|
Southwestern University
|
Southwestern University: A Statement
The Academic Program
Degree Requirements
Academic Regulations
Course Descriptions
Brown College of Arts & Sciences
Biology
Chemistry
Classics
Communication
Economics & Business
Education
English
History
Kinesiology
Math & Computer Science
Modern Languages & Literatures
Physics
Political Science
Psychology
Religion & Philosophy
Sociology & Anthropology
Sarofim School of Fine Arts
Art
Music
Theatre
Interdisciplinary Programs
Special Academic Programs
Admission & Financial Aid
Student Life
Cultural Activities
History & Governance
Endowments & Scholarships
University Directory
Board & Officers
Faculty
Administration
Division of Humanities
Associate Professor David J. Gaines, PhD,
Chair
Professor T. Walter Herbert, PhD
Associate Professor James A.
Kilfoyle, PhD
Associate Professor Helene Meyers, PhD
Assistant Professor
Eileen Cleere, PhD
Assistant Professor Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton, PhD
Assistant Professor Michael B. Saenger, PhD
Assistant Professor Paul
Gleason, PhD (part-time)
The program in English provides a grounding in
English and American literature strong enough to support a life of continued
reading and reflection, with the deepened understanding of human experience that
this makes possible. The program for the major and minor also imparts skills of
writing, research, analysis, and interpretation that are useful in a broad range
of professional and business activities.
Students may major in English as
part of the Bachelor of Arts program. The English minor may be taken in
conjunction with any major program at Southwestern. It makes a natural companion
to majors in history, religion and philosophy, sciences, and business. In
addition, students certifying to teach in secondary schools may choose English
as a second teaching field, and those seeking elementary certification may
choose an academic specialization in English. Concentrated work in English may
also be done as part of an area of concentration.
Department course
offerings support the General Education Program of the University. Normally, a
student will take English 10-013 and at least one introductory literature course
before taking other courses in the Department. English 10-143, 10-153, 10-163,
10-173, and 10-183 are introductory courses, open to all students. English
10-153, 10-163, and 10-173 are strongly recommended to the prospective major or
minor.
English majors must offer a total of 30 semester hours in the
department, 18 of which must be above the introductory level. The student must
take Introduction to Literary Studies (10-183), at least two survey or period
courses before 1800 (10-153, 10-553, 10-603, 10-613, 10-623, or 10-723) and
Shakespeare (10-703). The University requirement for a capstone experience can
be fulfilled in any one of three ways: the major can complete a two-semester
Honors Project (10-983 twice); or take either Studies in Literary Criticism
(10-813) or the Seminar (10-933).
It is also possible to do a 54-hour
paired major in English and Women’s Studies by double-counting two courses
cross-listed in English and Women’s Studies, Women’s Literature I
(10-553) and Women’s Literature II (10-563). The department frequently
offers other, more specialized cross-listed courses (such as Medieval Women and
Contemporary Gothic) that might substitute for one of the upper-level survey
courses with the approval of both the English and Women’s Studies chairs.
A minor in English may be obtained by taking 18 semester hours of
English, 12 of which must be above the introductory level. The minor should take
at least two survey or period courses before 1800 (10-153, 10-553, 10-603,
10-613, 10-623, or 10-723) and Shakespeare (10-703).
Students seeking
secondary certification with English as a second teaching field will take a
24-hour program in English, 12 semester hours of which must be above
introductory level. The student must take at least two survey or period courses
before 1800 (10-153, 10-603, 10-613, 10-623, or 10-723) and Shakespeare
(10-703). Specific course requirements are listed in the Education section of
the Catalog. Students seeking elementary certification with an academic
specialization in English will take a 21-hour program in English, nine semester
hours of which must be above the introductory level. All students who wish to
certify (those seeking secondary certification with a major in English or with
English as a second teaching field, and those seeking elementary certification
with an academic specialization in English) should consult the Catalog sections
pertaining to certification programs.
Concentrated work in English as part
of an area of concentration requires 24 semester hours of work in English, 18
hours of which must be above the introductory level, and 24 additional semester
hours from other departments, 18 of which must be above the introductory level.
Tutorials and Independent Study (10-903 and 10-951, 952, 953) are open to
majors and minors who wish to develop special projects; they are not offered to
accommodate scheduling problems of students in their senior year.
