historical, stylistic, and feminist
perspectives to explore the content and development of works
by these two eminent British women writers. Texts to be
read: Eliot's The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch
or Daniel Deronda; Woolf's A Room of One's Own,
Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and The Waves.
Supplementary reading will include one or two essays by
each writer and some recent criticism. F, WL. Prerequisite:
Three 200-level English courses (see headnote above). Enrollment
Limit: 25.
Sem 1 ENGL-391-01 MWF 2:30-3:20 Ms. Linehan
393. Selected
Authors: James Joyce 4 hours
4HU, WR
The development of Joyce's fiction from Dubliners
to Finnegans Wake, emphasizing Ulysses, in
the contexts of biography and post-colonial Irish culture
and history. F, WL. Prerequisite: Three 200-level
English courses (see headnote above). Enrollment Limit:
25.
Sem 2 ENGL-393-01 TuTh 3:00-4:15 Mr. Hobbs
395. Poetry
Workshop 3 hours
3HU, WR
Identical to CRWR 310.
Sem 1 ENGL-395-01 W 7:15-10:00 p.m. Ms.
Collins
Sem 2 ENGL-395-01 T 7:15-10:00 p.m. Ms.
Alexander
396. Non-Fiction
Workshop 4 hours
4HU, WR
Identical to CRWR 340.
Sem 1 ENGL-396-01 Th 7:00-10:00 p.m. Mr.
Chaon
Sem 2 ENGL-396-01 Th 7:00-10:00 p.m. Staff
397. Fiction
Workshop 4 hours
4HU, WR
Identical to CRWR 320.
Sem 1 ENGL-397-01 Th 7:00-10:00 p.m. Staff
Sem 2 ENGL-397-01 Th 7:00-10:00 p.m. Mr.
Chaon
398. Playwriting 4
hours
4HU, WR
Identical to CRWR 330.
Sem 2 ENGL-398-01 TuTh 3:00-4:15 Mr. Walker
399. Teaching
and Tutoring Writing Across the Disciplines 3 hours
3HU, WRi
Identical to RHET 481.
| Sem
1 |
ENGL-399-01 |
TuTh
3:00-4:15 |
Mr.
Podis |
| Sem
2 |
ENGL-399-01 |
TuTh
3:00-4:15 |
Mr.
Podis |
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400-Level
Courses
These
courses are designed primarily for seniors and offer opportunities
to do individual work based on focused reading of texts, criticism,
literary history, or theory, with the goal of engaging in
extended research, writing, or performance projects. Courses
at the 400 level are open by application only in the semester
preceding the course. Students enrolling in 400-level courses
should normally have completed at least two courses at the
300 level.
400. Seminar: Literary Sympathies and Social Consciousness 3
hours
3HU, WR
What authorizes literary representation to stand in for
social reality and moral truth? Beginning with the eighteenth-century
"cult of feeling," this course will investigate the theoretical
and cultural assumptions that have enabled, and continue
to enable, literature to function as political activism.
EL. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment
Limit: 15.
Sem 2 ENGL-400-01 W 7:00-9:30 p.m. Ms. Motooka
405. Seminar:
Philosophical Issues in Shakespeare 4 hours
4HU, WR
The course will examine two kinds of issues. First, we will
look at ways in which the plays make use of philosophical
concerns, in particular drawing on classical and later traditions
of skepticism, cynicism, and stoicism. Second, we will consider
ethical and epistemological issues of interpreting the plays.
Some previous study of Shakespeare or philosophy helpful.
D, EL. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment
Limit: 15.
Sem 2 ENGL-405-01 MWF 3:30-4:20 Mr. Pierce
406. Seminar:
Post-Colonial Criticism: Theory & Practice 4 hours
4HU, WR
In this seminar we will read essays by a variety of post-colonial
critics from and/or writing about the Third World. We will
focus not only on the subjects of their analysis, but also
on the rhetoric of their arguments--how they say what they
say, to what ends, etc.--as too we will consider how they
locate themselves (explicitly or implicitly) vis-a-vis their
subjects and what are the bases for their authority. WL.
Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit:
15.
Sem 2 ENGL-406-01 Tu 7:00-9:30 p.m. Ms.
