Undergraduate Courses, Spring 2027 and Winter 2027 Intersession

Below, you will find our course descriptions for the Spring 2027 semester and Winter 2027 intersession at the undergraduate level. Please note that this list only includes listings from faculty who have provided a course desscription. There are other courses on offer that are either 1) standard courses without a need for a bespoke description, 2) courses where the faculty have no yet finalized/provided a course description.

On-Campus Courses, Winter Intersession 2027
On-Campus Courses, Spring 2027
Online Courses, Spring 2027

To get a quick idea of what courses will match up with your progress towards a degree, please see the advising cheatsheet.

Winter Intersession, 2027

ENGL 39003

Cross listings: n/a

Stories and Novels by Shirley Jackson

M-F 9:00 am - 12:45 pm

Prof. Jane VB Larson

Course Texts:

Shirley Jackson: Novels & Stories
https://www.loa.org/books/326-novels-amp-stories/

Course Descriptions:

Description: Stories and Novels by Shirley Jackson

Survey of a series of contemporary novels and stories by author Shirley Jackson. Students will read, discuss, and compose critical and creative responses to a selection of novels by the author, identify prevailing themes and elements of genre (Speculative Fiction; Horror), and analyze the arc of an author’s work over the course of multiple texts.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Essays, exams, and other major requirements:

Brief critical and creative responses to assigned reading; active class participation (attendance & discussion); choice of critical or creative final culminating project.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

Spring 2027 On-Campus Courses

ENGL 12103

Cross listings: N/A

Introduction to Literature, "The Prison as Setting, Symbol, and Character in Fiction, Poetry, and Memoir"

MWF 8:35 to 9:25

Professor Leigh Sparks

Course Texts:

Class members will not be asked to read the entirety of the following book but rather only select chapters or excerpts from it, which will be made available to class members through the course Blackboard:

Foucault, Michel. Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison. ISBN 0679752554

These additional texts are currently being considered for the course. While class members will be asked to purchase 4-5 books for the course, only select chapters or excerpts will be assigned from other books and made available to class members through the course Blackboard. Class members will be expected to stay current with all reading assignments to do well in the course, but poetry pieces will be assigned along with fiction and nonfiction in order to keep the weekly reading load manageable. The final reading list will be communicated to enrolled class members by the week before the beginning of spring semester.

Betts, R. Dwayne. A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison. ISBN 9781583333969
Blakinger, Keri. Corrections in Ink: A Memoir. ISBN 1250774357
Chevigny, Bell Gale, ed. Doing Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing. ISBN 1559704780
Craig, Nephi. Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chief. ISBN 059383190X
Denfeld, Rene. The Enchanted. ISBN 978-0062285522
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The House of the Dead. ISBN 9780140444568
Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron. ISBN 0142418528
Hylton, Donna. A Little Piece of Light: A Memoir of Hope, Prison, and a Life Unbound. ISBN 0316559253
King, Stephen. The Green Mile. ISBN 0451933028
Sachar, Louis. Holes. ISBN 0440414806

Course Descriptions:

This course offers an introduction to how the prison can serve as setting, symbol, and even character within literature, whether in fiction, nonfiction (memoir), or poetry. After first discussing some of Michel Foucault's Discipline & Punish, the class will proceed to examine how that text's ideas and others are explored, transformed, and evolved in different literary genres for the purpose of engaging audiences but also to educate them on the physical realities and psychological impacts of incarceration. Despite the capacity historically for the prison to shroud sometimes severe practices of punishment and deprivation that happen within its walls, prison literature can reveal powerful and unique moments of simultaneous suffering and resilience within the human experience.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Assignments will take the form of weekly work (quizzes, individual writing, and group work) and one short individual presentation. There will be a midterm exam and a final exam.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 12103

Cross listings: None

Sport Literature and Sportswriting

MWF 9:40-10:30

Robert Cochran

Course Texts:

Tristan Egolf, LORD OF THE BARNYARD, ISBN: 9780802136725
Don DeLillo, END ZONE, ISBN: 978040085686
Bonnie Tsui, ON MUSCLE, ISBN: 9781643757308
other article-length pieces TBA

Course Descriptions:

Sports are (mostly) at the center of this generically varied reading list, though the two novels and one nonfiction volume range widely among other topics. The short article-length readings, to be made available on Blackboard, are straight-up sportswriting, still underappreciated even in our sports-crazed society. Some of these pieces will stick to even novice readers.

Course Assignments and Exams:

In these 1000-level classes I've found it helpful to students to schedule many quizzes and shorten

the length of writing assignments. We'll have five short-answer quizzes, no midterm, one short (3-5 pages) essay, a take-home open book final scheduled for the day of our official finals-week exam

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 12103

Cross listings: NA

Introduction to Literature

MWF 10:45 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.

Sean Teuton

Course Texts:

Mays, Kelly, ed. The Norton Introduction to Literature (Portable 15th Edition): 978-1324087021

Course Descriptions:

As an introduction to literature, this course offers approaches to reading and writing about fiction, poetry, and drama at the college level. To begin, we will discover the practice of reading. Of course, by “reading” we mean the literary tradition of interpreting written art. The enormous value of this skill cannot be overstated. Whenever we read to know—to understand, value, argue, decide—we are exercising our critical thinking. The practice of reading thus serves one in law and history or in any circumstance that asks humans to make judgments, whether in the laboratory or at the ballot box. We will read to know but also to feel, and to imagine other meanings in any work of literature. We will bring to light the many literary devices writers enlist and, along the way, encounter the place of literary works in history and culture. And throughout the course we will express, develop, and confirm this reading through the act of writing. For, as many argue, the above practice of reading cannot be fully known, justified, or memorialized until, through the act of writing, we make our ideas come to life.

