Upcoming Courses

So many of us grew up on Disney's version of fairy tales; they are a part of people's childhoods and in fact are enjoyed by people well beyond their early years. Beautiful, witty, and timeless, for many people Disney means fairy tales. But fairy tales are very old forms of narrative entertainment, with some of them harking back to even older forms. And the older versions do not limit themselves to princesses in blue ball gowns and gruff but ultimately good-hearted bad guys. In this section of “Introduction to Fairy Tales,” we will view some of the iconic Disney versions of fairy tales, read the tales on which they are based, and think about what cultural and personal role these apparently deathless tales play, then and now. Work will consist of informal writing assignments and online discussion.

Readings

The required text for this class is an etext:

Maria Tatar (ed.), The Classic Fairy Tales. Norton, 2nd edition.

The URL is: https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Second-Norton-Critical-Editions-ebook/dp/B01NBWHWIN/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1545059704

This is a course in “close reading.” The reading assignments will be short, to allow us to pay close attention to individual texts and individual passages. We’ll read many poems and some short stories, with an eye toward mastering the close reading techniques crucial to the sort of literary analysis we practice in upper-division literature courses (and beyond). For this online course, daily participation in discussion boards will be a major course requirement. Students will also write approximately six short exercises (roughly 1-2 pages each) and two papers (roughly 3-4 pages each). There are no exams.

There’s no booklist for this course. All course materials will be available online.

Questions? Please email the instructor at nathanso@email.arizona.edu

Beginning techniques of fiction writing, taught through exercises, the writing of original fiction, and readings in contemporary fiction.

“Let it Go” and come learn about fairy tales! What meaning do these beautiful tales of survival hold for you? In this class, we will read multiple variations of classic fairy tales from around the world. We will follow their breadcrumbs from communal storytelling into literary culture and Disney, and from childhood to adulthood. The folkloric writing assignments in this class are designed to spark your curiosity and encourage your confidence. Our resilient guides include Little Red Riding Hood, Donkeyskin, Hansel & Gretel, The Little Mermaid, Elsa & Anna, and others. Prepare to be enchanted. All course materials will be available on D2L, apart from “Frozen,” a movie, which you will need to rent or purchase to watch (even if you have seen it before, you'll need to see it again!).

Building on the close reading, focused research, and reflective writing done in your general education writing courses (ENGL101 and ENGL102 and their equivalents), this course emphasizes the skills of rhetorical analysis, research, persuasion, reflection, and revision in specific professional and technical contexts. It is designed to help students learn to write for varied audiences and situations, find and evaluate sources, and make critically aware decisions about how best to achieve their purposes. The immediate goal of this course is to prepare students for further research and writing in future professional settings. This course fulfills a core requirement in the undergraduate major and minor in Professional and Technical Writing and in the undergraduate certificate in Professional and Technical Writing.

How have literary expression and our understandings of the self-changed alongside the media technologies of the twenty-first century? This course examines the place of fiction among social media, big data, fan fiction, video games, and the many other forms of entertainment that compete with it today. To do so, we'll learn about the history of media forms, and some of the methods of media studies, which consider how media forms shape the stories they convey. We will read novels, a play, poetry, and experimental forms that ask what technology might be changing about the human condition, including concerns about privacy, identity, politics, memory, and more. Along the way, we will encounter some of the history of experimental literature and we'll consider what forms the future of literary expression will take.

Students will explore the theories and practices of professional and academic portfolios while simultaneously designing and developing an adaptive identity and a professional persona for post-graduate settings. Students will synthesize work from past and present courses and experiences. They will make complex composition decisions about content, design, structure, and media of their portfolios in connection with identifiable elements of a given rhetorical situation. Students will discuss and apply legal and ethical issues related to portfolio development and publication of 21st century digital identities. For registration please contact Sharon Meyerson (sharonne@email.arizona.edu).

Beginning techniques of poetry writing, taught through exercises, the writing of original poetry, and readings in contemporary poetry.

