Department of English
Faculty
Chair
- Jeff Dolven (acting)
- Simon E. Gikandi
Associate Chair
- Sarah Rivett (acting)
Director of Undergraduate Studies
- Russ Leo
Director of Graduate Studies
- Joshua I. Kotin
Professor
- Eduardo L. Cadava
- Anne Cheng
- Andrew Cole
- Bradin T. Cormack
- Maria A. DiBattista
- Jill S. Dolan
- Jeff Dolven
- Diana J. Fuss
- Simon E. Gikandi
- William A. Gleason
- Gene Andrew Jarrett
- Claudia L. Johnson
- Lee C. Mitchell
- Rob Nixon
- Jeff Nunokawa
- Sarah Rivett
- Gayle Salamon
- Esther H. Schor
- D. Vance Smith
- Nigel Smith
- Susan A. Stewart
- Susan J. Wolfson
Associate Professor
- Zahid R. Chaudhary
- Sophie G. Gee
- Joshua I. Kotin
- Russ Leo
- Meredith A. Martin
- Kinohi Nishikawa
- Tamsen O. Wolff
Assistant Professor
- Sarah A. Chihaya
- Monica Huerta
- Christina León
- Paul Nadal
- Robbie Richardson
- Autumn M. Womack
Lecturer with Rank of Professor
- Rhodri Lewis
Senior Lecturer
- Sarah M. Anderson
Visiting Lecturer
- Fintan O'Toole
For a full list of faculty members and fellows please visit the department or program website.
Program Information
Information and Departmental Plan of Study
In the Department of English, students read widely across the genres and periods of British, American, and Anglophone literature and explore approaches to literary study with a distinguished, internationally renowned faculty. The department's ranks include historicists and formalists, theorists and poets, and postcolonialists and feminists; the faculty teach not only poetry, prose, and drama, but film, music, art, architecture, and technology. The department is united by a passion for works of the imagination and for thinking about what they mean and the difference they make in the world.
The department offers courses that cover more than two millennia of literature and culture, in settings ranging from large lectures to small seminars to one-on-one advising. A typical program of study embraces new and experimental writing, important rediscoveries, and the most hallowed texts of the Western literary tradition, the "news that stays news." The department cultivates a common critical vocabulary and joins in debating enduring questions about art, language, and society. The junior year begins with a diverse array of junior seminars, which couple the study of a specific subject with methodological training in critical reading and writing. Juniors and seniors pursue independent work on subjects of their choosing in collaboration with the faculty. The department also encourages concentrators who wish to pursue interdisciplinary work through certificate programs.
English concentrators graduate as incisive readers, cogent thinkers, and persuasive writers. They carry with them a lasting ability to take informed pleasure in all forms of literature, in the process of writing, and in the meanings and powers of culture. Graduates go on to become leaders in such fields as education, law, medicine, journalism, business, politics, and the creative arts. Simply put, learning to read closely and write fluently—the twin pillars of the discipline—are among the most valuable skills graduates can bring to the world's work.
Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisite courses for the concentration in English, but prospective concentrators should take at least one course in English in the first and second years.
Program of Study
English concentrators must take a total of 10 courses: the Junior Seminar (ENG 300), one designated course in Literary and Cultural History (LCH), and eight departmental courses. The junior seminar is a topical introduction to research methods in the discipline and prepares students for their independent work. Literary and Cultural History (LCH) courses ask questions about tradition and transmission over longer periods, and provide background for more specialized study.
Distribution Requirements
Departmental distribution requirements ensure breadth in each concentrator's program of study. Everyone must take at least one course in each of the following areas:
- Literary and Cultural History (LCH)
- Literature and Culture before 1700 (pre-1700)
- Literature and Culture from 1700–1900 (1700–1900)
- Literature and Culture from 1900–present (post-1900)
- Difference and Diversity (D&D)
- Theory and Criticism (T&C)
Each semester, the department offers a wide variety of courses in each distribution area, and a full list is available on the department website. A single course cannot be used to satisfy two distribution requirements simultaneously. In total: There are six required distributions, plus the junior seminar (ENG 300), plus three additional English courses, for the 10 required courses for the major.
A few rules regarding departmental courses:
- Concentrators may not Pass/D/Fail (P/D/F) English courses. This includes cross-listed courses, even if English is not the home department.