This is a student-centered course. Lectures will be pared to honor more student expression, interaction, debate, and discovery. So be prepared to share and grow

Course Assignments and Exams:

The course requires one exam on literary forms, devices, history, and culture, and an in-class essay to demonstrate the synthesis of course materials, the practice of reading, and the place of various works in history and society. To hone your reading and writing skills and stay abreast of the materials, you will give a presentation, keep a notebook, and complete brief daily writing assignments. In building our classroom community, we must have regular attendance and participation. A screen-free classroom will also serve this goal. Must obtain hard copy of textbook. Afterall, Stephen King has said that “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” If so, hang onto your seats!

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 12103-006

Cross listings: N/A?

Introduction to Literature: Adaptation

TR 3.30-4.45

Dr. Mark Scott

Course Texts:

William Shakespeare, Hamlet (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (The Arden Shakespeare)
Recommended editions only - others acceptable.

Course Descriptions:

This course will introduce students to the discipline of interpreting literature through the lens of adaptation. Taking three plays by William Shakespeare as our starting point – Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Tempest – we will first consider Shakespeare’s own role as a master adapter of texts written by other authors. We will then devote our energies to exploring the works that were subsequently inspired by and adapted from Shakespearean drama. Alongside the poetry, prose, and drama of a diverse group of writers including Constantine P. Cavafy, Aimé Césaire, and Suniti Namjoshi, we will analyze films like The Lion King and 10 Things I Hate About You, songs by Taylor Swift and Bob Dylan (among others), and works by a wide range of visual artists. Students will also have the opportunity to produce their own creative response to one of our primary texts.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Discussion posts, 1 midterm exam, 1 paper/creative project, 1 final exam, and consistent in-class participation.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 20133

Topics in African American Literature and Culture

Cross listings: N/A

MWF, 10:45am-11:35am

Dr. Jarvis Young

Course Texts:

Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paolla (McGraw Hill), Tell It Slant, 3rd ed.
Nora Bacon (Bedford St. Martin's), The Well-Crafted Sentence, 3rd ed.
Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, They Say/I Say with Readings: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing

Course Descriptions:

Students create four essay projects, from memoir to personal journalism, practicing organization, description and scene-building, and incorporation of research. Students will learn how form affects content and develop their personal voice and their ability to use rhetorical techniques and strategies in all forms of writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 10103 and (ENGL 10203 or ENGL 10303 or equivalent). (Typically offered: Fall and Spring)

Course Assignments and Exams:

Essay 1: Memoir

Essay 2: Braided Essay

Essay 3: Personal Journalism

Essay 4: Lyric Essay

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 26603

Cross listings: None

Survey of English-Language Literature from 1945 to the Present

MWF 12:55-1:45

Professor Booker

Course Texts:

Specific novels to be determined.

Course Descriptions:

A survey of English-language literature from 1945 to the present, including British, American, and postcolonial literature.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Midterm and final exam; brief written assignments and a concluding critical essay.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 26803-002

Cross listings: none

British Literature 1700-1945

T/R 11:00-12:15

Professor Sidney Burris

Course Texts:

TBD, but an all-purpose anthology with a few selected paperbacks.

Course Descriptions:

A survey of the major works and ideas spanning two and half centuries of British literature from 1700-1945.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Midterm, final, six reading quizzes, and in-class writing assignments.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 32003

Cross listings: N/A

"Introduction to Poetry"

Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 AM - 10:45AM

Dr. Geffrey Davis

Course Texts:

Ross Gay, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, ISBN 978-0822963318
Frances Mayes, The Discovery of Poetry, ISBN 978-0156007627

Course Descriptions:

The title pretty much says it all, which you will find is not always the case with poems. This course will be a broad introduction to the core elements and forms of poetry, to the terminology that poets use to discuss their writing, and to critical approaches for thinking well and writing well about poetry. Our readings will range across a history of verse in English and will include selections of contemporary work.

Course Assignments and Exams:

short writing assignments, original poem, recitation, two exams

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

ENGL 32103

Cross listings: N/a

Fiction

MWF 9:40 - 10:30

Professor Jane VB Larson

Course Texts:

The Story and Its Writer, Compact An Introduction to Short Fiction 10th edition by Ann Charters

Course Descriptions:

This is a course on literary analysis of the craft of short fiction writing. We will read short stories from various time periods, and discuss their elements: narrative voice, characterization, structure, place, plot, dialogue, and story, and look at the ways in which these works differ (or do not differ) from other shorter works. Students will develop a stronger understanding of how short stories are constructed, and better able to employ this knowledge in their own writing.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Craft exercises and responses, midterm exam (short essay & craft response), creative or analytical essay.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

ENGL 34403 sec 0001

Cross listings: NA

Special Topics, "Medical Narratives: Patient, Provider and the Community" (S-L designated)

TH 12:30-1:45

Professor L. Gray

Course Texts:

none required. Readings provided.