So many of us grew up on Disney's version of fairy tales; they are a part of people's childhoods and in fact are enjoyed by people well beyond their early years. Beautiful, witty, and timeless, for many people Disney means fairy tales. But fairy tales are very old forms of narrative entertainment, with some of them harking back to even older forms. And the older versions do not limit themselves to princesses in blue ball gowns and gruff but ultimately good-hearted bad guys.  In this section of "Introduction to Fairy Tales," we will view some of the iconic Disney versions of fairy tales, read the tales on which they are based, and think about what cultural and personal role these apparently deathless tales play, then and now. Work will consist of informal writing assignments and online discussion.

Readings

The required text for this class is an etext:

Maria Tatar (ed.), The Classic Fairy Tales. Norton, 2nd edition.

The URL is: https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Second-Norton-Critical-Editions-ebook/dp/B01NBWHWIN/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1545059704

Close reading of literary texts, critical analysis, and articulation of intellectually challenging ideas in clear prose.

English 300 is a comparative study of literature and cinema as aesthetic media. Given the breadth and complexities of film and literature, including historical, technical, and narrative elements, our class will be subdivided into overlapping sections: “Film, Literature, and Aesthetics,” “Adaptation and Intertextuality,” and “Cultural and Ideological Connections.” We will survey a curated list of films and texts that serve as examples, emphasizing specific dimensions that support course outcomes. Class activities include asynchronous discussions, individual reflections, short essays, and a final multimodal project that synthesizes the course modules and materials. Our texts and films are found on D2L, so that they may be easily accessed and revisited as often as needed.

Monsters are cool—but they’re also interesting, and also sometimes deeply problematic. The category of the “non-human” (or, more broadly, “the Other”) raises key questions about human identity, human values, and the boundaries we construct to cordon off the horrific, the weird, the frightening, the monstrous, or the non-human. Imaginary figures like ghosts, aliens, or monsters confirm—or challenge—those boundaries that peoples and cultures create. As a result, we won’t focus simply on a particular creature-types like zombies, vampires, or cyborgs. Instead, by examining selected literary texts and films, we’ll look at the monster-figure as a key indicator of cultural history—the symbolic carrier of cultural values and problems. These cultural values can include things like political tensions, systems of religious belief, human nature, cultural conflict, social order and disorder, or distinctions of race/class/gender. As we’ll see, monsters often become symbols in the cultural, political, and intellectual clashes that mark Western history. In order to better understand our cultural roots, then, we’ll have to come to terms with the historical and ideological tensions behind those clashes, which we’ll demonstrate in class through well-organized analytical arguments that present strong textual evidence and display critical thinking.

An English grammar and editing course in which students will learn and apply contextual strategies for editing their own writing, as well as the writing of others, for grammar, style, and format.

“Let it Go” and come learn about fairy tales! What meaning do these beautiful tales of survival hold for you? In this class, we will read multiple variations of classic fairy tales from around the world. We will follow their breadcrumbs from communal storytelling into literary culture and Disney, and from childhood to adulthood. The folkloric writing assignments in this class are designed to spark your curiosity and encourage your confidence. Our resilient guides include Little Red Riding Hood, Donkeyskin, Hansel & Gretel, The Little Mermaid, Elsa & Anna, and others. Prepare to be enchanted. All course materials will be available on D2L, apart from “Frozen,” a movie, which you will need to rent or purchase to watch (even if you have seen it before, you'll need to see it again!).

This course will explore the emerging genre of autobiography associated with explorations of populist anger, racial division, political resentment, sexual desire, familial and non-familial connections, and personal growth. We will read the following fictional and non-fictional works: Kiese Laymon’s Heavy: An American Memoir, Claire Dederer’s Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning, Jeanine Cummins’ American Dirt, and Khaled Hosseini’s Kite Runnner. The course will introduce students to how the autobiographical genre, which can also emerge in fiction, creates conceptions of agency and personhood, in various life contexts. I am fully cognizant of the publication controversy around Cummins’ American Dirt: A Novel but hope we can use the controversy to learn something about the genres Cummins engages in the book. Students will write two short course papers during the summer session, in addition to writing D2L discussion posts in response to instructor and classmate prompts.