- Students who study abroad may count up to two courses taken abroad as departmental courses. The exception to this is the English department's UCL semester: students may count two classes plus the Princeton seminar.
- Cross-listed courses do not count against the Rule of 12 so long as the home department is not English.
The Rule of 12. A student in the A.B. program is limited to 12 one-term courses (plus independent work) in a given department, plus up to two departmental prerequisites taken during the first year or sophomore year. Students who exceed the 31-course requirement for graduation may exceed the Rule of 12 by as many courses (e.g., if you take 32 courses total, you can exceed the rule of 12 by one course). For most English concentrators, this means only 12 courses primarily designated as English courses (ENG courses or cross-listed courses where ENG comes first—e.g., ENG 327/GSS 332). Departmental cognates do not count against the Rule of 12.
Tracks and Certificate Programs
Tracks in Creative Writing and Theater. The English department has many concentrators with a strong interest in creative writing and theater, and offers special programs for students pursuing certificates in those closely related subjects.
- Creative Writing: Students accepted to the certificate program in creative writing may cognate two CWR courses as departmental courses in English and may substitute a thesis in CWR for the thesis in English.
Theater: Students accepted to the certificate program in theater may cognate two THR courses as departmental courses in English.
Certificate Programs. English encourages students with interdisciplinary interests to bring them to the department, and to pursue connections with literary and cultural studies. Students who will receive a certificate in another discipline, and who can show (in their coursework or independent work) vital connections with their studies in English, may count one course in that discipline toward their studies in English, by permission of the director of undergraduate studies.
Independent Work
The Junior Seminar (ENG 300). The JRS is a required introduction to the methods of research and the arts of criticism, that must be taken in the fall of junior year. During the sophomore sign-ins, students are placed into one of four seminars at Princeton. The junior seminar instructor advises each member of the seminar on class selection for the spring.
The completed junior paper takes the form of one 20–30 page JP, which is begun in conjunction with the junior seminar and which students complete in the spring semester, continuing the advising established during the junior seminar for the student's independent work.
The Senior Thesis. Theses are 60–75 pages in length, on a topic chosen in collaboration with the thesis adviser. One chapter or 20 pages of the thesis is due in December.
Senior Departmental Examination
All English concentrators take the senior departmental exam. The senior departmental examination is explained in further detail here.
Honors
Honors are decided by each cohort and not a set number. Honors in English are computed at graduation according to the following percentages:
- Departmental courses (excluding the junior seminar): 50%
- Thesis: 25%
- Junior Independent Work: 7.5% junior paper; 7.5% junior seminar
- Comprehensive Exam/Common Works Exam: 10%
Note that in English, it is not permissible to drop the lowest-graded departmental course from your average; all departmental courses are counted.
Study Abroad
The department encourages students to consider studying abroad. We especially invite students to consider the department's term at University College London. There, students attend a special LCH seminar with a Princeton English professor and receive support for independent work, while also attending courses taught through the University of London.
Courses taken abroad may, with approval, receive both departmental and distribution credit (in general, the department can accept two courses for study abroad). Students considering study abroad should consult the director of undergraduate studies at an early stage.
Courses
ENG 132 Imagining America Not offered this year LA
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. Instructed by: StaffENG 200 Rewriting the World: Literatures in English, 1350-1850 Spring LA
An introduction to English literary history. Centered on four great writers--Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, and Pope. Two lectures, one 50-minute preceptorial. Instructed by: R. LewisENG 203 The Essay Not offered this year LA
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. Instructed by: J. NunokawaENG 230 Public Speaking Spring LA
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. Instructed by: T. WolffENG 231 Topics in African American Studies (See AAS 230)
ENG 235 Studies in the Classical Tradition (See CLA 335)
ENG 240 Origins and Nature of English Vocabulary (See CLA 208)
ENG 264 Contemporary Theories of Gender and Sexuality (See GSS 400)
ENG 286 Topics in African American Culture & Life (See AAS 326)
ENG 300 Junior Seminar in Critical Writing Fall
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. Instructed by: StaffENG 302 Comparative History of Literary Theory (See COM 303)
ENG 303 The Gothic Tradition (See COM 372)
ENG 305 Contemporary Literary Theory (also
COM 312
) Fall
LA
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. One three-hour seminar.
Instructed by: Z. Chaudhary, C. León COM 312
ENG 306 History of Criticism Fall LA
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. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: A. ColeENG 310 The Old English Period (also
MED 310
) Not offered this year
LA
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.
