Upcoming Fall 2026 Courses

PHIL/ENGL 138 Mind-Bending Fictions, Philosophical Worlds

001 In Person

MWF 1:00-1:50 PM

Instructor: Paul Hurh (ENGL) and Hannah Kim (PHIL)

How do we know that the world is real and not a dream? Or a simulation created by an artificial intelligence? When we talk to ourselves, who is talking? And who is listening? Does life have a purpose, and if so, what is it?  And if not, does it matter?

This course explores the deep and enduring questions of human existence through the literature and philosophies that have sought to answer them.  Students will be introduced to influential philosophical texts across human history—from Plato and Laozi to Nietzsche and Hofstadter.  And they will explore the philosophical questions within them through the philosophical worlds created by literature—through authors such as Octavia Butler, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, Ted Chiang and Ursula LeGuin as well as in the speculative worlds of contemporary popular culture. By reading literature together with philosophy, students will learn how to read philosophically, not only classical mind-bending works from across history but also from the contemporary present moment.

Students will learn both philosophical and literary disciplinary approaches and will apply them to their own contemporary worlds, producing a signature assignment that explores the philosophy of a fictional work of their own choosing.

ENGL 160D2: Nonhuman Subjects: Monsters, Ghosts, Aliens, Others

101/201 Fully Online

**7-Week First Session**

Instructor: Dennis Wise 

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 cultural boundaries we construct to cordon off the horrific, the weird, the frightening, the monstrous, or the non-human. As a result, we won’t focus simply particular monster-types like the zombie, the vampire, or the cyborg. Instead, we’ll look at monster-figures in literature and film as key indicators of cultural history: the symbolic carriers of cultural values, problems, and ideological tensions. These cultural issues can include things like political dissension, systems of religious belief, social order and disorder, human nature, 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 have to come to terms with the historical and ideological tensions behind those clashes. In this course, we’ll discuss these tensions through well-organized analytical arguments that present strong textual evidence and display critical thinking.

ENGL 160D2: Nonhuman Subjects: Monsters, Ghosts, Aliens, Others

110/210 Fully Online

**7-Week Second Session**

Instructor: Dennis Wise 

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 cultural boundaries we construct to cordon off the horrific, the weird, the frightening, the monstrous, or the non-human. As a result, we won’t focus simply particular monster-types like the zombie, the vampire, or the cyborg. Instead, we’ll look at monster-figures in literature and film as key indicators of cultural history: the symbolic carriers of cultural values, problems, and ideological tensions. These cultural issues can include things like political dissension, systems of religious belief, social order and disorder, human nature, 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 have to come to terms with the historical and ideological tensions behind those clashes. In this course, we’ll discuss these tensions through well-organized analytical arguments that present strong textual evidence and display critical thinking.

ENGL 178 Dragons, Elves, and How to Build Imaginary Worlds

001 In Person

MW 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Dennis Wise 

Building things is fun …. but have you ever tried building an entire world? For anyone who’s ever dipped into Star Wars, Dragon Age, or The Lord of the Rings, you already know that creators in film, fiction, and gaming have always borrowed heavily from real-world history and cultures. Accordingly, as an introduction to their techniques, we’ll take a “cultural history” approach to two legendary entities born of Faërie-land: Dragons, and Elves. From ancient Greece through modernity and the Middle Ages, these dangerous creatures of wonder and madness have evolved to meet the needs of new creators and new literary settings. In ENGL 178, we’ll thus learn how to adapt the legends, myths, and cultures of Earth world into new, wondrous worlds of your own invention.

Our course will culminate in a “legendarium,” a codex of world-building artifacts that’ll be graded for completion. Although some people assume that world-building only involves narrative fiction, ENGL 178 acknowledges that world-building happens through many different artworks. As such, artifacts can also include music, poetry, the fine arts, material cultures, bestiaries, treatises, map-making, wisdom contests, chronicles, prophecy, and more. With dragons and elves as our guide, you’ll hone your talents in creating a fully realized, fantastic imaginary world.

ENGL 201 Introduction to Nonfiction Writing

001 In Person

T/Th 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Staff

Students will gain a working knowledge of these concepts and terms: memoir, personal essay, portrait, travel essay, literary journalism, narrative voice, dialogue, metaphor, image, scene, narrative summary, reflection, and research. Students will read selected texts and discuss craft elements in works of literary nonfiction. Students will develop writing skills by doing exercises and writing assignments in several modes of nonfiction writing (i.e., portrait, travel essay, memoir).

ENGL 201 Introduction to Nonfiction Writing

002 In Person

T/Th 11:00-12:15 PM

Instructor: Staff

Students will gain a working knowledge of these concepts and terms: personal essay, braided essay, archives, research, structure, voice, imagery, and characterization. Students will read selected texts and discuss craft elements in works of creative nonfiction. Students will develop writing skills by doing exercises and writing assignments in creative nonfiction writing. The course emphasizes the breadth and depth of creative nonfiction as a genre, with room for the incorporation of art, music, sports, photography, science, medicine, and other topics of interest.