Course Descriptions:

This contemporary literature-based, medical humanities course centers around modern medicine and healthcare to explore the stories we tell about them. Narratives affect perception and thus, care outcomes for patients and the community, as well as effectiveness for providers to give care. Most of our readings will be short stories, poems or non-fiction essays from the three perspectives. We will supplement our literature with current, evidence-based research, both using traditional, academic approaches AND experiential models in the field, that will allow us to enter more fully the questions within the art of medical practices in integrating real-world issues toward a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in the stories surrounding health and wellness cultures. The course centers around real-world career readiness outcomes and interpersonal skills development.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Four brief essays

One collaborative written project, one class presentation

15 service-learning hours

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 35903

Cross listings: GNST 49803

Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Literature, "Communicating Effectively on the Needs of Men Who Are Leaving Prison and Reentering Society"

MWF 11:50 to 12:40

Professor Leigh Sparks

Course Texts:

The following textbooks, or excerpts from the following textbooks, will be made available to students through the course Blackboard:

Harding, David J., et al. _On the Outside: Prisoner Reentry and Reintegration_. ISBN 978- 0226607641 [AVAILABLE THROUGH BLACKBOARD]
Middlemass, Keesha M., and Calvin John Smiley, eds., _Prisoner Reentry in the 21st Century_. ISBN 978-0-367-53082-2 [AVAILABLE THROUGH BLACKBOARD]
Wilson, Chris, and Bret Witter. _The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose_. ISBN 978-0-7352-1559-7. [ASSIGNED CHAPTERS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH BLACKBOARD.]

In addition to the required texts listed above, students will be asked to read a number of articles published online by sources such as _The New York Times_.

Select short texts or poems by authors such as Jimmy Santiago Baca and Randall Horton may also be assigned.

PLEASE NOTE: The reading and viewing materials for this course may cover a number of difficult topics, including different forms of abuse, other forms of violence, self-harm, substance use disorders, mental health struggles, and parent-child separation.

Course Descriptions:

This course is open to all undergraduate students interested in the course topic but is intended to be particularly beneficial to students who are majoring/minoring in the following fields: Communication, Creative Writing, Criminology, Education, English, Gender Studies, Journalism, Pre-Law, Rhetoric/Composition, Social Work, and Sociology. The course is also designed to complement the fall course on communicating effectively about the needs of women who are leaving prison and reentering society, though each course stands alone and has a distinct set of reading materials. Course reading materials and class discussions will focus upon men’s incarceration within the U.S. and the unique challenges they face after being released, including those related to transportation, health (physical, mental, emotional), substance use disorders, housing, employment, education, father-child and other family relationships, and stigmatization. In addition, the course will consider a range of journalistic, scholarly, creative, and personal rhetorics (applied in various written genres and media forms) that can be effectively used—and often combined—to strengthen public discussions on the topic of men’s reentry.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Assignments will take the form of weekly work (quizzes and in-class group work), one short report/presentation on an article, one longer researched conference paper, and an end-of-semester presentation on an original and feasible form of men's reentry support proposed by each student.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 36003

Cross listings: NA

Topics in Rhetoric and Composition: User Experience Design and Storytelling

MWF 12:55 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Dr. Adam R Pope

Course Texts:

Norman, The Design of Everyday Things, ISBN 9780465050659
Norman, Living with Complexity, ISBN 0262528940
Polaine & Løvlie, Service Design, 2nd Edition, ISBN 1959029339
Lichaw, The User's Journey, ISBN 978-1933820-31-6

Course Descriptions:

The writing and work we do in professional and even educational spaces these days don't exist in a bubble. They exist within an experience, designed or not, that individuals have with our organizations. To thrive in such an environment, we have to think beyond singular documents and singular viewpoints of what our work is doing and how it impacts those around us. In this course we will learn to understand our writing through the lens of user experience and experience design, with an eye towards building compelling texts that tell the stories we want to convey to the users we work for and with.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Response Papers, monthly. Design project. Usability review.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

ENGL 37133

Cross listings: MRST 30103

Special Topics, "Survey of Middle English Literature, Excluding Chaucer"

MWF 9:30-5:20

Professor William A. Quinn

Course Texts:

https://metseditions.org/texts

Course Descriptions:

This course focuses on the Middle English and Middle Scottish literature from approximately 1325 to 1485 C.E. It considers all genres (romance, lyric, drama and prose fiction). This highly varied literature will be studied in terms of the period’s rapidly changing historical and cultural contexts. NOTE: These readings are all in Middle English. Though not a prerequisite, it is strongly recommended that students have taken the Chaucer course first.

Course Assignments and Exams:

2 exams (mid-term and final); one paper 3-to-5 pp. Each item = 33% of final grade.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Pre-1800

ENGL 38303

Cross listings: NA

Topics in American Literature and Culture to 1900: Early American Short Story

TR 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Professor Yandell

Course Texts:

This class provides all texts in Blackboard

Course Descriptions:

This course surveys the growth and development of short fiction as a genre, primarily throughout the early United States. Our interests will be formal (What counts as a short story? What are the distinctive narrative tactics we associate with shorter narratives? How do short stories persuade, inform, delight, appall, etc?), historical (Under what conditions are certain short fictions produced? What circumstances do they represent? How do short stories imagine historical events?), and philosophical (What sorts of truth do short narratives convey? How do short fictions provide models for cognition?). We’ll draw from the literary tradition of the United States primarily, but will also look briefly at the broader American and European cultural context in which the short story develops.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Participation 25%; Exam One 25%; Essay One 25%; Essay Two 25%

