ENG 132

Imagining America

Professor/Instructor

An introduction to the cross-cultural study of American literatures, with special attention to the multiple points of connection, conflict, dialogue, and exchange that characterize American writings. Texts may be drawn from a broad range of periods, regions, and cultures. One lecture, two classes.

ENG 200

Literary History

Professor/Instructor

Russ Leo, Sophie Graham Gee

An introduction to English literary history. Centered on four great writers--Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, and Pope. Two lectures, one 50-minute preceptorial.

ENG 203

The Essay

Professor/Instructor

Jeff Nunokawa

This course introduces students to the range of the essay form as it has developed from the early modern period to our own. The class will be organized, for the most part, chronologically, beginning with the likes of Bacon and Hobbes, and ending with some contemporary examples of and reflections on the form. It will consider how writers as various as Sidney, Hume, Johnson, Emerson, Woolf, C.L.R. James, and Stephen Jay Gould have defined and revised The Essay. Two lectures, one 50-minute preceptorial.

ENG 230

Public Speaking

Professor/Instructor

Tamsen Olivia Wolff

Emphasis upon the preparation and delivery of expository and persuasive speeches before audiences composed of the speaker's fellow students. Consultations with the instructor, readings in textbooks, and written analyses of speeches supplement frequent practice in speaking. One 90-minute lecture, two classes.

CLA 335 / HLS 335 / COM 390 / ENG 235

Studies in the Classical Tradition

Professor/Instructor

Katerina Stergiopoulou

A classical genre or literary theme will be studied as it was handed down and transformed in later ages, for example, the European epic; ancient prose fiction and the picaresque tradition; the didactic poem. Two 90-minute seminars.

CLA 208 / ENG 240 / LIN 208 / TRA 208

Origins and Nature of English Vocabulary

Professor/Instructor

Joshua Timothy Katz

The origins and nature of English vocabulary, from proto-Indo-European prehistory to current slang. Emphasis on the Greek and Latin component of English vocabulary, including technical terminology (medical/scientific, legal, and humanistic). Related topics: the alphabet and English spelling, slang and jargon, social and regional variation, vocabulary changes in progress, the "national language'' debate. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

GSS 400 / ENG 264

Contemporary Theories of Gender and Sexuality

Professor/Instructor

Gayle Salamon

We will take as our primary text the new translation of Simone deBeauvoir"s landmark volume The Second Sex, one of the most significant origin points of current understandings of gender. In our sustained consideration of The Second Sex, we will explore Beauvoir's ideas about the influence of sex and gender on childhood, the family, sexuality, relationships, aging, work, the social order, and the philosophical imaginary. We will also consider contemporary writing alongside that text, taking Beauvoir as our tour guide as we encounter and interpret contemporary representations of gender.

ENG 300

Junior Seminar in Critical Writing

Professor/Instructor

Students learn to write clear and persuasive criticism in a workshop setting while becoming familiar with a variety of critical practices and research methods. The course culminates in the writing of a junior paper. Each section will pursue its own topic; students are assigned according to choices made during sophomore sign-ins. Required of all English majors. One three-hour seminar.

COM 303 / ENG 302

Comparative History of Literary Theory

Professor/Instructor

Sandra Lekas Bermann

A historical introduction to literary theory from Plato to the present. By reading philosophers, critics, and creative writers, students consider issues such as mimesis, imagination, religion, sexuality, and ethics, noting how each casts light on our understanding of literature and its cultural roles. Past terms and current problems are related to an inquiry into the nature--and the power--of literature through the ages. Students will read critical works from Plato and Aristotle, through Nietzsche, Beauvoir, Benjamin, Derrida, and Achebe, as well as poetry and plays by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Eliot, and Brecht. One three-hour seminar.

COM 372 / ENG 303

The Gothic Tradition

Professor/Instructor

April Alliston

An exploration of the cultural meanings of the Gothic mode through a study of its characteristic elements, its origins in 18th-century English and German culture and thought, its development across Western national traditions, and its persistence in contemporary culture, including film, electronic media, clothing, social behavior, and belief systems, as well as literature. Films, artifacts, websites, and electronic publications will supplement readings. One three-hour seminar.

ENG 305 / COM 312

Contemporary Literary Theory

Professor/Instructor

Andrew Cole

Fundamental questions about the nature, function, and value of literary theory. A small number of strategically selected theoretical topics, including exemplary literary works as reference points for discussion. Two 90-minutes seminars.