ENGL 201 Introduction to Nonfiction Writing

003 In Person

M/W 12:30-1:45 PM

Instructor: Staff

Students will gain a working knowledge of these concepts and terms: personal essay, braided essay, archives, research, structure, voice, imagery, and characterization. Students will read selected texts and discuss craft elements in works of creative nonfiction. Students will develop writing skills by doing exercises and writing assignments in creative nonfiction writing. The course emphasizes the breadth and depth of creative nonfiction as a genre, with room for the incorporation of art, music, sports, photography, science, medicine, and other topics of interest.

ENGL 201 Introduction to Nonfiction Writing

110/210 Fully Online

**7-Week Second Session**

Instructor: STAFF

Students will gain a working knowledge of these concepts and terms: personal essay, braided essay, archives, research, structure, voice, imagery, and characterization. Students will read selected texts and discuss craft elements in works of creative nonfiction. Students will develop writing skills by doing exercises and writing assignments in creative nonfiction writing. The course emphasizes the breadth and depth of creative nonfiction as a genre, with room for the incorporation of art, music, sports, photography, science, medicine, and other topics of interest.

ENGL 209 Introduction to Poetry Writing

001 In Person

T/Th 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Staff

The beginning course in the undergraduate poetry-writing sequence. Method of instruction: class discussion of student poems, with some readings of modern and contemporary poetry. Workshop sections are limited to 20 students. Priority enrollment given to Creative Writing majors and minors.

ENGL 209 Introduction to Poetry Writing

002 In Person

T/Th 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Instructor: Staff

The beginning course in the undergraduate poetry-writing sequence. Method of instruction: class discussion of student poems, with some readings of modern and contemporary poetry. Workshop sections are limited to 20 students. Priority enrollment given to Creative Writing majors and minors.

209 Introduction to Poetry Writing

101/201 Fully Online

**7-Week First Session**

Instructor: Susan Briante

“Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives.” wrote Audre Lorde. “It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.”

In this class, we’ll learn how to write poems as castles, skyscrapers and the cozy cottages. We will read contemporary poetry to find the blueprints for our own work. A variety of writing prompts will help serve as the cornerstone for our imagination and inspiration. Then we’ll work on sharing, receiving feedback, and revising our own work as well as the work of our peers. 

209 Introduction to Poetry Writing

110/210 Fully Online

**7-Week Second Session**

Instructor: Farid Matuk

The poet Kenneth Koch says: “Poetry is a separate language within our language… a language in which the sound of words is raised to an importance equal to that of their meaning.” In this class, we’ll tune our ears to the sounds of poetic language. We will learn some of the most important tools of poetic craft (rhyme, rhythm, repetition, line, image, etc.) We will read and analyze contemporary poetry as we find models for our own work. A variety of writing prompts will help stoke our imagination and inspiration. Then we will develop a process for sharing, critiquing, and revising our work. 

ENGL 210 Introduction to Fiction Writing

001 In Person

T/Th 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Staff 

The 200-level course introduces the student to craft terms and concepts through lecture, exercises, and reading selections. The workshop method introduces the sharing and critique of original student work in breakout discussion groups. Students gain a working knowledge of basic craft terms and concepts such as character, plot, setting, narrative time, dialogue, point-of-view, voice, conflict resolution, and metaphorical language. The group will analyze readings from published authors are analyzed from a writer’s perspective. Students will identify and hone the writing skills necessary for success in fiction writing. Students complete exercises based on these elements and write at least one complete short story.

ENGL 210 Introduction to Fiction Writing

002 In Person

T/Th 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Instructor: Staff 

The 200-level course introduces the student to craft terms and concepts through lecture, exercises, and reading selections. The workshop method introduces the sharing and critique of original student work in breakout discussion groups. Students gain a working knowledge of basic craft terms and concepts such as character, plot, setting, narrative time, dialogue, point-of-view, voice, conflict resolution, and metaphorical language. The group will analyze readings from published authors are analyzed from a writer’s perspective. Students will identify and hone the writing skills necessary for success in fiction writing. Students complete exercises based on these elements and write at least one complete short story.

ENGL 210 Introduction to Fiction Writing

003 In Person

M/W 12:30-1:45 PM

Instructor: Staff 

The 200-level course introduces the student to craft terms and concepts through lecture, exercises, and reading selections. The workshop method introduces the sharing and critique of original student work in breakout discussion groups. Students gain a working knowledge of basic craft terms and concepts such as character, plot, setting, narrative time, dialogue, point-of-view, voice, conflict resolution, and metaphorical language. The group will analyze readings from published authors are analyzed from a writer’s perspective. Students will identify and hone the writing skills necessary for success in fiction writing. Students complete exercises based on these elements and write at least one complete short story.