Instructed by: S. Anderson MED 310
ENG 311 The Medieval Period (also
MED 309
) Fall
LA
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. One three-hour seminar.
Instructed by: D. Smith MED 309
ENG 312 Chaucer (also
MED 312
) Not offered this year
LA
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.
Instructed by: A. Cole MED 312
ENG 320 Shakespeare: Toward Hamlet. (also
THR 310
) Fall
LA
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.
Instructed by: B. Cormack THR 310
ENG 321 Shakespeare: Hamlet and After Spring LA
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. Instructed by: J. DolvenENG 322 Spenser Not offered this year LA
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. Instructed by: J. DolvenENG 323 The 16th Century Not offered this year LA
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. Instructed by: J. DolvenENG 325 Milton (also
COM 371
) Spring
LA
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.
Instructed by: R. Leo, F. Ach COM 371
ENG 326 The 17th Century Spring LA
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. Instructed by: N. SmithENG 327 The English Drama to 1700 (also
GSS 410
) Not offered this year
LA
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.
Instructed by: M. Cadden GSS 410
ENG 328 Topics in the Renaissance (also
GSS 407
) Fall
LA
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. One three-hour seminar.
Instructed by: B. Cormack GSS 407
ENG 329 Topics in the Renaissance Not offered this year LA
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. Instructed by: StaffENG 330 English Literature of the 18th Century Not offered this year LA
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. Instructed by: C. JohnsonENG 331 English Fiction before 1800 Not offered this year LA
Primarily a course in novels of the 18th century, though early narratives may also be read. Among writers read will be Defoe, Smollett, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, the Gothic novelists, and Jane Austen. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: StaffENG 335 American Literature before 1825 Not offered this year LA
An examination of the literature of early America within the context of the intellectual, social, and literary traditions. The course will survey writers from Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor to Irving and Cooper, with emphasis on the influence of Puritanism and the Enlightenment. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: S. RivettENG 338 Topics in 18th-Century Literature (also
HIS 318
/
AMS 348
) Not offered this year
LA
This course will at different times deal with particular currents of literature and thought in the 18th century, or with individual authors. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: R. Richardson HIS 318
AMS 348
ENG 339 Topics in 18th-Century Literature (also
COM 342
/
GSS 438
) Not offered this year
LA
This course will at different times deal with particular currents of literature and thought in the 18th century, or with individual authors. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: C. Johnson, A. Alliston COM 342
GSS 438
ENG 340 Romanticism and the Age of Revolutions (also
ECS 368
) Fall
EMLA
A study of the Romantic movement in an age of revolutions: its literary culture, its variety of genres, its cultural milieu, and the interactions of its writers. Major figures to be studied include Wollstonecraft, Blake, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. Two 90-minute seminars.
Instructed by: S. Wolfson ECS 368
ENG 341 The Later Romantics (also
ECS 382
) Spring
LA
A study of the young writers who defined English literary culture, especially the Romantic movement, in Regency and late Georgian England. Course material will include poetry, prose, and fiction, with emphasis on close reading as well as cultural contexts. Among the major figures to be studied are the Shelleys, Byron, and Keats. Two 90-minute seminars.