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Pre-1800

ENGL 38503

Cross listings: AAST 38503

African American Literature and Culture

11:50am-12:40pm

Dr. Jarvis Young

Course Texts:

David Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World, (Ed.) Peter P. Hinks, ISBN 13: 9780271019949
Maria W. Stewart: America's First Black Woman Political Writer, (Ed.) Marilyn Richardson, ISBN 13: 9780253204462
Norton Anthology of African American Literature, (Eds.) Henry Louis Gates, ISBN 13: 9780393911558
Pioneers of the Black Atlantic: Five Slave Narratives 1772-1815, (Eds.) Henry L. Gates, William
Andrews, ISBN 13: 9781887178983

Course Descriptions:

The study of works of African American literature, with attention to particular themes, genres, authors, literary movements, historical moments, or other organizing principles. (Typically offered: Irregular) May be repeated for degree credit.

This course is cross-listed with AAST 38503.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Three major essay assignments, reading and in-class writing assignments, and discussion board.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

ENGL 39003

Cross listings: N/a

Special Topics: Literary Magazine Production

MW 3:05 - 4:20

Professor Jane VB Larson

Course Texts:

None

Course Descriptions:

Description: This course is designed to give students a practical magazine publishing experience. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the process of literary magazine production, from assigning staff roles, submission selection, composing a budget, layout and design, and print publication and circulation through direct instruction and hands-on experience.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Small and whole group projects, brief presentations, and reflections.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 3903

Cross listings: ENGL 3923H

The Literature of Nonviolence

T/R 5:00-6:15

Professor Sidney Burris / Geshe Thupten Dorjee

Course Texts:

All texts supplied by instructor.

Course Descriptions:

The philosophy and practice of nonviolence are venerable disciplines that reside in every major religious tradition and stand at the beginning of Indian spirituality in the ancient tradition often known as Hinduism. Yet to this day, nonviolence, or ahimsa in Sanskrit, remains a marginal topic in America, often ignored in serious discussions of protest and civil disobedience. In this class, we will read a few of the classic texts that make the case for nonviolence, as well as spend a generous portion of our time looking at a few contemporary applications of the philosophy.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Midterm, Final, 6 reading quizzes, 1 at-home assignment. Students taking this course for colloquium credit will do class presentations in conjunction with the instructors.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

ENGL 40203-001

Cross listings:

Undergrad Fiction Workshop

R 2-4:45

Dr. Toni Jensen

Course Texts:

Course Descriptions:

This course focuses on writing and revising fiction. Students will write two short stories or novel chapters for workshop and will revise one story or chapter. The class will explore craft concepts, and students will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of these craft concepts in their written workshop feedback to the other students. Assigned short readings (online) and the work written by the students will comprise most of the readings for the course.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Students will write two short stories or novel chapters for workshop and will revise one story or chapter. The class will explore craft concepts, and students will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of these craft concepts in their written workshop feedback to the other students.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 41353

Cross listings: N/A

Writing Nature: The Art of Observation

Tuesday/Thursday, 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Dr. Geffrey Davis

Course Texts:

Course Descriptions:

We will spend the semester taking careful and critical looks at how experiences of natural environments get shaped in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as in film and television.

Course Assignments and Exams:

journaling, excursion narratives, final written project

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

ENGL 43003-002

Cross listings: N/A?

Introduction to Shakespeare

TR 12.30-1.45

Dr. Mark Scott

Course Texts:

William Shakespeare, King Richard II (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, As You Like It (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, Hamlet (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, King Lear (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale (The Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare, The Tempest (The Arden Shakespeare)
Recommended editions only - others acceptable.

Course Descriptions:

This class focuses on the dramatic writing of the most celebrated of all writers in English, William Shakespeare. Working chronologically, we will study seven of Shakespeare’s plays up close and in depth, gaining familiarity with the four major genres in which he worked: history, comedy, tragedy, and romance. While paying attention to the formal and thematic differences between these different genres, we will also consider how all of Shakespeare’s plays defy easy categorization. Shakespeare lived and wrote during an astonishing period of political, religious, and intellectual upheaval in England. Shakespeare’s writing both grew out of and helped propel the cultural ferment of the time (the politics of court and emergent colonialism, the rise of capitalism, the scientific revolution, the growth of English nationalism, the Reformation, etc). This period – alternately branded “Renaissance” or “Early Modern” – offers us a unique double perspective: looking back to classical learning and achievement and using that as a model for the present, while simultaneously glancing forward to what we now think of as “the modern” (that is, modern subjectivities, sexualities, politics, and cultures). Inevitably, then, we will remain ever-attentive to the ways in which various critical approaches to Shakespearean drama – such as Feminism, New Historicism, Postcolonialism, and Queer Studies – render writings from distant 16th century shores relevant to our own lives here in the 21st.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Discussion posts, 1 close reading assignment (2-3 pages), 1 paper (5-7 pages), 1 final exam, and consistent in-class participation.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Pre-1800

ENGL 4553

Cross listings: NA

Native American Poetry

MWF 9:40 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Professor Teuton

Course Texts:

Joy Harjo, ed. When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through (Norton, First Edition 2020) 978-0393356809
Duane Niatum, ed. Harper’s Anthology of Twentieth-Century Native American Poetry (First Edition 1988): 978-0062506665

