Catalog 2008-2009

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Division of Humanities

Associate Professor James A. Kilfoyle, PhD, Chair
Professor Helene Meyers, PhD
Associate Professor Eileen Cleere, PhD
Associate Professor David J. Gaines, PhD
Associate Professor Elisabeth Piedmont-Marton, PhD
Associate Professor Michael B. Saenger, PhD
Assistant Professor Elizabeth Stockton, PhD
Instructor Carina Evans, MA
Assistant Professor Timothy Jecmen, PhD (part-time)
Assistant Professor Michael Wolfe, MFA (part-time)

The program in English provides 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. It imparts skills of interpretation, analysis, research and writing that are useful in a broad range of professional 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. 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 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, 10-173 and 10-183 are strongly recommended to the prospective major or minor.

Major requirements are in place to ensure that majors are exposed to a broad range of issues and texts representative of the discipline. This necessarily includes courses that present the historical and cultural range of literary production, a deliberate encounter with interpretive strategies under the heading of critical theory, and, under “emergent literatures or popular cultures,” a set of courses that exceed established, national canons of literature. Special topics courses (10-303) are frequently offered that, where designated, fulfill these requirements.

It is possible to complete a 54-hour paired major in English and Feminist Studies by double-counting two courses cross-listed in English and Feminist Studies, Feminist Film Studies (10-473), Topics in Women’s Literature (10-573), Topics in Romanticism (10-663), and Topics in Victorian Literature and Culture (10-673). The department frequently offers other, more specialized, cross-listed courses that might substitute for one of these cross-listed courses with the approval of both the English and Feminist Studies chairs.

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.

Major in English: 30 semester hours, including English 10-183; two courses in English literature written before 1785 from 10-153, 603, 613, 623, 633, 643, 653 (only one course in Shakespeare can count toward this requirement); one course in English literature written since 1785 from 10-163, 663, 673, 683; one course in American literature from 10-173, 713, 733, 753; one course in emergent literatures and popular cultures from 10-513, 523, 533, 543, 573, 593; one course in critical theory from 10-403, 443, 473, 913; 10-913 or 933 (Capstone); enough additional hours of English to total 30 hours overall, and at least 18 hours above the introductory level.

Minor in English: 18 semester hours, including English 10-183; one survey or period course in English literature written before 1785 from 10-153, 603, 613, 623, 633, 643, 653; 12 additional hours of English, with sufficient hours above the introductory level to total at least 12 hours above the introductory level.

See the Education Department for information regarding teacher certification in English.

English (ENG)