Instructed by: S. Wolfson ECS 382
ENG 342 Indigenous Literature and Culture Not offered this year CDLA
This course will look to understand the current and historical role of Indigenous people as a trope in both Western culture and in American culture more specifically, the material effects of such representations and the longstanding resistance to them among Indigenous people, and work toward developing ways of supporting Indigenous sovereignty and futurity. It will include a cross-disciplinary program of learning that will work closely with the Indigenous holdings in both Firestone Library and the Princeton Art Museum. Instructed by: R. RichardsonENG 344 Topics in Romanticism Not offered this year LA
An intensive study of particular aspects of British Romanticism, which may include individual authors, genres, experiments, and legacies. Two 90-minute seminars. Instructed by: E. SchorENG 345 19th-Century Fiction Not offered this year LA
Novels of the Romantic and Victorian periods, beginning with Jane Austen, including the Brontës and the major Victorians, and ending with Hardy. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: J. NunokawaENG 346 19th-Century Poetry Not offered this year LA
This survey of 19th-century British poetry will explore the ways in which Victorian poetry and poetic form influenced and were influenced by national movements: education, empire, voting reform, gender relations, and the rise of technology. It will consider how the afterlife of 19th-century poetry haunts our interpretation of early 20th-century poetry, and re-historicize Victorian poetics amid the vibrant and complicated tapestry of the 19th century. Students will read poems by Tennyson, D.G. Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, Barrett Browning, Browning, Swinburne, Hardy, Clough, Bridges, and Hopkins. Two 90-minute seminars. Instructed by: M. MartinENG 347 Victorian Literature and Society Not offered this year LA
An examination of the responses of Victorian novelists, poets, social critics, and graphic artists to poverty, industrialization, the "woman question," prostitution, slum life, and other social and political issues of the day. Special emphasis on the development of a language and imagery of social criticism. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: StaffENG 348 Late Victorian Literature: Decadence and Rebellion Not offered this year LA
This course studies the literature of the last decades of the Victorian era, often referred to as the fin de siècle (or end of the century). It will focus on literary, cultural, and social developments in the final years of the nineteenth century and first years of the twentieth, among them aestheticism, decadence, literary naturalism, imperialism, socialism, the arts and crafts movement, and the "new woman." Authors to be considered include Wilde, Conrad, Pater, Schreiner, Shaw, Hopkins, Hardy, Bridges, Kipling, Morris, Gissing, and Stevenson. Two ninety-minute lectures, one-hour preceptorial. Instructed by: D. NordENG 350 America in the 19th Century: Tales of Two Nations Not offered this year LA
A study of the major forms and traditions of American literature during the earlier 19th century, with main emphasis on such writers as Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson, Thoreau, Dickinson, and Whitman. The artistic achievement of these writers will be studied in relation to developing literary conventions and cultural patterns in pre-Civil War America. Two 90-minute seminars. Instructed by: S. RivettENG 351 American Literature: 1865-1930 Not offered this year LA
A study of the development of American literature within the context of the shifting social, intellectual, and literary conventions of the period. Emphasis will be on the artistic achievement of writers such as James, Howells, Twain, Dreiser, Crane, Adams, Wharton, Cather, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: L. MitchellENG 352 African American Literature: Origins to 1910 (See AAS 353)
ENG 356 Topics in American Literature (also
AMS 359
/
JDS 377
) Not offered this year
LA
An investigation of issues outside the scope of traditional surveys of American literature. Topics may include: definitions of "America," literature of the South, contemporary poetry, New Historicism, America on film, the Harlem Renaissance, the Vietnam War, the sentimental novel, colonial encounters, literature of the Americas, fictions of empire, Jewish American writers. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: E. Schor, D. Nord, M. DiBattista AMS 359
JDS 377
ENG 357 Topics in American Literature Not offered this year LA
An investigation of issues outside the scope of traditional surveys of American literature. Topics may include: definitions of "America," literature of the South, contemporary poetry, New Historicism, America on film, the Harlem Renaissance, the Vietnam War, the sentimental novel, colonial encounters, literature of the Americas, fictions of empire. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: L. MitchellENG 360 Modern Fiction Not offered this year LA
The Modern movement in English fiction, from Conrad and Joyce to the present. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: M. DiBattistaENG 362 Modern Poetry Not offered this year LA
British poetry from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th--from the height of empire to its dissolution. Special attention to the ways in which poets respond to crises historical and personal. Poets considered include Hardy, Yeats, Eliot, Auden, Stevie Smith, and Dylan Thomas, among others. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: J. KotinENG 364 Modern Drama I (also
THR 364
/
COM 321
) Not offered this year
LA
A study of major plays by Ibsen, Strindberg, Jarry, Chekhov, Pirandello, Brecht, and Beckett. Emphasis will be given to the theatrical revolutions they initiated and to the influence they continue to exert on contemporary drama and theater. Two 90-minute seminars.