ENGL 210 Introduction to Fiction Writing

101/201 Fully Online

**7-Week First Session**

Instructor: Staff

The 200-level course introduces the student to craft terms and concepts through lecture, exercises, and reading selections. The workshop method introduces the sharing and critique of original student work in breakout discussion groups. Students gain a working knowledge of basic craft terms and concepts such as character, plot, setting, narrative time, dialogue, point-of-view, voice, conflict resolution, and metaphorical language. The group will analyze readings from published authors are analyzed from a writer’s perspective. Students will identify and hone the writing skills necessary for success in fiction writing. Students complete exercises based on these elements and write at least one complete short story.

ENGL 215 Elements of Craft: Creative Writing

001 In Person

M/W 12:30-1:45 AM

Instructor: Ander Monson

This English 215 course is a lecture and discussion course about reading and making as a writer. Writers read differently than most people do: because we also make writing and think about making writing, we approach texts with the maker’s eye, trying to figure out how things are made, how they work, and what we can do with or steal from them. We’re less likely to ask what makes a story great than how does this story work, and what can I learn or use or take from it. That means we’ll learn this semester how to engage with texts—books, poems, essays, stories—as practicing creative writers (artists) do, coming to understand how literary texts work in terms of craft and aesthetic strategy. Students will practice reading as writers and writing as writers, and they will also be introduced to the discipline of creative writing and how it works in the major, the marketplace, and in some of the many communities in which writing functions.

ENGL 215 Elements of Craft: Creative Writing

Fully Online

101/201 **7-Week First Session**

Instructor: Johanna Skibsrud

ENGL215 is a lecture and reading course, supplemented by small group activity and discussion. The course is designed to introduce students to basic terms and concepts utilized across the creative writing genres taught at UA: poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Exercises and prompts will encourage students to experiment with some of the tools and approaches highlighted throughout our readings and across the three genres, as well as to become better close readers of literature. The reading list for this course will be diverse and include excerpts from classic texts as well as from contemporary work by Tucson-based and/or visiting authors. Students will be encouraged to attend literary events in the community, read and recite texts out loud, experiment with a range of different styles, and keep a reading journal that documents the development of their thinking and creative writing practice over the course of the semester. Overall, our aim will be to develop comfort and familiarity with key terms and concepts used in core creative writing classes and be able to put them to work both through the creation of short original pieces of writing and through the discussion and critique of these pieces. Though this is a lecture course, students will learn to observe, describe and offer concrete, constructive feedback to other writers in the class. The work will be creative (generated by prompts and imitations) and analytical (guided by specific assignments and questions about form, content, and meaning).

ENGL 216 Introduction to Writing for Young Adults

001 In Person

T/Th 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Stephanie Pearmain

In this course student will become familiar with the beginning techniques of writing for young adults taught through exercises, the writing of original stories, workshop, and reading contemporary works in this genre.  

Children’s literature scholar Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop says, “Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection, we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience.” This is especially true of literature written for young audiences. In this class, students will learn to write for young adults. We will learn elements of craft, including character, plot, setting, narrative voice, and dialogue. Through writing prompts and exercises, we will tap into our imagination and find inspiration to write stories. We will read current young adult publications as models for our own work. Then we will develop a process for reading, critiquing, and revising our own work as well as the work of our peers. In this multi-genre class, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry will be welcome in workshop.  

ENGL 220A Reading the Bible: Old Testament

001 In Person

T/Th 12:30-1:45 PM

Instructor: Lee Medovoi

Who hasn’t heard of the story of Adam and Eve, the Ten Commandments, the tale of David and Goliath, the wisdom of King Solomon, or the “Lord’s Prayer” taken from the Book of Psalms? The “Old Testament” or Hebrew Bible is arguably the single most influential anthology of books in the history of the western world. In this course, we will consider who actually wrote these books, why and for whom. We will adopt the disciplinary perspectives of a Religious Studies Scholar, a Literary Critic, and a Historian to do a deep dive into ancient Israelite culture and society, including its struggles over ancient forms of inequality. We will look at the different literary genres that appear in the Bible, explore the religious views of their authors, and consider their origins and contexts in the history of ancient Israel.

ENGL 228 Crossing the Border: A Study in Literature and Practice

Fully Online

110/210 **7-Week Second Session**

Instructor: Johanna Skibsrud

This course integrates the study of border and migration themed literature with an experiential component that encourages students to recognize and engage with real-life borders in their lives and communities. 

The concept of the border will be addressed as both a political reality and an imaginative construct – an organizing principle for our desire to seek and transmit diverse experiences and knowledge-systems across thresholds. The guiding questions for this course will be: what does it mean to be a crosser of borders? How and why do notions of social, political, artistic, geologic and scientific thresholds continuously shift and change? To answer these questions, we will operate in an intermediate space between academic discipline and community engagement, research, and creative practice. Authors will include Gloria Anzaldúa, Javier Zamora, Francisco Cantú, Suzan-Lori Parks, Adania Shibli and more.

