English Major: Core Courses
| Course | Course Description |
|---|---|
| ENGL 2140: Introduction to LGBTQ+ Literature (Wheaton: In-person) |
This course examines literature that represents and considers the experiences (historical, cultural and discursive) of individuals within LGBTQ+ community. We will engage novels, graphic narratives, protest writing, essays, film, and more. Together, we will especially focus on texts that invite and illustrate critical self-expression, community solidarity, and resistant counter-storying. Texts include but are not limited to Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain, Kushner’s Angels in America, Bechdel’s Fun Home, and The Stonewall Reader. |
| ENGL 2150: Introduction to Science Fiction: Contact, Conflict, Cooperation (Graham: In-Person) |
When humanity encounters creatures from another world, do we meet them with aggression and hostility, or with communication and hospitality? Do we try to conquer them, or they us? Is peaceful co-existence with the Other even possible? Does the human history of conquest and colonialism provide an inescapable blueprint for our interactions with other species, or does contact with an alien other provide an opportunity for humanity to chart a new course? This course will focus on these questions, which are some of the oldest, the most frequently explored, and the most profound questions in science fiction. Our reading list will include H.G. Wells’s I, Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, and Octavia Butler’s Dawn. We will read “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang and then watch its film adaptation Arrival. And we will read a handful of short stories by writers from Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Your grade will derive from in-class participation, a half-dozen online activities, two in-class written exams, and two essays of 3-5 pages. |
| ENGL 2200: Understanding Literature (Icard, Carrie: Online) |
Understanding Literature is an introductory survey course that welcomes any student looking to fulfill the Breadth Humanities requirement, or someone who is interested in literature and “always wanted to try” a first course. Students will focus on analytical readings in literature, with attention to types, terms, and historical development. Emphasis will be on approaching selected texts with understanding and appreciation. Readings will include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama by a wide variety of authors including Steinbeck, Dickinson, Cisneros, and Shakespeare. |
| ENGL 2230: Introduction to Film (Gregory: Virtual) |
In this “Intro to Film Course” we discuss films from the early days of cinema to 21st-century award winners. Students will gain an understanding of film techniques and learn how filmmakers apply these techniques to communicate meaning to their audiences. We will hone our skills by closely analyzing short and full-length films. At the same time, we will consider the broader cultural impacts of specific noteworthy films and how influential films have changed the art of movie making. |
| ENGL 2230: Introduction to Film (Crawford: In-person) |
This course introduces students to global film from the 19th century to contemporary award winners and examines how authorship, genre, presentation, and narrative structure contribute to meaning. Students will learn to evaluate films as reflections of culture and mediums for communication while becoming familiar with film techniques, terminology, and basic film concepts through film analysis and criticism. In Person Logan. |
| ENGL 2230: Introduction to Film: Classic Monster Movies (Cooper-Rompato: In-person) |
This BHU class explores famous monsters from the 1920s-1970s, including Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Wolf Man (1941), The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Godzilla (1954), The Blob (1958), Empire of the Ants (1977), and the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978). We’ll start from the understanding that monsters are always saying something about us. We’ll explore why the living dead, cryptids, and gigantic amphibians both repulse and attract us and how they unsettle our established interpretive categories. We will discuss how societies define the monstrous, what anxieties and desires the monstrous can represent, and how film deploy monsters for particular sociopolitical objectives. Along the way we’ll learn about film techniques and film vocabulary. Assignments include keeping a film journal, writing short reviews, giving a presentation on a monster movie of your choice, and a final project. |
| ENGL 2240: Introduction to Poetry (Rice: In-person) |
In this course, we will study how poets use a range of techniques involving sound, measure, form, and figure to make space, cross space, belong to place, and reckon with displacement. More broadly, we’ll learn how to talk about what a poem is, how it works, what it can do, and how its functions have changed over time. Course readings will be geared toward a historically wide-ranging survey, allowing us to explore what poetry can do for you and your communities in the here and now. |
| ENGL 2250: Introduction to Creative Writing (Kunz: In-person) |
ENGL 2250 will explore the core elements, techniques, and practices essential to writing in Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction. This course is designed to empower students to embrace risk, discover their unique literary voice, and build a more in-depth relationship to the craft of writing. Students will develop a working knowledge of the distinct structures of each genre, including:
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| ENGL 2250: Introduction to Creative Writing (Olsen: Virtual) |
What do we think of when it comes to creative writing? Poetry? Fiction? Personal essays? Plays? Yes! Creative writing isn’t just one genre, so we should never approach it that way. In this class, we will travel through many different genres and learn how to be a better writer from each one. A good writer isn’t someone who stays in one genre and never changes their approach. Instead, this class will emphasize the ways genres intersect. This class will introduce students to the basics of creative writing, and students will learn to understand different genres and then get opportunities play in the intersections of those genres. |
| ENGL 2300: Introduction to Shakespeare (Christensen-Branum: In-person) |
What do love triangles, epic battles, political treachery, and wild humor all have in common? Shakespeare. In this course, we'll use the sonnets as comprehension primers—then dive into the surprisingly relatable world of the Bard’s plays, exploring how his words still shape everything from ads to modern relationships. You'll build skills decoding his language, uncover the scandals behind the scenes, and discuss timeless subjects like ambition, betrayal, friendship, and love. We’ll investigate multiple perspectives on his work—and most importantly—your own. Whether you're into theater or not, Shakespeare’s got something for everyone. Come see why his work still slaps centuries later. |
| ENGL 2600: Literary Analysis (Martinez Abbud: In-Person) |
What is literature? In this course, we will consider the different shapes literature can take. Films, music, performance art, and tarot cards might all be considered “texts.” We will learn the vocabulary needed to analyze each kind of text, identifying tone, form, symbolism, and genre. Students will develop active reading and critical literacy skills by 1) learning how to ask questions about a literary text, and 2) participating in group discussions, peer reviews, and other collaborative learning activities. They will also gain practice with different kinds of writing, from personal reflections to album reviews to research papers. |
| ENGL 2600: Literary Analysis (Franks: In-Person) |
Learn and develop the foundational skills of literary analysis while reading some of the greatest stories ever written by America’s diverse array of storytellers. Texts include Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine, Louise Erdrich’s Future Home of the Living God, and Tracey Letts’s August: Osage County. Poetry, Drama, Fiction, and Non-Fiction from Susan Glaspell, Stephen Crane, Toni Morrison and more! |
| ENGL 2640: Race & Ethnicity in the U.S. (Holt: In-person) |
Talking about race is hard! This course introduces you to the complex subjects of race and ethnicity in U.S. society, providing skills to talk about race in the U.S. knowledgeably and thoughtfully. We'll learn central approaches and concepts for the study of race and ethnicity from interdisciplinary perspectives. We'll also examine the history of race & ethnicity in the U.S., the role these concepts play in the present, and debates and divisions surrounding these ideas, drawing on works of literature, history, sociology, biology, law, policy, and cultural studies. |