Department of English and Creative Writing

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS FOR FALL 2025

Please Note:

All undergraduate courses are worth 4 credits.

All graduate courses are worth 3 credits.

Undergraduate Courses

ENG105 – Introduction to Creative Writing
Introduction to basic principles of reading and writing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction (may also substitute genres to include drama and/or screenwriting). (Lec. 3. Project 3/Online). (A3) (B1)

ENG110 – Introduction to Literature
Analysis of literature through reading and discussion of a number of genres derived from a variety of literary cultures. (Lec. 3, Online 1) (A3) (B1)

ENG120 – Poetry Out Loud
Study of great poetry through the art of performance. Emphasis on public speaking skills, self-confidence, and study of literature to understand and express fundamental beliefs about life, love, pain, happiness. (Lec. 3, Online 1) (A4) (B2)

ENG121 – OUTRAGE! Literature of Protest and Dissent
Study of proud history of poems, songs, plays, and fiction speaking truth to power. Examination of the ways selected literary texts have engaged with different kinds of oppression. (Lec. 3, Online 1) (A3) (C1)

ENG160 – Literatures of the World
Cross-listed as (ENG), CLS 160. Introduction to significant works of world literature. (Lec. 3, Rec.1, Online 1) (A3) (C2)

ENG205A – Creative Writing: Poetry  Writing and analysis of works written by class members and professional writers. (Lec. 3. Project 3/Online) ENG 205A may be offered online. Students may repeat ENG 205 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

ENG205B – Creative Writing: Fiction Writing and analysis of works written by class members and professional writers. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) ENG 205B may be offered online. Students may repeat ENG 205 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

ENG205D – Creative Writing: Screen Writing   Writing and analysis of works written by class members and professional writers. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Students may repeat ENG 205 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

ENG210 – Reading Sport, Seeing Life; Tu/Th 11:00-12:15 

Profs. Kyle Kusz, David Faflik

Analysis of texts in which literary, visual, and sporting cultures intersect, with a focus on critique of their aesthetic, symbolic, social, and political meanings in a variety of contexts. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (C3)

ENG242 – U.S. Literature II   Selections from U.S. literature, mid-19th century to the present. (Lec. 3, Project 3) ENG 241 not required for 242. (A3) (C3)

ENG243 – The Short Story  Critical study of the short story from the early 19th century to the present. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) (A3) (B1)

ENG 248 – African American Lit from 1900 to Present  Cross-listed as (ENG), AAF 248. Twentieth-century African-American literature, with emphasis on major issues, movements, and trends, including the study of W.E.B. DuBois, the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, and the black arts movement. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (C3)

ENG260 – Women and Literature.  Critical study of selected topics. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) (A3) (B1)

ENG280 – Intro to Shakespeare  Introduction to the major plays and poetry of Shakespeare. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B1)

ENG 304 – Irish Literature Into Film; Tu/Th 2:00-3:15pm

Professor Heather Johnson

For a relatively small country, Ireland has produced many great writers, including three Nobel prizewinners. The importance of land, the legacy of colonialism, the impact of religion on society – all worked on the imaginations of these writers and have given us powerful stories, whether in fiction, poetry, film, or song. In comparison to the traditions of literature and music, the film industry in Ireland is relatively new. We will watch Irish and American films, including documentaries, to learn about the representation of Irish life in this medium, with a focus on translations from literature to screen. Writers include James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, William Trevor, Colm Toíbín, Claire Keegan.

ENG 305B – Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction; Staff

ENG 350 – Literary Theory & Criticism; Prof. Andrea Yates; Tu/Th 11:00-12:15  Introduction to theories of literature and their application in the analysis of selected texts. Topics may include representation as problematized in works selected from classical to contemporary thought. (Lec. 3, Project 3) May be repeated for credit as often as topic changes. 

ENG 355 – Topics in Literature & The Sciences: Environmental Justice; Prof. Janet Chow; Tu/Th 3:30-4:45pm   This interdisciplinary seminar in the environmental humanities explores literary and theoretical engagement with uneven distributions of risk, hazard, and resources—both historically and contemporarily. We will consider how social, economic, political, and racial inequalities can be understood and challenged within domestic and global environmental perspectives. Topics may include climate justice, the Anthropocene, food studies, the commons and politics of access, green activism, ecopoetics, built environments, and more.

 

ENG 379 – Contemporary Literature; Prof. Peter Covino; Tu/Th 2:00-3:15pm  Studies in contemporary literature with an emphasis on cultural and interdisciplinary issues. Movements and emphases may include multiculturalism, culture and technology, globalization, and politics of the body. (Lec. 3, Project 3) 

ENG 388 – Queer Literatures, Queer Cultures; Prof. Stephen Barber; M/W 2:00-3:15pm  Cross-listed as (ENG), GWS 388. Study of queer cultural productions, literature, and related theory, with a focus on historical, aesthetic, and political developments in ongoing contestations around the representations of gender, sexuality, and identity. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (C3)

 

ENG 405 – Capstone in Creative Writing; Professor Derek Nikitas; M/W 3:30-4:45pm   A capstone course in creative writing for English majors taking the Creative Writing Option; includes workshop, portfolio creation, critical responses to texts, exploration of creative writing field. (Lec. 1, Workshop 2, Online 1) Pre: ENG 205 and 305, or two ENG 305 courses in different genres (ENG 305A, 305B, 305C, or 305D).