ENGL 248B Introduction to Fairy Tales

Fully Online

101/201 **7-Week First Session**

Instructor: Kate Bernheimer

In this class, students will read fairy tales from antiquity to today. No prior experience with fairy tales is required. You will consider fairy tales as a literary art form through their aesthetics and ethics. You will be introduced to touchstone fairy-tale scholarship and practitioners, including by visiting novelists, architects, musicians, and others. You will collect oral literary folklore from family and friends for a living archive of international, multi-lingual fairy tales, write fairy-tale criticism, create your own fairy-tale works (literary or other), and do fairy-tale aesthetic forensics. We will consider how fairy tales think about character, art, and experience in times of duress; and how the fragility of hope operates as their lodestar. We will follow the breadcrumbs of this centuries old, contemporary, and futuristic art form from communal storytelling into literary culture and new media. Our resilient guides include Little Red Riding Hood, Donkeyskin, The Little Mermaid, and others. Prepare to be enchanted and skillful, like a fairy-tale hero.

ENGL 248B Introduction to Fairy Tales

Fully Online

110/210 **7-Week Second Session**

Instructor: Kate Bernheimer

In this class, students will read fairy tales from antiquity to today. No prior experience with fairy tales is required. You will consider fairy tales as a literary art form through their aesthetics and ethics. You will be introduced to touchstone fairy-tale scholarship and practitioners, including by visiting novelists, architects, musicians, and others. You will collect oral literary folklore from family and friends for a living archive of international, multi-lingual fairy tales, write fairy-tale criticism, create your own fairy-tale works (literary or other), and do fairy-tale aesthetic forensics. We will consider how fairy tales think about character, art, and experience in times of duress; and how the fragility of hope operates as their lodestar. We will follow the breadcrumbs of this centuries old, contemporary, and futuristic art form from communal storytelling into literary culture and new media. Our resilient guides include Little Red Riding Hood, Donkeyskin, The Little Mermaid, and others. Prepare to be enchanted and skillful, like a fairy-tale hero.

ENGL 255 Intro to Engl Language

001 In Person

M/W 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Instructor: Hayriye Kayi-Aydar

This course provides an overview of English applied linguistics, exploring how English is studied and used in real-world contexts. Through readings, discussions, and practical applications, the course will highlight how linguistic research informs real-world problems in various areas, such as language education, policy, translation, law, intercultural communication, and technology. By the end of the course, students will have a foundational understanding of English applied linguistics and its relevance to everyday language use and professional fields. 

ENGL 263 Survey of Children’s Literature

101 Fully Online

**7-Week First Session**

Instructor: Stephanie Pearmain

From the “origins” of Children’s Literature to the current day call for diverse voices in the genre, this course examines the development of concepts of the child and children’s literature. 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 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.

ENGL 264 US Popular Culture and the Politics of Representation

101/201 Fully Online

** 7-Week first session

Instructor: Maritza Cardenas

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.

ENGL 264 US Popular Culture and the Politics of Representation

110/210 Fully Online

** 7-Week Second session

Instructor: Maritza Cardenas

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.

ENGL 265 Major American Writers

001 In Person

M/W 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Instructor: Grace Humphreys

In this section of “Major American Authors,” we will cover the work of many writers by examining the history, characteristics, and surprises of the American Gothic, specifically its short fiction. We will follow the American Gothic from its inceptions in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to its heyday in the nineteenth century. We will end the course by looking at the American Gothic’s aftershocks, examining how we see the American Gothic reverberating in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Some authors likely to appear in our course include, but are not limited to, Mary Rowlandson, Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, William Faulkner, and Flannery O’Connor. As we are making through our readings, our goal will be to close-read the texts, looking for not only characteristics of the American Gothic but also connections between the texts, American society, and ourselves.

ENGL 266 Young Adult Lit

101 Fully Online

** 7-Week first session

Instructor: Stephanie Pearmain

YA Literature is one of the most popular and quickly growing genres. We will read, discuss, and write about a diverse selection of Young Adult novels in order to explore the many facets of this literature and to consider how it shapes our definitions and understandings of adolescence. We will consider the following questions: 

• What purposes does adolescent/young adult literature serve in our culture and society?
• How do these texts represent and address the adolescent and the state of adolescence? 

How does this literature reflect and engage in the social and cultural contexts in which it was written? 

ENGL 280 Introduction to Literature

001 In Person

T/Th 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Staff

Close reading of literary texts, critical analysis, and articulation of intellectually challenging ideas in clear prose. Different sections of the course may be based around themes, such as madness, utopia and dystopia, American identities, detectives and detection, or love and knowledge, that the class considers from a variety of perspectives.