This course is intended to give students a practical understanding of beginning techniques of nonfiction writing, taught through exercises, the writing of original nonfiction, and readings in contemporary nonfiction.  The course complements existing courses in poetry (ENGL209) and fiction (ENGL210).  All three courses are intended to improve undergraduate education by providing contact hours with Creative Writing faculty members early in the undergraduate's course of study.

Beginning techniques of fiction writing, taught through exercises, the writing of original fiction, and readings in contemporary fiction.

So many of us grew up on Disney's version of fairy tales; they are a part of people's childhoods and in fact are enjoyed by people well beyond their early years. Beautiful, witty, and timeless, for many people Disney means fairy tales. But fairy tales are very old forms of narrative entertainment, with some of them harking back to even older forms. And the older versions do not limit themselves to princesses in blue ball gowns and gruff but ultimately good-hearted bad guys.  In this section of "Introduction to Fairy Tales," we will view some of the iconic Disney versions of fairy tales, read the tales on which they are based, and think about what cultural and personal role these apparently deathless tales play, then and now. Work will consist of informal writing assignments and online discussion.

Readings

The required text for this class is an etext:

Maria Tatar (ed.), The Classic Fairy Tales. Norton, 2nd edition.

The URL is: https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Second-Norton-Critical-Editions-ebook/dp/B01NBWHWIN/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1545059704

From the “origins” of the Children’s Literature to the current day call for diverse voices in the genre, this course examines the development of concepts of the child, children’s literature, and Western Culture. We will read a broad spectrum of historical and contemporary U.S., British, and world literature, and works representing a variety of genres and cultures. Through a survey of folk tales, picture books, middle grade novels, and young adult novels we will consider the historical development of children’s literature as well as its dual agenda of instruction and amusement.

What can the study of popular cultural forms like Television, Films, Advertisements, Video Games, Facebook as well as cultural practices like shopping, viewing habits, and other modes of consumption reveal about US American Values? How do representations of race, class, gender, and sexuality disseminated within these popular texts shape the way we come to see others and ourselves? These are some of the guiding questions we will be exploring in our study of US popular culture. Through an examination of both critical essays and primary texts, students in this course will learn not only how to critically read and interpret various cultural forms, but also will come to understand the ways in which popular culture structures our day to day lives.

In this course we’ll study environmental literature and cinema as aesthetic media. Over a period of five weeks, we’ll consider the ways that particular landscapes and environment in general are portrayed in literature and film that we typically think of as “fiction” (novels and Hollywood blockbusters) as well as literature and film that we tend to think of as “nonfiction” (memoirs, documentaries, etc). We’ll focus on landscapes and spaces that have been foundational throughout both history and literature: forests, farms, and frozen “wastelands.” 

110/210 Fully Online

Instructor: Julie Christen

This seven-week, asynchronous online course introduces the theory and practice of professional and technical writing in academic, professional, and community contexts. Using open educational resources and library-accessible resources, we will learn about key concepts, values, practices, and areas of expertise. We will apply our learning in a course project that examines and reports on professional and technical writing in specific contexts chosen by students. This course fulfills a core course requirement for the undergraduate major and minor in Professional and Technical Writing.

Sociolinguistics is the study of language in society, including how language varies across social contexts and users. It is relevant to everyone, because we all use language--though we may not always be aware of the ways language impacts how we perceive other people and how they perceive us. In this survey course, we will study several major topics and concepts in sociolinguistics, including language variation in social groups (especially related to gender, age, ethnicity, race, and social class), language variation in social contexts (with an emphasis on discourse analysis and conversation analysis), and English in a global context.

American poets were instrumental in shaping the movement known as modernism.  Stressing experiment and innovation, their work challenged conventional conceptions of poetry, creating a hyper-textual space in which competing idioms, discourses, and models of social and political action could jostle freely.  (Contemporary poetry, especially so-called “composition by field,” is very much an outgrowth of modernist practice.)  We will focus on the work of Eliot, Pound, Williams, H.D., Stevens, Moore, and selected African American poets of the period: possibly McKay, Toomer, Cullen, Brown, Hughes, Tolson, Hayden, Walker, Brooks.  We will stress close reading of individual poems but will also explore modernism as a program of literary and cultural innovation.