Course Descriptions:

The first Native American poems were songs, and they were sung to change the world: to nurture the land, heal the sick, send souls home, repel evil, invite blessings, and even entertain. With intensely vivid image and lyric repetition, ancient singers developed this magic conception of language that believed the word had intrinsic power and, breathed through the singer, could alter natural, human, and supernatural realms. At its heart, this course will ask us to imagine such power in language as we come to experience, perhaps only for a fleeting moment, the magic in tribal poetry. Inheriting these poetics, American Indian poets writing for the past twenty-five years draw also on Western poetic forms and devices to create what we call “contemporary Indigenous poetry.” Such poets suffuse their voices with traditional figurative strength to envision new ways of flourishing during very different times. Whether recalling ancestral homes, critiquing colonialism, or imagining rock and roll, these poets invoke the past as they demand the present. In reading several books of poetry that range across decades and tribal groups, we will seek to understand the changing place of contemporary Indigenous poetry and to identify those literary devises and narrative themes that forge a poetics.

The ancient beginnings of Native poetry offer this truth: poetry belongs to the people. In this course, we will create a community to enable the full expression of that ideal. Students will thus actively read aloud, share, and respond to the poetry. From this primary value, you will be introduced to the history, types, movements, prosody, genre, rhetoric, and critical terminology of contemporary American Indian poetry.

This is a student-centered course. Lectures will be pared to honor more student expression, interaction, debate, and discovery. So be prepared to share and grow.

Course Assignments and Exams:

The course requires two multiple-choice exams on Native American history and the assigned poems and two in-class essays on the assigned poems. One presentation and a journal. Reading assignment quizzes. Regular attendance and participation. A screen-free classroom. Must obtain hard copies of textbooks in advance of first course meeting.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

ENGL 45703

Cross listings: None

Studies in Major Literary Movements: Postmodernism in Literature and Film

MW 4:35-5:50

Professor Booker

Course Texts:

Specific novels and films to be determined.

Course Descriptions:

An introduction to the topic of postmodernism and to a number of important novels and films that illustrate the characteristics of this movement.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Midterm and final exam; critical essay.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 47103-001

Cross listings: MRST 40003-001

Studies in Medieval Literature and Culture (Vikings and Sagas)/ Medieval and Renaissance Colloquium (Vikings and Sagas)

MW 3:05-4:20pm

Dr. Jane Harris

Course Texts:

REQUIRED) Roesdahl, Else. 2018. The Vikings. Third edition. ISBN: 978-0141984766
(REQUIRED) Örnólfur Thorsson et al. 2000. The Sagas of the Icelanders (Deluxe Edition) Publisher: Penguin Books. ISBN: 978-0141000039

Course Descriptions:

Who were the Vikings? Do the images of the Vikings in your head match up with the facts, and is their portrayal in popular culture at all rooted in reality? This course is designed to answer these and other questions regarding the history, literature, language, and culture of the Vikings and medieval Scandinavians more broadly. In addition to reading a selection of sagas and _ættir (tales) from The Sagas of the Icelanders (Thorsson et al: 2000), we will look at excerpts from Norse mythology in the prose and poetic Edda and turn to historical data and archeological evidence to fill in the gaps, corroborate the tales, and debunk myths (such as those that have fueled and been fed by the misappropriation of this material by white supremacist movements). The Vikings (Roesdahl: 2018) and various scholarly articles, provided on Blackboard, will serve in this regard as the secondary literature. Aside from these readings, a short, beginner-friendly introduction to Old Norse, the language of the Vikings and medieval Scandinavians, will be provided, as well as readings which highlight medieval Iceland's special role in the curation and preservation of Scandinavian antiquity.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Two short position papers (3-5pp), one short annotated bibliography (~5-10 sources), one class presentation, one final project (research paper OR original saga composition ~10pp.)

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Pre-1800

ENGL 49003

Cross listings: AAST 4990V

Special Topics, "Fashion, Identity, and Power"

T/R 3:30-4:45

Dr. Pritchard

Course Texts:

N/A (All Readings via Blackboard Course Page)

Course Descriptions:

What we wear and where it comes from tells us much about who we are as individuals and a society. The history of fashion is inextricable from identity and power, as clothing, accessories, and body modification (e.g. tattoos, piercings, cosmetic surgery) illustrate a range of meaning-making and aesthetic decisions that inform how people see the world and, in turn, how they are experienced within it.

This course will explore fashion as theory, art, practice, and industry, attentive to the myriad ways it has impact on and is affected by the social, political, and economic terrain in which clothing and accessories function with rhetoric consequence. We will cover topics ranging from fashion's design, production, marketing, consumption, the ethical considerations regarding fashion and identity (including race, disability, class, gender, sexuality, age, and size), universal and adaptive design, environmental and climate concerns, sustainability, labor, and the teaching and passing on of culturally informed sewing, beading and other craft practices.

We will engage writing and a variety of material objects - archives, visual and performance arts - and seminar discussions will posit the implications of past and current research on fashion and accessories for the present and next steps for fashion as an interdisciplinary field of study cutting across rhetorical studies, art history, apparel design, literary studies, American Studies, Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies, Disability Studies, Environmental Studies, and Legal Studies, etc.

