English

This course explores the ways of reading and understanding poetry of many cultures and literary periods. The material ranges from ancient poetry to contemporary song lyrics. This course investigates the origin of poetry and addresses such questions as “Where does poetry come from?” “What is it that we pay tribute to when we write poetry?”

Using examples of the nature writing tradition begun by Gilbert White and continued by writers such as Edward Abbey, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, Annie Dillard, Michael Pollan, Wallace Stegner, Henry David Thoreau, this course examines the sources of the nature-writing tradition in prose and poetry. Students explore definitions of the pastoral, wilderness and the birth of environmentalism that looks toward ecocentric visions for the 21st century.

This course examines Irish literature in its cultural context. Special attention is given to Anglo-Irish relations, Catholicism, the Famine, Irish nationalism and Ireland’s hold on the Irish-American imagination. Students read a sampling from Ireland’s rich literary heritage ranging from ancient heroic narratives to writers more familiar to 21st century readers, such as Heaney and McCourt.

This course is a study of representative works created by native peoples of the Americas, including traditional songs and chants from the oral traditions of past centuries as well as poetry, fiction and autobiographical writings from such contemporary authors as Sherman Alexie, Michael Dorris, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Leslie Silko and N. Scott Momaday.

This course introduces students to the genre of mythology and folklore. Students study ancient and modern stories from a variety of cultures and discuss how myths serve as foundations for spiritual discovery and expression while defining cultural beliefs and values.

In this course students approach such questions as “What is literature?” “How do literary texts relate to each other?” and “How does literature relate to ordinary life?” Students learn critical vocabulary and perform close readings in a variety of literary genres. Students focus on the conventions pertinent to different literary forms as well as the way in which social and cultural concerns impact theory formation. Students will be expected to complete an in-depth research project on a body of imaginative literature defined by culture, genre or theme.

This course explores the similarities and differences in both the form and content of works of literature — short stories, novels, nonfiction, drama — and their cinematic adaptations. Using literary and filmic examples from a variety of cultural traditions, the course considers how the two media draw on their unique aesthetic elements to develop characters, themes, narrative lines and points of view.

This course is a historical survey of African American Literature. Students will study a wide variety of genres — the slave narrative, folklore, the blues, the novel, poetry - to better understand the unique contributions writers of African descent have made to the American imagination. Other possible topics include the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement and African American women authors.