10-143MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE. The analysis and interpretation of works selected from English and world literature. (Biennially) (H)
10-153SURVEY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE I. Beowulf to 1785. 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. (Annually) (H)
10-163SURVEY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE II. 1785 to present. A historically organized course. May be taken independent of English 10-153. (Annually) (H)
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. (Annually) (H)
10-183INTRODUCTION 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) (H)
10-203GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY. See Classics 07-203 and Religion 19-403. (H) (R) (IP)
10-213CHILDREN’S LITERATURE. See Education 45-733.
10-223MODERN BRITISH FANTASY FOR CHILDREN. See Education 45-793. (ScS)
10-313PLAYWRITING. See Theatre 74-313. (FAL)
10-323CREATIVE WRITING. A writing workshop in either prose fiction or poetry. Approval of instructor required. (Biennially) (H)
10-333ADVANCED WRITING. An intensive course in writing with emphasis on the critical essay. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic) (H)
10-403LITERARY CRITICISM/LITERARY THEORY. An introduction to major critical and theoretical approaches to literature. (Biennially) (H)
10-443THE 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) (H)
10-473FEMINIST 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. (Biennially) (H)
10-513WORLD CINEMA. A history of narrative film from its origins to the present with an emphasis upon European, Asian, Indian and Third World cinema. Cultural contexts and technological evolution are emphasized. Lang, Eisenstein, Renoir, Truffaut, Fellini, Bergman, Fassbinder, Kurosawa, Ray, Almodovar, and Campion are among the directors studied. German cinema of the Weimar Period, Soviet Silent Cinema and the Theory of Montage, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave, the Japanese Postwar Renaissance, and emergent Third World Cinema are among the organizing principles of this survey. (Annually) (H)
10-523AMERICAN MOVIES. 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, Chaplin, Welles, Hitchcock, Ford, Kubrick, Altman, Coppola and Anderson are among the directors studied. The Studio System, silent comedies, sound film, genre study (the musical, comedy, the western and gangster films), New Hollywood and digital technology are among the organizing principles of this survey. (Annually) (H)
10-533POSTCOLONIAL 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. (Biennially) (H)
10-543AMERICAN POP. A study of American popular culture, with particular attention to social and cultural change. Focus will vary from an advanced survey of various popular culture venues (literature, music, film, television, journalism) to occasional theme courses on “authors” such as Bob Dylan, the Beatles (“honorary Americans” by virtue of their influence) and others. (Biennially) (H)
10-573TOPICS IN WOMEN’S LITERATURE. Informed by feminist and queer theory, this course will explore the ways in which diverse female literary traditions construct and challenge conceptions of gender, genre, canon, period, and nation. Likely offerings will include Early American Women Writers, Women and Captivity Narratives, Other Victorian Women, Women Writing Multiculturalism. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) Also Feminist Studies 04-573.(H)
10-593TOPICS IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE. A study of literature written in English from the 1960s to the present. Topics and authors will vary from semester to semester to reflect the breadth and depth of contemporary literary traditions. (Annually; may be repeated with change in topic.) Also Feminist Studies 04-693. (H)
10-603TOPICS IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE. An advanced introduction to some of the best literature of the medieval period. Topics will vary but may include such authors as the Beowulf-poet, Chaucer, Malory and Langland. Some possible topics include quest-narratives, piety, drama, images of women, autobiography and allegory. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-613TOPICS IN EARLY ENGLISH LITERATURE. This course covers literature of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, with varying focus. Potential themes include Medieval and Renaissance Drama, Early English Lyric Poetry, the Renaissance, Narrative Form and Earlier English Religious Poetry. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-623SHAKESPEARE. 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. Also Theatre 74-703. (Annually) (H)
10-633TOPICS IN SHAKESPEARE. An intensive introduction to the works of William Shakespeare, with the same reading load and difficulty as English 10-623, but with a topical focus. Topics may include Shakespearean Comedy, Shakespeare’s Poetry, Shakespeare and Gender, or Shakespeare and His Contemporaries. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-643SHAKESPEARE THROUGH PERFORMANCE. This course introduces students to Shakespeare through the collective rehearsal and performance of one play. Whether individual students perform or not, each student will reach a deep understanding of the art of Shakespeare’s language and theater as they build their actual staging in specific scenes. Within this focused study of performing a specific play, many advanced topics of Shakespearean studies are addressed. (Biennially; may be repeated with different play) (H)
10-653TOPICS 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. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-663TOPICS IN ROMANTICISM. This course will emphasize the poetry and prose of traditional Romantic writers such as Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge, Hazlitt, Tighe, and Barbauld, and also will 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. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-673TOPICS IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE. This course will explore the Victorian period in British culture through the dominant literary 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. Also Feminist Studies 04-663. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-683TOPICS IN 20TH CENTURY BRITISH LITERATURE. This course will focus on the development of British modernisms and postmodernisms, with particular attention to the diverse aesthetic strategies that challenged, reinforced, and reconstructed ideas about subjectivity, gender, sexuality, nation and novels. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-713TOPICS 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. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-733TOPICS IN 19TH-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE. A study of American writers of the 19th 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. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-753TOPICS IN 20TH-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE. A study of American writers of the 20th 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. (Biennially; may be repeated with change in topic.) (H)
10-913TOPICS 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. (H)
10-933SEMINAR. Fulfills the requirement for a capstone experience.
10-001, 002, 003, 004SELECTED TOPICS. May be repeated with change in topic.
10-301, 302, 303, 304SELECTED TOPICS. May be repeated with change in topic.
10-901, 902, 903, 904TUTORIAL.
10-941, 942, 943, 944ACADEMIC INTERNSHIP. Must be taken Pass/D/F.
10-951, 952, 953, 954INDEPENDENT STUDY AND RESEARCH. Open to English majors and minors. May be repeated with change in content.
10-983HONORS. Students who wish to undertake an Honors Project should develop a proposal in consultation with the faculty member who has agreed to direct it. The proposal must then be endorsed by the department as a whole. Students who plan to undertake an Honors Project are strongly encouraged to take English 10-403, 913 or both before beginning the project.