 

ENG 410 – Capstone Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies; Professor Stephen Barber; M/W 3:30-4:45   A capstone course in literary and cultural studies research for English majors: requires the completion of a scholarly essay or another research-intensive project. (Lec. 3, Practicum 1) Pre: two 300- or 400-level ENG courses (excluding 477). (B4) (D1)

 

ENG 446 – Seminar in Drama: Tragedy Across Time; Professor Jennifer Jones; Tu/Th 12:30-1:45pm   In this course, we will study the powers and pleasures of imaginative literature through the genre of drama and specifically, tragic drama. Originating in the city-state of ancient Athens more than 2500 years ago, tragedy is an artform devoted to the causes and effects of human suffering. As one critic put it, and this seems to me an especially poignant formulation in our 21^st-century society, “tragic drama presents situations in which there is a desperate urgency to assign blame” and to act on it, which ushers in the severe limitations and anguishes of human judgment in its attempt to give or receive justice.  We will study a wide-ranging group of plays that span thousands of years, including such authors as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlow, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Joanna Baillie, Susan Glaspell, Jack Thorne, and Liz Lochhead.

ENG 451 – Advanced Topics in Intl. Film Media; Professor Rebecca Romanow; Wednesday 2-5:45   Cross-listed as (FLM), ENG, CLS 451. Study of international film genres from one or more national, regional or diasporic cultures and traditions. Emphases on theoretical, historiographic and media research methods. (Lec. 3, Lab. 2) Pre: junior standing or permission of instructor. FLM 204 or 205 recommended. May be repeated for a maximum of 8 credits with change of emphases or topics. (A4) (C2)

 

Graduate Courses

GWS 500 – Colloquium in Women’s Studies: Women of Color Feminisms & Queer of Color Critique

Professor Christine Mok; Monday 4-6:45

This semester’s Colloquium in Women’s Studies explores the intellectual formations of women of color feminisms and queer of color critique, rather than identity categories. This graduate seminar is an intervention in three fields: feminist theory has often centered white/Western discourse, queer theory has a history of assuming whiteness as a default racial position, studies of race and ethnicity have similar histories of assuming cisnormative and heteronormative positions. As Roderick A. Ferguson and Grace Kyungwon Hong note in Strange Affinities, “Women of color feminism and queer of color critique profoundly question nationalist and identitarian modes of political organization and craft alternative understandings of subjectivity, collectivity, and power.” To that end, we will examine theoretical texts, cultural productions, and forms of activism by queer scholars of color who attend to questions of race, class, sexuality and gender as intersecting social practices, in pursuit of a better, more just, and more nourishing world. 

ENG 510 –  Introduction to Professional Study I (Required for 1st-year students, 1.5 credits)

Professor Christine Mok; Tuesdays 4:00-5:15

Orientation to the critical frameworks and professional skills important to graduate work in literary and cultural studies, including digital and public humanities. 

ENG 514 –  History of Critical Theories (Required for 1st-year students)

Professor Ryan Trimm; Mondays, 4:00-6:45 

Historical survey of critical theory from antiquity to the present.

ENG 540 –  Studies in American Texts to 1815: “No More Kings”: or, America@250, Foundational Fictions, Counter Narratives, and Public Memorializations”

Professor Martha Elena Rojas; Wednesdays, 4:00-6:45

 

ENG 601 – Seminar in Creative Writing: Poetry

Professor Afua Ansong; Thursdays, 4:00-6:45 PM

This course is an exploration of African (Diaspora) poetry, what it means, where it comes from, and how it lives both on the continent and in the Americas. We will trace the roots of poetic expression through the oral traditions of African culture, considering how these practices continue to shape and inform what we understand as African poetry today. We’ll engage with a range of materials: National Geographic documentaries, work songs, funeral songs, folklore like Anansi stories, Adinkra symbols, and visual culture. Our reading list will include post-colonial voices such as Aidoo, Okigbo, Senghor, and Awoonor, along with contemporary poets like Ladan Osman, Kweku Abimbola, Emma Ofosua, Poetra Asantewa, and others who are reshaping the field. This is a generative, exploratory course. That means we’ll write beyond the usual boundaries. The first half of the semester will be dedicated to analysis, creative practice, and experimentation. The second half will focus on workshop and radical revision, as we deepen our poetic voices.

ENG 999 –  Methods of Teaching Literature (Required for 1st-year GTAs, 0 credits)

Professor Heather Johnson; Tuesdays 5:30-6:45 

Materials and various methods of teaching literature on the college level. Required for GTAs/graduate students who teach English Department literature courses.