ENGL 280 Introduction to Literature

002 In Person

T/Th 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Instructor: Daniel Cooper Alarcón

For this section of English 280, we will read a wide range of different types of literature, including poetry, drama, fiction, essay, and memoir.  We will discuss the challenges that each of these literary forms present us as readers, as we try to interpret and make sense of them.  We will also discuss the varied elements that comprise literary works, the varied aspects that one might consider when analyzing a literary text, and different interpretive approaches to literature.  You will have reading assignments for each class session and will be expected to contribute to our class discussions each time we meet. There will also be a midterm and a final paper assignment.  Class meetings will be discussion-based and regular participation in those discussions is a course requirement.

ENGL 280 Introduction to Literature

003 In Person

M/W 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Staff

Close reading of literary texts, critical analysis, and articulation of intellectually challenging ideas in clear prose. Different sections of the course may be based around themes, such as madness, utopia and dystopia, American identities, detectives and detection, or love and knowledge, that the class considers from a variety of perspectives.

ENGL 300 Literature and Film

001 In Person

T/Th 3:30-4:45 PM

Instructor: Peter Figler

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.

ENGL 300 Literature and Film: Tim Burton, American Auteur: the Early Career, 1984-2007

101/201 Fully Online

** 7-Week first session

Instructor: Jennifer Jenkins

This 7-week course explores the early career and works of filmmaker Tim Burton as a peculiarly American auteur and adapter of American stories, focusing on his creative development, thematic concerns, and signature visual style from 1984 to 2007. Literary sources range from works by Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving to contemporary fiction and drama. Topics will include Burton’s literary and artistic roots in the 19th century, auteur and adaptation theories, evolution of Burton’s style and creative team, and representations of American mythopoesis in selected films from Burton’s early-middle career. Because of the short-form of the schedule, we will not study the animations nor the films that stray from the American canon. All required texts in pdf and streaming films are available at no cost on D2L. Students will engage in discussions, film analysis, visual and written assignments to understand the impact and legacy of Burton’s work during this formative period. Honors Credit: Honors contract information is available at https://www.honors.arizona.edu/course-policies.

ENGL 301 Intermediate Nonfiction Writing 

001 In Person

W 9:30 AM-12:00 PM

Instructor: Staff

Practice in writing nonfiction.

ENGL 304 Intermediate Fiction Writing Workshop

001 In Person

M/W 12:30-1:45 PM

Instructor: Staff

Practice in writing short fiction.

ENGL 304 Intermediate Fiction Writing Workshop

002 In Person

T/Th 2:00-3:15 PM

Instructor: Staff

Practice in writing short fiction.

ENGL 309 Intermediate Poetry Writing Workshop

001 In Person

M/W 2:00-3:15 PM

Instructor: Sara Sams

In his introduction to the Ecco Anthology of International Poetry, Ilya Kaminsky writes: ​​"Languages are many, says Voznesensky, poetry is one. If this is true, then perhaps an avid reader of poetry from around the globe may have a chance to glimpse into the heart of the art of poetry itself— of that which exists between languages” (xviii). 

Students enrolled in ENGL309 will continue looking for that heart, and work to deepen their sense of personal poetics. The course will be organized around the principle that writing poetry is always an act of translation. To that end, to glimpse into the heart of the art of poetry itself, we will be reading poetry from Kaminsky’s international anthology together. We will listen to the poems carefully; we will learn from poets as well as from the translators. As Kaminsky writes, reading poetry in translation “teaches us about not only the genius of the poet translated but also the genius of what is possible in English.”

Students will have the rare, challenging opportunity to learn from one another— different humans, with different beliefs about poetry, each of us with dizzying unanswered questions about life and where/how a poem might enter the stage and help us through it.

ENGL 310 Studies in Genre: Women in Love

001 In Person

T/Th 12:30-1:45 PM

Instructor: Fred Kiefer

“Genre” is a word imported from France to signify a literary species, or form. The rubrics under which literary works have been classified are numerous and variable. This course will consider the following: dramatic comedy, dramatic tragedy, lyric poetry, novels, and short stories. We shall be reading, for example, Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Elizabethan sonnets, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Willa Cather’s My Ántonia, and Pam Houston’s Cowboys Are My Weakness. In all of these works, we shall focus on female passion. 

ENGL 310 Studies in Genres: 

150 Fully Online

Instructor: Lynda Zwinger

Study of Haiku in English (17-syllable, 5-7-5 traditional form): history, theory, American reception, and personal practice. Written work will consist of short essays on poems/poets, haiku (ungraded), a critical review of a collection or journal of haiku.

Course Objectives

During this course, students will

• learn the history of haiku from its origins to its current, global practice
• become familiar with the formal properties of traditional classic haiku
• understand the role of formal properties in reading and writing haiku
• become familiar with issues in current practice: including controversies about form, problems of/in translation, issues regarding cultural contexts of the practice and its origins, discussions and disagreements about content, and other textual issues as they arise from our collaborative learning process
• write and discuss their haiku with other students in the class via D2L

ENGL 313 Intro to Professional and Technical Writing

001 In Person

T/Th 12:30-1:45 PM

Instructor: Tiffany Portewig

An introduction to key concepts and practices of professional and technical writing. 