In closing, the course will support the development of each student finding or further developing their own fashion and style studies research, writing, and creative projects, with an eye toward exploring the broad implications of their interests for theory, methodology, and pedagogy of this field.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Students at the 4000 level: one exam, five short essays

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 20133

Cross listings: none

Esssay Writing

MWF 9:40am and 12:55pm; TTh 2:00pm; online

multiple

Course Texts:

Miller, Brenda, and Suzanne Paola. Tell It Slant, 3rd edition. ISBN 9781260454598

Course Descriptions:

Through assignments in creative nonfiction, from memoir to personal journalism, students will learn how form affects content, and develop their personal voice and their ability to use rhetorical techniques and strategies in all forms of writing. Prerequisite: ENGL 10103 and ENGL 10203 or ENGL 10303 (or equivalent). (Typically offered: Fall and Spring)

Course Assignments and Exams:

Students at the 20000 level.

Four essays (2-6 pages), in-class writing activities, enthusiastic participation.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 20003

Cross listings: none

Advanced Composition

MWF 9:40am, TTh 2:00pm, online

multiple instructors

Course Texts:

Advanced Composition, Edited by Collette Bliss and Ashleigh Severson. This book is available for free via BlackBoard.

Course Descriptions:

Students apply the writing and rhetorical skills developed in Composition 1 and 2 to digital literacies, multimodal writing, and online discourse communities and develop their own digital and multimodal composing skills. We are all members of communities, whether geographical, familial, hobbyist, academic, or professional. Every community we participate in has its own way of thinking, talking, and writing. Literacy is at the heart of every community practice, and digital literacies, including digital and multimodal writing, are important parts of any online community. This class will ask students to explore the digital spaces that communities create and inhabit while honing their own skills.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Students at the 20000 level.

Students create three related projects on a chosen discourse community. Assignments also include a multi-modal presentation and final reflective letter on the student’s progress as a writer, and weekly writing activities.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

Spring 2027, Online Undergraduate

ENGL 20003

Cross listings: none

Advanced Composition

MWF 9:40am, TTh 2:00pm, online

multiple instructors

Course Texts:

Advanced Composition, Edited by Collette Bliss and Ashleigh Severson. This book is available for free via BlackBoard.

Course Descriptions:

Course Assignments and Exams:

Students at the 20000 level.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 20133

Cross listings: none

Esssay Writing

MWF 9:40am and 12:55pm; TTh 2:00pm; online

multiple

Course Texts:

Miller, Brenda, and Suzanne Paola. Tell It Slant, 3rd edition. ISBN 9781260454598

Course Descriptions:

Course Assignments and Exams:

Students at the 20000 level.

Four essays (2-6 pages), in-class writing activities, enthusiastic participation.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 20603

Cross listings: na

Trans-Atlantic Literature 1640-1865

Online

Professor Yandell

Course Texts:

Sally Wagner, Sisters in Spirit, ISBN 978-1-570-67121-0
Olaudah Equiano, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, ISBN 978-0-486-40661-9
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, ISBN-13: 978-0486419312
Charles Brockton Brown, Wieland, ISBN 978-0-14-039079-7
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, ISBN 978-1-4165-3477-8

Course Descriptions:

This course examines a broad sampling of transcontinental literatures from the eras surrounding American colonization. The course begins with pre-contact American Indian literatures, then moves through the literatures of several writers who crossed the Atlantic between England and the Americas. Throughout this era’s literature, various nations’ authors have sought to forge – through conflict and cooperation – a relationship to lands and peoples across two continents. This course will explore through reading, discussion, and critical essay how voyagers’ and colonists’ narratives enrich our conceptions of self and nation, from the fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Participation 25%; Tests 25%; Essay One 25%; Essay Two 25%

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 30103 901

Cross listings: na

Creative Writing II

Asynchronous online

Dr. Rebecca Gayle Howell

Course Texts:

All linked texts

Course Descriptions:

A multi-genre advanced survey in the practice of creative writing.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Weekly reading and writing practice in multiple genres. Final folio.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 30503

Cross listings: none

Technical and Professional Writing

Multiple classroom sections at various times and asynchronous online sections

Multiple instructors

Course Texts:

Gray, Kat. (2025). Rhetorical Strategies for Workplace Communication. Pressbooks. This book is an Open Education Resource (OER) textbook and is available free of charge.

Course Descriptions:

In this course, you will build on the writing and rhetorical skills you developed in Composition 1 and 2 to explore technical writing tasks. You will learn strategies for professional writing in various circumstances, including document design, usability testing, communication ethics, and collaborative writing. You will also learn about tools for drafting, revision, editing, and proofreading.

Course Assignments and Exams:

You will complete five projects for this course.

To start, you will create a Course Goals Memo, in which you set your personal goals for Professional and Technical Writing: what skills you hope to learn or improve. In the second project, you will create Career Documents–a résumé and cover letter–responding to a specific job ad. Next, you will work on two research assignments based on a problem or question you and a small group of classmates select. In the Problem Primer, you will write individually to explore an aspect of the problem. You’ll identify who is affected by the problem, the causes of the problem, and any community partners with expertise that may help you to solve the problem. You and will design a pilot study to gather more information about the problem you are investigating. After you conduct your study, you and your group will then create a Collaborative Grant Proposal that promotes a specific solution to a specific problem. You’ll also remix this report for a different audience – one of community stakeholders, who will be affected by the solution you choose. Finally, you will close the semester by creating a Course Reflection Memo that asks you to review your work throughout the semester and discuss your progress on your goals with your instructor.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 40003

Cross listings: none

Style and Grammar for Professional Writing

Asynchronous

Professor LewEllyn Hallett

Course Texts:

Subcription to the Bedford Bookshelf through Inclusive Access

Course Descriptions:

Practice in various English styles and grammars at an advanced level for students who plan to teach writing, practice as professional or technical writers, or apply these skills in their various career fields. (Typically offered: Fall on campus and Spring online)

Course Assignments and Exams:

Students at the 40000 level.

