ENGL 565 Reading and Writing 19C American Narrative
001 In Person
Tu 3:30-6:00 PM
Instructor: Jennifer Jenkins
How was U.S. national literature constructed, by whom and for whom? The place of the book in American culture was (and is) inevitably shaped by issues of class, gender, race, and ethnicity. We will study 19th century American literature as defined by its contemporary readers and subsequent taste-makers, examining along the way questions of authorship, genre, and form of the book as it evolved across the century; technologies of book production; spaces of reading and types of readers; and the impact of the Civil War and Westward expansion on the literary marketplace and reading communities.
Together we will study now-canonical works of American Romanticism and Realism and engage with both physical and digital archives and artifacts of 19c book culture. Each class member will also develop expertise on the work of a best-selling author of the day, and craft a conference proposal as part of the seminar paper process.
Substantial reading and writing appropriate to graduate work in literary historical and cultural studies is required. If you do not—or do not like to—read, this course is not for you.
ENGL 596G Comparative Literature: Anglophone Literature and Thought of the Caribbean Era of Independence
001 In Person
W 3:30-6:00 PM
Instructor: Steph Brown
This course will survey how poetry, novels, and drama of the mid-to-late-20th century represented the crises and opportunities that the independence era presented to people of the English-speaking Caribbean. Alongside literary work, we will read Caribbean thinkers who provide historical, cultural, and philosophical context for understanding how independence played out in the Caribbean and its texts. Beginning as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago gained their independence in 1962 and ending with the US invasion of Grenada and the end of the Grenada Revolution in 1983, we’ll open our consideration of the era of independence with C.L.R. James’ revised edition of The Black Jacobins (1963) and focus on works that directly or indirectly depicted anti-colonial and independence-era events in the decades that followed. Likely authors include but are not limited to Sylvia Wynter, Earl Lovelace, Michelle Cliff, Jamaica Kincaid, Dionne Brand, Marlon James, Paul Gilroy, Aimé Cesaire, David Scott, George Lamming, Andrew Salkey, Stuart Hall, Kamau Brathwaite, Merle Collins, Martin Carter, and Wilson Harris.
ENGL 596G Comparative Literature: After the Sublime: Ecopoetics in the Age of the Anthropocene
002 In Person
Th 11:00 AM-1:30 PM
Instructor: Johanna Skibsrud
In a 2016 special issue of New Literary History on “Recomposing the Humanities—with Bruno Latour,” Latour used the concept of the sublime as an example of “the immense amount of work lying ahead for the field of the humanities. First,” he writes, “we are no longer at a safe distance from any of the effects of the “forces of nature”; second, we are told by many scientific disciplines that we have become so big, so cumbersome, that we, as humans, are now of a size commensurable with volcanoes and, some say, with plate tectonics; as to the immense grandeur of our morality, alas, we seem so dejected, so puny, that we have not the slightest idea of how to respond to the new situation.” To better understand the challenge Latour here lays out to practitioners of the humanities, this course proposes guided readings and discussions of the history and theoretical framework of the concept of the sublime alongside contemporary discussions around ecopoetics and the Anthropocene. In addition to a theoretical understanding of these issues, this class seeks to extend Latour’s challenge and ask students to engage with it in a hands-on way. How might we begin to respond differently to the relationship between subject and object, forces of nature and concepts of human morality? This course will contain “fieldwork” elements and an exchange of work and ideas with contemporary poets grappling with similar questions and ideas.
ENGL 595A First Year Colloquium
001 In Person
W 12:00-12:50 PM
Instructor: John Melillo
“How to graduate-student.” This colloquium meets every other week, and it is a requirement for first year students. Our meetings will include information about the program, an introduction to the profession, and tips on navigating graduate student life.
English 595A Job Workshop
002 In Person
W 12:00-12:50 PM
Instructor: John Melillo
This workshop meets every other week. We will discuss career paths and goals, prepare application materials, and learn about different approaches to the process of going “on the market.”
ENGL 595A Dissertation Writing Workshop
005 In Person
W, 5:00-5:50PM
Instructor: John Melillo
This writing workshop is for students who are ABD and who are at any stage of their dissertation writing. Whether you are working on your initial proposal or your final chapter, we will meet once a week to discuss writing strategies, workshop chapters or sections, and create accountability for your writing goals.