Literature Courses

001 In Person
Mon, Wed | 12:30PM-1:45PM 
Instructor: Meg Lota Brown

The social, economic, religious, and political instability of the seventeenth century informed some of the most brilliantly anxious literature in the history of England. As some authors strained to construct coherent identities, hierarchies, and worldviews, others challenged received notions about what is sacred, natural, or true. In the midst of such tensions, the writers we will discuss produced gorgeous, funny, complicated, disturbing, and infinitely interesting works of poetry and prose. One of our goals will be to examine not only how these texts-- and the culture in which they were embedded-- constructed meaning, but also why it is important for us to undertake such an examination. We will consider how reading seventeenth-century literature enables us to understand more fully our own constructed selves.

001 In Person 
Tue, Thu | 12:30PM-1:45PM 
Instructor: Daniel Cooper Alarcón

English 443/543 is an upper-division course for the study of Mexican American and Chicanx literature written in English or translated into English. The course is designed to give you a clear understanding of the historical development of the Mexican American literary tradition, with an emphasis on landmark works and a focus on events and issues that impacted and influenced its evolution. Thus, we will take care to situate the literary texts within their historical moment and we will read them alongside of historical material, to better understand the social context within which the literature was produced. Finally, we will spend considerable time looking closely at individual texts: critically analyzing them, interpreting them, and discussing their implications. Course requirements will include two medium-length papers, as well as regular contributions to class discussion. The course will begin with a study of the corrido tradition and move on to the short stories of María Cristina Mena and Mario Suárez, the novel Pocho, the poetry of the Chicano Movement, the play Zoot Suit, and the novels Face and So Far from God, with additional readings to be determined. Please note that this course is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.

001 In Person 
Thu | 3:30PM-6:00PM 
Instructor: John Melillo

Philosopher Max Horkheimer once defined critical theory as a genre of intellectual writing whose purpose is to “liberate human being from the circumstances that enslave them.” While that definition remains useful, critical theory has traveled in many different directions over the last hundred and fifty years. This is true because the forms of freedom and unfreedom have proliferated across social and cultural domains of life, but equally because our critical analyses have developed across increasingly diverse schools of theoretical investigation. This course surveys classic and emerging intellectual traditions while also asking how they are being employed across the academic disciplines that draw on critical theory. This is the first core course for the GIDP minor in Social, Cultural and Critical Theory.

This course also introduces graduate students to the ways that different disciplines across the humanities, social sciences, arts, law and beyond have thought, written and employed critical theory to address the relation of power to wealth, politics, subjectivity, language, space/time, race, sexuality, gender, nationality and life itself. In addition to reading classic texts by the likes of Karl Marx or Sigmund Freud, we will also encounter contemporary scholars writing in relation to feminist theory, cultural studies, queer theory, postcolonial and critical race theory. This course is intended as a contact zone in which we can think between and across the graduate programs at the University of Arizona. Our core activity will occur in the intensive group discussion of shared readings.

“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.

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.”

005 In Person
Time TBD
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.