Four writing projects (2-6 pages), one oral presentation, weekly writing activities, collaboration and participation.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 40103 901

Cross listings: NA

Intermediate course in the practice of writing poetry.

Asynchronous online.

Dr. Rebecca Gayle Howell

Course Texts:

All linked texts.

Course Descriptions:

An intermediate course in the practice of poetry.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Weekly poetry reading and poetry writing practice. Final folio.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Not applicable

ENGL 4303-901

Cross listings: ENGL 4303-902

Introduction to Shakespeare (Global Campus)

Global Campus

Dr. Stephens

Course Texts:

Greenblatt, Stephen, et al., eds. _The Norton Shakespeare,_ Third Edition, Digital Edition. W. W. Norton, 2015. ISBN 978-0-393-68349-3. Ebook, delivered by Vitalsource to our Blackboard site.

This required text will appear on Blackboard as an e-book at the start of the semester. The cost will be about half what a hard copy would cost. Your student account will be charged approximately a week after the semester begins. If you already have a hard copy of the complete Norton Shakespeare, third edition, one volume, ISBN 978-0-393-93499-1 (not the “Essential Plays” edition), we can arrange for you to opt out of having your student account charged. Important note: every semester, several students think they can get by with free online copies of the plays. Every semester, those students flounder during the exams, because their editions of the plays omit entire scenes that are in the Norton. Please don’t make this mistake!

Course Descriptions:

This is an online course through Global Campus. It is not self-paced; you’ll turn in your first assignments halfway through the first week of the semester. We will read some of Shakespeare’s sonnets and six of his plays, learning about the poetry’s engagement with some of the intersectional issues of Shakespeare’s day—political, colonial, artistic, sexual, psychological, theological, medical, and economic. We will look closely at the ways Shakespeare creates verbal music, and we will pay attention to the serious fun he has with puns. Previous knowledge of Shakespeare is not required, but students should be avid readers and good writers. An open and inquiring mind is also necessary; Shakespeare addresses controversial topics, uses earthy language, and resists moral reduction. Each week is divided into two parts, with written assessments ***almost always due on Thursdays and Sundays by midnight.*** You will need to complete the first half of each week’s lessons and assessments before beginning the second half. Weekly activities will usually include reading some of Shakespeare’s work while consulting study guides, responding to some of the questions on the study guides, engaging in written discussion with other students, listening to recorded lectures, and sometimes viewing films.

Course Assignments and Exams:

There will be one icebreaker post, twenty discussion posts of 100 words each, one original essay of 1500-2000 words, four exams, and twenty-two reading journal submissions of 100 words each.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Pre-1800

ENGL 4713

Cross listings: n/a

Topics in Medieval Literature and Culture: Medieval Storytelling

[online]

Dr Mary Beth Long

Course Texts:

Course Descriptions:

This course introduces you to the many medieval genres meant for literary “storytelling” and will also teach you to discern the broader cultural values imbued in those stories—that is, the inadvertent “storytelling” that reveals what English writers and readers really thought about gender, people of other races and religions, truth and deceit, sex, marriage, friendship, and parenting. These “stories” of the Middle Ages are important for us to understand not only as story-readers and -tellers, but also because we still live in the world they and their stories made. We’ll read literary texts by Chaucer, Marie de France, and that prolific storyteller Anonymous, as well as other forms of storytelling such as sermons, medical treatises, and visual art. We’ll practice close reading and thoughtful writing.

Course Assignments and Exams:

regular short response papers, discussion contributions via Blackboard forum posts, final paper

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Pre-1800

ENGL 49003

Cross listings: None

Studiesi n Rhetoric and Composition: Digital Rhetorics

Online

Dr. Kat Gray

Course Texts:

Edwards, Dustin W., Enduring Digital Damage: Rhetorical Reckonings for Planetary Survival. ISBN 978-0817362195

Course Descriptions:

This course is an introduction to the field of digital rhetorics. We will explore how digital writing technologies, including social media, streaming platforms, and generative AI, mediate everyday communication, learning, and meaning-making processes, with implications for culture, community, and identity. Course texts and discussions will examine a range of topics including the implications of digital interfaces and algorithmic media on the environment, education, labor, politics, and everyday relationships. Major projects in this class will ask students to critically interrogate digital interfaces, artifacts, and technologies (like Spotify, Amazon, Instagram, TikTok, ChatGPT, Blackboard, and others). Students will also practice multimodal composition.

Course Assignments and Exams:

Assignments include weekly reading reflections, a digital artifact analysis essay, an algorithmic media diary, and a final multimodal project.