ENG 306

History of Criticism

Professor/Instructor

Andrew Cole

A study of particular developments in criticism and theory, from Aristotle to Nietzsche. The course will also consider the relation of contemporary criticism to movements and issues such as deconstruction, feminism, psychoanalysis, and cultural materialism. Two 90-minute seminars.

ENG 310 / MED 310

The Old English Period

Professor/Instructor

Sarah M. Anderson

An intensive introduction to the English language spoken and written in the British Isles approximately 500 to 1100 C.E., leading to a critical survey of the literature. Attention is paid both to linguistic questions and to the cultural context of such poems as Beowulf and the Dream of the Rood. Two 90-minute seminars.

ENG 311 / MED 309

The Medieval Period

Professor/Instructor

Donald Vance Smith

A study of the Middle English texts that span the period from the Norman Conquest to the Tudor Renaissance, with attention paid to Middle English as a language. Readings will be chosen from verse romance, drama, political and religious writings, romance and/or lyric. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

ENG 312 / MED 312

Chaucer

Professor/Instructor

Andrew Cole

A study of Chaucer's art with reference to the intellectual, social, and literary conventions of the Middle Ages. The course introduces the student by this means to the characteristically medieval aspects of Chaucer's poetry. Two 90-minute seminars.

ENG 320 / THR 310

Shakespeare I

Professor/Instructor

Leonard Barkan

A study of Shakespeare's plays, covering the first half of his career. Emphasis will be on each play as a work of art and on Shakespeare's development as a poet and dramatist. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

ENG 321

Shakespeare II

Professor/Instructor

Bradin T. Cormack

A study of Shakespeare's plays, covering the second half of his career. Emphasis will be on each play as a work of art and on Shakespeare's development as a poet and dramatist. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

ENG 322

Spenser

Professor/Instructor

Jeff Dolven

A study of the development of the epic romance from Vergil to Spenser through a reading of the Aeneid and the three great Renaissance epic romances: Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata, and Spenser's The Faerie Queene. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

ENG 323

The 16th Century

Professor/Instructor

Jeff Dolven

The study of 16th-century literature, both prose and poetry, in order to define the achievement of the English Renaissance. Literary accomplishments will be placed in the more general context of Elizabethan culture and Renaissance intellectual history. Readings in Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser, Donne. Two 90-minute seminars.

ENG 325

Milton

Professor/Instructor

Nigel Smith, Russ Leo

A study of Milton's poetry and prose, with particular attention to Milton's poetic style and development and his indebtedness to various classical traditions. Emphasis will also be given to Milton as thinker and to the place he holds in 17th-century thought. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

ENG 326

The 17th Century

Professor/Instructor

Nigel Smith

A study of the interaction of literature, culture, and politics during the 17th century. The course will focus on the nature of political work done by literary texts, the representation of changing gender relations, and the evolution of literary forms. Authors include Jonson, Herbert, Donne, Marvell, Hobbes, Milton, Dryden, and the Cavalier Poets. Two 90-minute seminars.

ENG 327 / GSS 410

The English Drama to 1700

Professor/Instructor

Michael William Cadden

A study of English drama from its medieval origins to Restoration comedy, with special attention to the astonishingly vital commercial theater of the Renaissance. The course will consider the aesthetic and cultural power of dramatic texts and the theater's characteristic production of social anxiety. Two 90-minute seminars.

ENG 328 / GSS 407

Topics in the Renaissance

Professor/Instructor

Bradin T. Cormack

An intensive study of various aspects of Renaissance literature. Topics may include sex and gender in the Renaissance, Shakespearean comedies, Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, Renaissance lyric poetry. Two 90-minute seminars.

ENG 329

Topics in the Renaissance

Professor/Instructor

An intensive study of various aspects of Renaissance literature. Topics may include sex and gender in the Renaissance, Shakespearean comedies, Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, Renaissance lyric poetry. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

ENG 330

English Literature of the 18th Century

Professor/Instructor

Claudia L. Johnson

A study of major figures from the Augustan Age through the Age of Johnson: Swift, Pope, Fielding, Boswell, Johnson, Sterne, and Blake. Selections include a wide range of literary types from Gulliver's Travels and Joseph Andrews to Boswell's London Journal and Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Two lectures, one preceptorial.