ENGL 313 Intro to Professional and Technical Writing

101/201 Fully Online

**7-Week First Session**

Instructor: Staff

An introduction to key concepts and practices of professional and technical writing. 

ENGL 347 English Literature with an Accent

001 In Person

T/Th 11:00 Am-12:15 PM

Instructor: M’Balia Thomas

Everyone has an accent, but not all accents are created equally. Some are heard as “neutral” and others as markers of difference. This can have serious implications in the real world, impacting social interactions, employment, health care outcomes, asylum claims, and even perceptions of victim testimonials. It can also result in a specific kind of injustice--a testimonial injustice. In this course, students will examine English language literatures and cultural production (podcasts, audiobooks, film, and television) related to accent, voice and social identity. Students will gain broad understanding of the politics of literary voice and accent, while learning to use their own accented voices to produce close, critical readings and informed social interventions.

ENGL 373A British and American Literature: Beowulf-1600

001 In Person

M/W 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Instructor: Kyle DiRoberto

This course invites you on a journey through some of the most powerful and influential works of English literature, beginning with the epic Beowulf and moving through the masterpieces of the medieval and early modern world. Along the way, we will encounter monsters and saints, knights and poets, lovers and revolutionaries. Our readings include texts that helped shape the English literary tradition and that continue to resonate with us today. 

The objective of this course is to introduce you to a wide range of English literature. We will read some of the earliest works written in English and sample many of the major authors of the medieval and early modern periods. Although we will often focus on the formal features of these works, we will also contextualize them culturally and historically—considering crusades, reformation, civil war, and revolution—and explore the ways these texts challenge or enrich our current sociocultural moment. 

ENGL 373C British and American Literature: From the Roots of Modernism to the Present

001 In Person

T/Th 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Manya Lempert

A survey of British and American literature from 1660 to the Victorian period, with emphasis on major writers in their literary and historical contexts.

ENGL 378 Fantasy Fiction

001 In Person

M/W 9:30-10:45 PM

Instructor: Dennis Wise

If you know fantasy, you probably already know about Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, but the genre has roots deeper than the Lonely Mountain. In this course, you’ll discover just how far contemporary fantasy literature extends. We’ll start with the major early British fantasists (Tolkien, William Morris) before turning our sights on the sword-and-sorcery. World-building, maps, style, and the late 1970s epic fantasy boom will all fall under our microscope. Finally, no survey would be complete without the “representational turn” of fantasy publishing since 2000. So hold on to your wizard hats, folks, and come get a dragon’s-eye-view of how fantasy fiction has grown and developed. Appropriate for creative writing and literature majors alike.

ENGL 380 Literary Analysis

001 In Person

T/Th 9:30-10:45 PM

Instructor: Peter Figler

English 380 is a course in advanced literary analysis, emphasizing close reading and critical theory. We will study several key theoretical and historical movements as they relate to literature and literary form, focusing most closely on the novel, though we will examine other genres and forms along the way. Classes will generally be driven by discussion and interpretation, though on occasion I will lecture. The final texts and authors are being determined but will include authors such as Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead, Jhumpa Lahiri, Don DeLillo, Kyle Baker, and others.

ENGL 380 Literary Analysis

002 In Person

T/Th 2:00-3:15 PM

Instructor: Daniel Cooper Alarcón

English 380 provides an introduction to literary analysis.  The goal of the course is to provide you with a set of critical and interpretive strategies that you can always draw on to think, discuss, and write about literary works.  To that end, over the course of the semester, we will read a wide range of different types of literature, including poetry, drama, fiction, essay, and memoir.  We will discuss the challenges that each of these literary forms present us as readers, as we try to interpret and make sense of them.  We will also discuss the varied elements that comprise literary works, the varied aspects that one might consider when analyzing a literary text, and different interpretive approaches to literature.  You will have reading assignments for each class session and will be expected to contribute to our class discussions each time we meet. There will also be a midterm and a final paper assignment.  Class meetings will be discussion-based and regular participation in those discussions is a course requirement.

ENGL 394 The Big Read: N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season

101 In Person, **First Seven-Week Session**

W 3:00-4:50 PM

Steph Brown

***ONE UNIT COURSE***

***GRADED PASS/FAIL***

This course tries to hold two truths in mind at once: that sustained reading is pleasurable, and that it is work. So, on the first point, we’re going to dedicate sustained, in- and out-of-class time to the practice and pleasures of reading. On the second, we’re going to approach the course as a space for training our focus in order to read and think more skillfully. Most of us don’t dedicate as much time as we might like to the uninterrupted consideration of texts; this class will take steps to fix that. Assignments for the class will center reading and discussion, rather than writing or exams.

The book we’ll be reading for The Big Read is N.K. Jemisin’s Hugo-award winning The Fifth Season (2016), which is a big book with something for everyone, whether you usually are a sci-fi/fantasy reader or not. We’ll experiment in our reading-centered approach to this book with short discussions that might include, but definitely won’t be limited to, traditional modes of literary analysis.