Pre/Post 1800 Credit: Post-1800

Advising Cheatsheet

Course number and name	Minors Met	Requirements Met for Major	Post/Pre 1800	Instructor	Meeting Time
ENGL 12103 Introduction to Literature.	NA	Intro to Lit	NA	Cochran, Bob	MWF 9:40 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
ENGL 12103 Introduction to Literature.	NA	Intro to Lit	NA	Kayser, Casey	ONLINE
ENGL 12103 Introduction to Literature.	NA	Intro to Lit	NA	Scott, Mark	TR 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
ENGL 12103 Introduction to Literature.	NA	Intro to Lit	NA	Sparks, Leigh	MWF 8:35 a.m. to 9:25 a.m.
ENGL 12103(H) Introduction to Literature.	NA	Intro to Lit	NA	Teuton, Sean	MWF 10:45 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.
ENGL 20503 Transatlantic Literature from Beginnings to 1640	English	ENGL 26703	NA	Quinn, Bill	ONLINE
ENGL 20603 Transatlantic Literature from 1640 to 1865	English	ENGL 26803 or ENGL 26503	NA	Yandell, Kay	ONLINE
ENGL 26603 Survey of English-Language Literature from 1945 to the Present	English	Survey	NA	Booker, Keith	MWF 12:55 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
ENGL 26803 Survey of British Literature from 1700 to 1945	English	Survey	NA	Burris, Sidney	TR 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
ENGL 30103 Creative Writing II	English	Creative Writing	NA	McCombs, Davis	TR 9:30 - 10:45
ENGL 30503 Technical and Professional Writing	Rhetoric and Writing Studies; English	Rhetoric and Writing Studies	Post-1800	Various	ONLINE
ENGL 31003 Approaches to Critical Thinking About Literature and Culture	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	NA	Marren, Susan	TR 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
ENGL 32003 Poetry	English	Creative Writing	NA	Davis, Geffrey	TR 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
ENGL 32103 Fiction	English	Creative Writing	NA	Larson, Jane	MWF 9:40 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
ENGL 35503 Topics in Native American Literature and Culture	English	Literature and Cultural Studies; Cultural Breadth	Yes	Teuton, Sean	MWF 9:40 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
ENGL 35703 Special Topics in Diversity	English	Literature and Cultural Studies; Cultural Breadth	Post-1800	Kahf, Mohja	ONLINE
ENGL 35903 Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Literature	English	Literature and Cultural Studies; Cultural Breadth	Post-1800	Marren, Susan	TR 8:00 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.
ENGL 35903 Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Literature	English	Literature and Cultural Studies; Cultural Breadth	Post-1800	Sparks, Leigh	MWF 11:50 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.
ENGL 36003 Topics in Rhetoric and Composition	Rhetoric and Writing Studies; English	Rhetoric and Writing Studies	Post-1800	Pope, Adam	MWF 12:55 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
ENGL 36003 Topics in Rhetoric and Composition	Rhetoric and Writing Studies; English	Rhetoric and Writing Studies	Post-1800	Kat Gray	ONLINE
ENGL 37133 Topics in Medieval Literature and Culture	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Pre-1800	Quinn, Bill	MWF 10:45 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.
ENGL 38303 Topics in American Literature and Culture to 1900	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Pre-1800	Yandell, Kay	TR 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
ENGL 38503 Topics in African-American Literature and Culture	English	Literature and Cultural Studies; Cultural Breadth	Post-1800	Young, Jarvis	MWF 11:50 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.
ENGL 39003 Special Topics	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Post-1800	Burris, Sidney	TR 5:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
ENGL 39003 Special Topics	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Post-1800	Connors, Sean	R 5:00-7:45
ENGL 39003 Special Topics	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Post-1800	Larson, Jane	MW 3:05 - 4:20
ENGL 40103 Undergraduate Poetry Workshop	English	Creative Writing	NA	McCombs, Davis	Tuesday 2:00 - 4:45
ENGL 40203 Undergraduate Fiction Workshp	English	Creative Writing	NA	Jensen, Toni	Thursday 2:00 - 4:45
ENGL 41353 Writing Nature	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Post-1800	Davis, Geffrey	TR 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
ENGL 43003 Introduction to Shakespeare	English	Literature and Cultural Studies; Creative Writing	Pre-1800	Scott, Mark	TR 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
ENGL 43003 Introduction to Shakespeare	English	Literature and Cultural Studies; Creative Writing	Pre-1800	Stephens, Dot	ONLINE
ENGL 45603 Studies in Major Authors	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Post-1800 or Pre-1800	Dempsey, Sean	TR 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
ENGL 45703 Studies in Major Literary Movements	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Post-1800	Booker, Keith	MW 4:35 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.
ENGL 460H3 Honors Special Studies	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Post-1800 or Pre-1800	Dempsey, Sean	TR 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
ENGL 47103 Studies in Medieval Literature and Culture	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Pre-1800	Long, Mary Beth	ONLINE
ENGL 47103 Studies in Medieval Literature and Culture	English	Literature and Cultural Studies	Pre-1800	Jane Harris	MW 3:05 p.m. to 4:20 p.m.
ENGL 49003 Studies in Rhetoric and Composition	Rhetoric and Writing Studies; English	Rhetoric and Writing Studies	Post-1800	Pritchard, Eric	TR 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
ENGL 49503 Writing in the Age of AI	Rhetoric and Writing Studies; English	Rhetoric and Writing Studies	Post-1800	Fernandes, Maggie	MWF 8:35 a.m. to 9:25 a.m.