Southwestern University
2002-2003 Catalog

Academic Calendar

Southwestern University: A Statement
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  ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Division of Humanities
Associate Professor David J. Gaines, PhD, Chair
Professor T. Walter Herbert, Jr., PhD
Professor Helene Meyers, PhD
Associate Professor James A. Kilfoyle, PhD
Assistant Professor Eileen Cleere, PhD
Assistant Professor Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton, PhD
Assistant Professor Michael B. Saenger, PhD
Assistant Professor Kathleen Hela, 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 Topics in Literary Criticism (10-813) or the Seminar (10-933).
It is also possible to do a 54-hour paired major in English and Feminist Studies by double-counting two courses cross-listed in English and Feminist 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 Feminist 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 should 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.

English (ENG)

10-013 WRITING AND CRITICAL THINKING. A course in persuasive, analytical, and researched writing that includes critical response to readings. (Each semester)
†10-143MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE. The analysis and interpretation of works selected from English and world literature. (POK-Aesthetic Experience-Lecture)
†10-153SURVEY 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 independent of English 10-163. (POK-American and Western Cultural Heritage) (Annually)
†10-163SURVEY 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)
†10-173SURVEY 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).
†10-203GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. See Classics 07-203 and Religion 19-403. (POK-American and Western Cultural Heritage)
10-313 PLAYWRITING. See Theatre 74-313.
10-403PERSONAL VOICE. An intensive course in writing with emphasis on the personal essay. Prerequisite: six semester hours of literature. (Alternate years)
10-413 ADVANCED COMPOSITION. An intensive course in writing with emphasis on the critical essay.
†10-423CREATIVE 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)
10-503LITERARY CRITICISM/LITERARY THEORY. An introduction to major critical and theoretical approaches to literature. (Alternate years)
10-513TOPICS 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 Religion 19-513.
†10-523MOVIES 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, and Hitchcock 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 Feminist 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 Feminist Studies 04-573.
10-573FEMINIST FILM STUDIES. This course will focus on the way films define gender, and on the direction that film criticism takes when feminism goes to the movies. It includes an intensive consideration of feminist film criticism and theory from 1975 to the present, and is intended for students who are interested in film studies and who have had some experience with critical reading, writing and theoretical analysis. Also Feminist Studies 04-533.
†10-603MEDIEVAL 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)
†10-613RENAISSANCE 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 TOPICS IN ROMANTICISM. While this course will emphasize the poetry and prose of traditional Romantic writers such as Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge, Hazlitt, Tighe, and Barbauld, we will also explore the Romantic-era work of novelists like Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Charlotte Smith, Sir Walter Scott, and Ann Radcliffe. Topics for this course will vary and may include Romanticism and Gender, The Byronic Hero, and Romanticism and Aesthetics. Also Feminist Studies 04-633. (Alternate years; may be repeated with change in topic.)
10-643 TOPICS IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE. This course will explore the Victorian period in British culture through the dominant literacy genre of that period: the novel. Authors studied may include Dickens, Eliot, Trollope, Hardy, Braddon, Wilde, Collins, and the Bronte sisters. Specific topics for this course will vary and may include Austen and Bronte, Victorian Mystery, Realism and Sensationalism, and Victorian Arts. (Alternate years; may be repeated with change in topic.)
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 Feminist Studies 04-693.
10-703 SHAKESPEARE. An intensive 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)
10-713PROBLEMS IN SHAKESPEARE. A seminar on the works of William Shakespeare focusing on interpretive dilemmas. Topics will vary from semester to semester, but may include The Problem Plays, Shakespeare and Performance Studies, Queer Shakespeare, Shakespeare Among His Contemporaries, or Shakespeare and History. Prerequisite: English 10-703, Theatre 74-703 or permission of the instructor. (Alternate years)
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 TOPICS IN LITERARY CRITICISM. Advanced, focused exploration of theoretical issues and debates at the heart of literary studies. Topics will vary to reflect diverse critical methodologies; offerings will include Feminist Literary Criticism, Identities of Texts, Cultural Poetics, and Questions of Aesthetics. May be repeated with change in topic. 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 invitation only.