ENGL 404 Advanced Fiction Writing

001 In Person

W 9:30 AM-12:00 PM

Instructor: Staff

This is a Writing Emphasis Course for the Creative Writing Major. Discussion of student stories in a workshop setting.

ENGL 404 Advanced Fiction Writing

002 In Person

T 3:30-6:00 PM

Instructor: Manuel Muñoz 

Conceived as a project-based studio course, this senior-level creative writing workshop investigates diverse styles and approaches to writing fiction with the aim of expanding our collective sense of creative possibility. We’re often told, “write what you know!,” but less often pause to reflect on what this really means, and requires of us as writers. Everything we know of the world—whatever we encounter of it through direct or mediated experience, as well as everything we’ve ever dreamed about, feared, or imagined—can become the material for writing.  Whether we’re working on a science fiction novel or an autobiography, thinking of knowledge and experience in these broad terms, may enrich our writing and expand our ways of knowing both ourselves and the world around us. This workshop will propose numerous creative exercises with an emphasis on embodiment and play. The overall aim will be to build a concrete skill set for increased attention to what we may not yet even realize we know. This is a studio-based course, i.e., it is active and participatory, with an emphasis on creative process and production. Through diverse creative exercises and discussion, its goal is to emphasize the possibility of honing new forms of attention. Coursework and discussion will also encourage reflection on the ethical implications (the possibilities, but also the potential limitations) of fiction writing.  Students will be invited to think the continuities between contemporary fiction and the Ancient Greek concept of poiesis—meaning, literally, “the activity in which a person brings something into being that did not exist before.” Through thought, writing and performance-based exercises aimed at expanding a sense of both readily available and possible material, this course challenges students to bring about something “that did not exist before.”

All course readings will be made available to you online, as PDFs, or as handouts in class. 

ENGL 412 Design for PTW

150 Fully Online

Instructor: Sean Rys

In this course, students learn the history, key theories, and conventions of document design practices, and produce professional documents in which they apply design principles using industry-standard software applications (InDesign and Illustrator) in the Adobe Creative Cloud. In addition to written analyses and reflections on their work, students can expect to design both print and digital documents that include brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, programs, infographics, and other professional documents. In the process, they will explore how a document’s rhetorical situation — its intended purpose and audience — shapes the choices designers must make with respect to its type, genre, platform, and graphic elements. At the course’s conclusion, students will assemble their work in a portfolio and will reflect on the effectiveness of their rhetorical choices across the span of the semester.

ENGL 414/514 Advanced Scientific Writing

001 In Person

M/W 3:30-4:45 PM

Instructor: Staff

This course emphasizes communicating scientific knowledge. You will learn strategies for and get practice in developing, testing, and delivering scientific and technical reports for specific audiences. Whether you bring a project to the class or develop a project for the purpose of the class, you will have opportunities to get feedback on your project in various stages of preparation. All are welcome in the class.

After taking this course students will be able to

• Identify and apply characteristics and practices of effective scientific communication
• Critically analyze the relationship between the scientific method and scientific communication
• Search, evaluate, and cite scientific literature
• Identify and apply conventions, expectations, and ethical considerations for communicating scientific research in journals, in presentations, and/or with the public

ENGL 418 Women and Literature

001 In Person

M/W 12:30-1:45 PM

Instructor: Steph Brown

As the island nations of the English-speaking Caribbean gained independence starting in the 1960s, female creative writers from those nations came into their own in what had previously been a fairly male-dominated field. This class will work from that starting point to see how this tradition continues to flourish today, both in the Caribbean and in diasporic Caribbean communities abroad. We’ll look at poetry, fiction, and life writing in order to trace how women writers are narrating the lives and interests of communities in the Caribbean, and how diasporic writers maintain their connections to Caribbean homelands. Likely authors include: Dionne Brand, Jamaica Kincaid, Olive Senior, Lorna Goodison, Curdella Forbes, Patricia Powell.

ENGL 430/530 User Experience Research

001 In Person 

T/Th 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Instructor: Tiffany Portewig

This course offers students an opportunity to learn and practice user experience (UX) research–the process of understanding users in the design and development process of a product. This course will focus on understanding design thinking models; developing research goals within a research plan; and conducting UX methods, such as interviews, surveys, focus groups, card sorting, A/B testing, and usability testing. Students will evaluate and test their prototypes, analyze data, and develop reports to present their research findings. Students will engage in this hands-on UX research through a collaborative, campus-based UX project.