10-013 ENGLISH COMPOSITION. A course in writing expository prose with
special attention to research techniques. Required of all students. Not to be
counted toward an English major or minor or second teaching field or academic
specialization or included in 42 hour limitation in one subject area. (Each
semester)
†10-143 MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE. The analysis and
interpretation of works selected from English and world literature.
(POK-Aesthetic Experience-Lecture)
†10-153 SURVEY OF ENGLISH
LITERATURE I. Beowulf to 1780. A historically organized course spanning a
millennium of literary greatness, with particular emphases on social and
cultural change and methods of literary analysis. May be taken independently of
English 10-163. (POK-American and Western Cultural Heritage)
(Annually)
†10-163 SURVEY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE II. 1780 to
present. A historically organized course. May be taken independent of English
10-153. (POK-American and Western Cultural Heritage)
(Annually)
†10-173 SURVEY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. From before
Columbus to the present. A historically organized course. May be taken
independent of English 10-153 and English 10-163. (POK-American and
Western Cultural Heritage) (Annually)
10-183 INTRODUCTION TO LITERARY
STUDIES. An introduction to issues and methods of literary analysis. Topics
and readings will vary from semester to semester. Required of all majors.
(Annually)
Courses numbered 10-2XX and above (except for 10-423) are
normally taken after a student has completed English 10-013 and at least one of
the introductory literature courses (10-143, 10-153, 10-163, or
10-173).
†10-203 GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. See Classics 07-203
and Religion 19-403. (POK-American and Western Cultural Heritage)
10-313 PLAYWRITING. See Theatre 74-313.
10-413 ADVANCED
COMPOSITION. An intensive course in writing with emphasis on the critical
essay.
†10-423 CREATIVE WRITING. An introductory course
including the structural and aesthetic techniques essential to the
writer’s art in both poetry and fiction. Prerequisite: Six semester hours
of literature. (POK-Aesthetic Experience: Production)
10-443 THE
TEACHING OF WRITING. A seminar emphasizing issues and strategies involved in
working with student writing from various disciplines. Approval of the Writing
Program Director required. (Annually)
10-513 TOPICS IN JEWISH
LITERATURE. An overview of Jewish literary traditions and the
socio-historical contexts that have shaped representations of Jewish cultural
and religious experience. Topics and authors will vary to reflect the diversity
of Jewish literary expression; offerings include Holocaust Literature, Jewish
American Literature, Contemporary Jewish Women Writers, and Transatlantic Jews.
(May be repeated with change in topic.) Also REL
19-513.
†10-523 MOVIES AND CULTURES. A history of narrative film
from its origins to the present with an emphasis upon Hollywood cinema.
Historical contexts and technological evolution are emphasized. Griffith,
Eisenstein, Welles, Hitchcock, and Coppola are among the directors studied.
(POK-Aesthetic Experience-Lecture) (Annually)
10-533 POSTCOLONIAL
LITERATURE. A study of literature produced at the intersection of cultures.
Consideration of ways cultural differences and legacies of colonization are
negotiated. Major figures vary from year to year but will usually include
Achebe, Gordimer, Head, Ngugi, Rushdie, and Soyinka.
10-553
WOMEN’S LITERATURE I. This course will consider early expressions of
women’s voices in literature, especially within their historical context.
Medieval through the 18th century. Also Women’s Studies 04-553. (Alternate
years)
10-563 WOMEN’S LITERATURE II. A study of significant
works by women, with emphasis on 19th- and 20th-century writers from the
English-speaking world. Consideration of the cultural forces that helped shape
these works and lives. Major figures will vary from year to year, but will
usually include (among others) Woolf, C. Brontë, Chopin, Atwood, and
Walker. Also Women’s Studies 04-573.
†10-583 STUDIES IN
CONTEMPORARY DRAMA. See Theatre 74-583. (POK-Aesthetic Experience:
Lecture)
†10-593 STUDIES IN WORLD DRAMA. See Theatre 74-593.
Also Women’s Studies 04-593. (POK-American and Western Cultural
Heritage)
†10-603 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE. An advanced introduction
to some of the best literature of the medieval period, emphasizing 14th and 15th
centuries, and focusing on artistic achievement as a dimension of medieval life.