Instructed by: R. Sandberg THR 364
COM 321
ENG 366 African American Literature: Harlem Renaissance to Present (See AAS 359)
ENG 367 American Women Writers Not offered this year LA
Nineteenth- and 20th-century literature by American women, with particular emphasis on their historical, cultural, and critical contexts. This course will survey the diversity of writings by American women in relation to questions of canon formation, immigration, race and ethnicity, genre, aesthetics, modernism, and postmodernism. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: D. FussENG 368 American Literature: 1930-Present (also
AMS 340
) Not offered this year
LA
A study of modern American writings, from Faulkner to Diaz, that emphasize the interplay between formal experimentation and thematic diversity. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: L. Mitchell AMS 340
ENG 370 Contemporary Fiction Not offered this year LA
An exploration of the connections and disconnects of our ever-smaller world, viewed through English-language novels and films of the last 25 years. At stake: translatability of language and ideas, processes of immigration, dynamics of economic development, history and memory, heroism and maturity, and notions of the future itself, in societies of rapid change. Throughout, the intersections between state policy and individual lives will be considered, such that while the course is premised on grand geopolitical questions, attention will focus on localized examples: specific texts, close reading. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: S. ChihayaENG 371 Contemporary Poetry Not offered this year LA
With an emphasis on British, Australian, and American poetry from 1945 to the present, this course covers a range of work. It considers such groups as the Beats, the Confessionals, the Surrealists, and the New York School, but attention will mostly be devoted to major works by MacDiarmid, Bishop, Lowell, Auden, Berryman, Brooks, Jarrell, Thomas, Larkin, Levertov, Ammons, Creeley, Duncan, Ginsberg, O'Hara, Ashbery, Merwin, Tomlinson, Walcott, Hill, Plath, Murray, Trantner, Kinsella, and others. Classwork will be supplemented by attending readings on and off campus. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: S. StewartENG 372 Contemporary Drama (also
THR 372
) Not offered this year
LA
An examination of some of the best literature written for the stage since the Second World War. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: T. Wolff THR 372
ENG 373 Acting, Being, Doing, and Making: Introduction to Performance Studies (See THR 300)
ENG 385 Children's Literature Not offered this year LA
A close examination of fairy tales and fantasies written for children but also addressed to adults. Questions to be considered will be literary, cultural, and psychological: the role of fantasy in an age of repression, didacticism versus amorality, male versus female writers, and the conventions of the Victorian fairy tale. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: W. GleasonENG 386 Literature and Environment (also
ENV 386
) Not offered this year
LA
Examines how literature defines concepts of "nature'' or "environment'' from agrarian to postindustrial times. The course will consider rural-urban interaction; forms of pastoral and anti-pastoral; representations of plant or animal life; images of place and region; influence of geography, ecology, and evolutionary biology on modern literary expression. Two 90-minute seminars.
Instructed by: R. Nixon, W. Gleason ENV 386
ENG 388 The Female Literary Tradition (also
GSS 399
) Not offered this year
LA
The development of women's writing from the 18th century to the present with readings in poetry, fiction, and drama. Emphasis on relationships between gender and genre, and on historical, cultural, and theoretical issues raised by a female literary tradition. Two 90-minute seminars.
Instructed by: D. Nord, M. DiBattista GSS 399
ENG 389 Women Writers of the African Diaspora (also
GSS 389
) Not offered this year
LA
A reading of fiction by African, Caribbean, and African American women writers. Diverse strategies for addressing issues of race, gender, and culture in local, global, personal, and political terms are considered. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: D. Brooks GSS 389
ENG 390 The Bible as Literature (also
COM 392
/
HUM 390
/
TRA 390
) Fall
LA
The Bible will be read closely in its own right and as an enduring resource for literature and commentary. The course will cover its forms and genres, including historical narrative, uncanny tales, prophecy, lyric, lament, commandment, sacred biography, and apocalypse; its pageant of weird and extraordinary characters; and its brooding intertextuality. Students will become familiar with a wide variety of biblical interpretations, from the Rabbis to Augustine, Kafka and Kierkegaard. Cinematic commentary will be included--Bible films, from the campy to the sublime. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: D. Smith COM 392
HUM 390
TRA 390
ENG 392 Topics in African American Literature (See AAS 392)
ENG 393 African American Autobiography (See AAS 325)
ENG 397 New Diasporas (also
COM 348
/
AAS 397
) Not offered this year
LA
This course will explore the works of contemporary authors of the African and Caribbean diaspora in Europe and North America in relation to the changing historical and cultural context of migration and globalization. The course will consider how these writers have represented the process of relocation, acculturation, and the transnational moment. What is the role of the imagination in the rethinking of identities lived across boundaries? Why and how do these authors use the term diaspora to describe their experiences? How do the works of a new generation of writers from Africa and the Caribbean transform theories of globalization?