ENGL 431A Shakespeare: Twelve comedies, histories and tragedies from the period 1590-1600 (including Hamlet)

001 In Person

M/W 2:00-3:15 PM

Instructor: Kyle DiRoberto

This course will introduce you to Shakespeare’s early comedies, histories, and tragedies. We will contextualize his works in the historical realities of the early modern period. Roughly corresponding to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the early plays significantly focus on gender, the body, and the construction of power. But we will also learn about the major preoccupations of the Elizabethan era, paying particular attention to the social, political, economic, legal, and religious changes that are reflected in the plays. Finally, as Mark Olshaker reminds us, “every 

age . . . gets the Shakespeare it deserves,” and as the experience of our current age is informed by its relationship to new media and the globe, our exploration of Shakespeare will also include the proliferation of interpretations that a post-print global culture demands. Not only will we read, interpret, and write about Shakespeare, but we will also explore the adaptation of Shakespeare in both Western and non-Western productions, social media, and digital games.

ENGL 436/536 Technical Editing

001 In Person

T/Th 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Janice Stephens

The course will introduce students to the professional practice of technical editing. After learning about the history of the profession, the impact of the digital age, and current employment expectations, students will work in two modules on editing projects and produce an organizational style guide. Beginning with higher level editing concerns, students will evaluate, design, and produce documentation to address varied audiences and situations and attend to legal, ethical and accessibility issues. Students will work together to practice effective commenting strategies that engage authors and other editors in both one-to-one and networked collaborations. They will then proceed to copyediting and proofreading texts using editing tools in industry-standard software and specific sets of usage conventions. In the final module, students will become familiar with editing digital content that will be reused in different iterations across multiple platforms. Using an open source management system, they will create a site in which they will tag content for easy retrieval and potential reuse.

ENGL 455/555 Introduction to Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language

001 In Person

W 1:00-3:30 PM

Instructor: Shelley Staples 

This course will provide a general overview of the TESOL profession covering prominent theories, methodologies, and procedures influencing the field. Throughout the semester, students will engage in a range of theoretical, pedagogical, and reflective activities to inform their instructional practices. They will also become familiar with diverse educational contexts in which English is taught and learned as well as standards, materials, methods, and assessment tools used in such settings. The first part of the course focuses on teaching English skills (e.g., listening, speaking, etc.) while the second part covers a number of contemporary pedagogical approaches to teaching English as an additional language. 

ENGL 483 Late 19th/Early 20th Century American Fiction

150 Fully Online

T/Th 9:30-10:45 AM

Instructor: Lynda Zwinger

Our object of study this semester will be Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. Our approach to this text will be exhaustive (I hope not exhausting). We will examine and explore it from many angles, including historical studies, textual studies, thematic approaches, literary history, James studies, literary theory, film, close reading, reflective analysis. Do not sign up if you need something new to read every week: ToS will be our subject and object of study all semester (but note that supplementary and secondary readings will be part of your study of the novel). We will be reading, re-reading, and reading our readings of ToS all semester. Your written work will include weekly, prompted reflective analyses--work in which you engage both your reading and the work.

ENGL 484B The American Novel: The Twentieth Century

001 In Person

T/Th 11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Instructor: Scott Selisker

In this course, we’ll consider the career of the novel in the U.S. over the course of the past twelve decades. This era saw a staggering number of changes in the U.S.: the country’s shifting geopolitical roles, new media and communications technologies, cultural revolutions and radical movements, and institutional transformations in the production and study of literature. We’ll approach the ambitions of novelists in this period of the “great American novel” in two ways. First, we’ll study the country and cultural moments these novelists wanted to speak to and for, through brief lectures and occasional and brief supplemental readings. Second, we’ll consider how the novels themselves document the changing cultural roles novelists have taken on for themselves, as chroniclers of injustice, explorers of the psyche, playful contrarians, wild-eyed prophets, and more. It's a reading-intensive but rewarding course, likely readings from Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ralph Ellison, Vladimir Nabokov, Leslie Marmon Silko, Toni Morrison, and Alison Bechdel. Course requirements include two papers and a final exam, along with regular reading responses that will guide class discussion.

ENGL 495A Career and Professional Development for Creative Writing Majors 

001 In Person 

W/F 10:00-10:50 AM

Instructor: Bojan Louis

(2 CREDITS)

Junior/Senior-level colloquium in translating, adapting, and applying Creative Writing major skills to multiple career paths. Students will research career fields and graduate and preprofessional programs and be in conversation with professionals from these fields. Students will finish with an informed and workshopped set of application materials for an entry-level career position or a graduate program.

ENGL 496A Auth,Period,Genres+Theme

001/002 LIMITED TO ENGLISH HONORS / HONORS STUDENTS. – In Person

T/Th 2:00-3:15 PM 

Instructor: Scott Selisker

This capstone seminar is limited to majors who have already been admitted to the English Honors program. It will include readings across genres in twentieth-century and contemporary literature on the theme of innocence and corruption. Assignment options will be geared toward thesis writers across the majors in the department, to include two shorter papers and a longer final project. Students will also each pick a day to lead a twenty-minute portion of the seminar discussion.  

ENGL 496A Auth,Period,Genres+Theme

003 In Person

T/Th 12:30-1:45 PM

Instructor: Staff

The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.