Genres covered include epic, romance, Arthurian romance, sermon, lyrics, drama,
and autobiography, by both men and women. (POK-American and Western
Cultural Heritage) (Alternate years)
†10-613 RENAISSANCE
LITERATURE. Major authors and issues in 16th- and 17th-century English
literature, with particular attention to social and cultural change. Focus will
vary but will usually include works by More, Wyatt, Sydney, Spenser, Donne, and
Milton. (POK-American and Western Cultural Heritage) (Alternate
years)
10-623 TOPICS IN 18TH-CENTURY BRITISH LITERATURE. A study of
British writing of the long 18th century (1660-1800), with particular attention
to cultural continuity and change. Focus and authors will vary; offerings
include Sexual Politics of the Restoration Age, Reason and Madness in
18th-Century Fiction, Enlightenment Self-Fashioning, Center and Periphery: the
Problem of the “British” 18th Century. (Alternate years; may be
repeated with change in topic.)
10-633 ENGLISH ROMANTICISM. A study
of the work of the major poets—Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Keats,
and Shelley—with limited attention to prose writers such as Austen, Scott,
De Quincey, and Hazlitt. Also WST 04-633. (Alternate years)
10-643
VICTORIAN LITERATURE. Examination of the work of such poets, prose writers,
and novelists as Tennyson, Browning, Hopkins, Arnold, Carlyle, Mill, Dickens,
Hardy, and the Brontes. (Alternate years)
10-653 TOPICS IN MODERN
BRITISH LITERATURE. A study of British writing of the first half of the
twentieth century, with particular attention paid to the aesthetic, thematic and
critical preoccupations that surround the term “modernism.” Topics
and authors will vary; offerings include the Modernist Novel focused on Forster,
Joyce, and Woolf, Modernism and the Movies and Modernist Sexualities. (Alternate
years; may be repeated with change in topic.)
10-663 TOPICS IN AMERICAN
LITERATURE. A thematic study of American writers from an interdisciplinary
perspective. American Poetry, Southwestern Literature, and Making and Unmaking
of Democratic Selves are among the variants offered. (Alternate years; may be
repeated with change in topic.)
10-673 TOPICS IN 19TH-CENTURY AMERICAN
LITERATURE. A study of American writers of the nineteenth century, with
particular attention to social and cultural change. Focus will vary from an
advanced survey of such writers as Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Stowe,
Whitman, Dickinson, and Twain to dual-author courses such as Hawthorne and
Melville. (Alternate years; may be repeated with change in topic.)
10-683
TOPICS IN 20TH-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE. A study of American writers of
the twentieth century, with particular attention to social and cultural change.
Focus will vary from an advanced survey of such writers as James, Adams,
Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Ellison, Salinger, Morrison, and DeLillo to thematically
organized courses such as America Since the 1960s, Postwar(s) America, Popular
versus Literary Culture, and America and the Movies. (Alternate years; may be
repeated with change in topic.)
10-693 TOPICS IN CONTEMPORARY
LITERATURE. An overview of literature written in English from the 1960s to
the present. Topics and authors will vary from semester to semester to reflect
the diversity of contemporary literary achievement. Recent offerings include
Contemporary Gothic, Contemporary British Literature, and Postmodern Revisions.
(Annually; May be repeated with change in topic.) Also Women’s Studies
04-693.
10-703 SHAKESPEARE. An advanced introduction to the works of
William Shakespeare. The selection of works will vary from semester to semester
but will address the breadth of Shakespeare’s achievement. Required of all
majors. Also Theatre 74-703. (Annually)
10-723 CHAUCER. Most of
Chaucer’s major works, in the original Middle English, within cultural and
historical contexts that open up the world of the Middle Ages. Special attention
to the role of medieval women in Chaucer’s work and world.
10-733
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE. See Education 45-733.
10-813 STUDIES
IN LITERARY CRITICISM. An introduction to major critical approaches to
literature, including those of both the historical tradition and modern and
contemporary criticism. Fulfills the requirement for a capstone experience.
10-301, 302, 303 SELECTED TOPICS. May be repeated with change in topic.
10-903 TUTORIAL.
10-933 SEMINAR. Fulfills the requirement
for a capstone experience.
10-941, 942, 943 ACADEMIC INTERNSHIP.
10-951, 952, 953 INDEPENDENT STUDY AND RESEARCH. Open to English
majors and minors. May be repeated with change in content.
10-983
HONORS. By departmental invitation.