Instructed by: S. Gikandi COM 348
AAS 397
ENG 401 Forms of Literature Fall/Spring LA
Each term course will be offered in special topics of English and American literature. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: L. MitchellENG 402 Forms of Literature Not offered this year LA
Each term course will be offered in special topics of English and American literature. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: S. StewartENG 403 Forms of Literature Fall LA
Each term course will be offered in special topics of English and American literature. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: C. JohnsonENG 404 Forms of Literature Not offered this year LA
Each term course will be offered in special topics of English and American literature. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: StaffENG 405 Topics in Poetry Fall/Spring CDLA
A focused view of a problem or issue in poetry, changing from year to year. Recent topics have emphasized problems of poetic language, metrics, poetry and social life, poetic influence and canonization, and the relations between poetry and other art forms. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: J. Kotin, N. SmithENG 409 Topics in Drama (also
THR 410
/
HUM 409
) Not offered this year
LA
A detailed discussion of different bodies of theatrical literature, with emphasis and choice of materials varying from year to year. The focus will be on a group of related plays falling within a specific historical period, the developing work of one playwright, or the relationships among thematics, characterization, and structure. Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: M. Cadden THR 410
HUM 409
ENG 411 Major Author(s) (also
AMS 411
/
AAS 413
) Spring
LA
A close study of the works of one or two authors. May include Austen, Dickinson, Wordsworth, George Eliot, Dickens, Melville, Faulkner, James, Stevens, or Woolf, among others. Two 90-minute seminars.
Instructed by: E. Cadava AMS 411
AAS 413
ENG 412 Major Author(s) Not offered this year LA
A close study of the works of one or two authors. May include Austen, Dickinson, Wordsworth, George Eliot, Dickens, Melville, Faulkner, James, Stevens, or Woolf, among others. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: D. NordENG 413 Major Author(s) Not offered this year LA
A close study of the works of one or two authors. May include Austen, Dickinson, Wordsworth, George Eliot, Dickens, Melville, Faulkner, James, Stevens, or Woolf, among others. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: S. StewartENG 414 Major Author(s) (also
AAS 455
) Spring
LA
A close study of the works of one or two authors. May include Austen, Dickinson, Wordsworth, George Eliot, Dickens, Melville, Faulkner, James, Stevens, or Woolf, among others. One three-hour seminar.
Instructed by: R. Rainof AAS 455
ENG 415 Topics in Literature and Ethics (also
JRN 415
/
COM 446
) Not offered this year
EM
Courses offered under this rubric will investigate ethical questions in literature. Topics will range from a critical study of the textual forms these questions take to a historical study of an issue traditionally debated by both literature and ethics (responsibility, rhetoric, justice, violence, oppression). Two lectures, one preceptorial.
Instructed by: A. Womack JRN 415
COM 446
ENG 416 Topics in Literature and Ethics Not offered this year LA
Courses offered under this rubric will investigate ethical questions in literature. Topics will range from a critical study of the textual forms these questions take to a historical study of an issue traditionally debated by both literature and ethics (responsibility, rhetoric, justice, violence, oppression). Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: S. GikandiENG 417 Topics in Postcolonial Literature (also
COM 423
/
AFS 416
) Not offered this year
LA
Approaches to the connections between literature and nationality, focusing either on literatures outside the Anglo-American experience or on the theoretical issues involved in articulating nationality through literature. Two 90-minute seminars.
Instructed by: Z. Chaudhary COM 423
AFS 416
ENG 418 Topics in Postcolonial Literature Not offered this year LA
Approaches to the connections between literature and nationality, focusing either on literatures outside the Anglo-American experience or on the theoretical issues involved in articulating nationality through literature. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: D. SmithENG 419 Seminar. Types of Ideology and Literary Form (See COM 401)
ENG 420 The Lyric (See COM 309)
ENG 424 Vladimir Nabokov (See SLA 417)
ENG 425 Topics in London (also
COM 462
) Fall
LA
In conjunction with University College London, this topic course addresses a range of topics, including the role of class, gender, ethnicity, race, and sexuality in the social dynamics of London life. Students will be considering works that represent the city in terms of the longing for kinds of relation that the city promises but may withhold. We will consider London as a city of neighborhoods, a national and imperial metropolis, a postcolonial and global city. By attending to our texts in their historical contexts and in relation to one another, we will be exploring writing about London that is as restless as the city itself.
Instructed by: T. Wolff COM 462