Needham
433. Special
Topic: Imagining History 4 hours
4HU, WR
This course will explore the ways history is defined and
represented in film. The emphasis will be primarily, but
not exclusively, on American cinema. We will be equally
concerned with what films do with history and what focusing
on subject of history reveals about film as art. Consent
of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 18.
Sem 2 ENGL-433-01 WF 11:00-12:15 Mr.
Day
434. Seminar:
Africana Literary Theory and Theorizing 3 hours
3HU, CD, WR
Drawing on recent critical interest in studying black literary
traditions across national boundaries, this seminar will
examine the emergence, evolution, and continuing development
of major theories and methods for interpreting literatures
of Africa and the African diaspora. We will focus on key
questions revolving around the functions and characteristics
of literature, cultural nationalism and identity, and feminism
in literary movements such as the Harlem Renaissance and
Negritude, the Black Arts Movement, and Creolite. We will
read major theorists such as Locke, Cesaire, Baraka, Ngugi,
and Boyce Davies as well as some creative works. F, AL.
Identical to AAST 334. Prerequisite: At least one
300-level course in African and/or African-American literature.
Consent of instructors required. Enrollment Limit:
15.
Sem 2 ENGL-434-01 W 7:00-10:00 p.m. Ms.
Johns and Ms. Gadsby
435. Seminar:
Nature Writing in America 4 hours
4HU, WR
This course involves an investigation of the problematic
that arises from the interaction between the terms of the
course title: what happens when nature, writing, and American
come together? We will work our way through philosophical
and historical studies of American nature writing; we will
study representative texts; but we will also cultivate our
own ability to understand and write about nature. F,
AL. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment
Limit: 15.
Sem 2 ENGL-435-01 MW 1:00-2:30 Mr. McMillin
449. Senior
Project 3-4 hours
3-4HU, WR
The senior project is an opportunity to engage, on an individual
basis under the supervision of a faculty member in the Department
of English, in a semester-long research project. This project
typically culminates in a 15-20 page essay and an oral presentation
of that work at the end of the semester. This opportunity
is available to a limited number of senior English majors,
by application only. The senior project differs from the
Honors program in being limited to one semester; it does
not qualify the student to become a candidate for Honors
at graduation. Prerequisite:
Admission to the senior project. Consent of instructor
required.
Sem 2 ENGL-449-01 To be arranged Staff
453. Honors
Project 1-3 hours
1-3HU, WR
Intensive work on a topic of the student's honors project,
to be organized in consultation with the instructor. Consent
of instructor required.
Sem 1 ENGL-453-01 To be arranged Staff
454. Honors
Colloquium 2 hours
2HU
A forum for group discussion of honors projects at various
stages of design and composition and for engaging with some
critical theory. The first and last weeks will address the
honors project as an intellectual exploration, an analytic
enterprise, and a rhetorical entity. During the middle half
of the semester we will examine methods and theories pertinent
to the study of literature and culture. Prerequisite:
Admission to the Honors Program. Note: CR/NE grading.
Consent of instructor required.
Sem 1 ENGL-454-01 Th 7:30-9:30 p.m. Mr.
Walker
455. Honors
Project 1-4 hours
1-4HU, WR
Intensive work on the student's honors project, culminating
in either an honors paper or creative project. Consent
of instructor required.
Sem 2 ENGL-455-01 To be arranged Staff
995. Private
Reading 1-3 hours
1-3HU
Consent of instructor required.
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London
Semester
One
semester each year an English department faculty member teaches
courses in the Danenberg Oberlin-in-London Program. For a
fuller description of the London Program in general and next
year's courses see the London Program section of this catalog.
900. The
Danenberg Lectures on British Culture and Society 2
hours
2 EX
For full course description see section entitled "London
Program."
Sem 1 LOND-900-01 To be arranged Mr. Pence
& Ms. Kruks
924. Culture
and Politics in Modern Britain 6 hours
3HU/3SS, WR
For full course description see section entitled "London
Program." F, WL.
Sem 1 ENGL-924-01 To be arranged Mr. Pence
& Ms. Kruks
925. British
Theater 6 hours
6HU, WR
For full course description see section entitled "London
Program." D, EL/WL.
Sem 1 ENGL-925-01 To be arranged Mr. Pence
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